January 2005 - Historical Publications

Carolina
Comments
Published Quarterly by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History
VOLUME 53, NUMBER 1
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North Carolina Book Awards Presented at Joint Annual Meeting
On Friday, November 19, members of the North Carolina Literary and Historical
Association (NCLHA) and the Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies
(FNCHS) held their annual joint meeting in Raleigh. The afternoon session featured presentations on tourism and environmental history in western North Carolina, and the evening program included the customary bill of awards and certificates for the year’s best
North Carolina books and local historical organizations. The afternoon program was held
in the auditorium of the Archives and History/State Library Building, while the reception,
dinner, and evening keynote speech and awards presentations were in the lobby and
auditorium of the North Carolina Museum of History.
Jo Ann Williford, secretary-treasurer of the FNCHS, welcomed attendees to Raleigh
and introduced speakers during the afternoon portion of the program. The first order of
business was the presentation of the 2004 Student Publication Awards, presided over by
John Batchelor of Greensboro. First place in the high school division of the literary magazine competition went to Providence High School of Charlotte for its publication, Roars
and Whispers. The winner of second place in the category was W. G. Enloe High School
of Raleigh for Stone Soup. Third place was awarded to Charlotte Latin School for The Blue
Review, while Vance High School of Henderson received an honorable mention for
Crinkum-Crankum. Honored with first place in the middle school division was LeRoy
Martin Middle School of Raleigh for Illusions. Second place went to Seventy-First
Classical Middle School of Fayetteville for The Classical Quill, and Rugby Middle School
of Hendersonville took third place for Kaleidoscope.
On behalf of the Historical Society of North Carolina, Gail O’Brien presented the
R. D. W. Connor Award, which honors the best article to appear in the North Carolina
Historical Review (NCHR) during the preceding year. The winner was Elizabeth Gillespie
McRae, professor of history at Western Carolina University, for “To Save a Home:
Nell Battle Lewis and the Rise of Southern Conservatism, 1941-1956,” which appeared
in the July 2004 issue of the NCHR. No winner was selected for the 2004 Hugh T. Lefler
Award for the best paper written by an undergraduate student.
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) Award for Juvenile Literature, presented annually since 1953, went to Blonnie Bunn Wyche of Wilmington for her
book, The Anchor: P. Moore Proprietor (Banks Channel Books, 2004). The author could not
A Message from the Deputy Secretary
I have been spending a lot of time in court lately—but
for good reasons. The first occasion was a session of the
North Carolina Supreme Court in Edenton. The court
met in the newly restored 1767 Chowan County Courthouse on October 8. The court heard two cases before
capacity audiences who rarely have the opportunity to
witness legal arguments between lawyers and justices. Sitting in the courtroom on a brilliantly sunny autumn day,
one could appreciate the historical moment. To some of
North Carolina’s leading revolutionaries—Joseph Hewes,
Hugh Williamson, James Iredell, and Samuel Johnston—the
Chowan County Courthouse served as a locus of activity during
the tumultuous years that forged an independent state and nation.
The meeting of the North Carolina Supreme Court was part of two days of
activities to celebrate the restoration of a National Historic Landmark. The North
Carolina Historical Commission also held its fall meeting in the courthouse on October 7. The restoration, preceded by many years of planning, took eight long years to
complete. The courthouse now serves as a functioning public building for the courts
and community, as well as a part of the Historic Edenton State Historic Site.
Almost three weeks later I attended court again. On this occasion it was the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia. The
court met on October 26 to hear oral arguments concerning North Carolina’s copy
of the Bill of Rights. In January 2004 Chief Judge Terrence W. Boyle of the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina ruled that the disputed copy of the Bill of Rights belonged to the State of North Carolina (see the
April 2004 issue of Carolina Comments). Wayne Pratt, Inc., which once possessed the
document, gave up all claims to it. But Robert V. Matthews, a former business partner in Wayne Pratt, Inc., refused to accede and appealed the case to the U.S. Court
of Appeals in Richmond.
Dick Lankford, state archives and records administrator, and I attended the hearing in Richmond. A three-judge panel heard arguments by both sides and asked
numerous questions. Arguments seemed to hinge primarily on procedural issues. At
this writing, it is not known how the federal Court of Appeals will rule.
History is a palpable presence in the court system. The courtrooms in Edenton
and Richmond remind us of how history permeates our daily lives.
Jeffrey J. Crow
be present because of illness, but the presenter, Grace Blanton of the Raleigh branch of
the AAUW, noted that the book, the story of a fifteen-year-old girl set in colonial Brunswick Town, was an appropriate selection for the prize.
Jeffrey J. Crow, deputy secretary of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, presented an American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) Award of
Merit to Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern (who accepted for both in Bishir’s
absence) for their acclaimed series of guidebooks on North Carolina architecture. The first
of two AASLH Certificates of Commendation was awarded to the Beaufort Historical
Association in recognition of its restoration of the John C. Manson House and the updating of its interpretation. Patricia Suggs of Beaufort accepted the honor on behalf of the
association. The second certificate was presented jointly to the University of North
Carolina Press and the Office of Archives and History for the revised print edition of The
Way We Lived in North Carolina and the companion website, work on which was
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LEFT: Michael T. Southern (right), research
historian with the State Historic Preservation
Office, receives an AASLH Award of Merit
from Jeffrey J. Crow (left), deputy secretary of
the Office of Archives and History. The award
was presented to Southern and Catherine W.
Bishir for their series of guidebooks on North
Carolina architecture. All images by the Office
of Archives and History. BELOW: Editor Joe A.
Mobley (left), former administrator of the
Historical Publications Section, David Perry of
the University of North Carolina Press (center
left), and Michael Hill (center right), on behalf of
the Office of Archives and History, receive
AASLH Certificates of Commendation for their
contributions to the revised edition of The Way
We Lived in North Carolina. Jeffrey J. Crow (right)
presents the awards.
completed by editor Joe A. Mobley and
webmaster Mark A. Moore. Accepting the
award were Mobley, David Perry for UNC
Press, and Michael Hill for
Archives and History.
In the first of two afternoon
lectures, Richard Starnes of Western Carolina University addressed
“Creating the Land of the Sky:
Tourism, History, and Identity in
the North Carolina Mountains.”
At the conclusion of a brief business meeting of the NCLHA, Timothy Silver of Appalachian State
University spoke on “Nature and
Human Nature: The Environmental History of Mount Mitchell and
the Black Mountains.” Tom Belton of the North Carolina Museum of History concluded
the afternoon program with brief remarks
on “The Enduring Power of an Artifact:
Cold Mountain and the LeMat Pistol.”
The evening portion of the meeting
began with a social hour and dinner, followed by the second annual Keats and
Elizabeth Sparrow Keynote Address. Novelist Allan Gurganus of Hillsborough presented “It Takes a Liar to Know a Liar:
How Novelists are Historians and Vice
Versa.” In a talk filled with humor and
sharp commentary, Gurganus argued that
writers of fiction can often relate truth more
effectively than can historians.
Presentation of awards resumed after the
address,
beginning with the announcement
Novelist Allan Gurganus, author of Oldest Living
by Jo Ann Williford of the Albert Ray
Confederate Widow Tells All, delivered a lively
Newsome Awards, bestowed annually by
keynote address to the joint annual meeting of
the FNCHS to the historical organizations
the North Carolina Literary and Historical
Association and the Federation of North
in North Carolina judged to have conCarolina Historical Societies on November 19.
ducted the most comprehensive and
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outstanding programs in local or community historical activity during the previous year.
One of the winners was the Cooleemee Historical Association of Cooleemee, for general
excellence and for undertaking a major seminar on textile history in the South. Don
Hinkley of Creedmoor accepted on behalf of the association. The second Newsome
Award went to the North Carolina Piedmont Living History Association of Newton for
its promotion of Revolutionary War history through education and reenactments.
Sally Buckner of Raleigh presented the Roanoke-Chowan Award for Poetry to
Kathryn Kirkpatrick of Boone for Beyond Reason (Pecan Grove Press, 2004). Buckner
noted the inventive use of language and vivid descriptions in
Kirkpatrick’s poems. Sue Hatcher
of the Historical Book Club of
Greensboro presented the Sir
Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction to Margaret Maron for Last
Lessons of Summer (Warner
Books, 2003). In accepting the
award, Maron, a best-selling
writer of mysteries, noted that
the book, in which she introduces a new heroine, is set in her
native North Carolina. She
thanked the club and the
NCLHA for recognizing literary
work categorized by some as
“genre fiction.”
ABOVE: Kathryn Kirkpatrick (left) of
Boone was the winner of the 2004
Roanoke-Chowan Award for Poetry.
Sally Buckner (right) of Raleigh
presented the award. LEFT: Sue Hatcher
(left), representing the Historical Book
Club of Greensboro, presents the Sir
Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction to
Margaret Maron (right), for her novel,
Last Lessons of Summer.
Howard E. Covington Jr. (right),
author of Favored by Fortune: George W.
Watts and the Hills of Durham, receives
the second annual Ragan Old North
State Award for Nonfiction from
James W. Clark (left), president of
NCLHA.
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Margaret Bauer (left) of Greenville presents
the R. Hunt Parker Memorial Award to
Shannon Ravenel (right), in acknowledgment
of her lifetime of contributions to North
Carolina literature.
Presiding over the evening’s festivities was James W. Clark, president of the NCLHA,
who announced the winner of the second annual Ragan Old North State Award for Nonfiction. The prize, successor to the Mayflower Cup, is named for Sam Ragan (1915-1996),
poet, critic, first secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources, and longtime booster
of arts and letters in North Carolina. The award recognizes the year’s best work of nonfiction, regardless of the topic, by a North Carolina writer. Taking the honor for 2004 was
Howard E. Covington Jr. of Greensboro for his book, Favored by Fortune: George W. Watts
and the Hills of Durham, published by the University of North Carolina Library.
The R. Hunt Parker Memorial Award, bestowed annually by the NCLHA for significant lifetime contributions to the literary heritage of North Carolina, went to Shannon
Ravenel, co-founder of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and editor for numerous contemporary North Carolina authors. Margaret Bauer of Greenville made the presentation.
The award honors Parker, former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court,
who had an abiding interest in literature and the state’s history.
In the final ceremony of the evening, Jerry C. Cashion, chairman of the North Carolina
Historical Commission, presented the Christopher Crittenden Memorial Award jointly to
Holley Mack Bell and Clara Bond Bell of Windsor. The couple was honored for their
decades of work dedicated to preserving the history of northeastern North Carolina through
activity in the Bertie County Historical Association, Historic Hope Foundation, and a number of other organizations. The award, presented annually since 1970, recognizes lifetime
contributions to the preservation of North Carolina history and honors Crittenden, director
of the Department of Archives and History from 1935 to 1968. More about the awards may
be found at http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/affiliates/lit-hist/awards/awards.htm.
Clara Bond Bell (center) and Holley
Mack Bell (right) of Windsor were
honored for their many
contributions to the preservation of
North Carolina history with the
2004 Christopher Crittenden
Memorial Award. Jerry C. Cashion
(left) made the presentation on behalf
of the North Carolina Historical
Commission.
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N.C. Literary and Historical Association Life Members
The constitution of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association provides
that a complete listing of the organization’s life members be published annually in Carolina
Comments. The following list reflects that membership as of September 1, 2004.
J. W. Abernathy Jr.
Bass Farms, Inc.
Jackson Bebber
Mrs. John Behnken
Irwin Belk
John M. Belk
Doris Betts
Mrs. Karl Bishopric
Elizabeth Buford and
Donald Mathews
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph B.
Cheshire Jr.
Dr. James W. Clark
Walter Clark
James A. Clodfelter
Mr. and Mrs. Marion S.
Covington
Mr. and Mrs. William N.
Craig
Grover C. Criswell
Mrs. Burke Davis
Dickson Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Richard
Dillard Dixon III
Dr. John E. Dotterer
Thomas A. Gray
J. W. Grisham
Margaret Harper
Mrs. Joseph H. Hayworth
High Point University
George Watts Hill
Dr. and Mrs. Lara G.
Hoggard
J. Myrick Howard
Mr. and Mrs. Robert S.
Hudgins
John L. Humber
Jerome Janssen
Dr. Thomas E. Jeffrey
Dr. H. G. Jones
Dr. Doris King
Dr. Richard H. Kohn
Calvin Battle Koonce
Marvin B. Koonce Jr.
Mrs. Walter McEachern
Mrs. Fred W. Morrison
Jesse R. Moye
Hugh H. Murray
Dr. Susan K. Nutter
Dr. William C. Powell
William S. Powell
Dr. Norris W. Preyer
Alfred L. Purrington III
Robert A. Ragan
W. Trent Ragland Jr.
John Dillard Reynolds
William Neal Reynolds II
David T. Richardson
Richard Richardson
John Charles Rush
Robert G. Scruggs
Tony Seamon
George Shinn
Dr. W. Keats Sparrow
Roy Thompson
Mrs. J. Fred Von Canon
Elizabeth C. Watson
Dr. Harry Watson
Bruce E. Whitaker
Dr. Pepper Worthington
Historic Chowan County Courthouse Reopens at Edenton
After more than a decade of planning and restoration, the doors of the 1767 Chowan
County Courthouse reopened on October 8 with a full day of ceremonies. The structure
is considered to be the most intact colonial courthouse in America, the oldest public
building in North Carolina, and the oldest courthouse still in use in the state. It was designated a National Historic Landmark, one of the first in the state, in 1970. For the first time
since 1994, the completely restored structure will once again serve as a place for court proceedings, historic interpretation, and community gatherings.
The celebration began with a historic occasion as the North Carolina Supreme Court
held two sessions in the courthouse. For the first time in 144 years, the justices of the
supreme court sat in court outside Raleigh. The courtroom, which has been restored to its
original appearance, was filled to capacity with people who had reserved one of the one
hundred seats available for each session. Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. presided from the
original chief magistrate’s chair, while the associate justices sat on the curved bench on
either side of the chief justice, using the original Georgian paneling as a back rest. Tables
and chairs were provided for attorneys appearing before the court, and local attorneys in
attendance were invited to sit on the narrow benches that were traditionally placed inside
the bar for lawyers and their clients.
That afternoon hundreds of dignitaries, state and local officials, and citizens from the
area gathered at the north end of the courthouse green. Town crier Wrenn Phillips led a
parade of the Col. John Harvey Colonial Color Guard to officially begin the reopening
ceremony. State representative William T. Culpepper of Chowan County served as master
of ceremonies. Speakers included Lisbeth C. Evans, secretary of the Department of
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Cultural Resources, Chief Justice
Lake, and Sen. Marc Basnight, state
senate president pro tempore.
Virginia state senator Harry B.
Blevins delivered official greetings
from the former colony of Virginia.
Capt. Hugh B. Daglish, LVO, Royal
Navy, brought greetings from Her
Britannic Majesty’s government.
Following the ribbon cutting, the
crowd of more than five hundred
surged through the front doors of
the old courthouse to tour the courtroom and the upstairs assembly
room. Historic Edenton staff members served as interpreters during the
tour. Don Jordan, an Edenton cabinetmaker, answered questions about
the work he had done to complete
the restoration of the woodwork in
the building.
The first group to meet in the
The 1767 Chowan County Courthouse, oldest public
newly restored upstairs assembly
building in the state, reopened during ceremonies on
room was the North Carolina HisOctober 8 after extensive repairs and renovation.
torical Commission. Members of the
commission, chaired by Dr. Jerry Cashion, and other officials present for the meeting on
October 7 enjoyed a tour of the courthouse.
During the week of the reopening ceremonies, Historic Edenton staff gave tours to
two hundred Edenton high school students. Site manager Linda Eure served on a committee that met monthly throughout the restoration process with the architect, engineer, and
contractors. Along with Judy Chilcoat, operations manager of Historic Edenton, and various town citizens, Eure was also a member of the reopening committee that planned and
orchestrated all the events, including a festive social evening. All Edenton site staff members worked diligently to ensure success of the program.
The 1767 Chowan County Courthouse is owned by the State of North Carolina and
will be managed jointly by Historic Edenton State Historic Site and Chowan County. The
courthouse is included in guided walking tours offered daily at the visitor center.
Shoreline Restoration Project on Roanoke Island Receives Awards
Roanoke Island Festival Park (RIFP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Wilmington District, recently received two environmental awards in recognition of their
joint efforts to stabilize and restore the shoreline at the park. The North Carolina Coastal
Federation (NCCF) presented the 2004 Pelican Award for the Best Restoration Project
on the Northeast Coast to the two organizations at the State of the Coast Summit meeting
in Morehead City on October 1. The award acknowledges excellence in protecting and
restoring coastal resources in North Carolina.
The second recognition was the national 2004 Coastal America Partnership Award that
was presented in a ceremony at the park on November 22. Coastal America is a unique
partnership of twelve federal agencies, state and local governments, and private organizations working together to protect, preserve, and restore the nation’s coasts. This award
recognizes outstanding partnership efforts that demonstrate the power of leveraging
collective resources.
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Conducted over a three-year period, the environmental restoration project is a cooperative partnership between RIFP; the Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District;
the Division of Water Resources in the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR); other federal, state, and local agencies; conservation organizations;
and the local community. The Army Corps of Engineers established a project plan whose
components included construction of a 1,330-foot rock sill to buffer wave action, placement of 1,000 cubic yards of shoreline sand, planting of marsh and sea grass, creation of a
one-acre oyster reef, and reforestation of 1.3 acres of wooded wetlands.
Project team members were recognized in both awards for their joint efforts to transform the park’s eroding shoreline into a thriving marsh habitat. The marsh enhancement
and shoreline stabilization components of the
project were designed to demonstrate an
ecologically sound approach to erosion control and habitat restoration. This shoreline
had experienced severe erosion during the
past decade from storms and recreational and
commercial boating activity in adjacent
Shallowbag Bay. Much of the aquatic habitat
had been destroyed.
Marsh grasses were provided by NCCF
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Plant Materials Center at Cape May, N.J.
The North Carolina Division of Forest
Resources (a division of DENR) and North
Carolina State University supplied tree seedMembers of the North Carolina Aquatic Habitat
lings. The state Division of Marine Fisheries,
Restoration and Protective Team were honored
with the 2004 Coastal America Partnership Award also a part of DENR, contributed their
for their shoreline restoration project at Roanoke expertise and equipment to the oyster restoration and seeding project. The NCCF
Island Festival Park (RIFP). Pictured (front row,
secured funding for development of the
left to right) are Doug Lamont, deputy assistant
oyster reef.
secretary of the army; Col. Charles Ray
Alexander Jr., engineer of the Wilmington
Doug Lamont, deputy assistant secretary
District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
of the army, and Col. Charles Ray AlexanSuzanne B. Godley, project team leader for
der Jr. of the Army Corps of Engineers,
RIFP; Deloris U. Harrell, former executive
Wilmington District, accepted the award
director of RIFP; and The Honorable John
from Virginia K. Tippie, director of Coastal
Wilson IV, mayor of Manteo; (back row, left to
America, on behalf of the partnership.
right) Scott Stroh, executive director of RIFP;
Project team members who made significant
and Carroll Williams, facility maintenance
contributions to the success of the project
supervisor at the park.
received an individual plaque and letter of
appreciation from President George W. Bush. The park’s project team was led by
Suzanne B. Godley and assisted by Carroll Williams.
Jean Fagan Yellin Wins Major Award for Biography of Jacobs
The author of the acclaimed new biography of a North Carolina slave and abolitionist
writer has been named the winner of the prestigious Frederick Douglass Book Prize from
the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale
University. Jean Fagan Yellin, distinguished professor of English emerita at Pace University, was recognized for her book, Harriet Jacobs: A Life. Dr. Yellin has devoted more than
twenty years to the study of Harriet Jacobs, having first prepared a new edition of her slave
narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, in 1987. Dr. Yellin used primary source material, particularly Chowan County records, in the North Carolina State Archives to identify
the author of the narrative and to place her irrefutably in Edenton. She relied heavily upon
the knowledge and research of George Stevenson Jr., then head of reference services at the
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Archives. The Frederick Douglass Book Prize, which includes a cash award of $25,000, has
been presented annually since 1999 to the year’s best nonfiction book on slavery or abolition. The prize will be awarded to Dr. Yellin at a dinner at the Yale Club of New York
on February 24, as the culmination of Black History Month activities.
Tercentenary Events Announced at Historic Bath
The three-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the first town in the colony
of North Carolina will be commemorated in the Historic Bath Tri-Centennial from
March 8, 2005, through March 8, 2006. The year-long celebration will feature a number of events that focus on the history of
Bath and its role in the development of North Carolina. The
commemoration is being coordinated through a partnership
between the Historic Bath Foundation, the Department of
Cultural Resources, the Historic Bath Commission, St. Thomas
Church, and the Town of Bath. A steering committee, formed
in 2000, is planning and will carry out the calendar of events.
Subcommittees have been assigned various responsibilities, such
as a maritime weekend, an outdoor drama, commemorative
products, Blackbeard’s Ball, St. George’s Day, finance and
fund raising, publicity, and a veterans’ celebration. In addition
to events throughout the year, there will be a new history of Bath, written by Alan D.
Watson and published by the Historical Publications Section, and exhibits and lectures
sponsored by Historic Bath. Plans are being made for the Carolina Charter to be on
display at the opening ceremony.
March 8, 2005
April 17
April 22-24
April 22
April 23
April 24
April 30
May 15
June 4
June 30-August 13
September 22-25
September 22-23
September 24
September 25
November 11-13
December 4
December 11
March 8, 2006
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Schedule of Tercentenary Events at Bath
Opening ceremony
Bath Fun Day
St. George’s Day celebration at St. Thomas Episcopal
Church with the former Archbishop of Canterbury
Evensong
Morning prayer
Morning service
Bath Garden Club House and Garden Tour, 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Historic Bath Open House
Blackbeard’s Ball
Blackbeard: Knight of the Black Flag: outdoor drama (Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday evenings)
Maritime Weekend
School and public programs with the Elizabeth II
Public programs with the Elizabeth II
Buccaneer Bash, Out of Water Boat Show
Blessing of the fleet
Veterans’ celebration: Military through the Ages — military
reenactments
Bath Christmas parade
Historic Bath Open House
Closing ceremony
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Native American Heritage Celebrated at Museum of History
The rich variety of North Carolina’s Native American cultural heritage was the focus
of several programs at the North Carolina Museum of History during November, designated as American Indian Heritage Month. The latest offering in the series of online
teacher workshops examines American Indians in North Carolina: Past and Present. The
six-weeks interactive course, which carries up to forty hours of continuing education
credits, includes sessions about the governments, arts, and languages of historical North
Carolina tribes, and some of the present cultural concerns of the eight tribes—the
Coharie, Eastern Band of Cherokee, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi
Band of Saponi, Sappony, and Waccamaw-Siouan—recognized by the state.
Brenda Silva, a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe, was the month’s Artist at Work,
another ongoing series at the museum. To the entertainment of visitors for two hours each
afternoon, November 19-21, Silva created elaborate dance regalia to be worn at powwows.
On November 19, the
museum hosted American
Indian Heritage Education
Day for school groups.
Approximately 1,200 registrants, including 900 students
and 300 teachers and
chaperones, attended the
hour-long sessions held
throughout the day. Teaching stations manned by members of the eight recognized
tribes focused on various
aspects of Native American
history and culture, such as
storytelling, dance, music, and
crafts.
The month’s special activities culminated with the ninth Waya Dimilanta of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe performs a
annual American Indian Heri- traditional hoop dance at the ninth annual American Indian
tage Celebration on Novem- Heritage Celebration at the North Carolina Museum of History
on November 20.
ber 20. More than one
hundred presenters, representing each of the eight tribes, participated in events at the museum, in Bicentennial Plaza,
and on the grounds of the State Capitol. A crowd estimated at seven thousand attended the
celebration. Among the highlights of the day was the Call of Nations at noon. Forty dancers
in elaborate costume made the Grand Entry down the front steps of the museum into the
plaza, where they performed traditional, fancy, jingle, grass, and hoop dances to the pulsing
rhythms of northern- and southern-style drum groups.
Special guests at the celebration included musician Willie Lowry of the Lumbee tribe,
who recently performed at the grand opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of
the American Indian. Film maker Malinda Maynor, also a Lumbee, presented her documentary, Sounds of Faith, which has been aired on the Public Broadcasting System. Senora
Lynch, a nationally acclaimed potter of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe, demonstrated her craft
while talking about the cultural heritage of her people.
Other craftsmen created and displayed their wares, which were available for purchase.
Josh Dugan and Joel Queen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee and the Cherokee Potters
Guild made traditional pottery. Andrew Hunter of the Meherrin tribe fashioned wampum
and silver jewelry, and John Blackfeather Jeffries of the Occaneechi Band of Saponis
created traditional hunting weapons.
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Presenters also spoke about various aspects of the Native American experience. Gregory Richardson, executive director of the North Carolina Commission on Indian Affairs,
gave a general overview of the eight tribes, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Marvin Richardson of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe discussed the roots and revival of the
Tutelo language in the state. Lumbee Gwen Locklear and other storytellers mesmerized
listeners with their enchanting tales. There were also two small exhibits of particular interest—Community and Culture: North Carolina Indians Past and Present and Photographs from the
Cherokee and Lumbee Communities—on display in the museum.
This annual event, which has quickly become one of the most popular of the
museum’s regular offerings, receives support from the North Carolina Commission on
Indian Affairs, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, RBC Centura, Target Stores,
Wal-Mart, and the North Carolina Museum of History Associates.
News from Historical Resources
Archives and Records Section
A rare and valuable group of papers was recently added to the North Carolina State
Archives’ Military Collection. Eighteen letters of Henry H. Bowen and one from his
brother, George W. Bowen, both of the Confederate States Marine Corps (CSMC), were
donated to the Archives. The Bowen brothers lived in Washington County prior to their
enlistment in the CSMC. This small cache of letters is thought to be the largest extant collection of wartime correspondence from enlisted Confederate
Marines. Considering there were probably fewer than
1,500 men who served in the CSMC, these letters are
an important addition to the Military Collection.
Military archivist Sion Harrington is in the
process of developing a roster of North Carolinians who served in the Confederate naval
forces. He seeks photographs, particularly of
servicemen in uniform, and information on
individuals from North Carolina who served
in the Confederate navy or marine corps. A
few months ago, he copied an image of
Moses Stancil of Johnston County (right),
who served as a “landsman” aboard the
Confederate ram CSS Albemarle. Though
it was not a photograph of Stancil in uniform, it appeared to have been taken shortly
after the war. Harrington actually secured the
image from Stancil’s daughter.
Harrington welcomes volunteers to the Military Project, as there are numerous opportunities to
provide assistance. Volunteers willing to conduct
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interviews with veterans and to transcribe the interviews are most needed. In addition,
clerical help is wanted to assist with the compiling and typing of data on the Confederate
naval service roster. Anyone interested in any of these opportunities should contact Si
Harrington at (919) 807-7314.
The North Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) is making
substantial progress in its statewide archival training program, “Archival Education for the
21st Century.” With support from the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission (NHPRC), the program offers participants practical archival training through
workshops that teach basic archival principles and practices as well as intermediate-level
instruction for specific areas of archives and records work. The project’s main goal is to
reach and train archival/special collections personnel at smaller repositories throughout the
state. A two-day trial run archival “boot camp” workshop was held October 14-15. The
first official SHRAB workshop was presented on November 18-19 in Lincolnton. Subsequent workshops were offered at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee on December 2-3, and at the Aycock Birthplace State Historic Site on December 16-17. Another
workshop is planned for Greensboro in early 2005. After the two-year SHRAB project is
complete, the Society of North Carolina Archivists and the State Library’s NC ECHO
program have agreed to take over and continue the program.
Two classes of fifth graders at Cape Hatteras Elementary School recently learned the
art of oral history interviewing from Outer Banks History Center (OBHC) staff. As part of
a grant request to the National Council for Social Studies submitted by Hatteras teacher
Sheree Covey, students in Beverly Henson’s social studies class will interview longtime
residents of the Outer Banks. Once the interviews have been completed, students will
index them by topic, and the tapes will be added to the OBHC collection.
In a continuing effort to document and collect the unique Outer Banks history and culture, the OBHC staff had scanners in place throughout the day to copy photographs at the
dedication of the replica of the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse on September 25. Attendees
had been requested to bring images related to the original Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse
(constructed off the south end of Roanoke Island in 1858 and decommissioned in 1955),
service in the U.S. Lighthouse Service, or anything of interest regarding other screw-pile
lighthouses or river lights from the region. OBHC curator KaeLi Spiers talked with people
who had stories to tell—their own or ones passed down from their elders—for future oral
history interviews.
Recent Accessions by the North Carolina State Archives
During the months of September, October, and November 2004, the Archives and
Records Section made 226 accession entries. The Archives accessioned original records
from Craven, Dare, Edgecombe, Haywood, Perquimans, Pitt, Sampson, Union, Wake,
Washington, and Watauga Counties. The Archives received security microfilm of records
for Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Beaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Cabarrus,
Caldwell, Camden, Carteret, Catawba, Chatham, Cleveland, Craven, Cumberland,
Currituck, Dare, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gaston, Granville,
Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Haywood, Hertford, Iredell, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Nash,
New Hanover, Onslow, Orange, Pasquotank, Pitt, Robeson, Rockingham, Rowan,
Sampson, Stokes, Surry, Transylvania, Union, Wake, Warren, Washington, Wayne,
Wilkes, and Yadkin Counties; and for the municipalities of Aberdeen, Belmont, Clayton,
Durham, Four Oaks, Franklin, Goldsboro, Greensboro, High Point, Hope Mills,
Kernersville, Nags Head, Oak Island, Red Springs, Reidsville, Rocky Mount, Rolesville,
Sanford, and Shallotte.
The section accessioned records from the following state agencies: Department of
Community Colleges, 2 reels; Department of Economic and Community Development, 5
cubic feet; Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 12 reels; Department of
Insurance, 13 reels; Department of Transportation, 18 reels; General Assembly, 17 reels;
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Governor’s Office, 4.1 cubic feet and 2 reels; State Treasurer, 34 reels; and Supreme
Court, 124 reels (security and search room copies).
The Mary Speed Jones Mercer Papers (9 items) were accessioned as a new private collection, and 14 cubic feet were added to the Betty H. Wiser Papers. Other records
accessioned included Bible records of Nancy Amanda Davis, William W. Lawson, and
James Scroggs, added to the Bible Records; a copy of History of Fairview Methodist Church,
Altamahaw, N.C., added to the Church Records; the Henry Bowen Papers (70 items) and
the Samuel Buxton “Reminiscences,” added to the Civil War Collection of the Military
Collection; a 1968 North Carolina highway map, added to the Map Collection; 19
audiocassettes, 2 videocassettes, and 7 compact discs of veterans’ interviews, and 2,699
other items, added to the Military Collection; 1 digital audio disc and 5 videocassette tapes
added to the Non-textual Materials Collection; and records of the North Carolina Credit
Union League, North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs, North Carolina Museums
Council, American Association of University Women, Durham Symphony Orchestra,
National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators, North
Carolina Family Life Council, Raleigh Society of Internal Medicine, United Daughters of
the Confederacy-North Carolina Division, and the Women’s Forum of North Carolina,
added to the Organization Records.
Historical Publications Section
Just as traditional photography is being replaced by electronic techniques, a timely new
book from the Office of Archives and History records the names of more than 2,500 North
Carolina photographers who captured the state’s living history between 1842 and 1941.
Compiled by Stephen E. Massengill, Photographers in North Carolina: The First Century,
1842-1941 adds a deeper dimension to the state’s rich past by
presenting image-makers whose works enhance or possibly
alter our understanding of history. A sampling of the early
photographers’ striking images provides a visual record of the
remarkable accomplishments of these men and women who
have helped us to “see” the past. The biographical directory
identifies more than 2,500 photographers, many of whose
names appear only in yellowing census records, newspaper
advertisements, or town directories. In the early days, many of
those photographers were itinerants from other states. By the
twentieth century, resident image- makers had become
commonplace, particularly in the larger cities.
Photographers in North Carolina includes an introductory
essay by H. G. Jones, former director of the State Department
of Archives and History and former curator of the North Carolina Collection at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An instructive essay by Jesse R. Lankford Jr.,
currently the state archivist of North Carolina and for many years the iconographic
archivist at the North Carolina State Archives, traces the evolution of photography from
the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. A third essay by Massengill,
the book’s compiler, places a select number of early photographers in their geographic
settings.
Stephen E. Massengill, a Durham native, received an A.B. degree in history from
St. Andrews College in Laurinburg and an M.A. degree in history from North Carolina
State University in Raleigh. He is the iconographic archivist at the State Archives, where he
oversees the state’s largest photographic collection, now numbering nearly a million images.
Photographers in North Carolina: The First Century, 1842-1941 (264 pages, paperbound,
illustrated, index) costs $28.00 plus $5.00 shipping. North Carolina residents should
include 7 percent state sales tax. Order from Historical Publications Section (CC),
Office of Archives and History, 4622 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4622.
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For credit card orders, call (919) 733-7442, or use the section’s secure online shop at
http://store.yahoo.com/nc-historical-publications/. The Historical Publications Section offers
more than 160 North Carolina titles. For more information, call the number above,
e-mail trudy.rayfield@ncmail.net, or visit the online shop.
A new book about North Carolinians who served as officers during the Revolutionary
War is also now available from the section. “Fortitude and Forbearance”: The North Carolina
Continental Line in the American Revolution, 1775-1783 will have tremendous appeal for
genealogists, local historians, and readers interested in North Carolina’s role in the American Revolution.
Published in cooperation with the Society of the Cincinnati, “Fortitude and Forbearance”
lists North Carolina Continental officers with a rank of ensign or higher. The 325-page
paperback also includes North Carolina officers who served in Continental units from
other states.
Written by Lawrence E. Babits and Joshua B. Howard, “Fortitude and Forbearance”
contains a brief history of the North Carolina Continental
Line. The useful resource has rosters of officers of the ten
regiments of North Carolina Continentals and brief biographical sketches of each officer, showing their dates of service, promotions, battles fought in, wounds, and other
information.
Lawrence E. Babits received B.A. and M.A. degrees in
anthropology from the University of Maryland at College
Park and a Ph.D. in anthropology from Brown University
in Providence, R.I. Dr. Babits is the George Washington
Distinguished Professor of History in the Maritime Studies
Program at East Carolina University. Joshua B. Howard
earned a B.A. degree in history from Appalachian State
University and an M.A. degree in maritime history from
East Carolina University. He is currently a doctoral candidate
in history at Ohio State University.
“Fortitude and Forbearance”: The North Carolina Continental
Line in the American Revolution, 1775-1783 (325 pages, illustrated, index, paperback) costs
$26.40, which includes tax and shipping. Ordering information is provided above.
To complement its annual catalog of publications, the section recently printed a colorful bookmark. One side prominently displays the section’s website address, the Archives
and History centennial logo, and the cover of Tar Heels, a popular paperback published by
the section, against a bright red background. The other side shows eight popular book
covers, the online-store address, the mailing address, and telephone and fax numbers.
Printed on glossy paper and measuring 2½ by 7½ inches, this handsome bookmark was
designed by Frances Kunstling and Susan Trimble, and printed by Theo Davis Sons.
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News from State Historic Sites
Museum and Visitor Services Section
It is still safe to go to historic sites programs that include the firing of rifles and muskets, because thirty-eight people participated in the division’s most recent Historic Weapons Training Course for certified safety officers. The course, initiated by the section,
involved the shooting of several rounds of blanks prior to a live-firing exercise using real
minié balls. In their study of eighteenth- or nineteenth-century small arms, participants
learned to clean and interpret weapons. In addition to the administering of divisional safety
regulations and the safe handling of weapons, students became proficient in inspecting
weapons, transporting and storing black powder, and manufacturing ammunition. All sites
have a safety officer present for any event or demonstration involving the use of black
powder. No serious weapons accidents have occurred at sites, the result of training to
prevent accidents caused by uninspected, unsafe weapons.
The three-day course was held primarily at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum in
Sedalia. The class was the largest ever, and included staff members from a dozen state historic sites, the Museum of the Albemarle, the Museum of the Cape Fear, the Department
of Commerce, two state parks, and Historic Jefferson College in Mississippi.
Veterans’ Day activities at the State Capitol on November 11 began with Raleigh’s
twenty-third annual parade for the holiday. WTVD-TV news anchor Larry Stogner
served as the parade’s grand marshal and master of ceremonies. The procession consisted
of more than seventy units, and included veterans of World War II, the Korean War,
Vietnam, and the Gulf Wars; representatives of veterans’ associations and civic groups,
some in restored military vehicles; high school Junior ROTC units; Cub, Boy, and Girl
Scout troops; and marching bands from two Raleigh high schools and the Helping Hand
Mission. Apache helicopters from the North Carolina National Guard circled overhead.
After the parade, commemorative ceremonies at the Capitol opened with a flyover by
F-15 fighter jets from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Memorial wreaths were placed at
the Veterans’ Monument, followed by a twenty-one-gun salute and the playing of “Taps.”
The adjutant general of North Carolina, Maj. Gen. William E. Ingram Jr., addressed the
crowd. The commemoration concluded with a concert of patriotic music on the Capitol
grounds. Another free concert for veterans was presented by the North Carolina Symphony that afternoon elsewhere in downtown Raleigh. More than 3,500 people attended
the parade, memorial ceremony, and band concert, which were organized by the Wake
County Council of Veterans Organizations.
Although ballots for the state’s 2004 presidential election were cast on November 2,
the results only become official after the state’s electors convened in the Capitol at noon
on December 13. The fifty-fourth quadrennial meeting of the North Carolina Electoral
College was held in the House Chamber of the Capitol. As mandated by federal law, electors representing each congressional district cast ballots for the official election of the U.S.
president and vice-president. The ballots were counted, certified, and sent to Washington,
D.C., for the final national tabulation. The meeting of the Electoral College was organized
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by Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and her staff. The session was open to the public,
with additional seating available in the Senate Chamber, where the ceremony could be
viewed on closed-circuit television.
North Carolina Transportation Museum
The recurring special presentation, A Day Out With Thomas, attracted approximately
28,000 visitors to the museum during the first two weekends of October, an increase of
more than 4,000 over last year’s event. The larger crowds meant more work for museum
staff and volunteers, but everyone did a great job caring for visitors and bringing smiles to
the faces of toddlers. The event, which features the ever-popular Thomas the Tank
Engine®, also generated substantial
media interest: a Charlotte television news crew was on site, and
the Raleigh News and Observer
printed a lengthy feature.
In November a car that has
come to define luxury was featured at the museum, when the
Rebel Region Rolls-Royce Owners Club celebrated the automobile
maker’s centennial with a show
that was the first of its kind at the
site. Rolls owners had their cars on
display, along with other British
®
luxury automobiles, such as JagThe always-popular Thomas the Tank Engine attracted
uars, Austin-Healeys, and
large crowds to the North Carolina Transportation Museum
in October.
Bentleys. Admission to the show
and all museum exhibits was free.
The Rolls-Royce company, one of the most famous names in engineering, began operations in 1904, through an unlikely partnership between Charles Stewart Rolls, scion of a
wealthy London family owning a company that sold quality cars, and Frederick Henry
Royce, a mechanic from a humble background. The two met and quickly reached an agreement—Royce’s electrical and mechanical company, Royce Limited, would manufacture cars
to be sold by C. S. Rolls and Company; the cars would bear the name Rolls-Royce. The
first model was produced that December. In 1906 the Rolls-Royce company was formed,
and the now-famous Silver Ghost model was launched.
Elmer Lam, for ten years president and currently vice-president of the museum’s foundation, received the Gertrude S. Carraway Award of Merit from Preservation North
Carolina during a ceremony in Asheville. The award, named for the late Dr. Carraway,
New Bern historian and preservationist, has been presented annually since 1974 to
acknowledge significant achievements in historic preservation. Lam was recognized for his
efforts to preserve Spencer Shops, once a Southern Railway repair facility for steam locomotives and now the North Carolina Transportation Museum. His initiative helped save
two enormous buildings, for which the museum gained national recognition. Lam’s efforts
secured $4.5 million from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)
to restore the Bob Julian Roundhouse, a project completed in 1996. Then he pushed to
preserve the mammoth Back Shop, leading to another $6 million from NCDOT to stabilize the building. When completed at an estimated cost of $32 million, the Back Shop will
house exhibits on transportation.
Northeastern Historic Sites Section
In September 2003 Hurricane Isabel devastated the town of Edenton. The circa 1782
Barker House, part of the guided walking tour led by Historic Edenton staff, was badly
damaged during the storm. Floodwaters rose waist-high inside the house, winds blew off
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the northeast chimney top, and a
large hole was gouged in a corner of
the parlor. Repairs have been made to
the electrical systems, plaster, and
flooring, and the heating and air-conditioning system was replaced. The
building reopened to the public in
February 2004. In August the town
planning board approved a request by
the Edenton Historical Commission to
raise the Barker House ten feet above
sea level. An Edenton company elevated the building in time to reopen
for the Christmas Candlelight Tour in
The historic Barker House, exposed to the vicissitudes
December. The Barker House was the
of nature on the Edenton waterfront, has recently been
home of Thomas and Penelope
elevated to a more secure height.
Barker, who was reported to have
presided over the Edenton Tea Party
on October 25, 1774.
A few weeks before his death, longtime radio and television personality Ray Wilkinson
received the Old North State Award, in recognition of nearly forty years as an agricultural
broadcaster and his work with the Historical Halifax Restoration Association. Wilkinson had
been the sole chairman of the association that he helped form in 1954. Today, it is one of
the oldest support groups of state historic sites. Wilkinson led the way in creating the Historic Halifax site and personally donated many valuable artifacts. Staci Meyer, chief deputy
secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources, presented the award, established by
Gov. Michael F. Easley, on September 21 in the State Capitol. Wilkinson died on
December 3 at age seventy-nine.
Piedmont Historic Sites Section
This year’s twenty-fifth Colonial Living Week at Alamance Battleground, October 11-15,
was another tremendous success, with 2,151 students and teachers from public, private,
and home schools enjoying presentations of eighteenth-century backcountry life. In addition to viewing the site’s audiovisual program and walking the grounds, students experienced a cider press in operation, a lecture about artillery, a musketry demonstration, a
shaving horse, eighteenth-century cooking, candle dipping, colonial toys, a box loom,
blacksmithing, and surveying. WFMY-TV of Greensboro provided morning and noon
coverage of the program.
Over the past few summers, the Alamance-Burlington school system has worked with
the Alamance County Area Chamber of Commerce, Alamance Community College, and
Elon University to offer a School-to-Careers Jobs Educator Internship Program. Participating teachers representing various specialties complete applications in which they identify professions of personal interest. Program administrators then match educators with area
businesses or other entities in their selected fields for two-and-a-half-day, on-the-job
training. Using these real-life experiences, teachers prepare lesson plans to introduce students to specific careers. Some of the mentors under whom the teachers work visit classrooms to speak to students. For participating in the program, educators earn continuing
education credits and receive stipends. The school system and the community also benefit
from the cooperative venture. Two teachers who completed internships at Alamance
Battleground over the last two years, Tim Calicutt and Sabrina Frizzell, learned about
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operating a state historic site. In return, they provided site staff with needed assistance and
mature insights.
At the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, the annual It’s About Time event drew
participants and exhibitors from the mountains to the coast, despite one day of inclement
weather. The Mountain Farm Museum in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and
Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens both sent staff members to Sedalia. Five other state
historic sites were represented at the event. City museums from Charlotte, Greensboro,
High Point, and Raleigh, and several specialty museums also had demonstrators or exhibits. Other agencies in attendance included the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, Angela
Peterson Doll Museum, Furniture Discovery Center, Guilford Native American Art
Gallery, Historic Oak View County Park, Mordecai Historic Park, NC ECHO, North
Carolina Museum of History, North Carolina Pottery Center, Schiele Museum, and
Tobacco Farm Life Museum.
Guests at Duke Homestead on two Friday nights in December recalled how people of
the Piedmont celebrated the Christmas holidays 130 years ago. The old Washington Duke
homestead literally glowed during the Christmas by Candlelight program, which recalled a
typical Christmas of the 1870s. Visitors toured the 1852-vintage house by candlelight,
gathered in the parlor to sing carols, enjoyed apple cider and cookies, and listened to nineteenth-century Christmas stories around a roaring bonfire. The program featured Reed’s
Dandy Boys playing traditional music on nineteenth-century-style instruments with
melodies from the 1850s through the 1870s.
George W. Willcox, former resident of the House in the Horseshoe and author of
several historical books, including the authoritative A History of the House in the Horseshoe:
Her People and Her Deep River Neighbors, died August 31. The Willcox family has lived
in the Chatham-Moore County area since 1768. George Willcox was a generous and
consistent supporter of the historic site.
Roanoke Island Festival Park
Roanoke Island Festival Park (RIFP) received $318,969 from the Department of Cultural Resources Repair and Renovation Fund for the replacement of the sternpost on the
Elizabeth II. The deterioration of the
sternpost was identified during the ship’s
comprehensive inspection in January
2004. At that time, it was determined
that the vessel could return safely to her
home port at RIFP but must undergo a
three- to four-month haul-out over the
winter.
The repairs will be done at the
Wanchese Seafood Industrial Park by
Hadden Boat Company of Georgetown,
Maine, which helped build the boat
twenty-one years ago. They are master
craftsmen specializing in wooden boat
The Elizabeth II, site of the filming of an upcoming
repair and maintenance, and have perseries on the History Channel, has been hauled out
formed other repairs to the vessel. The
for annual maintenance and the repair of its
ship is expected to return to port by
deteriorated sternpost.
March 1.
Routine maintenance of the Elizabeth
II is traditionally conducted in January and February while the public areas of the park
are closed for the season. The annual inspection includes surveying the hull and removing
barnacles, painting the ship’s bottom, equipment maintenance, and minor wood repairs.
Every five years, a certified professional marine surveyor conducts a more in-depth
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inspection. It was during this comprehensive examination that the deterioration in the
ship’s stern was discovered.
Before being hauled out for repairs, the Elizabeth II was the site of the filming of a new
series for the History Channel. Lone Wolf Documentary Group of Portland, Maine, was at
RIFP on September 23 to film Conquest of America: The Southeast. The four-part series will
be presented in one-hour segments beginning in April 2005. The Elizabeth II was selected
over several other vessels along the East Coast because of the quality of her construction
and rigging, and overall authentic appearance.
The program, Conquest of America: The Southeast, is a story of global politics between
European powers in the mid-1500s. The Elizabeth II is a perfect choice for the setting
since it is a representative sixteenth-century vessel that sailed to the New World in 1585.
In the film, Spain and France each selected their finest naval officers to lay claim to the
virgin Florida coast and all its riches. The conflict between the two naval officers was the
main focus of the filming aboard the Elizabeth II. Members of the staff and volunteer crew
at the park portrayed shipboard life of the period.
The annual, two-day Elizabethan Tymes: A Country Faire opened on November 13
with a Faire Parade. The Royal Court arrived at the Town of Manteo docks and was
escorted across the Cora Mae Basnight Bridge to formally open the event at RIFP. Visitors
stepped back four hundred years to the
Renaissance era to experience a variety of entertainments. Children
learned dance of the period,
enjoyed juggling demonstrations
and stilt walking, and participated in
a tournament of Nine-Man Morris
and games of Skittles and Simon
Says. Demonstrations included log
hewing, cooking, clothes dyeing,
blacksmithing, woodworking,
archery, and spinning.
The Guilde of St. Andrew,
based in Raleigh and frequent participants in special events at the
park, appeared at the fair. They
offered a variety of educational
activities about sixteenth-century
The Society for Creative Anachronism demonstrated
life for both adults and children,
Renaissance-era weaponry at the Elizabethan Tymes: A
including holding court with the
Country Faire festivities at Roanoke Island Festival Park. Queen, knighting ceremonies, and
court protocol. The Society for
Creative Anachronism, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the re-creation, study, and
teaching of Middle Age and Renaissance history, demonstrated fencing and period
weapon skills in a living history camp. A mock battle involving the Silver Chalice, the Elizabeth II’s boat, was staged in Shallowbag Bay. Other weapon demonstrations involved
matchlocks, swivel guns, and hail-shot firing. Pike drills were held throughout the event.
M. Charles—A Retrospective opened in the Art Gallery at the park on November 3 and
was on display throughout the month. M. Charles, the pseudonym of Donald Leary, came
to the area in the early 1950s and, through his artwork, caught the essence of the Outer
Banks before it was developed. The paintings were on loan from various local collectors.
An opening reception was held on Sunday, November 7.
Leary, a self-taught landscape painter, moved to the Outer Banks from Gloucester,
Virginia. His style captured the natural beauty of the area in its undisturbed serenity. His
paintings depict the underlying spirit of the land before the invasion of high-rise hotels,
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fast-food restaurants, and multi-family cottages. Even though Leary’s land- and seascapes
are similar in subject matter, they each have a unique individuality.
Leary completed over 2,500 paintings from 1954 until his death in 1991. While many
of his works were sold to area residents, visitors also purchased the paintings as mementos
of their visit to the Outer Banks. They were often sold before the paint was dry. Leary’s
works are still sought by collectors trying to recapture the natural beauty of the barrier
islands.
Southeastern Historic Sites Section
In November Fort Fisher opened an exhibit featuring three authentic cannons made in
Britain, imported through the blockade, and used at the fort during the Civil War. The
artillery pieces were loaned by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the Navy
Yard in Washington, D.C. The largest gun on display is the mighty 16,000-pound
Armstrong tube, which can fire a 150-pound projectile about five miles. Master riflesmith
John Braxton of Alamance County built a special 12,000-pound reproduction mount for
the rifled Armstrong. For more than fifty years, Braxton has been making and restoring
nineteenth-century weapons and related artifacts, including all the cannon carriages at
Alamance Battleground. The powerful Armstrong gun will be on exhibit at the fort for
fifteen months, after which a replica will be installed in its place. The other two cannons
(from the navy) are a Blakely and a breech-loading Whitworth, whose fire was so effective
that the fleet blockading the mouth of the Cape Fear River at times had to move farther
out to sea to avoid its accuracy and range.
This powerful Armstrong cannon has been returned on loan to Fort Fisher, the site of its capture in
January 1865. Timothy O’Sullivan photographed the massive artillery piece shortly after the
occupation of the fort by Union troops (left). The gun now rests in a carriage custom-built by John
Braxton, a master gunsmith from Alamance County (right).
A new accessibility project for handicapped visitors is being completed at Fort Fisher.
The trail is approximately one-half mile long and will provide access from the visitor center around the archaeological remains of the fort, replacing a gravel path. A boardwalk is
being constructed along the marsh below Shepard’s Battery. Exterior exhibits are situated
adjacent to the trail. Considerable care was taken during the design process to create a trail
that would be sensitive to the cultural environment and blend with the natural setting.
Several accessibility projects have been completed at Fort Fisher in the past few years.
In 1996 handicapped-accessible parking spaces were added at Battle Acre, along with a
3,040-foot accessible trail parallel to the oceanfront. In 1999-2000, a major building renovation brought the visitor center and restrooms up to code. Contractors added handicapped parking spaces in the visitor center parking lot and completed an accessible trail
from the center to the underwater archaeology exhibit building in 2001.
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Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens
The twenty-fourth MUMfest weekend was held October 9-10 in downtown New
Bern. Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens again supported the traditional fall event by
opening its beautiful gardens free to the public for three days. The palace gardens were
ablaze with color from more than 2,500 chrysanthemums in full bloom. Held in conjunction with MUMfest, the annual heritage plant sale featured perennials, herbs, annuals,
trees, and shrubs. Tryon Palace’s master gardeners were available to answer questions
about the collection of unique, rare, and historic plants offered for sale. A special lecture,
“Fall is for Planting,” was presented during the festive weekend.
The palace and the James City Historical Society have continued joint sponsorship of a
lecture series in black history. In October Dr. W. Avon Drake, award-winning coauthor
of Affirmative Action and the Stalled Quest for Black Progress and associate professor at Virginia
Commonwealth University, spoke on “Bill Cosby and the New Black Agenda: How We
Made It This Far.” Professor Drake discussed Dr. Cosby’s remarks at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People gala in May 2004, which marked the fiftieth
anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s school desegregation decision in Brown v. Board
of Education. In November Dr. Karl Campbell lectured on “North Carolina: Civil Rights
and Wrongs in the Twentieth Century.” He explored the history of civil rights in North
Carolina, from the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 to the recent court ruling that ended
busing in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system.
USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial
The battleship memorial served as the starting point for the sixth annual Battleship
Half Marathon on November 14. The challenging USA Track & Field certified course
runs through downtown Wilmington and loops around Greenfield Lake. This year’s race
was dedicated to the memory of Capt. Christopher Cash, a North Carolina National
Guardsman who was killed in service in Iraq on June 24. A native of Old Orchard Beach,
Maine, and a graduate of East Carolina University, Captain Cash resided in Winterville
and worked as an exercise physiologist. He had run in the half marathon in Wilmington
two years ago. His widow and eldest son participated in this year’s event. News of the
dedication reached his former comrades in Iraq, and one of them, Capt. Greg Bunck of
Clinton, decided to organize a half marathon there on the same weekend as the race in
Wilmington. The committee that organized and operated the Battleship Half Marathon
adopted the Iraqian counterpart, supplying the contestants with numbers, certificates,
tee shirts, and all the give-aways that were distributed in Wilmington.
Western Historic Sites Section
A book signing for a groundbreaking new biography of North Carolina’s nineteenth-century icon Zebulon Baird Vance (1830-1894) was held in November at
the Vance Birthplace. Gordon B. McKinney, director of the Appalachian Center and
professor of history at Berea College in Kentucky, signed copies of Zeb Vance: North
Carolina’s Civil War Governor and Gilded Age Political Leader, and discussed new insights
into Vance’s life and career. Published by the University of North Carolina Press, the
496-page book traces Vance’s life from his mountain roots in Buncombe County to his
service as state legislator, congressman, Confederate colonel, Civil War governor, and
postwar U.S. senator. McKinney’s study of this towering figure in state history is the
first biography of Vance in decades and presents him as a far more complex figure than
previously recognized.
Though he campaigned to keep North Carolina in the Union, Vance joined the
Confederate army once southern troops fired on Fort Sumter, rising to the rank of colonel. Elected governor of the state as the soldiers’ candidate in 1862, Vance served two
terms. One of his principal achievements as governor was maintaining the rule of law,
making North Carolina the only Confederate state that did not suspend the right of
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habeas corpus. Viewed as a champion of individual rights, Vance was beloved by many
North Carolinians. However, McKinney’s book shows that Vance was not as progressive as earlier biographers have suggested. During Reconstruction, he was a tireless
advocate for whites, leading the state to identify with the white supremacy movement.
The book also links Vance to the creation of a postbellum political culture in North
Carolina that was elitist and unresponsive.
The Vance family’s pioneer homestead, settled in 1795, is nestled in picturesque
Reems Creek Valley, shadowed by the mountains of the Blue Ridge, and includes a visitor center, a reconstructed log house, and six outbuildings.
The Fort Dobbs Alliance, the new support group for Fort Dobbs State Historic Site,
held a well-attended public meeting in Statesville in November, at which tourism
expert Dr. Larry Gustke of North Carolina State University released a new report. He
suggested that Fort Dobbs, if fully developed as a state historic site, could potentially
draw as many as 100,000 visitors annually and generate an economic impact of nearly
$25 million. Attendance at that level could help support more than 350 new jobs in the
state’s tourism industry. Gustke, co-director of the Cooperative Research Center of
Tourism at the university, based his findings on a model for economic impact created
for the National Park Service. Full development of Fort Dobbs as envisioned would
include a reconstructed fort from the French and Indian War, a visitor center, a
Cherokee encampment, a frontier farm, and a museum. The site would feature
substantial living history programs and special events. A preliminary estimate of the
cost of such development is approximately $13 million.
Among the featured speakers at the Statesville forum were Chandler Bryan, chair of
the alliance; Dr. Jerry C. Cashion, chair of the North Carolina Historical Commission;
Lisbeth C. Evans, secretary of Cultural Resources; and Kay Williams, director of state historic sites. After their presentations, site manager Beth Carter discussed a tentative schedule
and preliminary budget figures for development. Dr. Larry Babits of East Carolina University is already at work updating earlier incomplete archaeological studies of the site. With
hard work, good fortune, and effective fundraising, a full reconstruction of the fort may be
anticipated by 2009.
The 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War began this year and will continue
through 2013. As part of that remembrance, Fort Dobbs will hold special observances in
2006, the 250th anniversary of construction of the fortification, and in 2010, the 250th
anniversary of the only known direct attack upon the fort. This is exciting news for a site
that for many years has been underdeveloped because of the lack of adequate historical and
archaeological information upon which to base an accurate reconstruction. Now, however, it appears that new
data—and new ways of analyzing
and interpreting it—can justify
reconstruction of the fort.
Aerial photograph of the site of Fort
Dobbs, Iredell County, 1970. The
ten-acre property was acquired by the
state the following year and opened as
a state historic site in 1973. But
without meaningful archaeological
information, development and
interpretation of the site has
languished until now.
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News from State History Museums
Mountain Gateway Museum
The museum has added a satellite exhibit space with a unique history, within walking
distance of the main building. The Old Fort railroad depot, built in 1892 for the comfort
of passengers on the Western North Carolina Railroad, has been renovated as a part of a
North Carolina Department of Transportation initiative to refurbish rail facilities along the
historic Salisbury-to-Asheville corridor. Passenger service was discontinued along the line
in 1975, but the State hopes to eventually restore rail travel to western North Carolina. In
the meantime, Southern Railway (which absorbed the Western North Carolina Railroad in
1905) has given the station to the Town of Old Fort, which in turn requested the assistance
of the Mountain Gateway Museum to establish a railroad museum in the building.
Renovation began in early 2004. Ellen Harris of Harris Architects, a specialist in historic preservation whose previous projects included Fort Hill, the home of John C.
Calhoun on the campus of Clemson University, led the restoration. Despite a series of
unavoidable delays, not the least of which was the disruption caused by flooding engendered by two hurricanes that pummeled the mountain region in September, the work was
completed in November. The most serious structural challenge was the removal of more
than twenty layers of paint, the accumulation of more than a century. The ticket windows, waiting rooms, mailroom, and freight areas once again look as they did in the late
nineteenth century. A permanent exhibit on the history of the Western North Carolina
Railroad, designed, installed, and maintained by the staff of the Mountain Gateway
Museum, is now open for visitation.
North Carolina Maritime Museum, Beaufort
The public’s continuing fascination with wooden boats and the desire to learn to build
one’s own has drawn literally hundreds of aficionados from all over the country to the
North Carolina Maritime Museum since the mid-1970s. Today, the Boatbuilding Skills
classes taught in the Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center are designed for both novices
and experienced woodworkers.
A wide range of topics allows participants numerous options. They may choose to
enroll in the Diesel Maintenance and 12-volt Electrical Systems classes to learn basic maintenance procedures for marine diesel engines and to understand the electrical system of their
boat in a practical, hands-on manner. If the interest runs to ship-model building, the Lift
Half Model Making class is recommended as the place to begin a woodworking, model
making, or boatbuilding experience. Lofting classes instruct students in the process of taking rough plans, which usually come as scale drawings and tables of numbers, and producing full-sized patterns from which a boat can be built.
Instruction in Oar Making, Spar Making, and Sail Making provides students with a takehome product, either a set of oars, a spar, a ditty bag, or a set of sails. Woodworking Joints
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teaches students the proper ways to hold and use a variety of tools, as well as essential
woodworking techniques. As the plane is a fundamental woodworking instrument, participants in the Plane Making class learn about the various applications for the tool. Besides
learning the proper manner to use the plane to achieve the desired result, students will also
be shown how to sharpen, tune, and set the blade. By the end of class, they will have each
built their own plane.
Boatbuilding Carpentry remains the most popular of the Boatbuilding Skills classes. A
prerequisite for the weeklong boatbuilding courses, students work as a team to construct a
scaled-down, nine- to ten-foot
version of a traditional flatbottomed skiff. New for 2005 are
the Advanced Boatbuilding Carpentry
and Advanced Boatbuilding classes.
Students in the latter will construct a small (up to fifteen feet)
round-bottomed boat over a
one-week period. In both of the
weeklong boatbuilding classes,
students take home the boat that
they build.
While all of these classes are
designed for students aged sixteen
to adult, there is one course that
These executives from State Farm Insurance Company
was created specifically for adults recently completed a team-building exercise by constructing
and children. Build a Boat in a Day boats at the North Carolina Maritime Museum. Paul
is a six-hour class in which adult Fontenoy (left), curator of maritime research at the museum,
and child teams construct a
and Bill Trahman (center, in dark shirt), a volunteer who
seven-foot, ten-inch flat-bottomed developed the Build a Boat in a Day class, provided the
plywood boat suitable for rowing instruction.
or paddling. Each team may have
as many as four members, one of
whom must be an adult. The minimum age limit for the class is eight years.
Most of these courses are held on Saturdays and Sundays, from 9:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.
Boatbuilding classes in which full-sized boats are constructed run continuously for nine
days. All classes are held in the Watercraft Center, a classic wooden structure that opens
onto Taylors Creek, where there is a steady parade of boats of every description. For a
brochure and schedule of the 2005 Boatbuilding Skills classes, contact the North Carolina
Maritime Museum weekdays at (252) 728-7317, or by e-mail at maritime@ncmail.net.
North Carolina Museum of History
A kitchen table that once served as a focal point of the Civil Rights movement in
Raleigh was donated to the museum by the family of Ralph Campbell Sr. and June Kay
Campbell. Museum staff members visited the Campbell home on October 19 to receive
the table. Former state auditor Ralph Campbell Jr., one of the Campbells’ four children,
was present for the occasion.
The “Oval Table Gang” met almost nightly in the kitchen of the Campbells’
Raleigh home from the 1960s through 1983, when Ralph Campbell Sr. died. The
group gathered to discuss strategy, organize protests, and generate support for African
American candidates for public office. The “gang” included Campbell, leader of the
Wake County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People in the 1950s and 1960s; the Reverend Arthur Calloway, late rector of St. Ambrose
Episcopal Church; former Wake County sheriff John Baker; Dan Blue, former speaker
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of the North Carolina House of Representatives; Wake County commissioner Harold
Webb; state senator Vernon Malone; and Superior Court judge Stafford G. Bullock.
On October 2, the museum hosted the third annual Symposium on Civil Rights, a
series of conferences that explores specific aspects of the Civil Rights movement and
their relevance to contemporary issues. The focus of this year’s conference was the history and current status of health care for Native Americans and African Americans in the
Tar Heel State. Titled “Health is a Civil Right! Health Care Matters in North
Carolina,” the symposium featured scholars in the field and health care professionals
who spoke on a variety of related topics. Dr. Todd L. Savitt, historian of medicine at
the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, shared his extensive knowledge of the Leonard Medical School at Shaw University, the first black medical school
in the state. Irene R. Clark discussed the history of St. Agnes Hospital, founded in
Raleigh in 1896 to provide medical care and training for African Americans. Mary Sue
Locklear, a Lumbee Indian from Robeson County, revealed some of the traditional
herbal remedies handed down through generations of her family. Two daughters shared
insights about the difficulties their late fathers encountered as pioneering black physicians. C. Eileen Watts Welch, associate dean of the Duke University School of Nursing, discussed the career of
Dr. Charles D. Watts, the first board-certified African American physician in the state.
Carol Quigless of Tarboro spoke of the racial barriers her father, Dr. Milton D. Quigless
Sr., had to overcome to practice medicine in eastern North Carolina.
Pam Saulsby of WRAL-TV moderated a panel discussion that included Sally Marks,
executive director of the Basic Education Resource Treatment in Raleigh, an AIDS and
HIV outreach group; Melvin Jackson, program director for Project Direct, a communitybased diabetes intervention initiative; and Cherry M. Beasley, an assistant professor at the
University of North Carolina at Pembroke, who is involved in the Native American
Breast Mammography Project. The symposium also featured a health fair, in which representatives from regional care organizations offered free screenings and distributed relevant
information. GlaxoSmithKline, WakeMed, and the North Carolina Museum of History
Associates provided funding for the conference.
In January the museum brings back an old favorite in a new form. First Families of
North Carolina was first presented in 1997 and again in 2001 to coincide with the gubernatorial inauguration. This year a revised and expanded exhibit, rechristened A State of
Change: North Carolina and Its Governors, will mark the occasion. The new interpretation
places the governors and their families more squarely in the context of their times, with an
emphasis upon everyday objects from more than four hundred years of North Carolina
history. Period artifacts will complement the traditional array of clothing and accessories,
household furnishings, portraits and photographs, and personal belongings of the
governors and their families.
Several unique items acquired since the last running of First Families of North Carolina
will be featured in the expanded exhibit, including an oil portrait of Susannah Sarah
Washington Graham, wife of Gov. William A. Graham, and a bookcase-on-chest given as
a wedding present by Gov. Jesse Franklin to his daughter. The dramatic red gown worn
by First Lady Mary Easley to the 2001 Inaugural Ball will be on display for the first time,
as will an elaborate lace dress worn by the wife of Gov. William W. Kitchin to a
post-inaugural reception in 1909.
A number of familiar items will return to the gallery, such as the dazzling collection of
nineteen inaugural gowns worn by first ladies of North Carolina. Other popular pieces
from the previous exhibits include a small crystal and silver perfume bottle that belonged
to Henrietta Settle Reid, wife of Gov. David Settle Reid; the thin gold wedding band of
Martitia Daniel Worth, wife of Gov. Jonathan Worth; and a black beaver top hat worn by
Gov. W. Kerr Scott.
A State of Change will run through September 4. Because of the fragile nature of the
inaugural suits and ball gowns, lights will be maintained at low levels in the gallery.
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Upcoming Events
January 9
North Carolina Museum of History: John Dee Holeman and Lightnin’
Wells. Two master singer-guitarists celebrate the blues Piedmont style in
this afternoon performance cosponsored by PineCone. 3:00 to 4:00 P.M.
January 12
North Carolina Museum of History: History à la Carte: North
Carolina Freedom Monument Project. Audrey L. Galloway,
executive director of the project, discusses the efforts to conceive, finance,
and create a significant work of public art with which to honor the African
American experience in North Carolina. 12:10 to 1:00 P.M.
January 13
North Carolina Maritime Museum, Beaufort: Speaker Series. Richard
Evans—actor, theatrical producer, illustrator, and author—discusses his
novel, Life of the Eagle, focusing upon a fictional adventure aboard a slave
ship. 3:00 P.M.
January 14
North Carolina Maritime Museum, Beaufort: Tours of Artifact
Repository. Learn about the ongoing research concerning the Queen
Anne’s Revenge and view the shipwreck diorama and artifacts. Hourly
tours begin at the Gallants Channel site. Reservations required. Adults
$5.00; children ten and under admitted free with an adult. 1:00, 2:00,
and 3:00 P.M.
January 15
North Carolina Maritime Museum, Beaufort: From the Attic. Opening of
exhibit featuring a variety of objects from the museum’s collection,
including maritime artifacts, natural history specimens, and artwork, not
usually on display. Exhibit will run through March 20.
North Carolina Museum of History: A State of Change: North Carolina
and Its Governors. Opening of exhibit examining the leaders of North
Carolina for the past four hundred years. The display includes photographs
and artifacts offering glimpses into the lives of governors and their families.
The exhibit will run through September 4.
January 15-16
Fort Fisher: 140th Anniversary of the Capture of Fort Fisher. Living
history program featuring a re-creation of the 1865 battle, special tours,
and artillery demonstrations. Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M., Sunday,
1:00 to 4:00 P.M.
January 20
Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens. African American Lecture.
Dr. Todd L. Savitt, historian of medicine at the Brody School of Medicine
at East Carolina University, will present an illustrated lecture on “Entering
a White Profession: Black Physicians in the Turn-of-the-Century South.”
Cosponsored by the James City Historical Society. 7:00 P.M.
January 22
North Carolina Museum of History: African American Cultural
Celebration. The fourth annual celebration of the state’s African American
heritage features music, crafts, storytellers, and food. 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
January 29
Historic Bath: Lecture. David La Vere, professor of history at the
University of North Carolina at Wilmington, will discuss “North
Carolina Indians before the English.” Cosponsored by the Historic Bath
Book Club, with funding provided by the North Carolina Humanities
Council. 10:00 A.M.
February 9
North Carolina Museum of History: History à la Carte: Creating A
State of Change. Louise Benner and RaeLana Poteat, associate curators for
the exhibit, A State of Change: North Carolina and Its Governors, discuss the
development of the project and present several unique gubernatorial
artifacts. 12:10 to 1:00 P.M.
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Upcoming Events
February 11
North Carolina Maritime Museum, Beaufort: Tours of Artifact
Repository. Learn about the ongoing research concerning the Queen
Anne’s Revenge and view the shipwreck diorama and artifacts. Hourly tours
begin at the Gallants Channel site. Reservations required. Adults $5.00;
children ten and under admitted free with an adult. 1:00, 2:00, and
3:00 P.M.
February 12
Museum of the Albemarle: Civil War Naval Living History. Third
annual outdoor program features exhibits, displays, and re-enactors
highlighting period shipbuilding, navigation, medicine, artillery, and
weaponry. Includes lectures on Lt. William B. Cushing, who sank the
CSS Albemarle, and the raid of Union Gen. Edward A. Wild’s African
American troops into northeastern North Carolina. 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.
February 13
North Carolina Museum of History: Magic of African Rhythm. In this
segment of the Music of the Carolinas series, the Shabu family weaves
African music, dance, and folklore into a richly textured cultural
experience. Cosponsored by PineCone. 3:00 to 4:00 P.M.
February 17
Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens: African American Lecture.
Ahmed Daniels compares the objectives, messages, and legacies of two
seeming polarities of the Civil Rights movement in his presentation,
“Minister Malcolm X and Dr. Martin L. King Jr.: Were Their Struggles
the Same?” Cosponsored by the James City Historical Society. 7:00 P.M.
February 19-20
Roanoke Island Festival Park: A Civil War Living History Weekend.
This annual commemoration of the anniversary of the Battle of Roanoke
Island includes living history demonstrations, artillery drills, lectures, book
signings, blacksmithing, leatherworking, and quilting. A $5.00 donation per
family is suggested. Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Sunday, 10:00 A.M.
to 3:00 P.M.
February 20
Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex: LIVE! At the Arsenal.
Docents in period uniforms lead tours of the complex and discuss the
history of the North Carolina Arsenal at Fayetteville. 1:00 to 5:00 P.M.
North Carolina Museum of History: Growing Up in the Executive
Mansion. Hector MacLean, son of Gov. Angus Wilton McLean
(1925-1929) and Margaret Jones French McLean, shares recollections of his
childhood in the governor’s mansion. A reception will follow the program.
3:00 to 4:00 P.M. Register by February 17 at (919) 807-7875.
February 23
Historic Bath: Creating Eighteenth-Century Style Clothing.
Workshop designed to help area residents in the preparation of period
clothing appropriate for the tri-centennial celebration of the founding of
Bath. 10:00 A.M.
February 24
Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex: Arsenal Roundtable.
Charles Anderson Jr., professor of history at Central Texas College,
presents the program, “Red, White, Blue and Black: A History of African
Americans in the United States Military, 1775 to 1865.” 7:00 P.M.
February 27
North Carolina Museum of History: They Call Me Big House.
Legendary basketball coach Clarence E. “Big House” Gaines reminisces on
his forty- seven-year career at Winston-Salem State University and relates
how he used the sport to bring together people divided by race and
culture. A book signing will follow the program. 3:00 to 4:00 P.M.
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Upcoming Events
March 1-4
North Carolina Museum of History: African American History Tour.
Learn about former Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association basketball
stars in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, as well as other famous
African Americans from the Tar Heel State. 1:30 to 2:30 P.M.
March 6
Roanoke Island Festival Park: Priceless Pieces Past and Present Quilt
Extravaganza. Opening reception for the eighth annual communitybased show featuring more than eighty quilts, old and new. 2:00 to
4:00 P.M. The quilts will be on display March 1-25.
March 9
North Carolina Museum of History: History à la Carte: March
Madness. The museum offers a timely program featuring sportswriter Bill
Brill, author of three books on Duke University basketball, who provides
an overview of the history of college basketball with an emphasis on
memorable March contests. 12:10 to 1:00 P.M.
March 11-13
North Carolina Museum of History: Artists at Work: Piedmont
Rughookers. Watch talented craftspeople turn empty canvasses into
completed rugs. 1:00 to 3:00 P.M.
March 12
CSS Neuse: Scuttled: the Inglorious Fate of the CSS Neuse. The
140th anniversary of the sinking of the ironclad is commemorated with a
living history program featuring Confederate navy re-enactors and
highlighted by a reading of the roster of the vessel’s crew and a naval
artillery salute over the Neuse River. 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
March 13
Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum: Griffith Davis Photographs.
Opening of traveling exhibit from Duke University Center for
Documentary Studies featuring pictures of Palmer Memorial Institute
(now the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum) taken by Griffith Davis in
1947.
North Carolina Museum of History: Gaelwynd. This edition of the
Music of the Carolinas series features the four-piece Celtic band from
Winston-Salem that re-creates the beautiful haunting melodies of the
British Isles. Cosponsored by PineCone. 3:00 to 4:00 P.M.
March 16
Alamance Battleground: Anniversary of the Battle of Alamance. The
234th anniversary of the battle that effectively terminated the Regulator
movement in North Carolina is commemorated with a wreath-laying
ceremony and a covered dish picnic. 6:00 P.M.
March 17
Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens: African American Lecture.
Dr. Booker T. Anthony assesses the role of the “African American Church
in Works by Ernest J. Gaines.” In such books as A Lesson Before Dying, A
Gathering of Old Men, and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Gaines
quietly challenged the traditional construct of the church as the pillar of
faith for African American communities. Cosponsored by the James City
Historical Society. 7:00 P.M.
March 19
Historic Bath: Lecture. Perry Mathewes of the Norfolk Botanical Garden
discusses “The Natural World of John Lawson,” focusing on the activities
of the eighteenth-century naturalist in North Carolina, and his importance
to the founding of Bath. Cosponsored by the Historic Bath Book Club.
10:00 A.M.
North Carolina Museum of History: North Carolina’s First Ladies.
Louise Benner and RaeLana Poteat, associate curators, examine the public
and private lives of some of the wives of governors featured in their exhibit,
A State of Change: North Carolina and Its Governors. 1:30 to 2:30 P.M.
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Upcoming Events
March 19
Reed Gold Mine: Twenty-sixth Annual Gold Rush Run. Races
include a half marathon, an eight-kilometer run, the Mile Fun Run, and a
competitive walk. Runners are encouraged to pre-register. Fee for
participants, free for spectators. Cosponsored by the Gold History
Corporation and Phidippides Sports Center of Concord. 7:00 A.M. to
2:00 P.M.
Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens: Lecture. In “The Lost Light: A
Civil War History of Extinguished Southern Sentinels and Hidden
Lighthouse Lenses,” author Kevin Duffus shares the history of the missing
Fresnel lens from the Cape Hatteras lighthouse and discusses other southern
lighthouses of the Civil War. $4.00 admission fee. 10:00 A.M.
March 19-20
Bentonville Battlefield: 140th Anniversary Battle Commemoration.
Re-enactors from around the country will participate in the largest battle
reenactment ever held in the state. Other scheduled events include lectures,
a Sunday morning church service, and tours of the Harper House. Tickets
required for viewing the battle; other events are free. For more
information, call (910) 594-0789, or visit the website,
www.bentonvillereenactment.com.
March 20
Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens: African American Historic
Downtown Walking Tour. Aspects of three hundred years of African
American history are the focus of this ninety-minute tour of a sixteenblock area of historic New Bern. Tour begins at the visitor center. $4.00
for adults, $2.00 for students. 2:00 P.M.
March 30
Aycock Birthplace: Living History Wednesday. Costumed interpreters
demonstrate and explain gardening, plowing, and open-hearth cooking
as practiced by an eastern North Carolina family in the 1870s. Call
(919) 242-5581 for reservations (required for groups of ten or more).
9:30 A.M. to 12:30 P.M.
Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex: Arsenal Roundtable.
Participants in a tabletop re-creation of the Battle of Averasboro learn firsthand of the command and control issues that confronted generals during the
Civil War. Reservations for the limited number of players are required. Call
Jim Greathouse at (910) 486-1330 to reserve a place at the table. 7:00 P.M.
April 3
Roanoke Island Festival Park: Dare County High School Art Show.
Opening reception for annual showing of paintings, drawings, sculpture,
stained glass, and other media, created by students in the three high
schools of Dare County. 4:00 to 6:00 P.M. The artwork will be on display
April 1-24.
April 13
Museum of the Albemarle: A Student’s Day on the River. Local
schoolchildren learn about the region’s nautical heritage in this specially
designed program, which includes demonstrations about aquatic life and an
appearance by Blackbeard. 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Reservations required;
call (252) 335-1453.
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Staff News
In the Archives and Records Section, accounting technician Glenda Montague was
promoted to administrative secretary III.
In the Division of State Historic Sites, Jennifer H. Furr resigned as assistant manager at
Reed Gold Mine to accept the position of executive director of the new Wilkes County
Heritage Museum in Wilkesboro. Dianne Wallace retired from the North Carolina Transportation Museum. At Roanoke Island Festival Park, Billie Boyd retired as administrative
officer II, and James Woodson resigned as museum technician. Wendy Christian separated
from the accounting department at the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial. Bobby
Jones resigned as maintenance mechanic III at Bentonville Battlefield.
At the North Carolina Museum of History, Doris McLean Bates was promoted to
historical publications editor III. Bruce Sloan, guard coordinator, transferred to the North
Carolina Museum of Art. Erin Clemmer resigned from her position as education program
coordinator.
State, County, and Local Groups
Friends of Mountain History
The Friends of Mountain History, a nonprofit organization that builds alliances to promote cultural heritage through educational and grant programs, sponsored three half-day
workshops designed to stimulate interest in regional museums. Dr. David Carr, a member
of the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of The Promise
of Cultural Institutions, presented workshops at Franklin, Asheville, and Boone on November 15 and 16. Dr. Carr introduced several innovative techniques that museum staffs might
adopt to make their programs and exhibits more exciting, in order to attract new audiences. The sessions encouraged collaboration and partnerships between participants, and
among the institutions in the twenty-four counties served by the Friends of Mountain
History. The Western Office of Archives and History in Asheville is an active partner in
the organization.
Historical Preservation Group (Kinston)
After more than a year and a half of negotiations with local landowners, the Historical
Preservation Group (HPG) on September 22 acquired approximately fifty-six acres of the
Wyse Fork battlefield. The ground along Southwest Creek east of Kinston was the site of
the Confederate defensive position from which troops led by Gen. Braxton Bragg attacked
Union forces commanded by Gen. Jacob Cox on March 8-10, 1865. The acquisition by
the HPG, a nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation of endangered historic
landmarks and the development of heritage tourism in Lenoir County, was facilitated by a
grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (administered by the National Park
Service), with matching funds from the Center for Civil War Living History. The center
was established to distribute $500,000 earned and donated by re-enactors involved in the
filming of Gods and Generals, many of whom were from Lenoir and surrounding counties.
The HPG is developing a program to make the property available for tours and living
history activities, but in the meantime, access to the sensitive and fragile area will be
restricted.
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Mecklenburg Historical Association
The association offered two interesting dinner programs to its membership this fall. On
September 27, Billy Maddalon of Unique Southern Estates presented the history of the
preservation of the Van Landingham Estate of Charlotte. Built in 1913 in the PlazaMidwood area by Ralph Van Landingham, the beautiful house and garden were added to
the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Unique Southern Estates now owns and
operates the property as an inn and conference center. Dr. Dan L. Morrill, professor of
history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, addressed the historical association on November 29. He discussed his most recent book, The Civil War in the Carolinas.
Murfreesboro Historical Association
The association presented the nineteenth annual celebration of a Candlelight Christmas in Historic Murfreesboro during the evenings of December 7-8. As customary, the
occasion featured a progressive dinner, embellished by such traditional North Carolina
specialties as smoked turkey, country ham, and seafood bisque. The accompanying tour
of historic buildings in Murfreesboro’s twelve-block National Register Historic District
focused upon the theme of historic modes of transportation. Victorian sleighs, vintage
carriages, antique buggies, model railroads, an 1870 Gatling airplane, and classic automobiles were displayed at various stops along the tour, which included the RobertsVaughan House, the John Wheeler House, the Murfree-Smith Law Office, the VincentDeale Blacksmith Shop, the Evans Tinsmith Shop, Hertford Academy, and the Chowan
College campus.
New Bern Historical Society
As part of its ongoing effort to finance the expansion and preservation of New Bern
Battlefield Park, the society cosponsored a fundraiser dinner and auction at the New
Bern Golf and Country Club on November 5. Special guest Don Troiani, a renowned
military artist, spoke about the research involved in the creation of each of his paintings,
and of his involvement in the filming of Cold Mountain. Several of his prints were auctioned, while a variety of donated items and services were sold at a silent auction. Members of the 26th North Carolina Infantry Re-enactors were available to explain the
improvements required to develop the battlefield into a public park. The following
morning special tours of the battlefield were provided, followed by a reception for
Troiani at the Framing Fox Art Gallery, cosponsor (along with the society and the
re-enactor group) of the events.
North Caroliniana Society
The society is currently soliciting grant proposals for the 2005 cycle of Archie K.
Davis Fellowships. Designed to encourage research in North Carolina history and culture, the program grants stipends to cover a portion of travel and subsistence expenses
while fellows conduct research. More than 225 fellowships have been awarded since the
inception of the program in 1987. The deadline for submission of proposals is March 1.
For further information, visit the society’s website, www.ncsociety.org/davis, or write to
Dr. H. G. Jones, North Caroliniana Society, UNC Campus Box 3930, Chapel Hill, NC
27514-8890.
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Carolina Comments
(ISSN 0576-808X)
Published quarterly by the Office of Archives and History
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
Raleigh, North Carolina
Jeffrey J. Crow, Editor in Chief
Kenrick N. Simpson, Editor
Historical Publications Section
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