Press Releases

Ella Baker was an often overlooked, amazing organizer and pioneer in the struggle for racial justice. She grew up in Littleton, N.C., and has been called “the mother of the Civil Rights Movement.” A new title for young adult readers, “We Who Believe in Freedom,” published by the Historical Research Office of the N.C. Office of Archives and History, is now available.

Pirates are taking over the north lobby of Dorton Arena during this year’s N.C. State Fair as the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources kicks off a celebration of North Carolina’s most notorious pirate, Blackbeard, for the 300th anniversary of his exploits along the N.C. coast. Check out a replica of Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and join in on all the swashbuckling fun at our new exhibit. Just be careful not to lose your head!

Explore the crafts and harvest traditions of one of North Carolina’s largest plantations at the free Historic Stagville Harvest Festival, Oct. 21, noon to 6 p.m. Daytime demonstrations, vendors and crafts will give way to an African drum circle around an evening campfire with a master musician.

It’s 1916 and boarders at Julia Wolfe’s “Old Kentucky Home” boardinghouse are visiting for health, business and leisure. You may see one of them snapping pictures with her 1916 Kodak camera. Hot topics include World War I or the upcoming World Series and a newsie will hawk the Oct. 7, 1916 newspaper on Market Street.

Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed Oct. 2017 as North Carolina Archives Month and the State Archives of North Carolina presents two programs exploring the relevance of historical records in our lives today.  

State officials today announced the award of $2.1 million in grants through the federal Recreational Trails Program for 25 trails projects across the state. For fiscal year 2018, the program received 53 grant applications totaling $4.4 million in requests.

Discover what it was like to cook over a live flame at a free open hearth cooking demonstration at the Bonner House kitchen Friday, Oct. 13, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. There’s no better way to spend a beautiful fall day than by experiencing open hearth cooking at Historic Bath.

A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes. What better way to start the Halloween season than with a brand-new mask! Come to Historic Bath Saturday, Oct. 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and make your own mask. This is a free activity.

In a meeting today in Raleigh, the North Carolina Historical Commission voted to postpone until their April 2018 meeting any decision regarding a petition from the N.C. Department of Administration to relocate three Confederate monuments from the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh to the Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site in Four Oaks, N.C.

Thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers battled back and forth across the woods and fields of the Willis Cole Plantation March 19, 1865, during the opening phases of the largest battle ever fought in North Carolina. Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site will open new trails through the area allowing visitors greater access to the site of this battle Tuesday, Aug. 1.