Programs celebrating women’s history will be offered at venues of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in March. This month continues the department’s celebration of women’s fight for suffrage and equality, with the theme, “She Changed the World: North Carolina Women Breaking Barriers.” The commemoration of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage from March 2019 to November 2020 will expand on contributions of North Carolina women to the state and nation. Learn more at www.ncdcr.gov/shechangedtheworld.
East
March 14. Museum of the Cape Fear, Fayetteville. Hoop Skirts and Gunpowder: A Woman of the Fayetteville Arsenal. While men were off fighting battles during the Civil War, women were needed in factories, in this case rolling cartridges in an arsenal. The change from domestic work to a job outside the home helped maintain their homes. A one-woman show will bring this dilemma to life. 2 p.m. Free.
Piedmont
Throughout March. Historic Stagville, Durham. Stories of Stagville Women Tours. Call to book this special program for your group. A tour about enslaved women and their experiences on one of the largest plantations in North Carolina. This history will include information on violence and abuse and is unsuitable for young children. Reservations required; call 919-620-0120. $5 per person.
March 3. N.C. Museum of History, Raleigh. Women Making History in North Carolina. Watch LIVE as two exhibits are explored. Join a virtual tour of Quiltspeak: Uncovering Women’s Voices Through Quilts (open through March 8) and preview You Have to Start a Thing that explores the fight for women’s voting rights in the state which opens March 6. Grades K-12. Call (919) 814-7028 for details.
March 4. N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh. Lunchtime Discovery - Women’s History Month. Transplanting Traditions: Farming and Food. Kelly Owensby, executive director, Transplanting Traditions Community Farm discusses how a nonprofit teaching farm in Chapel Hill supports women farmers and their farm in Burma. Noon. Free.
March 6. N.C. Museum of History, Raleigh. You Have to Start a Thing exhibit opening. Marking the 100th anniversary of woman’s suffrage, the exhibit highlights overlooked women pioneers who pushed for the vote, the spirited debates about a woman’s place in society, and unfinished business about rights and inclusion. Free.
March 7. N.C. Museum of Art, Raleigh. Front Burner: Highlights in Contemporary North Carolina Painting, including paintings by Martha Clippinger, Ashlynn Browning, Lien Truong and more, and Art in Translation: Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook openings. Good as Gold: Fashioning Senegalese Women opens April 4. More information and tickets at ncartmuseum.org/spring 2020.
March 7. Eno River State Park, Durham. Margaret Nygard and the Fight for the Eno. Learn how the Eno River State Park was created on a walk with a naturalist along the Pea Creek Trail, and about the efforts of the Eno River Association. Meet at the Cole Mill Access, lower parking lot. 2 p.m. Free.
March 7, 21 and 28. Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, Sedalia. Women of Palmer Memorial Institute. Meet the powerhouses behind Palmer Memorial in its heyday as an elite educational institution, among them director Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Alice Freeman Palmer, Nannie Helen Burroughs and more. Tours 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Groups of 10 or more, please register at (336) 449-4846. $3 each.
March 11. N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh. Lunchtime Discovery - Women’s History Month. Oh, for the Love of Leeches! Bronwyn Williams, PhD, Research Curator for Non-molluscan Invertebrates, N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences will discuss leeches from a social and scientific perspective and her research on these ecologically important organisms. Noon. Free.
March 18. N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh. Lunchtime Discovery - Women’s History Month. Opportunities in Natural Sciences Careers. Dr. Zakiya Leggett, Assistant Professor, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, N.C. State University, will discuss her career path and highlight some amazing women in diverse careers in the natural resources field. Noon. Free.
March 19. Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, Sedalia. Race, Gender and Jim Crow Lecture Series: Blood on the Cloth, Ella Mae Wiggins and the 1929 Gastonia Strike. The Loray Mill strike is emblematic of the violent textile labor disputes of the time. Ella Mae Wiggins was a labor leader who rallied people to the union cause and was murdered by vigilantes. Dr. Roxanne Newton presents, NC Humanities Council funded. 6:30 p.m. Free.
March 21. Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, Sedalia. Charlotte Hawkins Brown Book Club. “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel examines a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, and is the story of the evolving selfhood of Janie Crawford. Also Dr. Arwin Smallwood will join in for a supplemental discussion of “Bertie County: An Eastern Carolina History.” 10 a.m. Free.
March 23. Eno River State Park, Durham. Margaret Nygard and the Fight for the Eno. Learn how the Eno River State Park was created on a walk with a park ranger along the Pea Creek Trail, and about efforts of the Eno River Association. Meet at the Cole Mill Access, lower parking lot. 10 a.m. Free.
March 25. N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh. Lunchtime Discovery - Women’s History Month. The Beginnings of a State Park: How One Woman Made Jockey’s Ridge State Park a Reality. Joy Greenwood, superintendent of Jockey’s Ridge State Park, discusses the amazing work of Carolista Baum and her successful mission to preserve Jockey’s Ridge State Park. Noon. Free.
West
March 7. President James Polk, Pineville. Coffee and Conversation: Women Making History. The site keeps the theme of women changing history through political action by facilitating discussion. Registration requested. 10 a.m. Free.
March 7, 21. Reed Gold Mine, Midland. More than a Woman. The program examines the life and role of Sarah Kaiser Reed, wife of John Reed, operator of Reed Gold Mine. Attention also will be paid to the free and enslaved women who worked in the gold mine.1 p.m. $2 for ages eight and older.
March 7. Vance Birthplace, Weaverville. Open Hearth Cooking. Food historian Clarissa Clifton Lynch will explain African American foodways and prepare a meal on the original 1790s fireplace, the same one used by enslaved cook Leah for the Vance family. Site tours at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. This event celebrates the legacy of women like Leah, who created spaces of freedom within a system of bondage. 10 a.m. Free.
March 10. Thomas Wolfe Memorial, Asheville. Zelda Fitzgerald Festival Discussion. As part of Asheville’s annual Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald Day, the site looks at the events surrounding her tragic death 6 p.m. Free.
March 14. President James Polk, Pineville. Local Learning Lecture series: Ella Mae Wiggins, Singing to be Heard. Gaston County Museum of Art and History Director Jason Luker will examine the difficult life of Ella Mae Wiggins and her role in the 1929 Loray Textile Mill strike. Limited seating, registration required. 10:30 a.m. Free.
March 14. Mountain Gateway Museum, Old Fort. Mighty Mountain Women. The museum- developed exhibit opens and celebrates the lives and achievements of various women from western North Carolina who helped make history in government, science, art and more. Runs through October. Free.