Press Releases

We are very excited to announce that on Nov. 5, Somerset Place will open a new traveling exhibit, "Navigating Jim Crow: The Green Book and Oasis Spaces in North Carolina.”

A pastor who wrote a key eyewitness account of 1898 Wilmington Coup soon will be recognized with a new North Carolina Highway Historical Marker in Wilmington. The marker honoring the Rev. J. Allen Kirk, who was a leader in the African American community in the port city, will be unveiled on the anniversary of the coup. Kirk was pastor of the prominent Central Baptist Church, now known as Central Baptist Missionary Church, the oldest African American church in Wilmington.

The state’s highest civilian honor, the North Carolina Award, will be presented to nine distinguished North Carolinians Thursday, Nov. 18, at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Governor Roy Cooper will present the award.    The award was created by the General Assembly in 1961 to recognize significant contributions to the state and nation in the fields of fine arts, literature, public service and science.   

The North Carolina Arts Council has awarded the 

As a part of the Division of North Carolina Historic Sites and Properties’ True Inclusion initiative, the Gov. Charles B. Aycock Birthplace is hosting a screening and webinar of the award-winning documentary “Wilmington On Fire.”

The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is pleased to announce that two historic districts and eight individual properties across the state have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, three previously listed historic districts received additional historical documentation and one of those districts received a boundary adjustment through both an increase and a decrease.

The North Carolina Zoo has been recognized by the

An important but long-overlooked event from the Civil War in North Carolina soon will get a new North Carolina Highway Historical Marker in Elizabeth City. Wild’s Raid, which saw about 2,000 African American soldiers conduct reconnaissance patrols and attacks in northeastern North Carolina from Dec. 5-25, 1863, was the first time United States soldiers of color conducted major operations in North Carolina.

Celebrate the Halloween season at the Gov. Charles B. Aycock Birthplace State Historic Site.

The State Archives of North Carolina will host a virtual roundtable, “Spooky Stories,” Tuesday, Oct. 26, 7-8:30 p.m. Help us conjure the Halloween spirit! Join in to listen to stories of ghosts, werewolves, mayhem, and mystery from the State Archives' collections of documents and images. State Archives staff will share tales revealed within colonial court records, early national citizens' petitions, governors’ papers, and 1930s Works Progress Administration records.