Press Releases

Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed June 1-7, 2020, as "Museum Week" in North Carolina to highlight the meaningful impact museums have on North Carolina residents, tourism and the economy, and their communities. North Carolina Museum Week is a celebration of North Carolina museums. Activities during the week will raise awareness of North Carolina museums as centers of education, community anchors, economic engines, stewards of culture and history, and more.

The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is pleased to announce that one district boundary increase, two districts, and four individual properties across the state have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The following properties were reviewed by the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee and were subsequently nominated by the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Officer and forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register for consideration for listing in the National Register.

A recent grant from the National Park Service (NPS) will make available up to $9.25 million in funding to provide recovery assistance to historic properties (including archaeological sites) damaged by hurricanes Florence and/or Michael that are listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Lacey Wilson has been named the new site manager at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum in Gibsonville, one of 29 state historic sites of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Wilson previously was a historic interpreter at the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters in Savannah, Ga., where she designed and conducted tours with a focus on the role and lives of the enslaved inhabitants of the house. 

The North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation accepted the donation of more than 1,000 acres to Morrow Mountain State Park in Stanly County on May 14. The donation, which brings the park’s total area to 5,881 acres, is part of ALCOA Corporation’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing agreement that was finalized in 2013. 

The North Carolina Historical Commission will meet via conference call Friday, May 29 at 9 a.m.

In the 40-year history of National History Day (NHD) competition in North Carolina, never has there been a season like this one. Only two of the seven regional competitions to select participants in the state competition had taken place when the pandemic struck. Many students had spent the year preparing for the contest, held annually at the Museum of History in Raleigh. With stay-at-home orders, most academic contests and extracurricular activities were canceled. All those performances, exhibits, documentaries, papers and websites might have been created for naught. 

Following guidance from the Governor’s office and the Department of Health and Human Services, North Carolina’s state parks will increase recreational access and services beginning May 9. The Division of Parks and Recreation is working with state and local public health authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and use a phased, collaborative approach to increase access to North Carolina State Parks in a systematic manner. 

Presented by Come Hear North Carolina, “Under One Roof,” a three-day, three-hour virtual music festival, raised $50,000 to support artists across North Carolina whose work has been disrupted by COVID-19, organizers announced today.The benefit concert which featured virtual performances, interviews, and messages from North Carolina musicians, who participated to help artists across the state, has been viewed 120,000 times to date.  All proceeds from Under One Roof will be distributed to artist relief efforts.

The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is collecting objects, archival materials (both digital and physical), and web content that reflect the experiences of North Carolina citizens, officials, organizations, businesses, and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The State Archives and N.C. Museum of History are collaborating on Your Story is North Carolina's Story, a community-based initiative to collect materials that document personal experiences during the pandemic.