Press Releases

A North Carolina Highway Historical Marker soon will be placed recognizing the efforts made at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill to train officers, pilots, and cadets during World War II.The marker commemorating the U.S. Navy Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill will be dedicated at 300 E. Franklin St., Sept. 30 at 2 p.m.This training program was one of only five such schools in the country during World War II. It served two linked purposes — to offer rigorous training for budding aviators and to keep open the doors of participating universities.

Take A Child Outside Week, an international initiative spearheaded by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, kicks off Sunday, Sept. 24 and runs through Saturday, Sept. 30. 

Join the Museum of the Albemarle on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. for a Celebration of Regional Tribes. Guests will have the opportunity to interact with members of regional tribes, who will share their cultural traditions and ties to the land. The museum will have a Take-It-Make-It packet with educational information on regional tribes and activities. The Gypsy Shack will be face painting between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. special symbols that relate to nature, the earth, and animals.

A North Carolina Highway Historical Marker soon will recognize the first woman chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court.The marker commemorating the life of Susie Marshall Sharp will be placed in Reidsville, N.C., near the site of her residence Friday, Sept. 29.

Join the Museum of the Albemarle on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 at 4 p.m. for a Gingerbread Workshop.

Music is deeply ingrained into North Carolina’s identity just as much as the peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the rolling fields of the Piedmont or the waves crashing along the coastline. The North Carolina Museum of History is proud to announce a new concert series, Tar Heel Troubadours, as a celebration of North Carolina’s musical heritage. Experience Americana, roots, bluegrass, and traditional music performed by artists from or living and working in North Carolina in an intimate venue with accessible ticket prices.

The contributions made by North Carolina women mathematicians to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will be commemorated with a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker.In the early days of aerospace engineering, people — not machines — performed the mathematical calculations necessary to put humans in space. Women comprised the majority of these “calculators” or “computers.” Among them were many from North Carolina who participated in some of the most widely recognized American aerospace achievements of the 20th century.

Leading women scientists in the Cape Fear region will highlight the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher (NCAFF) 2023 Femme in STEM Saturday, Sept. 16, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. With exciting hands-on activities and experiments, visitors will have the opportunity to look through microscopes, experience a tornado machine, and even get their hands dirty with some soil samples.

Open your brown bag picnic and join the State Archives of North Carolina for a virtual program, "Lunch & Learn on the Trails."Staff will showcase records in the Archives relating to the 2023 Year of the Trail initiative. A roundtable discussion with the State Archives’ podcast team will explore the origins and evolution of the Great Trails State, tourism, and programs to promote health and environment through documents and imagery. Follow the paper trail through the Archives on a journey of historical discovery!

A state park in the migratory path of the monarch butterfly will host a festival to raise awareness about the declining population of this colorful creature.Gorges State Park in Transylvania County will host the second annual Mountain Monarch Festival on Saturday, Sept. 23 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the park’s visitor center. The festival will celebrate the monarch butterfly during its migration south through North Carolina to the high-elevation fir forests of Mexico’s Neovolcanic Mountains, where they overwinter until early spring.