You may have heard the legends, read books, or even seen the recent movie, “Harriet,” but now you can see a larger-than-life statue of the heroic figure at Historic Halifax State Historic Site in observance of Women’s History Month. The 9-foot-tall image of Harriet Tubman leading a girl to freedom will be unveiled by the site on Facebook Live Friday, March 5 at 2 p.m.
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Initially enslaved by North Carolina native President James K. Polk, Elias Polk took up the fight for black economic independence after the Civil War. His advocacy and rise as a leading black conservative in the southeast will be examined in a virtual program presented by the President James K. Polk State Historic Site Saturday, Feb. 20, 10 a.m.
Hear stories of how freed people built Durham, the wealth and influence of the Cameron family, and how sharecropping shaped the lives of African American families post-Emancipation. All of this will be revealed during in-person tours at Historic Stagville in Durham, Feb. 20.
“Over 900 people were enslaved by the Cameron family in what is now part of Durham, Orange and Granville counties,” observes Site Manager Vera Cecelski. “The people and profits from these massive plantations shape the history of our communities to this day.”
Due to the uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the reenactment, scheduled for March 21-22, 2021 at Bentonville Battlefield has been cancelled. The event had been rescheduled from its original date in March 2020.
RALEIGH, N.C. – Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed September 2020 as International Underground Railroad Month in North Carolina. Read the proclamation here.
Often called the nation’s first Civil Rights movement, the Underground Railroad included many prominent abolitionists, such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, John Brown, William Still and many others.
Historic Stagville State Historic Site, the site of one of the largest plantations in North Carolina, has been accepted to join the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a worldwide network of historic sites that connect the past to present struggles for human rights. A Site of Conscience is a place of memory – a museum, historic site, memorial or memory initiative– that confronts both the history of what happened there and its contemporary legacies.
The shoreline at a state historic site on the Cape Fear River in Brunswick County soon will be stabilized.
The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has been awarded a grant by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to protect a portion of the shoreline deemed historically significant at the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site. The NFWF approved the $2,002,500 grant request that will fund the installation of an artificial reef system along 1,000 feet of the shore to protect the site.
Not blossoms but bullets came to the farms and plantations of North Carolina’s coastal plain during the Battle of Bentonville March 19-21, 1865. The fighting raged just yards from the home of John and Amy Harper, and Union forces made their house a hospital. The home and plantation of their neighbor Willis Cole were destroyed in this largest battle ever fought in North Carolina.
Spring is almost here and for generations that has meant preparing the fields and planting crops. Aycock Birthplace State Historic Site will showcase some of the workings of a late 1870s farm on Wednesday, March 4. The site will demonstrate some of the skills taught in an 1800s classroom on Wednesday, March 11. The free family-friendly “Traveling Through Time” programs will run 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is $2 for each.
Get out around town to see some local Kinston landscapes with new insights during the CSS Neuse fifth anniversary celebration Saturday, March 7, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. A tour of the museum, two battlefield tours and a living history demonstration will make for a day of fun and facts. The cost is $20, and lunch will be on your own at Kings Restsurant. Preregistration is required and limited to 30 people.
Do you love learning about your local area,” asks intern Samantha Reddick. “We will have reenactors demonstrate what was happening in Kinston during the Civil War.”