Press Releases

Tobacco built and shaped the Durham that we know today thanks largely to the Duke family that started their manufacturing tobacco business in Durham. Duke Homestead will share two free programs in August focused on the history and culture of tobacco. An examination of tobacco myths Saturday, Aug. 18, and a celebration of harvest Saturday, Aug. 25, will offer a well-rounded picture of raising tobacco in North Carolina.

For many doughboys, World War I did not end when they returned home. Their lingering memories of the horrors endured in the trenches became known as “shell shock.” Today we know it as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Aycock Birthplace State Historic Site will host a daylong symposium, “A Lingering Shadow: From Battlefield Trauma in World War I to a Modern Perspective on PTSD,” Saturday, Aug. 25, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will shine a light on what can be a very dark experience. The symposium coincides with the opening of the traveling exhibition, “North Carolina and the Great War.”

Jaki Shelton Green will be installed as North Carolina’s ninth Poet Laureate on Wed., Sept. 19 in a ceremony at the State Capitol.

The state’s Clean Water Management Trust Fund will help conserve lands and protect waterways serving millions of North Carolinians through nearly $26 million in grants awarded in the 2017 grant year to help fund 66 projects throughout the state. 

Visitors have another chance to visit behind the scenes spaces at the State Capitol Saturday, Sept. 22 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. On this special tour, guests will have access to the Capitol’s “secret spaces,” as well as behind the ropes access to most of the building!

Asheville native Thomas Wolfe is best known for his novels but wrote many short stories as well. In anticipation of the 118th October birthday celebration for Wolfe, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial invites students and teachers to participate in the 2018 “Telling Our Stories” Student Writing Competition. Entries can be accepted now through Saturday, Oct. 6.

The sounds of artillery and musket fire will once again ring out at Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site. The annual summer artillery living history program will be held Saturday, Aug. 25, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

A master plan for the expansion and future management of Hanging Rock State Park has been approved by the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. The master plan was developed with extensive public input from local businesses, citizens and park staff as well as conservation partners the Friends of Sauratown Mountains and the Piedmont Land Conservancy. The result is a vision for the park that balances cultural history, outdoor recreation and natural resources stewardship.

It’s a medium that’s as old as dirt and lots of fun. “Play in the Clay Day” at Town Creek speaks to the inner child of every age. See how the Pee Dee culture took advantage of the area’s abundant supply of clay Saturday, Aug. 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at a free program.

Educational activities, photo opportunities and reenactors bring World War II to life at the N.C. Maritime Museum, Saturday, Aug. 11, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, with family friendly activities from learning what life was like on the home front, to surviving the front lines.