Press Releases

 The death of an African American soldier in Durham, N.C., soon will be commemorated with an N.C. Highway Historical Marker.In 1944, Private First Class Booker T. Spicely, who was stationed at Camp Butner, boarded a Durham city bus owned and operated by Duke Power Company. After Spicely objected to segregated seating, he disembarked at West Club Boulevard and what is now Berkeley Street. The white driver, Herman Lee Council, followed Spicely, who was unarmed, off the bus and shot him twice at close range in view of bus passengers.

Students at the state’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions of Higher Education (MIHEs) will have the opportunity to learn and earn next summer through a 10-week paid summer internship within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

 Celebrate the holiday season at the Governor’s Western Residence Holiday Open House, Dec. 9-10, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. each day. The residence is located at 45 Patton Mountain Rd, Asheville.Reservations are not needed to attend the open house. Guests are invited to tour the residence, which has been decorated for the season.

An upcoming virtual Lunch & Learn program hosted by the State Archives will commemorate Pearl Harbor Day with “Remembering War in the Pacific: An Internment Camp Experience.”A panel discussion will include Nash County resident Chris Larsen, who survived a Japanese internment camp in the Philippines during his early childhood, along with Ashley Latta, Military Collection Archivist, and Charlie Knight, Museum of History Military Curator, who will provide an overview of the war in the Pacific Theater, including documents, photographs, and artifact collections.

A project to restore faded historical murals and create new exterior artworks will receive an award from the Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies.The Historic Port of Washington Project in Washington, N.C., will receive the 2023 Newsome Award, which recognizes excellence in local history projects.

Visit the State Capitol Saturday, Dec. 2, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. to make a rustic outdoor decoration to feed the birds and squirrels on Capitol Square. While the historic Capitol is closed for repairs, we’re bringing holiday cheer outside instead. Families, children, and wildlife enthusiasts are invited to make birdseed and critter-friendly ornaments to adorn the tree, provided by the N.C. Christmas Tree Association. The tree will stand on the east grounds through December.

Six distinguished North Carolinians were presented the North Carolina Award, the state’s highest honor, by Governor Roy Cooper at a Nov. 9 ceremony at the North Carolina Museum of Art. The award recognizes significant lifetime achievements in the areas of fine arts, literature, public service and science.The 2023 honorees are Honorable David Price for Public Service, Honorable G.K. Butterfield for Public Service, Fred A. Whitfield for Public Service, Marsha White Warren for Literature, Patrick Dougherty for Fine Arts and Mandy K. Cohen, M.D., M.P.H., for Science.

Six additional local parks and recreation projects across the state will receive grants totaling nearly $1.9 million through the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation announced. The N.C. Parks and Recreation Authority selected the recipients Nov. 3.The Authority selects PARTF grant recipients annually at its August meeting, and this year, 19 recipients were funded through a continuing resolution. After the state budget was finalized this fall, this year’s PARTF allocation amounted to a total of $10.4 million.

Crystal Lloyd, one of the park superintendents at Falls Lake State Recreation Area, is now the park superintendent at Carolina Beach State Park in New Hanover County, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation announced. Lloyd fills the role after longtime superintendent Chris Helms retired in April.The park superintendent leads the operations and administration at the park and has a comprehensive set of responsibilities that include staffing, training, law enforcement, planning, natural and cultural resource management, interpretation and education, and visitor services.

All backcountry campsites at nine state parks in western North Carolina are closed effective Nov. 10 due to increased fire risk, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. The closures will last through at least Dec. 1.The following state parks are affected:Crowders Mountain State Park: All campsites are closed.Elk Knob State Park: All campsites and the zone camping area are closed.