It’s A Party As Sec. Kluttz Joins Governor McCrory to Celebrate Edenton’s 300th Anniversary

Gov. McCrory and Sec. Kluttz with Keith Nixon, chairman of the Chowan County Board of Commissioners; Bob Quinn, Edenton town councilman and chairman of the town’s 300th Anniversary Committee; Bill Green portraying Governor Charles Eden; and Roland Vaughan, mayor of Edenton.

Native American and colonial re-enactors greeted Sec. Susan Kluttz as she joined Gov. Pat McCrory, members of his cabinet and several other state and local officials in celebrating the 300^th anniversary of Edenton.

The day kicked off with a morning celebration of music and food vendors on the 1767 Chowan County Courthouse green. While waiting for the official ceremony to begin, Gov. McCrory greeted a re-enactor portraying one of his colonial forbearers – Gov. Charles Eden – as his ship landed at the dock  The colonial governor joined Governor McCrory in a parade through town.

Re-enactors aboard Roanoke Island Festival Park’s boat Silver Chalice dock at Edenton as part of the festivities

As the official ceremony began, Cultural Resources Secretary Kluttz joined others in remarks and introduced the Governor to the crowd. Deputy Sec. Kevin Cherry read a proclamation honoring the anniversary and State Archivist and Keeper of the State Seal Sarah Koonts presented the proclamation to Gov. McCrory for his official seal. This was the first public seal ceremony of this administration! Though the seal generally remains in the governor’s office at the State Capitol, the State Archives—a division of Cultural Resources—is its official repository.

A reception in the courthouse followed, as did opportunities for members of the public to play colonial games and participate in colonial craft activities on the Iredell House lawn. Governor McCrory and Secretary Kluttz greeted many in the crowd. Despite a few showers, fun was had by all.

A crowd of spectators and re-enactors
celebrate Edenton’s anniversary

While in Edenton, the Secretary also took a tour of North Carolina’s oldest house—recently dated by the department’s Historic Preservation Office staff—and the Roanoke River Lighthouse—which the department moved in cooperation with local partners last year.

The courthouse and several other historic structures in Edenton are part of Historic Edenton State Historic Site.

We can’t wait to celebrate Edenton’s 301^st! Check out more images of event here.

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Culture Around Every Corner: May 16-19

Head to the James K. Polk Historic Site in Pineville Saturday for a living history event featuring civilian and military re-enactors.

Living history events in Pineville and Burlington, an antique truck show in Spencer and a scavenger hunt at our three historic sites in Durham are just a few of the opportunities for family fun offered by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources this weekend.

The fun starts Thursday with a film exploration of the life of Frida Kahlo at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem. Alamance Battleground in Burlington will also host a commemoration of the Battle of Alamance, while Tryon Palace in New Bern presents a lecture on African-American cooks. In Beaufort, the N.C. Maritime Museum will continue its popular Talkin’ Art and Brown Bag Gams series.

Friday, the fun continues with behind-the-scenes tours of the kitchen gardens at Tryon Palace during the day, and a concert by Los Lobos and a preview of the annual auction at the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh in the evening.

Saturday morning, the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh will offer tours of its History of Harvest exhibit, while the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort will host a workshop on using maritime navigation and communications equipment. Later in the day, the museum will host a meeting of the Carolina Maritime Model Society.

Throughout the day Saturday, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) will host its spring community day, complete with art making activities for kids. The N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer will present an antique truck show and its first-ever spring event for Boy Scouts. In Pineville, the James K. Polk Historic Site will demonstrate military drills and practices, camp life and musket firing as part of a Mexican-American War living history event, while all three of our Durham historic sites—Bennett Place, Duke Homestead and Historic Stagville will host a scavenger hunt that encourages your family to explore history across the city.

On the coast, Historic Bath will participate in Bath Fest by giving free tours and hosting its annual croquet tournament, while the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City will offer hands-on activities and games as part of the city-wide N.C. Potato Festival.

The weekend rounds out Sunday with a celebration of the history and heritage of Northampton County at the Museum of Albemarle.

Throughout the weekend, the N.C. Symphony will play Stravinsky’s famed work “The Rite of Spring” in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, and Alamance Battleground will stage a living history event complete with military and domestic re-enactors. This weekend is also your first chance to see the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and Watergate exhibits at the N.C. Museum of History.

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Culture Around Every Corner: April 18-21

The Battleship North Carolina will come alive Saturday with World War II re-enactors

Film screenings, concerts and a Civil War living history program are just few of the opportunities for family fun you’ll find this weekend at the sites and museums of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

The fun starts Thursday night with a documentary screening at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem and a showing of The Sound of Music at Historic Bath. The N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort will also continue its weekly maritime art series.

Friday morning, the Maritime Museum in Beaufort will host a hiking tour of the Rachel Carson Reserve. In the evening, Tryon Palace in New Bern will present a concert by renowned jazz pianist and vocalist Aaron Diehl, while the N.C. Symphony will play a concert of the music of John Williams in Raleigh.

Saturday, Town Creek Indian Mound in Mount Gilead will offer astronomy-themed family activities during the day and the opportunity to stargaze after dark. Historic Stagville in Durham will host a living history program around the theme of trade, while the State Capitol in Raleigh will present a lecture on the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse’s Fresnell lens. At the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh, families will be able to take special tours of the 0 to 60 exhibition and enjoy some studio time to work on a creative project.

On the coast Saturday, the N.C. Maritime Museum in Southport will offer a bicycle tour of historic homes, while the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington will come alive with re-enactors demonstrating what life aboard the ship was like during World War II. The Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City will also celebrate Earth Day with a family festival on Mariner’s Wharf. In the evening, Roanoke Island Festival Park in Manteo will host a concert by the East Carolina University Jazz Ensemble.

The weekend wraps up Sunday when the Museum of the Albemarle honors the 50^th anniversary of the integration of the Elizabeth City police force.

Throughout the weekend, Bennett Place in Durham will host re-enactors demonstrating Civil War camp life and host artists, historians and others to discuss the way the Civil War has been portrayed in art and journalism.

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Culture Around Every Corner: April 5-7

Help clean up our Civil War sites as part of Park Day Saturday

Civil War musket firings, science-themed history tours and a film screening are just a few of the fun activities you’ll find this weekend at the sites and museums of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

The fun starts this afternoon when Historic Edenton will offer special tours focusing on the science that made the 18^th century home work. The tours are part of the N.C. Science Festival, and will be offered again on April 12 and 26.

On Saturday, four of our sites—Bentonville Battlefield in Four Oaks, Bennett Place in Durham, the N.C. Maritime Museum in Southport and Fort Fisher in Kure Beach—will participate in Civil War Park Day. The national program run by the Civil War Trust mobilizes citizens to help preserve the Civil War sites in their areas by volunteering to clean up and fix them up. Registration may be required, so call ahead.

Also on Saturday the Museum of the Cape Fear in Fayetteville will offer a Civil War living history program complete with musket firings, hands-on activities and music and other entertainment, while the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh will give kids the chance to learn about hand-made toys of generations past and make one of their own.

The weekend will wrap up Sunday with a screening of the Civil War epic Gone with the Wind at the N.C. Museum of History in conjunction with the exhibit on the film.

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Reconstructing Tryon Palace

All this month we’re bringing you stories from North Carolina women’s history. Check back here each week day for a new tidbit on the women of our state’s past.

Restoring North Carolina’s eighteenth-century capitol, “Tryon’s Palace,” was a daunting prospect in 1929 to all but a small network of visionary ladies, each with ties to the state’s cultural and historic societies.

These influential women included Gertrude S. Carraway and Minette Chapman Duffy of New Bern, Maude Moore Latham and May Gordon Kellenberger of Greensboro, Kate B. Reynolds of Winston-Salem and Ruth Coltrane Cannon of Concord. Together, they worked tirelessly for the next 30 years to make the dream of a reconstructed Tryon Palace a reality. To ensure success, these ladies collaborated with governors, local officials, museum directors, restoration specialists and the public.

The path to gaining and excavating the Palace’s complete site included moving a major highway and bridge, acquiring the one surviving colonial building, and relocating a neighborhood. Mrs. Latham and Mrs. Kellenberger further aided the cause with financial aid for constructing, landscaping and furnishing much of the Palace. These aims were achieved at a time when a woman’s right to vote was fairly new, but other advances in equal rights were yet to come.

Now open for more than 50 years and welcoming nearly 175,000 visitors annually, Tryon Palace owes its very being to these determined dreamers.

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In Celebration of the Super Bowl, 4 Amazing Advertising Artifacts from Our Collections

With the Super Bowl right around the corner, the talk has turned to which commercials will get the most coverage. We thought this was the perfect opportunity to showcase some unique advertising-related artifacts from North Carolina’s past in our collections.

Though our collections contain hundreds of ads to to choose from, we’ve narrowed it down to four of our favorites and given you links to where you can see more.

1. An ad from the 1937 N.C. State Fair Premium List for 7-Up. The ad is now part of the State Government Publications Collection of the State Library. Check out more ads from that collection here.

2. A 1954 magazine ad for Camel Cigarettes featuring actor William Holden. The ad is now part of the collection of the N.C. Historic Sites.

3. 3-D glasses—now in the collection of the N.C. Museum of History— that were used to view an ad Coca-Cola ran during halftime of the 1989 Super Bowl.
 

4. A window display from Brantley’s Drug Store in Raleigh, circa 1940. This image is now in the State Archives. See more images from the Archives here.

If the actual football game is more your style, we’ve got you covered there too. Check out Carl Eller’s visor from Super Bowl XI (played in 1977) and this penalty flag from Super Bowl XXXIII (played in 1999), both now in the collection of the N.C. Museum of History.

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Members of the Military Learn from the Past

During the past couple of days, midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy have been using Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site in Winnabow as part of their training. The midshipmen—all senior engineering students—were studying the remains of the colonial wharves and other cultural and natural assets located on the Brunswick Town waterfront. They are also working with state archaeologists and other preservationists to come up with solutions for protect these historic wharves and other assets.

Brunswick Town isn’t alone in its outreach to and use by members of the military. Troops take tours of Bentonville Battleground in Four Oaks to learn lessons from 19^th century battle techniques and apply them to today’s combat situations. Modern medical units also help out with some of Bentonville’s heath-themed living history programs, contrasting Civil War with modern field medicine

Just this past weekend, members of the National Guard were at Fort Fisher in Kure Beach for a simulated war exercise, where soldiers practice their tactical and planning skills in situations designed to mirror real-life challenges they could face. The fort hosts soldiers for similar exercises throughout the year.

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Cultural Resources Kicks Off 2013 With A Successful Living History Program at Fort Fisher

From left to right, state Rep. Ted Davis, Jr., Cultural Sec. Susan Kluttz, state Sen Thom Goolsby and state Rep. Susi Hamilton at the unveiling of the new Modern Greece highway marker

The New Year started off with a bang as a crowd of more than 5,000 people turned out at Fort Fisher State Historic Site in Kure Beach Saturday for the 148^th anniversary of the Civil War battle that took place there.

The battle was instrumental in ending the war as it resulted in the closing of Wilmington’s port, which was then called “the Lifeline of the Confederacy” because of its role in supplying the Confederate army.  It was prominently featured in Steven Spielberg’s recent film Lincoln.

The day’s activities included re-enactors talking with visitors about camp life during the January 1865 campaign, infantry and artillery units conducting drills and firing demonstrations and speakers on an array of Civil War-related topics.

The day also included the dedication of a new historical highway marker for the Civil War blockade runner Modern Greece. Research on the Modern Greece led the State of North Carolina to establish one of the nation’s first underwater archaeology programs—now part of the Department of Cultural Resources—and eventually resulted in the recovery of thousands of artifacts.

Click here for pictures of the event and here to learn more about the Battle of Fort Fisher.

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Culture Around Every Corner: January 17-20

Try your hand at historic cloth making at the Polk Historic Site in Pineville

Native American-themed stargazing, a classical take on the divas of Broadway and a Civil War living history program are just a few of fun things you’ll find this weekend at the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

Start your weekend off tomorrow with a screening of the film Marina Abramovic, The Artist is Present at the Southeastern Eastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem. Also tomorrow, the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh will host a lecture on the Arab Spring, while Historic Bath will present the movie Mansfield Park and Tryon Palace in New Bern hosts a lecture on Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Friday, Town Creek Indian Mound in Mount Gilead will kick off its astronomy series, while the N.C. Symphony will salute the divas of Broadway in a concert in Raleigh featuring a few of the stars from the hit musical Wicked.

The weekend wraps up Saturday with a living history program marking the 148th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Fisher in Kure Beach and the opening of a Scotty McCreery exhibit at the Museum of Albermarle in Elizabeth City. The President James K. Polk State Historic Site in Pineville will also offer visitors the chance to try historic cloth making techniques, while the N.C. Symphony will perform a second wicked divas concert.

UPDATE — the Thursday night programs at the N.C. Museum of History and SECCA have been cancelled because of weather conditions

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Inaugural Parade Showcases the Diversity of Cultural Resources Programs

Nearly 120 employees and volunteers from across the state represented Cultural Resources at the governor’s inaugural parade Saturday. The group reflected some of the wonderful informational and educational opportunities from the department to offer great family fun:

• Costumed interpreters reflecting the styles worn by North Carolinians from the colonial period through the early 20^th century and representing the work of all Cultural Resources museums and historic sites to share the sights and sounds of our state’s history with visitors

• An interpreter representing Harriet Jacobs, a slave who hid her grandmother’s attic in what is today Historic Edenton for seven years before escaping to freedom

• Interpreters portraying pirates who represent the Office of State Archaeology’s research on the Queen Anne’s Revenge and the artifacts on display at the Maritime Museum in Beaufort

• Volunteers from the Old Hickory Division of World War I, as portrayed by interpreters, representing the department’s upcoming centennial observance of “the war to end all wars”

• A 1929 Fire Truck and 1936 Highway Patrol from the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer

A colonial era fife and drum corps representing Tryon Palace in New Bern, along with ante bellum era Jonnkonu performers capturing a Christmas time performance tradition of the enslaved

French and Indian War era interpreters representing the frontier outpost of Fort Dobbs in Statesville

Elizabethan interpreters representing Roanoke Island Festival Park and the 1585 settlement of the Lost Colony in Manteo

Pre-colonial era fighters against Colonial Governor Tryon from Alamance Battleground in Burlington

Cultural Resources annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation’s first state-supported  Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the N.C. Arts Council and the State Archives.

The department also champions North Carolina’s creative industry, which employs nearly 300,000 North Carolinians and contributes more than $41 billion to the state’s economy.

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