SEDALIA (Aug. 11, 2009)— The North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources announced the appointment of Ms. Frachele Scott of Durham as site manager at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, the first state site to honor an African American and a woman. Scott formerly managed Durham’s Historic Stagville State Historic Site for two years.
A true North Carolinian, Scott grew up in Oxford. In 1999, she received a B.A. in political science from UNC-Chapel Hill. After graduating, she worked for a law firm on the Outer Banks. In 2001, she returned to the Triangle and began studying for a law degree at N.C. Central University. After receiving her J.D., Scott began working in the areas of family law, pro bono juvenile defense and estate planning.
While working as an attorney, Scott began volunteering at Historic Stagville where she learned how the contributions African Americans made to American culture and history are often unrecognized. Soon Scott began to feel that her mission in life was to share these contributions with the public so when an opportunity to manage Stagville became available, Frachele accepted the position. Under her leadership, visitation to Historic Stagville doubled and the number of educational programs presented at Stagville increased markedly. Historic Stagville also received local and national attention as a significant African American historic site.
The new manager at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum is looking forward to making her ideas and goals for the museum a reality. “Dr. Brown left a lasting imprint on her students and her students left a lasting imprint on this nation. The staff at CHB is committed to telling this story,” remarked Frachele Scott.
Opened in 1987, Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum State Historic Site honors the late Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown who first began teaching children here in Sedalia in 1902. For 50 years after founding PMI, Dr. Brown labored unceasingly to educate young people, building what started out as a tiny academy into a highly renowned African American prep school.
PMI closed in 1971 but since being turned into a state historic site, five former school buildings have been designated as official projects of Save America’s Treasures, a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The museum’s mission is to preserve and interpret the history and legacy of Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Palmer Memorial Institute and African American education in North Carolina.
It is located in Sedalia on Hwy 70 between Greensboro and Burlington. Groups of 10 or more are encouraged to make reservations in advance. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and admission is free. The site is located at 6136 Burlington Road, Sedalia, 10 miles east of Greensboro off I-85, exit 135. For information about the site or the African American Heritage Day program, call 336/449-4846 visit http://www.chbrownmuseum.nchistoricsites.org, or email chb@ncdcr.gov.
Administered by the Division of State Historic Sites, Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history, and culture through such programs as “Treasure N.C. Culture”. For more information, visit www.ncculture.com.