RALEIGH – Conjoined twins, the separation of war, a slave poet, a murder trial, and brothers driven to fly, are all online lessons at the new Archives and Records Educational Resources web site. Teachers, students and others who visit the site will find documents, stories, or music about colorful characters in the state’s past and get a head start on mid-term or final reports, thanks to the State Archives in the N.C. Office of Archives and History in the Department of Cultural Resources.
Learn about Millie-Christine McKoy, born with a shared backbone and one pelvis in Columbus County in 1851. The limbs, heads and personalities, were separate, but Millie-Christine referred to herself as one person. She was born into slavery, but toured America and the world and died free. Also born into slavery about 1797 was George Moses Horton, who moved to Chatham County as a youth and earned money writing poetry for students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He published “The Hope of Liberty” in 1829, the first book published by an African-American in the South.
One of the most infamous trials in North Carolina is that of Tom Dula (pr. Dooley) for the murder of Laura Foster. It is a tale of a love triangle, entangled family relations and post Civil War culture. Tom Dula was hanged, and also immortalized in the 1950s song “Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley.”
Relatives of soldiers away at wartime often are filled with fear and anxiety. The Futch Family endured such feelings for John Futch, who was enlisted with the North Carolina Troops during the Civil War. Letters to and from Futch, his wife and mother give a portrait of what life was like in that stressful time.
The story of Wilbur and Orville Wright and the first flight at Kitty Hawk is well known, but the web site shares information on communications between the brothers and another inventor who helped them to develop the motor for the first powered flight. Other primary source information will add insight to the discovery process for the Wright Brothers and their success in 1903.
The N.C. Office of Archives and History offers other educational resources to teachers through the History Day web site at www.nchistoryday.org/teacher-lounge.html.
The N.C. Office of Archives and History is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture and podcasting 24/7 with information about the Department of Cultural Resources at www.ncculture.com.