February is traditionally recognized as Black History Month, but agencies within the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources offer outstanding ways to study and celebrate black history all year. Special programs are planned for February and additional opportunities are available year round.
North Carolina Museum of History
At the N.C. Museum of History, the celebration will start early with the fundraiser, “Roots to Rap: A Musical Conversation,” on Friday, Jan. 27. The Friday night program features singer/multimedia artist Shirlette Ammons, and Pierce Freelon, founder of blackacademics, with his jazz improv group The Beast. Admission is $11 in advance and $15 the day of the program. Proceeds will benefit future AACC Celebrations.
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he next day, Saturday, Jan. 28, starting at 11 a.m. and continuing through 4 p.m. will be a FREE African American Cultural Celebration. This annual celebration features 75 presenters and six stages. Performances include the African rhythms of Djembe Talk (drum talk), uplifting a capella harmonies of the Mighty Gospel Inspirations, a marching band, and Zumba exercise. Engaging presenters range from children’s author Kelly Starling Lyons to basketmaker Neal Thomas. Kids will enjoy a scavenger hunt, hands-on crafts and more.
In recognition of this 11th annual AACC, each of the state’s 11 historically black colleges and universities is being featured. Dr. Dianne Boardley Suber, President of Saint Augustine’s College in Raleigh, will highlight the college and its outstanding student-athlete graduation rate, one of the highest in the nation.
Additional related events in February include:
Feb. 12, the N.C. Museum of History will present “Music From the Carolinas: Boo Hanks.” The program will showcase Hanks’ virtuosity in the delicate finger-style Piedmont blues. The program is presented by PineCone with support from the N.C. Museum of History Associates, Williams Mullen, and WLHC-FM/WLQC-FM. 3 p.m. FREE
Feb. 23, the Museum of the Cape Fear in Fayetteville will present “Red, White, Blue & Black: The Service of Black Americans during the Civil War.” Led by Dr. Charles Anderson, Central Texas College in Killeen, the program will focus on the roles and contributions of black Americans to the U.S. military during the Civil War. 7 p.m. FREE
North Carolina Museum of Art
Saturday, Feb. 4, the N.C. Museum of Art welcomes back the well-loved Barefoot Theatre to share contemporary adaptations of two folktales of the Baluba and Ashanti peoples. Come enjoy adventures of Anansi the spider, Elephant and other friends. East Building auditorium. Ages 5 and up, under 12 with adult. $5 nonmembers, $3 members.
The NCMA has on exhibit through June 24 Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver, that celebrates the last decade of her work. Known for her expression-filled canvases, the exhibit highlights work with her mother, who passed in 2004, her mentally disabled sister, and self-portraits. East Building. FREE
The museum’s African Gallery is permanently installed in the West Building and is FREE. Docent led tours are available Tuesday-Sunday 10 a.m.-2p.m., and Friday evenings for groups of 10 or more. Reservations required. Call 919-664-6785.
Thursday, Feb. 16 will be “An Evening of Poetry” with Dr. L. Teresa Church, archivist/playwright, and Dr. Sheila Smith McKoy, N.C. State University. Other presenters include college students and district winners of the N.C. Poetry Out Loud competition. This FREE program begins at 7 p.m. and will be held in the East Building. Sponsors are the Friends of African and African American Art and the N.C. African American Writers Collective.
Sunday, Feb. 19, the N.C. Museum of Art will offer “Looking at African Art in the 21st Century.” Dr. Rebecca Martin Nagy, director of the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida and former curator of African Art at NCMA, will grapple with the challenge of how to view and discuss the dynamic field of African art. The FREE program at 2:30 p.m. in the East Building requires a ticket.
North Carolina Historic Sites
On Sunday, Feb. 12, Historic Stagville in Durham will present the lecture “To Free a Family: The Journey of Mary Walker,” by Dr. Syd Nathans, Duke University professor emeritus. Nathans will speak on the escape of Mary Walker from the plantation and her 17-year attempt to recover her children. It is based on letters from the slaveowners in the South and her employers in the North. 2 p.m. FREE
On Thursday, 
Feb. 16, programs across the state will illuminate the past and present:
Tryon Palace in New Bern will present an original play, “Sojourner and Her Children,” that will emphasize the relationship of the abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who guided slaves to freedom, yet returned South to visit her children who still were enslaved. The FREE program will be at 7 p.m. in the N.C. History Center.
Historic Bath will show the movie Ruby Bridges that shares the story of first grader Ruby Bridges, who entered an all-white school in the 1960s and helped shape American history. The FREE program will be in the Visitor Center at 7 p.m.
Bennett Place State Historic Site in Durham will present the lecture “The First Year of Freedom in North Carolina: Pursuing Freedom with the Hoe and the Sword, the Book and the Lord” by Dr. Reginald Hildebrand, UNC-Chapel Hill. The lecture, based on his research of U.S. Colored Troops and other records, begins at 6:30 p.m. $5. Read more.
On Saturday, Feb. 18, “Stagville Under the Stars!” in Durham will feature astronomy and the night sky with storytelling featuring tales and myths from African cultures. Tours of original slave quarters will also be available. Presented in partnership with Morehead Planetarium, visitors can peer through telescopes at Mars and Jupiter and also see constellations meaningful to the ancestors. FREE family fun! 7:30 p.m.
And, finally, several N.C. State Historic Sites daily interpret African American History year round. They include:
Somerset Place in Creswell, once a plantation of more than 100,000 mainly wooded acres, which has representations of several slave community buildings to tour. The Collins family house is closed for renovations this year.
Historic Stagville in Durham also was among antebellum North Carolina’s largest plantations at 30,000 acres, and still features the Great Barn, a massive structure built by enslaved craftsmen.
The Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum began in 1902 as the Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia, was a preparatory school for black youth that shaped many lives, thanks to founder Charlotte Hawkins Brown.
Other accomplishments and events about black history in North Carolina are noted with N. C. Historical Highway Markers
Library and Publications
If you are interested in tracing your family history there are a number of finding aids to assist with research of family history all year. For more information, visit the State Archives or the State Library Genealogy Branch.
North Carolina Historical Publications also offers numerous black history titles, including “A History of African Americans in North Carolina,” “Thomas Day: African American Furniture Maker,” “A Day of Blood: The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot,” and others.
About the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of 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. Cultural Resources champions North Carolina’s creative industry, which employs nearly 300,000 North Carolinians and contributes more than $41 billion to the state’s economy.
To learn more, visit www.ncculture.com.