Monthly Archives: February 2012

Researcher Details Excavation of Ancient Port of Constantinople

RALEIGH – A unique first-person report on the exploration of the archaeological site Byzantium, or Constantinople, is available to North Carolina residents this week.  Dr. Ufuk Kocabas, director of Istanbul University’s Department of Marine Archaeology and Yenikapi Shipwrecks Project, will speak at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh on March 1, the N.C. Maritime [...]

Civil War Weekend at Tryon Palace

150th Anniversary of the Battle of New Bern: The battle that drew the line in North Carolina and changed New Bern forever. Friday, March 9-Sunday, March 11 For nearly six hours on March 14, 1862, 11,000 Union forces and 4,500 inexperienced and ill-equipped Confederate troops battled for control of New Bern — a battle that [...]

African American Watermen Featured in N.C. Maritime Museum Exhibit

BEAUFORT – Images from the early the 1870s-1980s capture the workaday life of African American watermen in an exhibit at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort, through early June. The “African Americans and North Carolina Maritime History” exhibit’s 33 photographs are from the museum’s collection.  Scenes capture oystering, seafood processing, the Menhaden Chantymen singers, rescuers [...]

Outer Banks History Center Debuts 150th Anniversary Civil War Exhibit

MANTEO – The Outer Banks History Center will debut a new exhibit in the History Center Gallery on “First Friday,” March 2, “The Civil War Comes to Roanoke Island: Fishers, Fighters and Freedmen.”  It is part of a statewide and national commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. “The Civil War Comes [...]

North Carolina Symphony Brings “Bug Songs” to NCS Kids, March 10

Final Young People’s Concerts of 2011/12 Season Take Place at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. RALEIGH, N.C.—Associate Conductor Sarah Hicks leads the North Carolina Symphony and Triangle Youth Ballet in a treat for the Triangle’s youngest music fans. Families can join the orchestra for a colorful artistic take on the sounds and sights of the [...]

N.C. Museum of Art Presents Career Retrospective of African Artist El Anatsui

RALEIGH, N.C.—El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote to You about Africa traces the prolific career of El Anatsui—one of contemporary art’s most celebrated practitioners—from his early woodwork in Ghana to today’s metal wall sculptures created in his studio in Nigeria, offering an unprecedented chance for visitors to follow the artist’s creative development over 40 years. [...]

Museum to Honor Chowan County’s Isaac Byrum

Elizabeth City, NC  – Join the Museum of the Albemarle on Sunday, March 11 beginning at 1:00pm for “Isaac Byrum Day.”   At the age of 21, Isaac Byrum a native of Chowan County, enlisted as a Private in Company M, 1st Regiment NC Infantry.  However, his company was mustered out of service in November of [...]

North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Awards $2 Million Grant to the North Carolina Museum of Art to Fund K–12 Educational Programs

One of the Largest Grants Ever to the Museum Will Help Support Teachers Raleigh, N.C.—Governor Beverly Perdue, N.C. GSK Foundation Chairman Bob Ingram, and Secretary Linda Carlisle joined Museum Director Lawrence J. Wheeler today to announce a $2 million grant to the Museum, representing a multi-year commitment through 2016. The funding will support a series [...]

The 26th Regiment North Carolina Troops, Reactivated, Funds Conservation of Battle of Gettysburg Confederate Flag

The N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh is home to one of the nation’s largest collections of Confederate flags. Conservation of these banners requires expensive, specialized textile treatment. To help fund this need, the museum has formed a partnership with the 26th Regiment North Carolina Troops, Reactivated, the state’s largest Civil War re-enactment group. During [...]

SECCA’s Woman on the Run Exhibition Opening March 1

WINSTON-SALEM, NC(Feb. 21, 2012) – It’s a dark and stormy night, with neon motel signs providing the only glow. Out of the shadows of dingy back alleys and tired brick storefronts, there is a woman trying to slip away. The only thing she leaves behind is the hollow sound of spiked heels clattering on the [...]

Flags Over Hatteras 2012

HATTERAS, N.C. – Registration is now open for the “Flags Over Hatteras” Civil War conference April 26-29 featuring nationally-known authors and historians, the dedication of a Civil War trails marker, living history programs, special museum exhibits and other activities in commemoration of the historic naval battles at Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark in August 1861. [...]

Fayetteville Native Serves Union Army

FAYETTEVILLE – On March 1 at 7:00 pm, the Museum of the Cape Fear will sponsor a presentation about native son Alexander McRae, a captain in the Union Army during the Civil War. Long-time museum volunteer, Paul Peeples, will provide the presentation. Peeples’ presentation will include a brief history of the 1862 New Mexico Campaign [...]

Researching Your Civil War Ancestors

DURHAM — The Duke Homestead State Historic Site and the Durham-Orange Genealogical Society can help you go back 150 years on the family tree.  They will offer the free workshop “Researching Your Civil War Ancestors” on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2-4 p.m., as part of the Civil War Sesquicentennial observance. There will be sessions on the [...]

Southern Living names Vollis Simpson a Hero of the New South

New York, N.Y. (February 16, 2012)  – North Carolina artist Vollis Simpson of Lucama is the recipient of Southern Living’s Heroes of the New South Award and will be featured in the March issue of the magazine. Simpson, 93, whose soaring sculptures have become iconic examples of vernacular art around the world, won in the [...]

Rare Opportunity To Hear Firsthand About Excavation Of Ancient Port Of Constantinople

The N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh presents a rare opportunity to hear firsthand about the 2004 discovery and subsequent excavation of the ancient Harbor of Theodosius, the principal port of Byzantium or Constantinople, in present-day Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Ufuk Kocabas, Director of Istanbul University’s Department of Marine Archeology and the Yenikapi Shipwrecks Project, will [...]