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Historic Sites Commemorate 140th Anniversary of Linda A. Carlisle Named Secretary of Cultural Resources Gov. Beverly Eaves Perdue appointed Linda A. Carlisle as secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources on January 5, 2009. Carlisle is an experienced corporate executive, entrepreneur, and community activist. In each role, she has excelled and shown extraordi-nary leadership and professional competence. After earning a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1972, she went to work for what is now Bank of America. She rapidly progressed through a broad range of positions to eventually become a vice-president/ metropolitan director in Charlotte. In 1979, she left the bank to start her own business, Copier Consultants, Inc., with headquarters in Greensboro. Four years later, she received a master’s degree in business administration from Wake Forest University. After developing a multimillion dollar operation with several offices in the Triad and western North Carolina, she and her husband sold the business in 1989. Carlisle remained president of the wholly owned subsidiary until 1997, when she retired to focus on her community and educational interests. Secretary Carlisle has been exten-sively involved in leadership roles in the nonprofit sector, providing strategic planning, financial expertise, and key resource development for such organi-zations as the Greensboro Chamber of Carolina Comments Published Quarterly by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History Linda A. Carlisle, secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources. Image courtesy of Informa-tion and Marketing Services, Department of Cultural Resources. All other images courtesy of the Office of Archives and History, unless otherwise indicated. 3 4 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S For the Record The Office of Archives and History, as the rest of state government, is facing a budgetary crisis. We have been asked to identify 9 percent in budget cuts, and more may be in the offing. Juggling the many programs and services provided by this agency will be challenging. So far the public history programs in North Carolina have not suf-fered as extensively as those in other states, but the prog-nosis remains grim and the budget reductions painful. Each program is receiving close scrutiny. Does it deliver the services provided in the authorizing legislation? Does it per-form effectively and efficiently? Does it contribute to the eco-nomic vitality of the state? The annual appropriation to the Department of Cultural Resources constitutes less than one-half of 1 percent of the state’s entire budget. Nonetheless, the department’s impact is broad and deep, touch-ing millions of citizens each year. For the department one might add another measure of usefulness: intrinsic value. One program that repeatedly has proved its worth historically and economically is the historic rehabilitation tax credit. In 2008 Rebecca Holton of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill prepared a study titled, “A Profitable Past, A Priceless Future: The Economic Impact of North Carolina’s Historic Tax Credit.” She con-ferred with historic preservationists and economists in North Carolina and elsewhere, including Preservation North Carolina, the State Historic Preservation Office, and the North Carolina Department of Commerce. For those in the field of historic preserva-tion, her findings did not come as a surprise, but they deserve emphasis and weight in any discussion of the importance of history. Using data provided by the State Historic Preservation Office, Holton found that between 1998 and 2007 the state historic tax credit stimulated the completion of 1,324 projects with a total expenditure of $830 million. Her analysis estimated that those expenditures in turn generated $1.4 billion in statewide economic activity, directly created 8,630 jobs, and through multiplier effects realized a total of 14,100 jobs in other industrial sectors. From those statistics Holton posited a total of $438 million in additional household income. She calculated that for each $1 million spent in qualified rehabilitation expenditures, $1.74 million in economic activity occurred, creating 17 jobs and $530,000 in employee compensation. At first glance the fiscal impact on the state’s revenues might appear to be negative. Between 1998 and 2007 the state distributed an estimated $179 million in historic tax credits and received approximately $55 million in tax revenues from historic rehabilitation projects. But as Holton demonstrates, for every $3.6 million in revenue that the state lost, the historic tax credit generated $160 million in economic activity. None of these statistics speaks to environmental and economic sustainability, the rebirth of downtowns, the preservation of significant historic properties, a sense of place and time, and so-called “quality of life” issues. Yet they remind us that history is a living presence in our lives. In times of economic distress, we should neither ignore that presence nor neglect it. Jeffrey J. Crow Commerce, the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Board of Trustees, the United Way, the United Arts Council, Piedmont Craftsmen, and the Girl Scouts of America. She served as co-chair of her alma mater’s Students First Capital Campaign, surpassing the goal of $100 million one year early. Carlisle has been a strong supporter of various community arts organizations, includ-ing Triad Stage, the Community Theater of Greensboro, and the Greensboro Symphony. She is a strong proponent of the arts as an economic development driver, downtown reju-venator, and small-town catalyst. Her awards and honors include the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Distinguished Alumni Service Award (2001); the Outstanding Volunteer Fund-raiser from the North Carolina Triad Chapter of the Association of Fund-raising Professionals (2003); the Athena Award from the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce (2004); the Women in Business Award from the Business Journal (2006); and recognition as one of “The Triad’s Most Influential People” in both 2007 and 2008. On February 17, Secretary Carlisle addressed an open letter to “Dear Friend of History”: This is a challenging and exciting time for the Department of Cultural Resources, and I am honored to have the new opportunity to work with Gov. Bev Perdue, who values and respects the importance of Cultural Resources. We are fortunate to have strong supporters like you who appreciate that knowledge of the past is fundamental to understanding who we are and where we are going. You know almost better than anyone how vital arts, culture, and history are to the well-being, quality of life, and economic health of our state. It is gratifying that during the past year nineteen million people participated in Cultural Resources programs—from the State Library, Archives and History, Museums, Historic Sites, the North Carolina Symphony, and the North Carolina Arts Council. There are challenging financial issues facing North Carolina . . . and Cultural Resources. We need to be thoughtful as we navigate our way. This economy will turn around, and, when it does, our cultural community needs to be healthy and robust, with fresh ideas and new ways to reach children, adults, residents, and visi-tors. Now, more than ever, we will depend on the private sector and friends like you for help. We have a great story to tell about the positive impact of the creative industry on the vitality and growth of our state. More than 159,000 people in the creative sector earn wages of $3.9 billion, contributing financially to their communities. The creative industry accounts for 4 percent of the state’s workforce—more than the biotech industry—and helps recruit and retain business, and grow jobs. Strengthening K-12 history education is one of Cultural Resources’ foremost goals. We cannot afford to lose this focus or allow our important work to be depleted, but instead raise the cry to stay strong as North Carolina works through these tough times. Working together, we can make Cultural Resources stronger than ever. Let’s insure that our story is one that our governor can be proud to tell, our legislators can value, and our citizens can appreciate. I am proud to be a part of Cultural Resources, and I hope to make you proud as well. Sincerely, Linda A. Carlisle, Secretary V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 3 5 African American Heritage Commission Sworn In The initial board of the African American Heritage Commission, established within the Department of Cultural Resources (DCR) by the General Assembly in its 2007-2008 session, was sworn into office during a ceremony at the State Government and Heritage Library in Raleigh on February 27. The purpose of the commission is to advise and assist the secretary of DCR in the “preservation, interpretation, and promotion of African American history, arts, and culture.” The commission consists of ten members, four appointed by the governor (at least one of whom must be a member of the North Carolina Historical Commission) and six by the General Assembly, three each on the recommendation of the president pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. The chair of the commission is designated by the governor from among four appointees. The original commission is composed of Dr. Jean G. Spaulding of Cary, chair; Mrs. Sterlin Benson-Webber of Charlotte; the Honorable Donald A. Bonner of Rowland; Andrena Coleman of Greensboro; Frankie Day of Graham; Henry Harrison of Asheville; Mrs. Annie McCoy of Raleigh; Dr. E. B. Palmer Sr. of Raleigh; Dr. Freddie L. Parker of Durham; and Darin Waters of Raleigh. Dr. Parker, professor of history at North Carolina Central University, is also a member of the North Carolina Historical Commission. Andrena Coleman is the former site manager of the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum who resigned in August 2008 to accept the position of chief administrative officer at Bennett College. At the swearing-in ceremony, Linda A. Carlisle, the newly appointed secretary of DCR; Dr. Jeffrey J. Crow, deputy secretary of the Office of Archives and History; Rep. Alma Adams of Greensboro, who sponsored the legislation that created the commis-sion; and Dr. Spaulding made brief remarks. Dr. Spaulding acknowledged the assistance of Michelle Lanier, curator of cultural history in the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties, in compiling a list of some notable black North Carolinians whom she mentioned in her speech. North Carolina Supreme Court justice Patricia Timmons- Goodson administered the oath of office to the commissioners, who then held their first meeting. 3 6 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Rep. Alma Adams (left) addresses the organizational meeting of the African American Heritage Commission on February 27. Linda A. Carlisle (standing), secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources, and Jean G. Spaulding (seated), chair of the commission, also made remarks at the swearing-in ceremony. Scholars Commemorate Bicentennial of Lincoln’s Birth The Office of Archives and History participated in the nationwide commemoration of the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln by hosting a symposium of scholarly lec-tures at the North Carolina Museum of History on February 12. A crowd of 235 inter-ested citizens and employees of the agency heard six prominent North Carolina historians discuss various aspects of the far-ranging Lincoln historiography. Jeffrey J. Crow, who pre-sided over the daylong conference and presented each of the speakers, opened the sympo-sium by introducing the new secretary of the department, Linda A. Carlisle. The program was divided into three sessions of two lectures. William C. Harris, emer-itus professor of history at North Carolina State University and a leading authority on Lin-coln, opened the conference with an appraisal of the sixteenth president as a political leader. He weighed the essential qualities of leadership—intelligence, honesty, sound judg-ment, caution, tolerance, compassion, and a sense of humor—all of which Lincoln pos-sessed in abundance. Harris concluded that Lincoln was “the finest political leader the country has ever produced.” By way of contrast, Paul D. Escott of Wake Forest Univer-sity examined the presidency of Jefferson Davis. He noted that history has not been partic-ularly kind to the leader of the defeated Confederacy, as is generally the case for the losers of military and political contests. Escott conceded that Davis had blatant defects of charac-ter and made a number of calamitous decisions but suggested that the president grew into the job and developed both flexibility and innovation during his four years in office. Escott averred that the Confederacy would not have survived until 1865 had not Davis been at the helm. After lunch, Joseph Glatthaar of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill opened a lively afternoon session with a critical examination of Lincoln as a military leader. While the president was an able director of national strategy, wisely using diplo-macy to keep France and England out of the war, he was markedly less successful at purely V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 3 7 Five of the speakers at the Abraham Lincoln symposium sponsored by the Office of Archives and History pose with Jeffrey J. Crow, deputy secretary of the office and master of ceremonies for the program: (front row, left to right) Paul D. Escott, John David Smith, Heather A. Williams; and (back row, left to right) Crow, Loren Schweninger, and William C. Harris. military strategy. In Glatthaar’s estimate, Lincoln was a conventional thinker in military matters who tended to favor those advisers, such as Henry W. Halleck and Edwin M. Stanton, who thought in like terms. He could never relinquish the conventional head-on approach in order to embrace the “raiding strategy” propounded by the modern thinkers, U. S. Grant and William T. Sherman. John David Smith, professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, discussed the mobilization of 179,000 African American soldiers by the Union. He traced the gradual process of emancipation and the integration of former slaves into the federal armies through the dictates of the first and second compensation acts and the Militia Act of 1862. Smith suggested that Lincoln’s sup-posed shift of attitudes toward emancipation over the course of the war was more apparent than real: the president was merely waiting for propitious events and circumstances to announce the new policy that would radically alter the tenor of the conflict. The final session of the symposium continued the discussion of Lincoln as the Great Emancipator. Loren Schweninger of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro developed the course of the president’s relationship with Frederick Douglass in light of Lincoln’s changing views regarding slavery, emancipation, and race. Schweninger noted that the two leaders were quite different in terms of personality, style, and favored solu-tions to racial issues, but that both were dramatically altered by the Civil War. In the final lecture of the day, Heather A. Williams of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examined the evolution of Lincoln’s legacy to African Americans over the past cen-tury and a half. Even before he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the president was regarded by blacks as the Moses who would lead them out of slavery and into the Prom-ised Land. Many feared that his assassination was part of a wider conspiracy to return them to bondage. Lincoln’s death elevated him to the status of martyr and the Great Overseer, the omniscient conscience of a reunited nation. Three historical documents relating to Lincoln, on loan from the North Carolina State Archives, were displayed in the museum lobby during the week of the symposium. Two of the manuscripts were letters bearing the president’s signature: the cover letter to the so-called “Ghost Amendment,” the proposed thirteenth amendment to the Constitution that would have prevented Congress from interfering with slavery where it existed, sent to the states for ratification on March 13, 1861; and an April 8, 1862, letter to the czar announcing the recall of Cassius Clay of Kentucky as minister to Russia. The third record on display was the letter book of Gov. John W. Ellis containing a transcription of his famous telegram to Secretary of War Simon Cameron in response to Lincoln’s request of April 15, 1861, for two regiments of North Carolina troops to assist in putting down the secession of the lower South: “You can get no troops from North Carolina.” War of 1812 Bicentennial Planning Begins The charter meeting of the War of 1812 Bicentennial Project Committee of the Office of Archives and History was held on January 28, 2009. Chaired by Dr. David Brook, director of the Division of Historical Resources, the committee commenced its planning of events and activities leading up to and during the war’s bicentennial years, 2012 to 2015. The committee’s goal is to educate the public about “America’s Second War for Independence” and the role of North Carolina and North Carolinians in the war. During its first meeting, the committee established subcommittees for exhibits; events and pro-grams; publications and research; publicity; and reenactors and living history. Members of the committee include Sion H. Harrington III, military collection archivist at the North Carolina State Archives, assistant chair; Thomas Belton, curator of military history, North Carolina Museum of History; Dr. Lindley S. Butler, historian, Reidsville; Charlotte R. Carrere, state council president and president of the Johnston Blakeley Chapter of the United States Daughters of 1812; Bruce Daws, historic properties manager of the City of Fayetteville and curator of the Fayetteville Area Transportation and Local History Museum; Maryanne Friend, director of development and marketing communications for 3 8 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S the Department of Cultural Resources; Jim Greathouse, historic interpreter at the Fayetteville Area Transportation and Local History Museum; Keith Hardison, director of the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties; Elizabeth “Beth” Hayden, demograph-ics and reference librarian in the State Library of North Carolina; Joshua Howard, research historian, Research Branch; Earl Ijames, curator of African American culture, North Carolina Museum of History; Dr. Joseph Porter, chief curator, North Carolina Museum of History; and Jo Ann Williford, education supervisor of the Office of Archives and His-tory. Dr. Jeffrey J. Crow, deputy secretary of Archives and History; Ken Howard, director of the North Carolina Museum of History; and Jesse R. “Dick” Lankford, state archivist of North Carolina, serve as ex-officio members of the committee. North Caroliniana Society Publishes Imprint about Gov. Bob Scott The North Caroliniana Society has recently published number 45 in its series of limited-edition imprints. The thirty-six-page booklet, titled Robert W. Scott and the Preservation of North Carolina History, contains an expanded version of the remarks delivered by Dr. H. G. Jones, secretary and founder of the society and general editor of the imprint series, at Alamance Community College on June 29, 2008. The occasion was the presentation of the North Caroliniana Society Award to the former governor and his wife, Jessie Rae Scott, in honor of their “extraordinary contributions to North Carolina’s art, history, and culture.” The slim soft-cover volume includes ten pages of photographs of Scott family members, friends, and former colleagues of the governor and First Lady taken at the reception by Jerry W. Cotten, retired iconographic archivist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Jan G. Hensley, a Greensboro photographer. The booklet also contains an appendix titled, “Protecting Professionalism in History: The Challenges of Governmental Reorganization,” in which Dr. Jones reflects from the remove of nearly forty years upon the revolutionary days of the early 1970s when the State Department of Archives and History, of which Dr. Jones was then director, was deprived of its depart-mental status during two thorough reorganizations of state government. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 3 9 Members of the War of 1812 Bicentennial Project Committee of the Office of Archives and History at the group’s organizational meeting on January 28: (seated, left to right) Jim Greathouse, chairman David Brook, Lindley S. Butler; and (standing, left to right) Joshua Howard, Sion H. Harrington III, Elizabeth Hayden, Thomas Belton, Joseph Porter, Keith Hardison, and Charlotte R. Carrere. In Dr. Jones’s estimation, his friend Bob Scott, who died on January 23 at the age of seventy-nine, was one of only two of the ninety-nine men who have served as chief executives of North Carolina—the other being David Lowry Swain—who merited the title, “Gubernatorial Friend of History.” Among his many other accomplishments in the various fields of public history, Scott oversaw the launching of the state’s historic preserva-tion program; initiated the restoration of the State Capitol and the renovation of the Executive Mansion; pushed for the legislative appropriation that funded the construction of a state records center; accepted Reed Gold Mine and Duke Homestead as state historic sites; acquired the workshop of David Marshall “Carbine” Williams for the North Carolina Museum of History; and established the precedent of treating the office files of the lieutenant governor as public records. As Dr. Jones concluded, “Every historian, archivist, archaeologist, museologist, and historic preservationist owes special gratitude to Bob Scott, in whose administration North Carolina accelerated its leadership in archival and historic preservation in the nation.” Robert W. Scott and the Preservation of North Carolina History may be purchased from the society for $25.00, which includes shipping and handling. Only five hundred copies were printed, each bearing a distinct number. To obtain a copy, write to the North Caroliniana Society, P.O. Box 127, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0127. East Carolina University Acquires Papers of Poet The Special Collections Department of East Carolina University’s J. Y. Joyner Library announces the acquisition and availability of a significant collection of the papers, publica-tions, and original watercolors of poet A. R. Ammons (1926–2001). The papers are open for research, and a finding aid is available on the department’s Web site, http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/spclcoll/index.cfm. A major exhibit, A. R. Ammons’s Poetry and Art: A Documentary Exhibit, will be on view in the Special Collections Department through June 30, 2009. A full-color catalog of the exhibition is available at no charge. Copies may be requested by contacting Ms. Nanette Hardison at hardisonn@ecu.edu or at (252) 328-0404. News from Historical Resources Archives and Records Section The annual inventory of holdings of the State Archives was held on January 12-14, and the Search Room was closed to the public in order to accomplish this important work. The yearly inventory provides the Archives staff the opportunity to find improperly shelved records, compile information concerning any missing records, update finding aids and the stack guide, identify records in need of conservation, and perform other essential maintenance to the collections in the Archives’ custody. This year’s inventory focused on the map collection and the microfilm room. The records are in remarkably good order 4 0 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S considering that all thirty-five thousand cubic feet were removed and returned by the sec-tion staff to accommodate renovation of the building, which included the installation of a sprinkler system in the Archives stacks. The Outer Banks History Center (OBHC) has received an $11,285 grant from the Outer Banks Community Foundation for the purchase of audiovisual equipment and to support an exhibit and other activities celebrating the center’s twentieth anniversary. An array of special programming is planned in commemoration of this milestone. The exhibit, Preserving Timeless Treasures: The Outer Banks History Center Turns 20, will follow the development of the OBHC as it grew from an idea into a world-class research facility. Topics explored in the display include the development of the David Stick Library as the center’s core collection; “Staff Picks,” highlighting some of the premier but lesser-known items among the holdings; genealogical resources; and the ways in which the OBHC preserves its materials. The exhibit opened in the OBHC gallery on February 28 and will run through the end of the year. Scheduled commemorative activities include hosting a roundtable discussion titled, “Storytelling as an Avocation: An Author’s and Producer’s View,” during the Land of Beginnings Festival at the Wright Brothers National Memorial on April 1. Presenters will include Tom Crouch, senior curator of aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and the author of The Bishop’s Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright; Ken Mann of Wanchese, host of My Heart Will Always Be in Carolina on UNC-TV; and Allan Smith of DreamQuest Productions, pro-ducer of Rescue Men, a new documentary about the Pea Island Lifesavers. The Outer Banks History Center Associates will hold a third annual antiques appraisal fair as a fund-raiser for the OBHC on April 25. The Associates will also host a celebratory luncheon at Kelly’s Outer Banks Restaurant in Nags Head on May 7, the actual anniversary date. For details concerning the twentieth-anniversary schedule of events, contact the OBHC in Manteo at (252) 473-2655 or visit www.obhistorycenter.ncdcr.gov. The Department of Cultural Resources and especially the Archives and Records Sec-tion will be directly impacted by the provisions of Executive Order 150, issued in January by Gov. Michael F. Easley as he was leaving office. New responsibilities for the agency will include the provision of mandatory online training to all state employees who handle public records. Much of this training will focus on teaching employees to manage e-mail as a public record. Archives staff members will also participate in a planning group to iden-tify a software package to be used by all state agencies. Such a package will need to have the capacity to archive e-mail messages and attachments and to migrate them to future for-mats for accessibility. Another duty will involve conducting random audits of state agen-cies within the Executive Branch to ensure that employees are in compliance with their records retention and disposition schedules. Such audits, which will include inspections of backup tapes, will occur during the records analysts’ review sessions with the agencies. The North Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB), in collabora-tion with the State Archives, has requested $33,223 in National Historical Publications Records Commission (NHPRC) supplemental funds to implement an eighteen-month pilot Traveling Archivist Program to educate, train, and provide direct technical assistance to cultural institutions that house archival collections. The SHRAB will collaborate with the North Carolina State Archives to provide an in-kind match of $33,232, for a total project budget of $66,455. The proposed Traveling Archivist Program would address one of the four goals espoused in the SHRAB’s November 2006 strategic plan: To serve as an advocate for historical records in North Carolina, promoting and develop-ing programs to raise public awareness of the importance, value, and condition of the state’s recorded heritage. Our shared vision is that we have strengthened our relationship with archival and histori-cal institutions statewide through our field services support program for all North Carolina archives. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 4 1 Correspondence archivist and Civil War historian Chris Meekins was the featured speaker at two Civil War Trails marker dedication programs in late 2008. On November 6 he spoke during the unveiling of markers at the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City. Meekins was involved with the six markers from concept to dedication and worked with museum staff members and city officials to complete the project. The text of the markers was based on his recent book, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and the Civil War: A History of Battle and Occupation, which detailed aspects of guerrilla warfare in the region. Mitch Bowman, director of the Civil War Trails marker program, indicated that these markers were unique in the subject matter that they explored. In his remarks, Meekins stressed the importance of telling our stories and the educational opportunities offered by the marker program. On December 15 Meekins was the featured speaker at the dedication of the Civil War Trails markers in Currituck County. Barbara Snowden, a member of the North Carolina Historical Commission, invited him to attend the ceremony. She noted that most of the seven markers in the county were also based on his recent publication. Meekins again discussed the importance of telling our stories. Both dedication ceremonies drew small crowds, who expressed their appreciation for the speakers and the markers. Historical Publications Section In an effort to carry North Carolina’s recently recovered copy of the Bill of Rights to the people, the Office of Archives and History exhibited the invaluable document at seven locations throughout the state during 2007. At each stop on the tour, historians and legal scholars delivered keynote addresses concerning one or more of the rights protected by the first ten amendments to the Constitution. The Historical Publications Section has published seven of these lectures as Liberty and Freedom: North Carolina’s Tour of the Bill of Rights (left), edited by Kenrick N. Simpson, head of the General Publications and Periodicals Branch. Charlene Bangs Bickford, director of the First Federal Congress Project at George Washington University, wrote about the events surrounding the creation and ratification of the Bill of Rights. Attorneys W. Dale Talbert and Karen A. Blum of the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office dis-cussed the history of the state’s copy of the Bill of Rights, especially the legal efforts to prove ownership of the docu-ment. Historians William S. Price Jr., Alan D. Watson, and Freddie L. Parker examined freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, respectively. Attorney and civil rights advocate Julius L. Chambers discussed freedom of 4 2 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Archivist Chris Meekins speaks at the Civil War Trails marker dedication program in Currituck County on December 15. Image courtesy of Barbara Snowden, Currituck. assembly and the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances. Justice Willis P. Whichard analyzed the history of the dual rights of trial by jury and due process of law. Liberty and Freedom (121 pages, illustrated, index, paperback) costs $24.00, which includes tax and shipping charges. Order from the Historical Publications Section (CC), Office of Archives and History, 4622 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4622. For credit card orders, call (919) 733-7442, ext. 0, or access the section’s secure online store at http://nc-historical-publications.stores.yahoo.net/. Liberty and Freedom is also available from Amazon.com. Two other publications have been printed or reprinted. The 1775 Mouzon map was reprinted, and the cumulative index to the 2008 issues of Carolina Comments is now avail-able for $6.00 (includes shipping). The Historical Publications Section offers more than 190 books, maps, and document facsimiles. For a free catalog, write to the address above, call (919) 733-7442, ext. 0, or e-mail trudy.rayfield@ncdcr.gov. During the past quarter of the current fiscal year (December 2008-February 2009), operations within the section have been hampered by budget cuts. As a result, several policies have had to be revised. Complimentary copies of Carolina Comments and the North Carolina Historical Review can no longer be provided to libraries or other repositories. The contracts for both periodicals were rewritten so that fewer copies are being printed. In addition, subscription prices have been modified. Individual subscriptions to the North Carolina Historical Review, which also includes receipt of Carolina Comments, remain at $30.00 per year, but those for institutions and libraries were increased to $45.00 and foreign subscriptions to $60.00. Individual subscriptions to Carolina Comments are still $10.00, with back issues available for $3.00 each. In other activities, numerous book proposals have come into the section for consideration by senior staff members. Donna Kelly, as section administrator, has proofread material for the State Archives, the State Historical Records Advisory Board, the Outer Banks History Center, and the State Records Center. Bill Owens attended the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies Conference in Winston-Salem on February 11-13 and sold $714 worth of books. The section will be exhibiting and taking orders for books at the National Genealogical Society’s annual meeting to be held on May 12-16 in Raleigh. Documentary editor Lang Baradell was appointed to the World War I Centennial Committee of the Department of Cultural Resources (DCR). Ms. Kelly was named to the Association for Documentary Editing program committee for the 2009 meeting in Indianapolis. She attended meetings of the Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee on January 26 and the DCR Project Green Task Force on February 26. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 4 3 News from State Historic Sites and Properties East Historic Sites Region Historic Bath hosted a lecture in February for Black History Month titled, “Slave Ship Archaeology: A Comparative Look at the English Slave Ship, Henrietta Marie, and Blackbeard’s Flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge.” David Moore, curator of nautical archaeol-ogy at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, provided a brief examination of the history of the two vessels and archaeological efforts undertaken on the wreckage of each. The Queen Anne’s Revenge was originally the French slave ship La Concorde, bound for Martinique when Blackbeard commandeered it. Seventy people attended the lecture and especially enjoyed the question-and-answer segment following the formal presenta-tion. Historic Bath’s newest acquisition, the early-twentieth-century Carson Cottage, received a new roof in early February. This building provides office, meeting, and storage space, as well as accommodations for interns and guest lecturers. Bentonville Battlefield staff members accompanied their three-inch ordnance rifle to Roanoke Island Festival Park on February 28 and March 1 to participate in that site’s annual Civil War living history program. On March 21-22, Bentonville commemorated the 144th anniversary of the largest battle ever fought on North Carolina soil with its own living history event, School of the Soldier: Confederate Army Camp of Instruction. More than one hundred reenactors, both military and civilian, descended on Bentonville for the annual commemoration of the 1865 clash. Participants re-created a Confederate camp of instruction, where novice soldiers would have learned how to drill properly, fire their muskets quickly, and, most importantly, maintain the discipline needed in battle. Division staff members and volunteers demonstrated the loading and firing of Bentonville’s three-inch ordnance rifle. Civilian reenactors cooked in the Harper House kitchen and presented activities and discussions concerning the hardships of the home front. Staff members from Fort Fisher State Historic Site, the Education Branch of the Museum and Visitor Services Section, and the eastern Civil War office of the Department of Cultural Resources contributed to the program’s success. In conjunction with the living history program, Bentonville unveiled Remnants of War, the inaugural exhibit in a large new display case, which includes several letters, a tintype photograph, medical tools, muskets, a sword, and an artillery shell encased in a tree trunk. The letters and photograph belonged to Pvt. John Curtis, who was a cadet at a Hillsborough military academy when the war began. He immediately joined the Thir-teenth North Carolina Light Artillery Battalion and fought in this unit throughout the war. His often jovial but sometimes somber letters offer a rare glimpse at the life of the average North Carolina Confederate soldier. The last of the letters was written on the eve of the fighting at Bentonville, where Curtis was killed on March 20, 1865, the second day of the battle. Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson is anticipating a summer archaeology research project to be conducted in conjunction with the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties, the Friends of Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson, Peace College, Wake Technical College, 4 4 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S archaeologist Thom Beaman, and the Office of State Archaeology. This partnership will resume active archaeological field investigations at the site that Dr. Stanley South began excavating in the late 1950s. The bid process for the new Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant trail at the site closed on February 20, and construction of the new paved boardwalk/walkway began on March 9. It is anticipated that the work will be completed well before the opening of the summer tourist season. A living history program commemorating the 144th anniversary of the fall of Fort Anderson was held on February 14-15. Fifty reenactors portraying infantry, artillerymen, and sailors were joined by a number of sutlers and civilian presenters to interpret the Civil War for nearly two thousand visitors. Dr. Chris Fonvielle and Dr. Max Williams were the guest speakers, the Cape Fear Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy put on a period fashion show each day, and new lantern tours of the fort were offered on Satur-day evening. Plans have already been made for next year’s 145th anniversary program, which will include the fall of Fort Anderson and the Battle of Town Creek scenarios. Following years of planning that began after Hurricane Floyd wrecked the property at the CSS Neuse/Governor Richard Caswell Memorial in Kinston, the Queen Street Pro-ject to move and better preserve the Civil War gunboat is off and running. Three million dollars were appropriated at the last session of the General Assembly to go along with the $530,000 that had been allocated in previous sessions. These funds will cover the cost of moving the ship and building a climate-controlled facility. Dunn and Dalton Architects of Kinston have been awarded the contract to design the facility and have hired PH Group Industries of California to plan the exhibits. The PH Group designed the displays at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia. At a meeting on February 9, personnel from several state government entities, Dunn and Dalton, and the PH Group discussed the plans. The two firms will submit their designs in June. Before Gov. Michael F. Easley left office in January, he had included this project in his economic development plan, which put it on a fast track for completion. The project will be conducted in phases, with the first and most important being preservation of the boat in a climate-controlled environment. The Golden LEAF Foundation provided a $100,000 grant for design of the facility, and the Kinston-Lenoir County Tourism Development Authority has pledged an equal amount toward exhibits. The property on which the CSS Neuse will be situated was accepted by the State in a letter from the State Property Office dated February 5, 2009. The governor and the Council of State approved the acquisition by deed of gift from the Pride of Kinston. The City of Kinston and Lenoir County also contributed funds with which to prepare the property for State acceptance. It is located next door to the 100 North Queen Street property that was donated to the State by the CSS Neuse Gunboat Association on September 31, 2003. This ambitious project has truly V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 4 5 Reenactors portraying Union troops raise the flag over the captured works of Fort Anderson during the living history commemoration of the 144th anniversary of the battle. been a group effort involving many concerned citizens and groups in the Kinston/Lenoir County area. Historic Edenton and the James Iredell Historical Association celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of incorporation of the association on March 17 by unveiling an appreciation plaque that recognizes nine major donations to the site and association over the years. Site manager Linda Jordan Eure introduced an exhibit that she had developed to showcase association activities since its founding in 1949. Attendees of the ceremony and a reception that followed included descendants of contributors named on the plaque, family of charter members of the association, Historic Edenton site staff, current association board members, and community representatives. On Saturday, January 17, Fort Fisher State Historic Site presented Fort Fisher Then and Now, a program commemorating the 144th anniversary of the capture of the fort. An estimated 3,500 visitors braved icy weather to explore the history of Fort Fisher through the lens of Civil War photography, particularly the work of Timothy O’Sullivan at the fort in 1865. The site opened a new temporary exhibit, Civil War Photography, during the week before the event. Shannon SanCartier, a part-time Fort Fisher employee and full-time graduate student in the public history program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, researched and designed the exhibit as an internship project. She was assisted by staff members of Fort Fisher and the division office. On the day of the event, visitors also enjoyed Bob Zellar’s show, The Civil War in 3-D. An expert on nine-teenth- century photography, Zellar lectured and projected stereoscopic images of Fort Fisher and other Civil War battlefields that, when viewed through special glasses, came to life in three dimensions. Many of O’Sullivan’s images of the fort, enlarged to a striking four by eight feet, were installed in the vicinity of the historic features that they depicted, giving visitors an amazing “then and now” perspective of the scenes before them. No Fort Fisher anniversary program is complete without soldiers, cannons, and music. Staff mem-bers and volunteer reenactors in Confederate costume demonstrated field artillery at the River Road sally port and the tremendous thirty-two-pound seacoast gun in Shepherd’s Battery. Reenactors from the First, Eighteenth, and Twenty-seventh North Carolina Troops donned blue uniforms and demonstrated the infantry tactics and weaponry of the fort’s Union adversaries. The Huckleberry Brothers and John Golden added to the nine-teenth- century ambience with period music, and the Federal Point Historic Preservation Society served delicious sausage dogs. Historic Halifax has two new wayside exhibits and two more planned. The newly installed exhibits at Eagle Tavern focus on the history of the tavern itself and early Ameri-can ordinaries in general. Two more waysides, one interpreting Market Square and the other the Halifax Courthouse site, are in progress and will likely be installed later in the year. Funding from the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of North Carolina made some of these exhibits possible. The site also hosted a sheep shearing and wool spinning workshop sponsored by the Halifax County Agricultural Extension Service’s 4-H Program on March 21. At Somerset Place, several buildings, including the original kitchen/laundry, kitchen storehouse, smokehouse, dairy, and the Colony House, received new wooden-shingled roofs. The Colony House was formerly used as a boarding school for the plantation owner’s six sons and presently serves as the site’s visitor center. Damage to the rake and fascia boards on the smokehouse and kitchen storehouse caused by pileated woodpeckers, frequent visitors to the site, was also repaired. North Carolina Transportation Museum The North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer closed out 2008 and began 2009 with a number of events indicating continued success in the face of tough economic times. The new year started with a program that challenges traditional North Carolina maritime history. Kevin Duffus presented his lecture, “The Last Days of Black Beard the 4 6 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Pirate,” which featured excerpts from his recently published book of the same name. Duffus questioned the accepted account of the state’s most famous historical outlaw, con-tending that the pirate was actually born in the colonies, not in England, as historians have long believed. Duffus weighed other alleged misconceptions, such as Blackbeard’s real name and the true extent of his exploits. He also claimed that some members of the pirate’s crew were not executed, as many think, but lived long and profitable lives after their careers as brigands. A new permanent exhibit that focuses on a little-known facet of the history of African American workers on North Carolina railroads has been added to the museum. North Carolina Lining Bar Gangs recalls the labor and music of African American railroad workers. Lining bar gangs consisted of ten to thirty laborers and a foreman who laid railroad track onto rail ties. They were also known as gandy dancers, because they employed a gandy, or lining bar, to align the tracks. The workers used rail tongs to pick up a rail, placed it on tie plates, and spiked it down to the ties. The work was backbreaking and generally took place in the heat of summer. To maintain a fluid motion, crews sang blues and ragtime tunes, along with spirituals dating back to slavery days. The songs helped keep the workers synchronized and also expressed their feelings about the hard job they were doing. North Carolina Lining Bar Gangs is on display in the Bob Julian Roundhouse at the museum. The museum has also seen improvements to the tracks and in the look and functional-ity of walkways at the site. New sidewalks have been installed alongside the Flue Shop, replacing a dated and cracked walkway that collected rainwater and left puddles for guests to wade through. Less obvious to the visitor experience, but every bit as important, is recent track work at the museum. Paid for by the North Carolina Transportation Museum Foundation and a matching federal grant, the improvements will keep the trains running at the museum and provide more track area on which to display locomotives, rail cars, and visiting trains. Piedmont Historic Sites Region At Alamance Battleground, thirteen members of the Alamance Long Rifles held their monthly meeting on January 8 and enjoyed a presentation concerning the making of Damascus shotgun barrels. During the weekend of January 23-25, nineteen members of the Iron Grey Mess, a group of Civil War reenactors, camped and practiced their drills at the site. Staff members conducted a thorough cleaning of the upstairs of the Allen House on January 28. A new season of living history events opened at Bennett Place on March 28. The Planting the Fields program demonstrated farming as practiced in the 1850s by the Bennett family. Costumed interpreters conducted hands-on activities with visitors and planted corn and other vegetables that would have been grown on the farm. Subsequent programs will examine the construction of split rail fencing, farm chores, and other domestic activities. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 4 7 A half-foot-deep blanket of snow enveloped Bennett Place and other state historic sites in the Piedmont Region on January 20. On March 1, the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum presented Dr. Willi Coleman as the initial speaker in the spring 2009 edition of the Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown Legacy Lecture Series. Dr. Coleman’s lecture was titled, “On the Road to Miss Rosa: Black Women’s Resistance to Segregated Public Transportation before Rosa Parks,” a topic that relates directly to the legacy of Dr. Brown, who is remembered for her legal suits against interstate railroads in the 1920s. Dr. Coleman has written on the topic of African Ameri-can women who were involved in protests against segregated public transportation in the 1990 book, Black Women in United States History from Colonial Times to the Present. Cur-rently an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, she has a passion for merging African American history and women’s history, and has long been at the forefront of that movement. Her lecture, therefore, provided a fitting closure for African American History Month and the opening of Women’s History Month. The next lecture in the series, scheduled for April 5, will feature a program concerning African American philanthropy presented by NC Gives, an emerging statewide initiative that focuses on the generosity of communities of color, women, and young people. Staff members and volunteers from the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum and Historic Stagville represented their sites at the annual African American Cultural Celebration at the North Carolina Museum of History on January 31. Duke Homestead also participated in the event, hosting a tobacco-tying exhibit that proved very popular with attendees. Town Creek Indian Mound held its first Astronomy Night of 2009 on January 3. Several additional evenings of star gazing are scheduled throughout the year. Murray Roofing of Swansboro completed the roof replacement project at the visitor center. Roanoke Island Festival Park After the customary winter’s respite, the park reopened for the 2009 season with a weekend of eclectic musical performances. The Freedmen’s Colony Blues Jam was held in the Film Theater on Friday, February 20, with legendary blues guitarists Hubert Sumlin, Bob Margolin, and Matt Walsh as the featured artists. The internationally acclaimed Hesperus Crossover Quartet, billed as “History’s Soundtrack,” then delivered a pair of memorable performances. On Saturday night, the ensemble presented the musical score from Buster Keaton’s classic 1925 movie, The General. Nineteenth-century ballads, marches, breakdowns, jigs, and topical songs were performed on period folk instruments. On Sunday afternoon, the quartet offered The Unknown Lincoln: A Portrait in Song, a selec-tion of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite tunes interspersed with quotations from the sixteenth president, his family, and friends. The following weekend, the historic site commemorated the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Roanoke Island with the ninth annual Civil War Living History Weekend. More than sixty reenactors por-traying Union and Confederate soldiers and civilians supported Division of State Historic Sites and Properties personnel in demonstrations of artillery fire, speed musket firing, camp life, 4 8 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Gary Riggs (right) demonstrates battlefield surgery during the ninth annual Civil War Living History Weekend at Roanoke Island Festival Park. and a Civil War-era enlistment station. On Saturday, Gary Riggs of Vanceboro gave a presentation concerning battlefield surgery. The play, Heroes of the Underground Railroad, produced by the Bright Star Children’s Theatre of Asheville and currently in its fourth year of touring the country, was presented in the park’s Film Theater on Sunday. Roanoke Island Festival Park (RIFP) was invited to participate in the historic inaugural parade of Governor-elect Beverly Perdue in Raleigh on January 10. Costumed interpret-ers from the park joined staff members from sev-eral other state historic sites, including Fort Dobbs and the North Carolina Transportation Museum; members of Elizabeth R and Com-pany, the park’s resident professional theater company; the Guilde of St. Andrew of Raleigh, frequent participants in RIFP programming; and the Oakwood Waits singing group of Raleigh. The theme of the inaugural parade for the state’s first female chief executive was “North Carolina: The Future Starts Now.” Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens Hats off to the Dreamers: Rebuilding and Furnishing Tryon Palace, a new exhibit in two galleries celebrating fifty years of Tryon Palace history, will officially open on April 24. The Tryon Palace Commission will welcome present and former commissioners in com-memoration of the fiftieth anniversary. The galleries inside the palace will exhibit antique furniture, paintings, and objects d’art from the original Maude Moore Latham Collection and items bought to furnish the palace for its opening on April 8, 1959. Many of these objects have not been on view for decades. Eighteenth-century archaeological evidence found during restoration of the palace will also be on display. Visitors will be able to see the interpretation of the palace evolve over time—from the furnishings of the 1950s to today’s more historically accurate portrayal of eighteenth-century interiors. Admission to the exhibit is included in the purchase of an all-inclusive Governor’s Pass ticket ($15 for adults and $6 for students). Special discounts are available to groups. Contact www.tryonpalace.org for further information. Maude Moore Latham and her daughter, May Gordon Latham Kellenberger, were natives of New Bern. Both were prominent in various civic, cultural, and patriotic organizations and together left a legacy that is treasured not only in New Bern but also throughout the state. Even after the Latham family moved to Greensboro in 1904, they continued to promote the significance of the colonial history of New Bern and North Carolina. When an opportunity arose for the State to acquire the Carolina Charter, issued on March 24, 1663, by King Charles II of England to the Lords Proprietors, Mrs. Latham was the first and largest donor toward its purchase. Mrs. Latham was particularly interested in the restoration of historic buildings, and it was her dream that the government house, or palace, designed by John Hawks and V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 4 9 Players in Elizabeth R and Company, a professional theater company from Manteo, joined costumed staff members from Roanoke Island Festival Park to march in the historic inaugural parade of Governor-elect Beverly Perdue on January 10. constructed in New Bern during the tenure of royal governor William Tryon, be restored. The building, once described as “the finest capital building on the continent of North America,” served as both the first permanent capitol of the colony and the first capitol of the state after the American Revolution. A dream that was once referred to as “impossible, impractical, and undesirable” had not then encountered the dedication and commitment of two determined and remarkable ladies, Maude Moore Latham and May Gordon Latham Kellenberger. While many individuals were involved in research and promotion of the pro-ject to restore the palace, it was not until 1944, when Mrs. Latham established the Maude Moore Latham Trust Fund for the explicit purpose of raising money for the restoration of the palace, that the project gained momentum. Mrs. Latham contributed more than $3,000,000 to the State, as well as a gift of antiques with which to furnish the palace. Mrs. Latham did not live to see her dream realized, but her legacy was nurtured and expanded through the efforts of her daughter. Mrs. Kellenberger succeeded her mother as chair of the Tryon Palace Commission, a board established to accept gifts, acquire prop-erty, and restore Governor Tryon’s Palace. Under the guidance of Mrs. Kellenberger, the commission restored not only the palace, but also the John Wright Stanly House and the Dixon House, museum houses that are important to the site’s interpretation of the historical heritage of New Bern and North Carolina. Like her mother, Mrs. Kellenberger donated much of her personal fortune toward preserving the heritage of New Bern. At her death, she left exclusively for the Town of New Bern the legacy of the Kellenberger Historical Foundation for preservation-related projects. Beneficiaries of this trust and stewardship include the New Bern Historical Society, the New Bern Preservation Foundation, Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens, the New Bern Academy Museum, the New Bern Civic Theatre, and Habitat for Humanity. Expansion of the New Bern-Craven County Public Library and the creation of the Kellenberger Room, a repository of state and local history, were results of her legacy. Many publications documenting the history of New Bern were also made possible through Mrs. Kellenberger’s beneficence, a generous gift that will continue to serve future generations. 5 0 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Maude Moore Latham (left) and her daughter, May Gordon Latham Kellenberger (right) provided much of the leadership and funding to restore Tryon Palace, which opened to the public fifty years ago. Both of the portraits were painted by Joseph Wallace King, ca. 1963–1964: Mrs. Latham’s was done posthumously. West Historic Sites Region West Region sites and personnel were honored with five awards by the North Carolina Museums Council at its annual meeting, held in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on March 5. Steve A. Hill, veteran site manager of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, received the Career Professional Service Award for his many years of outstanding service to the division. The preservation and restoration of the Old Kentucky Home is a testament to his nearly thirty years of daily efforts. Sharon E. Robinson, in her second year as site manager of Reed Gold Mine, was honored with the Early Career Professional Service Award for her efforts to tell North Carolina’s gold-mining history. The Ledger, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial’s black-and-white newsletter, was cited as best in its class. Fort Dobbs received the award for the top Web site (www.fortdobbs.org). Finally, the President James K. Polk State Historic Site was named one of two recipients of $500 awards with which to fund an internship during the coming year. The West Region enjoyed good weather on weekends during January, resulting in increased visitation at all sites. While some sites are experiencing increases in local school-children visitation, others are having cancellations of field trips because of school system budgetary cutbacks. In February the Department of Cultural Resources (DCR) unveiled an interactive component of its Web site, www.ncculture.com/interactive, that highlights North Carolina’s role in the French and Indian War. “This online project combines traditional and experiential learning,” said DCR secretary Linda A. Carlisle. “It’s a fun and engaging way for teachers and students of all ages to learn about an important part of North Carolina’s story.” The project features battle reenactments; frontier and Indian life; historic photo-graphs of the archaeological dig at Fort Dobbs; and interviews with historic interpreters, archaeologists, and a high school student volunteer. Also included on the Web site are a guide for educators, a suggested reading list for all ages, a “Guess the Artifact” puzzle, and recipes for Cherokee bean bread and colonial stew. DCR educators showcased the inter-active at the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies conference in Greensboro. The North Carolina Provincial Frontier Company, Fort Dobbs State Historic Site’s garrison, participated in Gov. Beverly Perdue’s inaugural parade in Raleigh on January 10. Staff members and seventeen volunteers from throughout the state represented the fort on the historic occasion. Site planning continued with the implementation of a $150,000 Museums for America grant from the Insti-tute for Museum and Library Services. The grant will fund long-range interpretive plan-ning, a conceptual plan for the fort, and exhibit designs. As a part of the project, architectural design of the 7,800-square-foot fortified barracks is under way. In addition to Division of State Historic Sites and Properties and DCR Capital Projects staff members, a team of consultants that includes V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 5 1 The North Carolina Provincial Frontier Company, the resident garrison at Fort Dobbs State Historic Site, also marched in the governor’s inaugural parade in Raleigh. Dr. Lawrence Babits, archaeologist; Russell Steele, an expert on eighteenth-century construction; Al Anderson, a specialist in heavy timber frame construction; and Ray Cannetti, an authority on eighteenth-century masonry, have provided significant input on the architectural and interpretive features of the structure. The architectural design is expected to be completed by July. A living history weekend, With the Greatest Attention to Command, was held at Fort Dobbs on March 21-22. The event featured the fort’s garrison of provincial soldiers as they practiced military drills in preparation for a new campaign season. Musketry and cannon-firing demonstrations, as well as eighteenth-century camp life, were presented throughout the weekend. The Friends of Fort Dobbs have undertaken a feasibility study that will provide significant information to the site staff as it prepares for future funding. Horne Creek Living Historical Farm will witness the completion of its new visitor center during April. The 2,300-square-foot structure will include approximately 700 square feet of exhibit space, 800 square feet of office and program preparation areas, and 300 square feet for visitor orientation and the gift shop. The building, designed by Cherry Huffman Architects of Raleigh, will have cedar siding and a “tin” roof. The broad front porch will provide a place for visitors to gather and perhaps enjoy a breeze in rocking chairs. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is being planned, and a major grand opening celebra-tion will be held after exhibits have been installed later this year. Winter means pruning time at the Southern Heritage Apple Orchard, and horticulturist Jason Bowen has been busily preparing the trees for this year’s crop. A President’s Day program celebrating the contributions of the First Ladies of Carolina-born presidents was held at the President James K. Polk State Historic Site. The roles of Rachel Donelson Jackson, Eliza McCardle Johnson, and Sarah Childress Polk were discussed by scholars before an overflow crowd. With assistance from members of the Polk Memorial Support Group, the lobby, auditorium, and offices at the site received fresh coats of paint. New carpet has been installed in offices and the auditorium. Staff members from Reed Gold Mine assisted in the removal of dead trees in preparation for a trail workday sponsored by REI, sports outfitters. Reed Gold Mine spent part of February without heat in the visitor center while a new HVAC system was being installed to replace the original 1977 furnace. The new system is designed to better regulate temperature and humidity levels. Much of the original duct work was also replaced, and new ceilings were installed in the upstairs rooms and in the lobby area. David Tate, site manager at Vance Birthplace, attended a public hearing in Morganton for the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution National Heritage Area. The Vance exhibits are being updated, and soon new paint and graphics will enhance a visitor’s understanding of the life of Zebulon Vance and his contributions to North Carolina. An inventory of donations from Ted Mitchell’s Thomas Wolfe collection has been completed by the staff at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. Mitchell was a former staff mem-ber and a Wolfe scholar who passed away in December. A volunteer information and ori-entation day was held at the site on January 31. Individuals interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial were treated to a guided tour of the boardinghouse and participated in a question-and-answer session with the vol-unteer coordinator and current docents. The site has been the beneficiary of a substantial increase in volunteerism, which has helped to satisfy staffing needs during peak visitation periods and special programs. The successful Student Writing Camps continued as the spring sessions began in February. Students in fourth through eighth grades are enrolled in the four-month camps, which meet weekly. Summer camps will also be offered, with shorter sessions of one week each. Each class is facilitated by Janet Hurley, a free-lance writer with a master’s degree in creative writing. In February, Asheville City and Buncombe County teachers participated in a focus group session at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial as part of an ongoing effort to enhance the site’s educational programming. Teachers provided input for shaping future programs and offered advice on ways to make such opportunities available to more educators. 5 2 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S News from State History Museums Museum of the Albemarle In February the Museum of the Albemarle hosted a successful family program, Civil War Living History Days. The event commemorated the 1862 Battle of Elizabeth City and included civilian and military reenactors, encampments, displays, and the always-popular artillery firings. Chris Meekins, Civil War historian and correspondence archivist with the Archives and Records Section, presented a lecture titled, “Lincoln and North Carolina: Possibilities.” The weekend’s activities not only filled the museum but also overflowed onto the Museum Green and Waterfront Park. Recent changes in the family-friendly Discovery Room reflect the theme, “Life on a Farm in the 1930s and 1940s.” Visitors can try on period clothing, play games, and experience how farm families lived and worked. The exhibit, ArtDuckO: Waterfowl Culture in North Carolina, opened a yearlong run at the museum on March 8. This display is located in the new expansion gallery behind the Our Story exhibit and features an outstanding collection of decoys by noted carvers. Other highlights of the display include feathered fashions and interactive activities, such as a shooting gallery, camouflaged clothing to try on, and a Quack Facts Quiz to test what visitors have learned from the exhibit. ArtDuckO will hang until March 28, 2010. Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex The standard for modern detective fiction, replete with a tough gumshoe, an intrigu-ing plotline, and a femme fatale, was established in 1929, when Dashiell Hammett wrote his masterpiece, The Maltese Falcon. The author and this important book in popular culture were highlighted in a temporary exhibit, The Maltese Falcon: A Big Read Exhibit, which opened at the museum on February 21. The display of Hammett memorabilia and artifacts relating to his best-known novel was presented in conjunction with the Big Read, an ini-tiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) that encourages reading by pro-moting the community-wide reading of a particular book. For the third consecutive year, Fayetteville was selected as a Big Read city, and The Maltese Falcon was the year’s featured book. The historical complex, a participating organization in the Big Read program, col-laborated with the Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center to present the exhibit. The NEA sponsors the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Friends of the Cumber-land County Public Library and Information Center received grants from the NEA, the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, and the William C. Powell, M.D., Advised Fund to support the project. In conjunction with the exhibit, the historical complex presented several relevant pro-grams. On March 10, Dr. Richard Layman, curator of the exhibit and author of numerous books on Dashiell Hammett, discussed the author of The Maltese Falcon. On Saturday, March 14, Chip Gentry, a member of the North Carolina Falconers Guild, hosted a pro-gram that included a film, a brief talk about raptors, and flight demonstrations with live V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 5 3 birds of prey in Arsenal Park. On Saturday, March 28, Kathryn Beach, the museum’s research historian, examined pop culture of the 1930s. On two other Saturdays of the exhibit’s brief run (March 28 and April 5), the museum offered an afternoon film series. North Carolina Maritime Museum at Beaufort The restoration of an LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel), or “Higgins Boat,” was completed by volunteers at the Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center of the North Carolina Maritime Museum at Beaufort, concluding a seven-month project. The boat was returned to the protective care of its owner, the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois, in a hand-off ceremony at the center on March 6. The landing craft is approximately 10½ feet wide and 36 feet long. “It’s probably the biggest single object we ever restored at the museum,” observed curator Paul Fontenoy, “but we overcame the challenges.” Although more than twenty-three thousand LCVPs were manufactured dur-ing World War II, only about twelve survive in the United States. Landing crafts carried troops from transport vessels right onto shore, including the First Infantry Division at North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy. The LCVP has been a draw for veterans to visit the museum and observe restoration of the vessel. “It was just great to meet all the astonished veterans who showed up,” Fontenoy continued. “It was great to hear their life stories.” North Carolina Museum of History Gov. Beverly Eaves Perdue selected a garnet red formal gown for her historic inaugu-ral ball, which took place on January 10 in Raleigh. The governor has donated the silk gown, matching shoes, and earrings to the North Carolina Museum of History, where they are on view in the exhibit, Elected to Serve: North Carolina’s Governors. Traditionally, the museum acquires inaugural gowns from the state’s First Ladies. This year marks the first time that a governor’s inaugural gown will be added to the collection. Governor Perdue selected Lynda Narron Bunn of Bailey to design her gown of double-layered, beaded silk chiffon that is complemented by a sheer organza yoke and straight sleeves. The gown fea-tures a unique skirt: the back apron panel is lined with satin, which is revealed when walk-ing. In addition to the inaugural gown, the museum acquired another first: the tuxedo that North Carolina’s first First Gentleman wore to the inaugural ball. Governor Perdue’s hus-band, Robert W. “Bob” Eaves Jr., donated his black tuxedo with black satin lapels, which is also on display in Elected to Serve. 5 4 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Gov. Beverly Perdue and the red silk gown that she wore to her inaugural ball and donated to the North Carolina Museum of History, where it is displayed in the Elected to Serve exhibit. Also pictured are the First Gentleman, Robert W. “Bob” Eaves Jr. (far left), who donated the tuxedo that he wore to the ball, and Linda A. Carlisle, secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources (center left). Approximately 4,500 people attended the Eighth Annual African American Cultural Celebration on January 31. The family event included musical performances, storytelling, craft demonstrations, and hands-on activities. Blues guitarist Boo Hanks, sweet grass basket maker Kisha Rawlinson, and children’s authors Miles and William Rabun were among the more than seventy presenters and exhibitors at the free daylong program. “The celebration featured a variety of presentations, so visitors had many firsthand opportunities to explore African American history and present-day culture,” said Emily Grant, youth programs coordinator at the museum. New presentations this year included scenes from the Burning Coal Theatre Company’s new play, 1960, and vignettes from “Greensboro Then and Now,” a commissioned work by the Greensboro modern dance group, Cyrus Art Production. Special guest Sana Butler, author and Newsweek correspondent, discussed her book, Sugar of the Crop: My Journey to Find the Children of Slaves, about an unprecedented quest to locate the last surviving children of enslaved people. At noon, visitors watched a Jonkonnu procession with masked dancers in colorful costumes who played drums and sang. The performance resembled part of the Jonkonnu celebrations that were observed by enslaved African Americans in eastern North Carolina in the 1800s. Other notable pre-senters included Jaki Shelton Green, recently named poet laureate of the Piedmont; jazz saxophonist Ron Baxter; the trombone shout band Mangum and Company; the Gospel Jubilators; legendary harness horseman Charles “Red Eye” Williams; basket maker Neal Thomas; doll maker Marilyn Griffin; furniture maker Jerome Bias; and woodcarver Frank Barrow. The museum celebrated Black History Month with special programming in February that featured gospel singing, scholarly lectures, and topical tours. Four generations of the Landis family of Granville County, who perform as the gospel group, the Golden Echoes, took center stage in the museum auditorium on Saturday, February 8. The program also included clips from the film, A Singing Stream: A Black Family Chronicle, which documents this remarkable family. PineCone cosponsored the event as part of the museum’s Music of the Carolinas series. The lunchtime History à la Carte segment for the month, titled “Breaking the Silence and Healing the Soul,” was presented on February 11 by Sharon D. Raynor, director of the honors program at Johnson C. Smith University. Inspired by a diary that her father kept while serving in Vietnam, Raynor interviewed African American veterans about their service in Southeast Asia. In her presentation, she shared excerpts from these oral histories, photographs, newspaper accounts, and soldiers’ memorabilia. A grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council’s Road Scholars Speakers Bureau helped to fund the program. The initial lecture in the museum’s new series, Perspectives on History, presented by fellows from the National Humanities Center, also addressed a topic appropriate to Black History Month. Daina Ramey Berry, professor of history at Michigan State University, discussed “Appraised, Bartered, and Sold: The Value of Human Chattels” on February 19. A reception followed the evening lecture, which was sponsored by the North Carolina Museum of History Associates. Finally, on each Saturday afternoon during February, Afri-can American History Tours focused on the exhibit, Bearing Witness: Civil Rights Photo-graphs of Alexander Rivera. Individual items in other galleries with relevance to African American history, such as the Thomas Day furniture in the Pleasing to the Eye: The Decora-tive Arts of North Carolina exhibit, were also highlighted. At the end of each tour, actor Holmes Morrison portrayed a black doctor reflecting on the travails of his grandmother, a domestic laborer with “doctoring” skills, during the years of segregation. Pirates have wreaked havoc on the high seas since maritime travel began. These seafar-ing scoundrels receive attention in Knights of the Black Flag, a major new exhibit that opened at the museum on March 6. The exhibit explores the legacy of pirates from ancient times to the present, through intriguing artifacts, legends, and historical facts. Knights of the Black Flag includes the largest collection of artifacts, including cannons, tobacco pipes, and a ship’s bell, yet to be exhibited from the shipwreck in Beaufort Inlet that is believed to be Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge. Legends surround V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 5 5 another unusual artifact, on loan from the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massa-chusetts: the alleged skull of Blackbeard. The exhibit also features works of art, such as paintings of pirates by Don Maitz, which illustrate the continuing mystique of piracy in popular culture. The interactive exhibit is an exciting experience for all ages: young visitors can handle reproduction pirate weapons and try on sailors’ clothing. The Museum of History partnered with the North Carolina Maritime Museum at Beaufort and the Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project of the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the Office of State Archaeology to create the exhibit. Admis-sion is free for ages eighteen and under, and for adults who accompany school or youth groups of ten or more. The fee is $5 for ages nineteen and up; $4 for senior citi-zens, active military personnel, and mem-bers of adult groups of ten or more. Tickets may be purchased at the Museum Shop, located in the lobby. The exhibit will run through January 3, 2010. Staff Notes In the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties, Capt. David Scheu retired as site manager at the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial and was succeeded by Capt. Terry Bragg on March 1. Myra Shapiro, a 1968 graduate of Palmer Memorial Institute who retired after twenty-two years as an educator and school administrator in New York City, was hired as historic site manager III at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum. At Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens, Rebecca Reimer joined the staff as curator of education, and Nancy Montague began work as an accounting clerk III. Kerri Clavette, historic interpreter II, transferred from the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum to Alamance Battleground. Jeff Fritzinger joined the staff at Bentonville after many years as a farm interpreter at Charles B. Aycock Birthplace. Wayne Steelman transferred from Horne Creek Living Historical Farm to serve as maintenance mechanic at Fort Dobbs. Matt Vernon joined Bennett Place as a historic interpreter. Jesse Cox, office assistant III at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, resigned. Courtney Rounds, historic interpreter II at the President James K. Polk State Historic Site, completed the Leadership Development Program courses in January. Christian Dwight, collection manager at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, participated as an instructor in the MACREN (Mountain Area Cultural Resource Emergency Network)-sponsored workshop, When It Counts: Handling Material in a Disaster, on March 23. In the Division of State History Museums, Dr. Jeanne Marie Warzeski, curator of colonial and antebellum history at the North Carolina Museum of History, was one of three individuals nationwide to be awarded a fellowship by the Smithsonian Affiliations Visiting Professionals Program. In April, she will conduct research and study collections at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), the NMAI Cultural Resources Center, and the National Museum of American History. 5 6 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Don Maitz’s colorful painting, Blackbeard’s Revenge, is among several works of art in the exhibit, Knights of the Black Flag, which illustrate the continuing mystique of piracy in popular culture. Obituary William Samuel “Sam” Tarlton, the first superintendent of the Division of Historic Sites who directed the development of a statewide system of historic properties, died in Raleigh on March 12, 2009, aged 87. A native of Union County, Sam Tarlton gradu-ated from Wingate Junior College and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wake Forest College around a stint of active duty in the U.S. Navy. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during World War II. After a brief sojourn as a teacher at Cumberland University in Tennessee, Tarlton joined the State Department of Archives and History on August 1, 1954, in the dual capacity of researcher for the high-way historical marker program and editor of Carolina Comments. He helped to compile the fourth edition of the guide to the highway markers. On October 1, 1955, he was named superintendent of the Division of Historic Sites, newly established within the department. At that time, administration of state-owned historic properties was divided among various state agencies and commissions. By the end of Tarlton’s thirteen-year tenure, thirteen sites were operated by the division, and many had progressed beyond the initial phase of archaeological investigations and historical research to the interpre-tive phase, characterized by visitor centers in the nature of small museums. In fact, a year after his departure in December 1968, the Division of Historic Sites was merged with the Division of Museums. On March 18, 1969, the executive board of the department adopted a resolution praising the excellence of his superintendency and his enviable national reputation. Tarlton served as an officer of the American Association for State and Local History, the Historic American Buildings Survey, the Association of Historic Sites Administrators, and the North American Association of Historic Sites Public Offi-cials. He was also a member of the Historic Murfreesboro Commission and the Raleigh Historic Sites Commission. He won the Cannon Cup Award from the North Carolina Society for the Preservation of Antiquities in 1959 and an Anthemion Award from Capital Area Preservation in 2003 for the restoration of a house in Raleigh. After leaving state service, Tarlton formed a partnership with former colleague James Craig and for the next forty years conducted a high-end antiques business in the capital city. Tarlton was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. He is survived by a son, William S. Tarlton Jr., and a daughter, Meribeth McKenzie, both of Raleigh. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 5 7 Was Abraham Lincoln a Tar Heel? Ansley H. Wegner EDITOR’S NOTE: Ansley Herring Wegner has been a research historian in the Research Branch of the Office of Archives and History since 2000. Previously, she worked in the Search Room of the North Carolina State Archives for six years. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985 and a master’s degree from North Carolina State University in 2000. She is the author of History for All the People: One Hundred Years of Public History in North Carolina (2003) and Phantom Pain: North Carolina’s Artificial-Limbs Program for Confederate Veterans (2004), and contributed several essays to The Governors of North Carolina (2007), all published by the Historical Publications Section. North Carolina has been so foolish in laying claim to everything in sight and on every occasion that I am sick unto death of claims that cannot be proved. When we can prove claims then we may boast. Stephen B. Weeks to R. D. W. Connor 25 July 1905 When Chicago newspaperman John Locke Scripps offered to write Abraham Lincoln’s campaign biography in 1860, Lincoln responded, Why Scripps . . . it is a great piece of folly to attempt to make anything out of my early life. It can be condensed into a single sentence, and that sentence you will find in Gray’s Elegy, “The short and simple annals of the poor.” That’s my life and that’s all you or any one else can make of it. Lincoln knew little about his family and apparently did not wish to pursue a genealogical investigation. He always said that his parents were originally from Virginia—that his mother was Nancy Hanks, and his father, Thomas Lincoln, was the son of Abraham Lincoln, but that they were not connected to the wealthy New England Lincolns. Lincoln’s cousin Dennis Hanks, who, being of an age between Nancy and Abraham, grew up as friend to both, provided a few more details concerning the Hanks family. From Dennis Hanks Americans learned that Nancy Hanks was the daughter of Lucy, who was the sister of Dennis’s mother, also named Nancy. The proclivity for Hankses to name their daughters Nancy plays a significant role in the confusion. Despite Lincoln’s own disregard for his genealogy, the general public, it seems, remained keenly interested in Lincoln’s family tree. The paucity of information, unfortu-nately, left room for fabrication. What likely began as an attempt to discredit the president during the Civil War has snowballed over the years. In 1861 a woman in Nelson County, 5 8 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S New Leaves Kentucky, told a newspaper reporter that Abraham Lincoln’s real name was Abraham Enlow, and that he was a thief who ran off to Illinois and changed his name. She said that old Abe Enlow “has become a traitor president, under the stolen name Abe Lincoln. But we all said that [he] would never come to any good end.” The supposed connection between Abraham Lincoln and Abraham Enlow/Enloe/Inlow (the name and its variations were common in the early 1800s) would flourish. In March 1863 an article appeared in the Wilmington Journal stating that Lincoln was the son of Abra-ham Inlow of Hardin County, Kentucky. Later that year, a man wrote to Secretary of State William H. Seward to expose the president as “the illegitimate son by a man named Inlow.” The story of Lincoln’s illegitimacy found seed in many communities, especially those with Enloes and Hankses. About a dozen stories arose claiming to expose Lincoln’s true father, and of those, four were men named Abraham Enloe (or Enlow/Inlow). Besides Enloe, it was also said that Senator John C. Calhoun fathered Lincoln with Nancy Hanks, a South Carolina tavern keeper’s daughter. Some even said that Lincoln and Jeffer-son Davis shared a father. North Carolina boasted three alleged fathers of the president— an Enloe, a Martin, and a Springs. However, the rumors that began as libel intended to discredit the Great Emancipator have become legends steeped in civic pride. The North Carolina Abraham Enloe story, first published in book form in 1899 by James H. Cathey as The Genesis of Lincoln, is based on circumstantial evidence and oral tra-dition. In short, it is as follows: A young Nancy Hanks arrived in the state through various means, depending on the version, and ended up in the household of Abraham Enloe of Rutherford County. Abraham Enloe got Hanks pregnant and was forced by embarrass-ment to move westward. Most versions of the story have Hanks giving birth in Rutherford County after the Enloe family had moved on to Haywood County. Enloe then sent her to Kentucky and paid Thomas Lincoln, either a wandering horse trader or an itinerant farm laborer, to marry her. The birth took place, depending on the account, between 1804 and 1806, in order to fit the time frame of Enloe’s life. The legend also requires that Lincoln be born before his older sister, as Enloe would not have waited for a second child before sending Nancy Hanks away. Lincoln’s ability to pass for three years V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 5 9 Daguerreotype of Abraham Lincoln, aged about thirty-seven, ca. 1846–1847. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. younger, even as a small child, was explained by people’s accepting that he was simply “tall for his age.” Documents related to Abraham Enloe can be found in the North Carolina State Archives, but records that support his fathering of Abraham Lincoln do not exist. A 2005 publication on the subject included several abstracted census records that are not true to the originals. For example, in presenting evidence from the 1800 federal census for Rutherford County, the author records a Nancy Hanks, aged sixteen, living in the house-hold of Abraham Enloe. Not only does the 1800 census not provide names for anyone other than the head of household, but the author’s ages of the various household members do not match those on the original document. The author also merged at least two or three Abraham Enloes in an attempt to prove the legend. A 2003 book about Lincoln’s supposed North Carolina roots includes copious footnotes; however, they merely lead the reader to secondary sources and oral traditions. The only original document mentioned in the book is the marriage bond between Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. Yet the authors discounted the veracity of the paper, saying that even though it “was found in a courthouse,” there is no reason to believe that it is authentic. North Carolina’s Enloe is described by most proponents of the tale as a large slaveholder and slave trader and a man who made peace with the Cherokee. Records in the State Archives, however, show a man who owned at various times no more than four slaves (none in 1800), and a man who was involved in a lawsuit brought by the Cherokee chief, Yonaguska. The North Carolina story often described Nancy as living with her drunken “Uncle Dickey” (Richard) Hanks. The “Uncle Dickey” story seems to be an attempt to establish a Hanks connection whereby Nancy Hanks can be placed in North Carolina. The story goes that he could not take care of her, that he was an alcoholic who was often in jail, and, as a consequence, she was sent to live with the Enloes. However, records show Richard Hanks, who lived in Lincoln County and later Gaston County, to be a man of responsibility and property. Court minutes do not indicate that he was a public nuisance. A Revolutionary War veteran, Hanks was supported in his claim for a pension by his clergyman. Finally, Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, did not have an uncle named Richard Hanks. The entire effort to defend the legend is based on undocumented oral tradition and misinterpretation of the few available primary sources. Yet North Carolina’s Abraham Enloe legend endures and is, in fact, the focus of the Bostic Lincoln Center in Rutherford 6 0 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Marriage bond of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, June 10, 1806, filed in the courthouse of Wash-ington County, Kentucky. A recent book alleging Abraham Lincoln’s North Carolina roots questioned the authenticity of the document. County. The mission of the center, www.bosticlincolncenter.com, is to research, docu-ment, and preserve the “generational lore” of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in North Carolina. The Abraham Enloe link to Abraham Lincoln is a fascinating piece of folklore. The stories that connect the two men are widely varied, but none is substantiated. For exam-ple, a number of writers describe a fight in which Thomas Lincoln bit off the end of Enloe’s nose, and some attribute the Lincoln family’s move to Indiana to the fight (as opposed to documented problems related to land claims). People who knew the various Abraham Enloe/Enlows do not recall any of them having such a deformity of the face. Wesley Enloe, the youngest son of North Carolina’s Abraham Enloe, was quoted in the Charlotte Observer in 1893 as saying that he had not heard of the connection between his father and Abraham Lincoln until he read the story in an Asheville newspaper in 1871. However, by 1909, likely having grown fond of being considered Lincoln’s half-brother, Wesley Enloe stated unequivocally that Nancy Hanks lived with his family, and that his father sent her to Kentucky because she had borne him a son. Lincoln scholars have no reservations in accepting the traditional Abraham Lincoln genealogy. Although there is no paper trail for his mother prior to her marriage license in Kentucky, that is not unusual for a young woman in that time period. William Barton published two books on Lincoln’s genealogy in the 1920s. The Paternity of Abraham Lincoln and The Lineage of Lincoln are thorough and leave no doubt that Lincoln was born to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln about three years after they were married. Benjamin P. Thomas, in his 1952 standard work, Abraham Lincoln: A Biography, lauded Barton’s “exhaustive critical analysis” of Lincoln’s legitimacy. Barton further proved that there were many Hanks families in the United States, and that Nancy was a popular name among them. He accepted that Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks, was likely illegitimate. But Thomas Lincoln came from respectable stock, and, had Lincoln the desire or opportu-nity to investigate his ancestors, he would have found, as historian and Lincoln biographer David H. Donald wrote, “instead of being the unique blossom on an otherwise barren family tree, [Lincoln] belonged to the seventh generation of a family with competent means, a reputation for integrity, and a modest record of public service.” With Lincoln’s reluctance to speak of his family, the appearance of the name Abraham Enloe was like a dandelion, spreading seeds of Abraham Lincoln’s illegitimacy to the wind. Some of the seeds flourished and have become legend. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 6 1 Thomas Lincoln, father of Abraham, was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, in 1778. He moved with his family to Kentucky in the 1780s; his father, also named Abraham, was murdered by Indians in 1786. Thomas married Nancy Hanks in 1806 and their first child, daughter Sarah, was born a year later. Abraham followed on February 12, 1809. Image courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee. 6 2 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Additions to the National Register of Historic Places (Administered by the State Historic Preservation Office) The Enfield Graded School in Halifax County was among the last public schools in the state to be built on the campus plan. The Colonial Revival-style main building, designed by architect Frank B. Simpson of Raleigh, was constructed in 1950, and a separate gymnasium (1951) and agricultural building (1952) followed soon thereafter. The facility closed in December 2007. The Bishop John C. Kilgo House, which faces The Plaza, the grand boulevard of the upscale neighborhood of Charlotte that was developed in the early twentieth century as Chatham Estates, is an attractive blend of the Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles. The house was built in 1915 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for its bishop, John Carlisle Kilgo. President of Trinity College (later Duke University) from 1894 to 1910, Kilgo settled in Charlotte after leaving Durham. His home was designed by Louis Humbert Asbury, one of Charlotte’s leading architects. Crossnore School opened in Avery County in 1913 as a school for under-privileged mountain children, the creation of an altruistic husband-and- wife team of doctors, Eustace Henry and Mary Martin Sloop. The six contributing historic structures in the Crossnore School Historic District, which consists of less than a tenth of the eighty-acre campus, date from 1928 to 1960, and include a hospital, chapel, bell tower (pictured), dormitory, chapter house, and the 1936 Homespun House/Weaving Room, which was entered on the National Register individually in 2001. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 6 3 Additions to the National Register of Historic Places (Administered by the State Historic Preservation Office) The first of three public schools to be constructed at the main crossroads in Tobaccoville in northern Forsyth County, the ca. 1914 two-room Old Richmond Schoolhouse was operational only until replaced in 1922. The building was remodeled to serve first as apartments for school-teachers and later as the residence of the principal and his family. The school was restored in 1980 for use as a museum. The school’s gymnasium was constructed with Works Progress Administration funding in 1940. Richard Sharp Smith, an English-born architect, arrived in Asheville in 1889 as the supervising architect for the construction of Biltmore Estates. He would settle in the area and become its most prominent and prolific architect during the first two decades of the twentieth century, designing numerous courthouses, churches, schools, hotels, and mansions in western North Carolina. Smith built his residence, known as Stoneybrook, east of downtown Asheville, in 1902–1903, using local stone for the foundation, exterior walls, fireplaces, and chimneys. The eighty-five-acre McAdenville Historic District encompasses 102 contributing resources, including fifteen original mill village houses built of brick in the 1880s. The picturesque town in eastern Gaston County developed around the McAden Mills along the South Fork of the Catawba River. The historic district also includes three large frame houses constructed for the mill owners and operators, two mid-twentieth- century churches, and the R. Y. McAden Memorial Hall (pictured), a community library and assembly hall built in 1907. Historical Publications Section Office of Archives and History 4622 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-4622 Telephone (919) 733-7442 Fax (919) 733-1439 www.ncpublications.com Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid Raleigh, NC Permit No. 187 Carolina Comments Jeffrey J. Crow, Editor in Chief (ISSN 0576-808X) Kenrick N. Simpson, Editor
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Title | Carolina comments |
Date | 2009-04 |
Description | Volume 57, Number 2, (April 2009) |
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Pres Local File Path-M | \Preservation_content\StatePubs\pubs_borndigital\images_master\ |
Full Text | Historic Sites Commemorate 140th Anniversary of Linda A. Carlisle Named Secretary of Cultural Resources Gov. Beverly Eaves Perdue appointed Linda A. Carlisle as secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources on January 5, 2009. Carlisle is an experienced corporate executive, entrepreneur, and community activist. In each role, she has excelled and shown extraordi-nary leadership and professional competence. After earning a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1972, she went to work for what is now Bank of America. She rapidly progressed through a broad range of positions to eventually become a vice-president/ metropolitan director in Charlotte. In 1979, she left the bank to start her own business, Copier Consultants, Inc., with headquarters in Greensboro. Four years later, she received a master’s degree in business administration from Wake Forest University. After developing a multimillion dollar operation with several offices in the Triad and western North Carolina, she and her husband sold the business in 1989. Carlisle remained president of the wholly owned subsidiary until 1997, when she retired to focus on her community and educational interests. Secretary Carlisle has been exten-sively involved in leadership roles in the nonprofit sector, providing strategic planning, financial expertise, and key resource development for such organi-zations as the Greensboro Chamber of Carolina Comments Published Quarterly by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History Linda A. Carlisle, secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources. Image courtesy of Informa-tion and Marketing Services, Department of Cultural Resources. All other images courtesy of the Office of Archives and History, unless otherwise indicated. 3 4 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S For the Record The Office of Archives and History, as the rest of state government, is facing a budgetary crisis. We have been asked to identify 9 percent in budget cuts, and more may be in the offing. Juggling the many programs and services provided by this agency will be challenging. So far the public history programs in North Carolina have not suf-fered as extensively as those in other states, but the prog-nosis remains grim and the budget reductions painful. Each program is receiving close scrutiny. Does it deliver the services provided in the authorizing legislation? Does it per-form effectively and efficiently? Does it contribute to the eco-nomic vitality of the state? The annual appropriation to the Department of Cultural Resources constitutes less than one-half of 1 percent of the state’s entire budget. Nonetheless, the department’s impact is broad and deep, touch-ing millions of citizens each year. For the department one might add another measure of usefulness: intrinsic value. One program that repeatedly has proved its worth historically and economically is the historic rehabilitation tax credit. In 2008 Rebecca Holton of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill prepared a study titled, “A Profitable Past, A Priceless Future: The Economic Impact of North Carolina’s Historic Tax Credit.” She con-ferred with historic preservationists and economists in North Carolina and elsewhere, including Preservation North Carolina, the State Historic Preservation Office, and the North Carolina Department of Commerce. For those in the field of historic preserva-tion, her findings did not come as a surprise, but they deserve emphasis and weight in any discussion of the importance of history. Using data provided by the State Historic Preservation Office, Holton found that between 1998 and 2007 the state historic tax credit stimulated the completion of 1,324 projects with a total expenditure of $830 million. Her analysis estimated that those expenditures in turn generated $1.4 billion in statewide economic activity, directly created 8,630 jobs, and through multiplier effects realized a total of 14,100 jobs in other industrial sectors. From those statistics Holton posited a total of $438 million in additional household income. She calculated that for each $1 million spent in qualified rehabilitation expenditures, $1.74 million in economic activity occurred, creating 17 jobs and $530,000 in employee compensation. At first glance the fiscal impact on the state’s revenues might appear to be negative. Between 1998 and 2007 the state distributed an estimated $179 million in historic tax credits and received approximately $55 million in tax revenues from historic rehabilitation projects. But as Holton demonstrates, for every $3.6 million in revenue that the state lost, the historic tax credit generated $160 million in economic activity. None of these statistics speaks to environmental and economic sustainability, the rebirth of downtowns, the preservation of significant historic properties, a sense of place and time, and so-called “quality of life” issues. Yet they remind us that history is a living presence in our lives. In times of economic distress, we should neither ignore that presence nor neglect it. Jeffrey J. Crow Commerce, the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Board of Trustees, the United Way, the United Arts Council, Piedmont Craftsmen, and the Girl Scouts of America. She served as co-chair of her alma mater’s Students First Capital Campaign, surpassing the goal of $100 million one year early. Carlisle has been a strong supporter of various community arts organizations, includ-ing Triad Stage, the Community Theater of Greensboro, and the Greensboro Symphony. She is a strong proponent of the arts as an economic development driver, downtown reju-venator, and small-town catalyst. Her awards and honors include the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Distinguished Alumni Service Award (2001); the Outstanding Volunteer Fund-raiser from the North Carolina Triad Chapter of the Association of Fund-raising Professionals (2003); the Athena Award from the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce (2004); the Women in Business Award from the Business Journal (2006); and recognition as one of “The Triad’s Most Influential People” in both 2007 and 2008. On February 17, Secretary Carlisle addressed an open letter to “Dear Friend of History”: This is a challenging and exciting time for the Department of Cultural Resources, and I am honored to have the new opportunity to work with Gov. Bev Perdue, who values and respects the importance of Cultural Resources. We are fortunate to have strong supporters like you who appreciate that knowledge of the past is fundamental to understanding who we are and where we are going. You know almost better than anyone how vital arts, culture, and history are to the well-being, quality of life, and economic health of our state. It is gratifying that during the past year nineteen million people participated in Cultural Resources programs—from the State Library, Archives and History, Museums, Historic Sites, the North Carolina Symphony, and the North Carolina Arts Council. There are challenging financial issues facing North Carolina . . . and Cultural Resources. We need to be thoughtful as we navigate our way. This economy will turn around, and, when it does, our cultural community needs to be healthy and robust, with fresh ideas and new ways to reach children, adults, residents, and visi-tors. Now, more than ever, we will depend on the private sector and friends like you for help. We have a great story to tell about the positive impact of the creative industry on the vitality and growth of our state. More than 159,000 people in the creative sector earn wages of $3.9 billion, contributing financially to their communities. The creative industry accounts for 4 percent of the state’s workforce—more than the biotech industry—and helps recruit and retain business, and grow jobs. Strengthening K-12 history education is one of Cultural Resources’ foremost goals. We cannot afford to lose this focus or allow our important work to be depleted, but instead raise the cry to stay strong as North Carolina works through these tough times. Working together, we can make Cultural Resources stronger than ever. Let’s insure that our story is one that our governor can be proud to tell, our legislators can value, and our citizens can appreciate. I am proud to be a part of Cultural Resources, and I hope to make you proud as well. Sincerely, Linda A. Carlisle, Secretary V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 3 5 African American Heritage Commission Sworn In The initial board of the African American Heritage Commission, established within the Department of Cultural Resources (DCR) by the General Assembly in its 2007-2008 session, was sworn into office during a ceremony at the State Government and Heritage Library in Raleigh on February 27. The purpose of the commission is to advise and assist the secretary of DCR in the “preservation, interpretation, and promotion of African American history, arts, and culture.” The commission consists of ten members, four appointed by the governor (at least one of whom must be a member of the North Carolina Historical Commission) and six by the General Assembly, three each on the recommendation of the president pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. The chair of the commission is designated by the governor from among four appointees. The original commission is composed of Dr. Jean G. Spaulding of Cary, chair; Mrs. Sterlin Benson-Webber of Charlotte; the Honorable Donald A. Bonner of Rowland; Andrena Coleman of Greensboro; Frankie Day of Graham; Henry Harrison of Asheville; Mrs. Annie McCoy of Raleigh; Dr. E. B. Palmer Sr. of Raleigh; Dr. Freddie L. Parker of Durham; and Darin Waters of Raleigh. Dr. Parker, professor of history at North Carolina Central University, is also a member of the North Carolina Historical Commission. Andrena Coleman is the former site manager of the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum who resigned in August 2008 to accept the position of chief administrative officer at Bennett College. At the swearing-in ceremony, Linda A. Carlisle, the newly appointed secretary of DCR; Dr. Jeffrey J. Crow, deputy secretary of the Office of Archives and History; Rep. Alma Adams of Greensboro, who sponsored the legislation that created the commis-sion; and Dr. Spaulding made brief remarks. Dr. Spaulding acknowledged the assistance of Michelle Lanier, curator of cultural history in the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties, in compiling a list of some notable black North Carolinians whom she mentioned in her speech. North Carolina Supreme Court justice Patricia Timmons- Goodson administered the oath of office to the commissioners, who then held their first meeting. 3 6 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Rep. Alma Adams (left) addresses the organizational meeting of the African American Heritage Commission on February 27. Linda A. Carlisle (standing), secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources, and Jean G. Spaulding (seated), chair of the commission, also made remarks at the swearing-in ceremony. Scholars Commemorate Bicentennial of Lincoln’s Birth The Office of Archives and History participated in the nationwide commemoration of the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln by hosting a symposium of scholarly lec-tures at the North Carolina Museum of History on February 12. A crowd of 235 inter-ested citizens and employees of the agency heard six prominent North Carolina historians discuss various aspects of the far-ranging Lincoln historiography. Jeffrey J. Crow, who pre-sided over the daylong conference and presented each of the speakers, opened the sympo-sium by introducing the new secretary of the department, Linda A. Carlisle. The program was divided into three sessions of two lectures. William C. Harris, emer-itus professor of history at North Carolina State University and a leading authority on Lin-coln, opened the conference with an appraisal of the sixteenth president as a political leader. He weighed the essential qualities of leadership—intelligence, honesty, sound judg-ment, caution, tolerance, compassion, and a sense of humor—all of which Lincoln pos-sessed in abundance. Harris concluded that Lincoln was “the finest political leader the country has ever produced.” By way of contrast, Paul D. Escott of Wake Forest Univer-sity examined the presidency of Jefferson Davis. He noted that history has not been partic-ularly kind to the leader of the defeated Confederacy, as is generally the case for the losers of military and political contests. Escott conceded that Davis had blatant defects of charac-ter and made a number of calamitous decisions but suggested that the president grew into the job and developed both flexibility and innovation during his four years in office. Escott averred that the Confederacy would not have survived until 1865 had not Davis been at the helm. After lunch, Joseph Glatthaar of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill opened a lively afternoon session with a critical examination of Lincoln as a military leader. While the president was an able director of national strategy, wisely using diplo-macy to keep France and England out of the war, he was markedly less successful at purely V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 3 7 Five of the speakers at the Abraham Lincoln symposium sponsored by the Office of Archives and History pose with Jeffrey J. Crow, deputy secretary of the office and master of ceremonies for the program: (front row, left to right) Paul D. Escott, John David Smith, Heather A. Williams; and (back row, left to right) Crow, Loren Schweninger, and William C. Harris. military strategy. In Glatthaar’s estimate, Lincoln was a conventional thinker in military matters who tended to favor those advisers, such as Henry W. Halleck and Edwin M. Stanton, who thought in like terms. He could never relinquish the conventional head-on approach in order to embrace the “raiding strategy” propounded by the modern thinkers, U. S. Grant and William T. Sherman. John David Smith, professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, discussed the mobilization of 179,000 African American soldiers by the Union. He traced the gradual process of emancipation and the integration of former slaves into the federal armies through the dictates of the first and second compensation acts and the Militia Act of 1862. Smith suggested that Lincoln’s sup-posed shift of attitudes toward emancipation over the course of the war was more apparent than real: the president was merely waiting for propitious events and circumstances to announce the new policy that would radically alter the tenor of the conflict. The final session of the symposium continued the discussion of Lincoln as the Great Emancipator. Loren Schweninger of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro developed the course of the president’s relationship with Frederick Douglass in light of Lincoln’s changing views regarding slavery, emancipation, and race. Schweninger noted that the two leaders were quite different in terms of personality, style, and favored solu-tions to racial issues, but that both were dramatically altered by the Civil War. In the final lecture of the day, Heather A. Williams of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examined the evolution of Lincoln’s legacy to African Americans over the past cen-tury and a half. Even before he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the president was regarded by blacks as the Moses who would lead them out of slavery and into the Prom-ised Land. Many feared that his assassination was part of a wider conspiracy to return them to bondage. Lincoln’s death elevated him to the status of martyr and the Great Overseer, the omniscient conscience of a reunited nation. Three historical documents relating to Lincoln, on loan from the North Carolina State Archives, were displayed in the museum lobby during the week of the symposium. Two of the manuscripts were letters bearing the president’s signature: the cover letter to the so-called “Ghost Amendment,” the proposed thirteenth amendment to the Constitution that would have prevented Congress from interfering with slavery where it existed, sent to the states for ratification on March 13, 1861; and an April 8, 1862, letter to the czar announcing the recall of Cassius Clay of Kentucky as minister to Russia. The third record on display was the letter book of Gov. John W. Ellis containing a transcription of his famous telegram to Secretary of War Simon Cameron in response to Lincoln’s request of April 15, 1861, for two regiments of North Carolina troops to assist in putting down the secession of the lower South: “You can get no troops from North Carolina.” War of 1812 Bicentennial Planning Begins The charter meeting of the War of 1812 Bicentennial Project Committee of the Office of Archives and History was held on January 28, 2009. Chaired by Dr. David Brook, director of the Division of Historical Resources, the committee commenced its planning of events and activities leading up to and during the war’s bicentennial years, 2012 to 2015. The committee’s goal is to educate the public about “America’s Second War for Independence” and the role of North Carolina and North Carolinians in the war. During its first meeting, the committee established subcommittees for exhibits; events and pro-grams; publications and research; publicity; and reenactors and living history. Members of the committee include Sion H. Harrington III, military collection archivist at the North Carolina State Archives, assistant chair; Thomas Belton, curator of military history, North Carolina Museum of History; Dr. Lindley S. Butler, historian, Reidsville; Charlotte R. Carrere, state council president and president of the Johnston Blakeley Chapter of the United States Daughters of 1812; Bruce Daws, historic properties manager of the City of Fayetteville and curator of the Fayetteville Area Transportation and Local History Museum; Maryanne Friend, director of development and marketing communications for 3 8 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S the Department of Cultural Resources; Jim Greathouse, historic interpreter at the Fayetteville Area Transportation and Local History Museum; Keith Hardison, director of the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties; Elizabeth “Beth” Hayden, demograph-ics and reference librarian in the State Library of North Carolina; Joshua Howard, research historian, Research Branch; Earl Ijames, curator of African American culture, North Carolina Museum of History; Dr. Joseph Porter, chief curator, North Carolina Museum of History; and Jo Ann Williford, education supervisor of the Office of Archives and His-tory. Dr. Jeffrey J. Crow, deputy secretary of Archives and History; Ken Howard, director of the North Carolina Museum of History; and Jesse R. “Dick” Lankford, state archivist of North Carolina, serve as ex-officio members of the committee. North Caroliniana Society Publishes Imprint about Gov. Bob Scott The North Caroliniana Society has recently published number 45 in its series of limited-edition imprints. The thirty-six-page booklet, titled Robert W. Scott and the Preservation of North Carolina History, contains an expanded version of the remarks delivered by Dr. H. G. Jones, secretary and founder of the society and general editor of the imprint series, at Alamance Community College on June 29, 2008. The occasion was the presentation of the North Caroliniana Society Award to the former governor and his wife, Jessie Rae Scott, in honor of their “extraordinary contributions to North Carolina’s art, history, and culture.” The slim soft-cover volume includes ten pages of photographs of Scott family members, friends, and former colleagues of the governor and First Lady taken at the reception by Jerry W. Cotten, retired iconographic archivist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Jan G. Hensley, a Greensboro photographer. The booklet also contains an appendix titled, “Protecting Professionalism in History: The Challenges of Governmental Reorganization,” in which Dr. Jones reflects from the remove of nearly forty years upon the revolutionary days of the early 1970s when the State Department of Archives and History, of which Dr. Jones was then director, was deprived of its depart-mental status during two thorough reorganizations of state government. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 3 9 Members of the War of 1812 Bicentennial Project Committee of the Office of Archives and History at the group’s organizational meeting on January 28: (seated, left to right) Jim Greathouse, chairman David Brook, Lindley S. Butler; and (standing, left to right) Joshua Howard, Sion H. Harrington III, Elizabeth Hayden, Thomas Belton, Joseph Porter, Keith Hardison, and Charlotte R. Carrere. In Dr. Jones’s estimation, his friend Bob Scott, who died on January 23 at the age of seventy-nine, was one of only two of the ninety-nine men who have served as chief executives of North Carolina—the other being David Lowry Swain—who merited the title, “Gubernatorial Friend of History.” Among his many other accomplishments in the various fields of public history, Scott oversaw the launching of the state’s historic preserva-tion program; initiated the restoration of the State Capitol and the renovation of the Executive Mansion; pushed for the legislative appropriation that funded the construction of a state records center; accepted Reed Gold Mine and Duke Homestead as state historic sites; acquired the workshop of David Marshall “Carbine” Williams for the North Carolina Museum of History; and established the precedent of treating the office files of the lieutenant governor as public records. As Dr. Jones concluded, “Every historian, archivist, archaeologist, museologist, and historic preservationist owes special gratitude to Bob Scott, in whose administration North Carolina accelerated its leadership in archival and historic preservation in the nation.” Robert W. Scott and the Preservation of North Carolina History may be purchased from the society for $25.00, which includes shipping and handling. Only five hundred copies were printed, each bearing a distinct number. To obtain a copy, write to the North Caroliniana Society, P.O. Box 127, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0127. East Carolina University Acquires Papers of Poet The Special Collections Department of East Carolina University’s J. Y. Joyner Library announces the acquisition and availability of a significant collection of the papers, publica-tions, and original watercolors of poet A. R. Ammons (1926–2001). The papers are open for research, and a finding aid is available on the department’s Web site, http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/spclcoll/index.cfm. A major exhibit, A. R. Ammons’s Poetry and Art: A Documentary Exhibit, will be on view in the Special Collections Department through June 30, 2009. A full-color catalog of the exhibition is available at no charge. Copies may be requested by contacting Ms. Nanette Hardison at hardisonn@ecu.edu or at (252) 328-0404. News from Historical Resources Archives and Records Section The annual inventory of holdings of the State Archives was held on January 12-14, and the Search Room was closed to the public in order to accomplish this important work. The yearly inventory provides the Archives staff the opportunity to find improperly shelved records, compile information concerning any missing records, update finding aids and the stack guide, identify records in need of conservation, and perform other essential maintenance to the collections in the Archives’ custody. This year’s inventory focused on the map collection and the microfilm room. The records are in remarkably good order 4 0 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S considering that all thirty-five thousand cubic feet were removed and returned by the sec-tion staff to accommodate renovation of the building, which included the installation of a sprinkler system in the Archives stacks. The Outer Banks History Center (OBHC) has received an $11,285 grant from the Outer Banks Community Foundation for the purchase of audiovisual equipment and to support an exhibit and other activities celebrating the center’s twentieth anniversary. An array of special programming is planned in commemoration of this milestone. The exhibit, Preserving Timeless Treasures: The Outer Banks History Center Turns 20, will follow the development of the OBHC as it grew from an idea into a world-class research facility. Topics explored in the display include the development of the David Stick Library as the center’s core collection; “Staff Picks,” highlighting some of the premier but lesser-known items among the holdings; genealogical resources; and the ways in which the OBHC preserves its materials. The exhibit opened in the OBHC gallery on February 28 and will run through the end of the year. Scheduled commemorative activities include hosting a roundtable discussion titled, “Storytelling as an Avocation: An Author’s and Producer’s View,” during the Land of Beginnings Festival at the Wright Brothers National Memorial on April 1. Presenters will include Tom Crouch, senior curator of aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and the author of The Bishop’s Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright; Ken Mann of Wanchese, host of My Heart Will Always Be in Carolina on UNC-TV; and Allan Smith of DreamQuest Productions, pro-ducer of Rescue Men, a new documentary about the Pea Island Lifesavers. The Outer Banks History Center Associates will hold a third annual antiques appraisal fair as a fund-raiser for the OBHC on April 25. The Associates will also host a celebratory luncheon at Kelly’s Outer Banks Restaurant in Nags Head on May 7, the actual anniversary date. For details concerning the twentieth-anniversary schedule of events, contact the OBHC in Manteo at (252) 473-2655 or visit www.obhistorycenter.ncdcr.gov. The Department of Cultural Resources and especially the Archives and Records Sec-tion will be directly impacted by the provisions of Executive Order 150, issued in January by Gov. Michael F. Easley as he was leaving office. New responsibilities for the agency will include the provision of mandatory online training to all state employees who handle public records. Much of this training will focus on teaching employees to manage e-mail as a public record. Archives staff members will also participate in a planning group to iden-tify a software package to be used by all state agencies. Such a package will need to have the capacity to archive e-mail messages and attachments and to migrate them to future for-mats for accessibility. Another duty will involve conducting random audits of state agen-cies within the Executive Branch to ensure that employees are in compliance with their records retention and disposition schedules. Such audits, which will include inspections of backup tapes, will occur during the records analysts’ review sessions with the agencies. The North Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB), in collabora-tion with the State Archives, has requested $33,223 in National Historical Publications Records Commission (NHPRC) supplemental funds to implement an eighteen-month pilot Traveling Archivist Program to educate, train, and provide direct technical assistance to cultural institutions that house archival collections. The SHRAB will collaborate with the North Carolina State Archives to provide an in-kind match of $33,232, for a total project budget of $66,455. The proposed Traveling Archivist Program would address one of the four goals espoused in the SHRAB’s November 2006 strategic plan: To serve as an advocate for historical records in North Carolina, promoting and develop-ing programs to raise public awareness of the importance, value, and condition of the state’s recorded heritage. Our shared vision is that we have strengthened our relationship with archival and histori-cal institutions statewide through our field services support program for all North Carolina archives. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 4 1 Correspondence archivist and Civil War historian Chris Meekins was the featured speaker at two Civil War Trails marker dedication programs in late 2008. On November 6 he spoke during the unveiling of markers at the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City. Meekins was involved with the six markers from concept to dedication and worked with museum staff members and city officials to complete the project. The text of the markers was based on his recent book, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and the Civil War: A History of Battle and Occupation, which detailed aspects of guerrilla warfare in the region. Mitch Bowman, director of the Civil War Trails marker program, indicated that these markers were unique in the subject matter that they explored. In his remarks, Meekins stressed the importance of telling our stories and the educational opportunities offered by the marker program. On December 15 Meekins was the featured speaker at the dedication of the Civil War Trails markers in Currituck County. Barbara Snowden, a member of the North Carolina Historical Commission, invited him to attend the ceremony. She noted that most of the seven markers in the county were also based on his recent publication. Meekins again discussed the importance of telling our stories. Both dedication ceremonies drew small crowds, who expressed their appreciation for the speakers and the markers. Historical Publications Section In an effort to carry North Carolina’s recently recovered copy of the Bill of Rights to the people, the Office of Archives and History exhibited the invaluable document at seven locations throughout the state during 2007. At each stop on the tour, historians and legal scholars delivered keynote addresses concerning one or more of the rights protected by the first ten amendments to the Constitution. The Historical Publications Section has published seven of these lectures as Liberty and Freedom: North Carolina’s Tour of the Bill of Rights (left), edited by Kenrick N. Simpson, head of the General Publications and Periodicals Branch. Charlene Bangs Bickford, director of the First Federal Congress Project at George Washington University, wrote about the events surrounding the creation and ratification of the Bill of Rights. Attorneys W. Dale Talbert and Karen A. Blum of the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office dis-cussed the history of the state’s copy of the Bill of Rights, especially the legal efforts to prove ownership of the docu-ment. Historians William S. Price Jr., Alan D. Watson, and Freddie L. Parker examined freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, respectively. Attorney and civil rights advocate Julius L. Chambers discussed freedom of 4 2 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Archivist Chris Meekins speaks at the Civil War Trails marker dedication program in Currituck County on December 15. Image courtesy of Barbara Snowden, Currituck. assembly and the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances. Justice Willis P. Whichard analyzed the history of the dual rights of trial by jury and due process of law. Liberty and Freedom (121 pages, illustrated, index, paperback) costs $24.00, which includes tax and shipping charges. Order from the Historical Publications Section (CC), Office of Archives and History, 4622 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4622. For credit card orders, call (919) 733-7442, ext. 0, or access the section’s secure online store at http://nc-historical-publications.stores.yahoo.net/. Liberty and Freedom is also available from Amazon.com. Two other publications have been printed or reprinted. The 1775 Mouzon map was reprinted, and the cumulative index to the 2008 issues of Carolina Comments is now avail-able for $6.00 (includes shipping). The Historical Publications Section offers more than 190 books, maps, and document facsimiles. For a free catalog, write to the address above, call (919) 733-7442, ext. 0, or e-mail trudy.rayfield@ncdcr.gov. During the past quarter of the current fiscal year (December 2008-February 2009), operations within the section have been hampered by budget cuts. As a result, several policies have had to be revised. Complimentary copies of Carolina Comments and the North Carolina Historical Review can no longer be provided to libraries or other repositories. The contracts for both periodicals were rewritten so that fewer copies are being printed. In addition, subscription prices have been modified. Individual subscriptions to the North Carolina Historical Review, which also includes receipt of Carolina Comments, remain at $30.00 per year, but those for institutions and libraries were increased to $45.00 and foreign subscriptions to $60.00. Individual subscriptions to Carolina Comments are still $10.00, with back issues available for $3.00 each. In other activities, numerous book proposals have come into the section for consideration by senior staff members. Donna Kelly, as section administrator, has proofread material for the State Archives, the State Historical Records Advisory Board, the Outer Banks History Center, and the State Records Center. Bill Owens attended the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies Conference in Winston-Salem on February 11-13 and sold $714 worth of books. The section will be exhibiting and taking orders for books at the National Genealogical Society’s annual meeting to be held on May 12-16 in Raleigh. Documentary editor Lang Baradell was appointed to the World War I Centennial Committee of the Department of Cultural Resources (DCR). Ms. Kelly was named to the Association for Documentary Editing program committee for the 2009 meeting in Indianapolis. She attended meetings of the Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee on January 26 and the DCR Project Green Task Force on February 26. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 4 3 News from State Historic Sites and Properties East Historic Sites Region Historic Bath hosted a lecture in February for Black History Month titled, “Slave Ship Archaeology: A Comparative Look at the English Slave Ship, Henrietta Marie, and Blackbeard’s Flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge.” David Moore, curator of nautical archaeol-ogy at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, provided a brief examination of the history of the two vessels and archaeological efforts undertaken on the wreckage of each. The Queen Anne’s Revenge was originally the French slave ship La Concorde, bound for Martinique when Blackbeard commandeered it. Seventy people attended the lecture and especially enjoyed the question-and-answer segment following the formal presenta-tion. Historic Bath’s newest acquisition, the early-twentieth-century Carson Cottage, received a new roof in early February. This building provides office, meeting, and storage space, as well as accommodations for interns and guest lecturers. Bentonville Battlefield staff members accompanied their three-inch ordnance rifle to Roanoke Island Festival Park on February 28 and March 1 to participate in that site’s annual Civil War living history program. On March 21-22, Bentonville commemorated the 144th anniversary of the largest battle ever fought on North Carolina soil with its own living history event, School of the Soldier: Confederate Army Camp of Instruction. More than one hundred reenactors, both military and civilian, descended on Bentonville for the annual commemoration of the 1865 clash. Participants re-created a Confederate camp of instruction, where novice soldiers would have learned how to drill properly, fire their muskets quickly, and, most importantly, maintain the discipline needed in battle. Division staff members and volunteers demonstrated the loading and firing of Bentonville’s three-inch ordnance rifle. Civilian reenactors cooked in the Harper House kitchen and presented activities and discussions concerning the hardships of the home front. Staff members from Fort Fisher State Historic Site, the Education Branch of the Museum and Visitor Services Section, and the eastern Civil War office of the Department of Cultural Resources contributed to the program’s success. In conjunction with the living history program, Bentonville unveiled Remnants of War, the inaugural exhibit in a large new display case, which includes several letters, a tintype photograph, medical tools, muskets, a sword, and an artillery shell encased in a tree trunk. The letters and photograph belonged to Pvt. John Curtis, who was a cadet at a Hillsborough military academy when the war began. He immediately joined the Thir-teenth North Carolina Light Artillery Battalion and fought in this unit throughout the war. His often jovial but sometimes somber letters offer a rare glimpse at the life of the average North Carolina Confederate soldier. The last of the letters was written on the eve of the fighting at Bentonville, where Curtis was killed on March 20, 1865, the second day of the battle. Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson is anticipating a summer archaeology research project to be conducted in conjunction with the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties, the Friends of Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson, Peace College, Wake Technical College, 4 4 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S archaeologist Thom Beaman, and the Office of State Archaeology. This partnership will resume active archaeological field investigations at the site that Dr. Stanley South began excavating in the late 1950s. The bid process for the new Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant trail at the site closed on February 20, and construction of the new paved boardwalk/walkway began on March 9. It is anticipated that the work will be completed well before the opening of the summer tourist season. A living history program commemorating the 144th anniversary of the fall of Fort Anderson was held on February 14-15. Fifty reenactors portraying infantry, artillerymen, and sailors were joined by a number of sutlers and civilian presenters to interpret the Civil War for nearly two thousand visitors. Dr. Chris Fonvielle and Dr. Max Williams were the guest speakers, the Cape Fear Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy put on a period fashion show each day, and new lantern tours of the fort were offered on Satur-day evening. Plans have already been made for next year’s 145th anniversary program, which will include the fall of Fort Anderson and the Battle of Town Creek scenarios. Following years of planning that began after Hurricane Floyd wrecked the property at the CSS Neuse/Governor Richard Caswell Memorial in Kinston, the Queen Street Pro-ject to move and better preserve the Civil War gunboat is off and running. Three million dollars were appropriated at the last session of the General Assembly to go along with the $530,000 that had been allocated in previous sessions. These funds will cover the cost of moving the ship and building a climate-controlled facility. Dunn and Dalton Architects of Kinston have been awarded the contract to design the facility and have hired PH Group Industries of California to plan the exhibits. The PH Group designed the displays at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia. At a meeting on February 9, personnel from several state government entities, Dunn and Dalton, and the PH Group discussed the plans. The two firms will submit their designs in June. Before Gov. Michael F. Easley left office in January, he had included this project in his economic development plan, which put it on a fast track for completion. The project will be conducted in phases, with the first and most important being preservation of the boat in a climate-controlled environment. The Golden LEAF Foundation provided a $100,000 grant for design of the facility, and the Kinston-Lenoir County Tourism Development Authority has pledged an equal amount toward exhibits. The property on which the CSS Neuse will be situated was accepted by the State in a letter from the State Property Office dated February 5, 2009. The governor and the Council of State approved the acquisition by deed of gift from the Pride of Kinston. The City of Kinston and Lenoir County also contributed funds with which to prepare the property for State acceptance. It is located next door to the 100 North Queen Street property that was donated to the State by the CSS Neuse Gunboat Association on September 31, 2003. This ambitious project has truly V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 4 5 Reenactors portraying Union troops raise the flag over the captured works of Fort Anderson during the living history commemoration of the 144th anniversary of the battle. been a group effort involving many concerned citizens and groups in the Kinston/Lenoir County area. Historic Edenton and the James Iredell Historical Association celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of incorporation of the association on March 17 by unveiling an appreciation plaque that recognizes nine major donations to the site and association over the years. Site manager Linda Jordan Eure introduced an exhibit that she had developed to showcase association activities since its founding in 1949. Attendees of the ceremony and a reception that followed included descendants of contributors named on the plaque, family of charter members of the association, Historic Edenton site staff, current association board members, and community representatives. On Saturday, January 17, Fort Fisher State Historic Site presented Fort Fisher Then and Now, a program commemorating the 144th anniversary of the capture of the fort. An estimated 3,500 visitors braved icy weather to explore the history of Fort Fisher through the lens of Civil War photography, particularly the work of Timothy O’Sullivan at the fort in 1865. The site opened a new temporary exhibit, Civil War Photography, during the week before the event. Shannon SanCartier, a part-time Fort Fisher employee and full-time graduate student in the public history program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, researched and designed the exhibit as an internship project. She was assisted by staff members of Fort Fisher and the division office. On the day of the event, visitors also enjoyed Bob Zellar’s show, The Civil War in 3-D. An expert on nine-teenth- century photography, Zellar lectured and projected stereoscopic images of Fort Fisher and other Civil War battlefields that, when viewed through special glasses, came to life in three dimensions. Many of O’Sullivan’s images of the fort, enlarged to a striking four by eight feet, were installed in the vicinity of the historic features that they depicted, giving visitors an amazing “then and now” perspective of the scenes before them. No Fort Fisher anniversary program is complete without soldiers, cannons, and music. Staff mem-bers and volunteer reenactors in Confederate costume demonstrated field artillery at the River Road sally port and the tremendous thirty-two-pound seacoast gun in Shepherd’s Battery. Reenactors from the First, Eighteenth, and Twenty-seventh North Carolina Troops donned blue uniforms and demonstrated the infantry tactics and weaponry of the fort’s Union adversaries. The Huckleberry Brothers and John Golden added to the nine-teenth- century ambience with period music, and the Federal Point Historic Preservation Society served delicious sausage dogs. Historic Halifax has two new wayside exhibits and two more planned. The newly installed exhibits at Eagle Tavern focus on the history of the tavern itself and early Ameri-can ordinaries in general. Two more waysides, one interpreting Market Square and the other the Halifax Courthouse site, are in progress and will likely be installed later in the year. Funding from the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of North Carolina made some of these exhibits possible. The site also hosted a sheep shearing and wool spinning workshop sponsored by the Halifax County Agricultural Extension Service’s 4-H Program on March 21. At Somerset Place, several buildings, including the original kitchen/laundry, kitchen storehouse, smokehouse, dairy, and the Colony House, received new wooden-shingled roofs. The Colony House was formerly used as a boarding school for the plantation owner’s six sons and presently serves as the site’s visitor center. Damage to the rake and fascia boards on the smokehouse and kitchen storehouse caused by pileated woodpeckers, frequent visitors to the site, was also repaired. North Carolina Transportation Museum The North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer closed out 2008 and began 2009 with a number of events indicating continued success in the face of tough economic times. The new year started with a program that challenges traditional North Carolina maritime history. Kevin Duffus presented his lecture, “The Last Days of Black Beard the 4 6 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Pirate,” which featured excerpts from his recently published book of the same name. Duffus questioned the accepted account of the state’s most famous historical outlaw, con-tending that the pirate was actually born in the colonies, not in England, as historians have long believed. Duffus weighed other alleged misconceptions, such as Blackbeard’s real name and the true extent of his exploits. He also claimed that some members of the pirate’s crew were not executed, as many think, but lived long and profitable lives after their careers as brigands. A new permanent exhibit that focuses on a little-known facet of the history of African American workers on North Carolina railroads has been added to the museum. North Carolina Lining Bar Gangs recalls the labor and music of African American railroad workers. Lining bar gangs consisted of ten to thirty laborers and a foreman who laid railroad track onto rail ties. They were also known as gandy dancers, because they employed a gandy, or lining bar, to align the tracks. The workers used rail tongs to pick up a rail, placed it on tie plates, and spiked it down to the ties. The work was backbreaking and generally took place in the heat of summer. To maintain a fluid motion, crews sang blues and ragtime tunes, along with spirituals dating back to slavery days. The songs helped keep the workers synchronized and also expressed their feelings about the hard job they were doing. North Carolina Lining Bar Gangs is on display in the Bob Julian Roundhouse at the museum. The museum has also seen improvements to the tracks and in the look and functional-ity of walkways at the site. New sidewalks have been installed alongside the Flue Shop, replacing a dated and cracked walkway that collected rainwater and left puddles for guests to wade through. Less obvious to the visitor experience, but every bit as important, is recent track work at the museum. Paid for by the North Carolina Transportation Museum Foundation and a matching federal grant, the improvements will keep the trains running at the museum and provide more track area on which to display locomotives, rail cars, and visiting trains. Piedmont Historic Sites Region At Alamance Battleground, thirteen members of the Alamance Long Rifles held their monthly meeting on January 8 and enjoyed a presentation concerning the making of Damascus shotgun barrels. During the weekend of January 23-25, nineteen members of the Iron Grey Mess, a group of Civil War reenactors, camped and practiced their drills at the site. Staff members conducted a thorough cleaning of the upstairs of the Allen House on January 28. A new season of living history events opened at Bennett Place on March 28. The Planting the Fields program demonstrated farming as practiced in the 1850s by the Bennett family. Costumed interpreters conducted hands-on activities with visitors and planted corn and other vegetables that would have been grown on the farm. Subsequent programs will examine the construction of split rail fencing, farm chores, and other domestic activities. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 4 7 A half-foot-deep blanket of snow enveloped Bennett Place and other state historic sites in the Piedmont Region on January 20. On March 1, the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum presented Dr. Willi Coleman as the initial speaker in the spring 2009 edition of the Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown Legacy Lecture Series. Dr. Coleman’s lecture was titled, “On the Road to Miss Rosa: Black Women’s Resistance to Segregated Public Transportation before Rosa Parks,” a topic that relates directly to the legacy of Dr. Brown, who is remembered for her legal suits against interstate railroads in the 1920s. Dr. Coleman has written on the topic of African Ameri-can women who were involved in protests against segregated public transportation in the 1990 book, Black Women in United States History from Colonial Times to the Present. Cur-rently an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, she has a passion for merging African American history and women’s history, and has long been at the forefront of that movement. Her lecture, therefore, provided a fitting closure for African American History Month and the opening of Women’s History Month. The next lecture in the series, scheduled for April 5, will feature a program concerning African American philanthropy presented by NC Gives, an emerging statewide initiative that focuses on the generosity of communities of color, women, and young people. Staff members and volunteers from the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum and Historic Stagville represented their sites at the annual African American Cultural Celebration at the North Carolina Museum of History on January 31. Duke Homestead also participated in the event, hosting a tobacco-tying exhibit that proved very popular with attendees. Town Creek Indian Mound held its first Astronomy Night of 2009 on January 3. Several additional evenings of star gazing are scheduled throughout the year. Murray Roofing of Swansboro completed the roof replacement project at the visitor center. Roanoke Island Festival Park After the customary winter’s respite, the park reopened for the 2009 season with a weekend of eclectic musical performances. The Freedmen’s Colony Blues Jam was held in the Film Theater on Friday, February 20, with legendary blues guitarists Hubert Sumlin, Bob Margolin, and Matt Walsh as the featured artists. The internationally acclaimed Hesperus Crossover Quartet, billed as “History’s Soundtrack,” then delivered a pair of memorable performances. On Saturday night, the ensemble presented the musical score from Buster Keaton’s classic 1925 movie, The General. Nineteenth-century ballads, marches, breakdowns, jigs, and topical songs were performed on period folk instruments. On Sunday afternoon, the quartet offered The Unknown Lincoln: A Portrait in Song, a selec-tion of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite tunes interspersed with quotations from the sixteenth president, his family, and friends. The following weekend, the historic site commemorated the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Roanoke Island with the ninth annual Civil War Living History Weekend. More than sixty reenactors por-traying Union and Confederate soldiers and civilians supported Division of State Historic Sites and Properties personnel in demonstrations of artillery fire, speed musket firing, camp life, 4 8 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Gary Riggs (right) demonstrates battlefield surgery during the ninth annual Civil War Living History Weekend at Roanoke Island Festival Park. and a Civil War-era enlistment station. On Saturday, Gary Riggs of Vanceboro gave a presentation concerning battlefield surgery. The play, Heroes of the Underground Railroad, produced by the Bright Star Children’s Theatre of Asheville and currently in its fourth year of touring the country, was presented in the park’s Film Theater on Sunday. Roanoke Island Festival Park (RIFP) was invited to participate in the historic inaugural parade of Governor-elect Beverly Perdue in Raleigh on January 10. Costumed interpret-ers from the park joined staff members from sev-eral other state historic sites, including Fort Dobbs and the North Carolina Transportation Museum; members of Elizabeth R and Com-pany, the park’s resident professional theater company; the Guilde of St. Andrew of Raleigh, frequent participants in RIFP programming; and the Oakwood Waits singing group of Raleigh. The theme of the inaugural parade for the state’s first female chief executive was “North Carolina: The Future Starts Now.” Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens Hats off to the Dreamers: Rebuilding and Furnishing Tryon Palace, a new exhibit in two galleries celebrating fifty years of Tryon Palace history, will officially open on April 24. The Tryon Palace Commission will welcome present and former commissioners in com-memoration of the fiftieth anniversary. The galleries inside the palace will exhibit antique furniture, paintings, and objects d’art from the original Maude Moore Latham Collection and items bought to furnish the palace for its opening on April 8, 1959. Many of these objects have not been on view for decades. Eighteenth-century archaeological evidence found during restoration of the palace will also be on display. Visitors will be able to see the interpretation of the palace evolve over time—from the furnishings of the 1950s to today’s more historically accurate portrayal of eighteenth-century interiors. Admission to the exhibit is included in the purchase of an all-inclusive Governor’s Pass ticket ($15 for adults and $6 for students). Special discounts are available to groups. Contact www.tryonpalace.org for further information. Maude Moore Latham and her daughter, May Gordon Latham Kellenberger, were natives of New Bern. Both were prominent in various civic, cultural, and patriotic organizations and together left a legacy that is treasured not only in New Bern but also throughout the state. Even after the Latham family moved to Greensboro in 1904, they continued to promote the significance of the colonial history of New Bern and North Carolina. When an opportunity arose for the State to acquire the Carolina Charter, issued on March 24, 1663, by King Charles II of England to the Lords Proprietors, Mrs. Latham was the first and largest donor toward its purchase. Mrs. Latham was particularly interested in the restoration of historic buildings, and it was her dream that the government house, or palace, designed by John Hawks and V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 4 9 Players in Elizabeth R and Company, a professional theater company from Manteo, joined costumed staff members from Roanoke Island Festival Park to march in the historic inaugural parade of Governor-elect Beverly Perdue on January 10. constructed in New Bern during the tenure of royal governor William Tryon, be restored. The building, once described as “the finest capital building on the continent of North America,” served as both the first permanent capitol of the colony and the first capitol of the state after the American Revolution. A dream that was once referred to as “impossible, impractical, and undesirable” had not then encountered the dedication and commitment of two determined and remarkable ladies, Maude Moore Latham and May Gordon Latham Kellenberger. While many individuals were involved in research and promotion of the pro-ject to restore the palace, it was not until 1944, when Mrs. Latham established the Maude Moore Latham Trust Fund for the explicit purpose of raising money for the restoration of the palace, that the project gained momentum. Mrs. Latham contributed more than $3,000,000 to the State, as well as a gift of antiques with which to furnish the palace. Mrs. Latham did not live to see her dream realized, but her legacy was nurtured and expanded through the efforts of her daughter. Mrs. Kellenberger succeeded her mother as chair of the Tryon Palace Commission, a board established to accept gifts, acquire prop-erty, and restore Governor Tryon’s Palace. Under the guidance of Mrs. Kellenberger, the commission restored not only the palace, but also the John Wright Stanly House and the Dixon House, museum houses that are important to the site’s interpretation of the historical heritage of New Bern and North Carolina. Like her mother, Mrs. Kellenberger donated much of her personal fortune toward preserving the heritage of New Bern. At her death, she left exclusively for the Town of New Bern the legacy of the Kellenberger Historical Foundation for preservation-related projects. Beneficiaries of this trust and stewardship include the New Bern Historical Society, the New Bern Preservation Foundation, Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens, the New Bern Academy Museum, the New Bern Civic Theatre, and Habitat for Humanity. Expansion of the New Bern-Craven County Public Library and the creation of the Kellenberger Room, a repository of state and local history, were results of her legacy. Many publications documenting the history of New Bern were also made possible through Mrs. Kellenberger’s beneficence, a generous gift that will continue to serve future generations. 5 0 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Maude Moore Latham (left) and her daughter, May Gordon Latham Kellenberger (right) provided much of the leadership and funding to restore Tryon Palace, which opened to the public fifty years ago. Both of the portraits were painted by Joseph Wallace King, ca. 1963–1964: Mrs. Latham’s was done posthumously. West Historic Sites Region West Region sites and personnel were honored with five awards by the North Carolina Museums Council at its annual meeting, held in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on March 5. Steve A. Hill, veteran site manager of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, received the Career Professional Service Award for his many years of outstanding service to the division. The preservation and restoration of the Old Kentucky Home is a testament to his nearly thirty years of daily efforts. Sharon E. Robinson, in her second year as site manager of Reed Gold Mine, was honored with the Early Career Professional Service Award for her efforts to tell North Carolina’s gold-mining history. The Ledger, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial’s black-and-white newsletter, was cited as best in its class. Fort Dobbs received the award for the top Web site (www.fortdobbs.org). Finally, the President James K. Polk State Historic Site was named one of two recipients of $500 awards with which to fund an internship during the coming year. The West Region enjoyed good weather on weekends during January, resulting in increased visitation at all sites. While some sites are experiencing increases in local school-children visitation, others are having cancellations of field trips because of school system budgetary cutbacks. In February the Department of Cultural Resources (DCR) unveiled an interactive component of its Web site, www.ncculture.com/interactive, that highlights North Carolina’s role in the French and Indian War. “This online project combines traditional and experiential learning,” said DCR secretary Linda A. Carlisle. “It’s a fun and engaging way for teachers and students of all ages to learn about an important part of North Carolina’s story.” The project features battle reenactments; frontier and Indian life; historic photo-graphs of the archaeological dig at Fort Dobbs; and interviews with historic interpreters, archaeologists, and a high school student volunteer. Also included on the Web site are a guide for educators, a suggested reading list for all ages, a “Guess the Artifact” puzzle, and recipes for Cherokee bean bread and colonial stew. DCR educators showcased the inter-active at the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies conference in Greensboro. The North Carolina Provincial Frontier Company, Fort Dobbs State Historic Site’s garrison, participated in Gov. Beverly Perdue’s inaugural parade in Raleigh on January 10. Staff members and seventeen volunteers from throughout the state represented the fort on the historic occasion. Site planning continued with the implementation of a $150,000 Museums for America grant from the Insti-tute for Museum and Library Services. The grant will fund long-range interpretive plan-ning, a conceptual plan for the fort, and exhibit designs. As a part of the project, architectural design of the 7,800-square-foot fortified barracks is under way. In addition to Division of State Historic Sites and Properties and DCR Capital Projects staff members, a team of consultants that includes V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 5 1 The North Carolina Provincial Frontier Company, the resident garrison at Fort Dobbs State Historic Site, also marched in the governor’s inaugural parade in Raleigh. Dr. Lawrence Babits, archaeologist; Russell Steele, an expert on eighteenth-century construction; Al Anderson, a specialist in heavy timber frame construction; and Ray Cannetti, an authority on eighteenth-century masonry, have provided significant input on the architectural and interpretive features of the structure. The architectural design is expected to be completed by July. A living history weekend, With the Greatest Attention to Command, was held at Fort Dobbs on March 21-22. The event featured the fort’s garrison of provincial soldiers as they practiced military drills in preparation for a new campaign season. Musketry and cannon-firing demonstrations, as well as eighteenth-century camp life, were presented throughout the weekend. The Friends of Fort Dobbs have undertaken a feasibility study that will provide significant information to the site staff as it prepares for future funding. Horne Creek Living Historical Farm will witness the completion of its new visitor center during April. The 2,300-square-foot structure will include approximately 700 square feet of exhibit space, 800 square feet of office and program preparation areas, and 300 square feet for visitor orientation and the gift shop. The building, designed by Cherry Huffman Architects of Raleigh, will have cedar siding and a “tin” roof. The broad front porch will provide a place for visitors to gather and perhaps enjoy a breeze in rocking chairs. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is being planned, and a major grand opening celebra-tion will be held after exhibits have been installed later this year. Winter means pruning time at the Southern Heritage Apple Orchard, and horticulturist Jason Bowen has been busily preparing the trees for this year’s crop. A President’s Day program celebrating the contributions of the First Ladies of Carolina-born presidents was held at the President James K. Polk State Historic Site. The roles of Rachel Donelson Jackson, Eliza McCardle Johnson, and Sarah Childress Polk were discussed by scholars before an overflow crowd. With assistance from members of the Polk Memorial Support Group, the lobby, auditorium, and offices at the site received fresh coats of paint. New carpet has been installed in offices and the auditorium. Staff members from Reed Gold Mine assisted in the removal of dead trees in preparation for a trail workday sponsored by REI, sports outfitters. Reed Gold Mine spent part of February without heat in the visitor center while a new HVAC system was being installed to replace the original 1977 furnace. The new system is designed to better regulate temperature and humidity levels. Much of the original duct work was also replaced, and new ceilings were installed in the upstairs rooms and in the lobby area. David Tate, site manager at Vance Birthplace, attended a public hearing in Morganton for the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution National Heritage Area. The Vance exhibits are being updated, and soon new paint and graphics will enhance a visitor’s understanding of the life of Zebulon Vance and his contributions to North Carolina. An inventory of donations from Ted Mitchell’s Thomas Wolfe collection has been completed by the staff at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. Mitchell was a former staff mem-ber and a Wolfe scholar who passed away in December. A volunteer information and ori-entation day was held at the site on January 31. Individuals interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial were treated to a guided tour of the boardinghouse and participated in a question-and-answer session with the vol-unteer coordinator and current docents. The site has been the beneficiary of a substantial increase in volunteerism, which has helped to satisfy staffing needs during peak visitation periods and special programs. The successful Student Writing Camps continued as the spring sessions began in February. Students in fourth through eighth grades are enrolled in the four-month camps, which meet weekly. Summer camps will also be offered, with shorter sessions of one week each. Each class is facilitated by Janet Hurley, a free-lance writer with a master’s degree in creative writing. In February, Asheville City and Buncombe County teachers participated in a focus group session at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial as part of an ongoing effort to enhance the site’s educational programming. Teachers provided input for shaping future programs and offered advice on ways to make such opportunities available to more educators. 5 2 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S News from State History Museums Museum of the Albemarle In February the Museum of the Albemarle hosted a successful family program, Civil War Living History Days. The event commemorated the 1862 Battle of Elizabeth City and included civilian and military reenactors, encampments, displays, and the always-popular artillery firings. Chris Meekins, Civil War historian and correspondence archivist with the Archives and Records Section, presented a lecture titled, “Lincoln and North Carolina: Possibilities.” The weekend’s activities not only filled the museum but also overflowed onto the Museum Green and Waterfront Park. Recent changes in the family-friendly Discovery Room reflect the theme, “Life on a Farm in the 1930s and 1940s.” Visitors can try on period clothing, play games, and experience how farm families lived and worked. The exhibit, ArtDuckO: Waterfowl Culture in North Carolina, opened a yearlong run at the museum on March 8. This display is located in the new expansion gallery behind the Our Story exhibit and features an outstanding collection of decoys by noted carvers. Other highlights of the display include feathered fashions and interactive activities, such as a shooting gallery, camouflaged clothing to try on, and a Quack Facts Quiz to test what visitors have learned from the exhibit. ArtDuckO will hang until March 28, 2010. Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex The standard for modern detective fiction, replete with a tough gumshoe, an intrigu-ing plotline, and a femme fatale, was established in 1929, when Dashiell Hammett wrote his masterpiece, The Maltese Falcon. The author and this important book in popular culture were highlighted in a temporary exhibit, The Maltese Falcon: A Big Read Exhibit, which opened at the museum on February 21. The display of Hammett memorabilia and artifacts relating to his best-known novel was presented in conjunction with the Big Read, an ini-tiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) that encourages reading by pro-moting the community-wide reading of a particular book. For the third consecutive year, Fayetteville was selected as a Big Read city, and The Maltese Falcon was the year’s featured book. The historical complex, a participating organization in the Big Read program, col-laborated with the Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center to present the exhibit. The NEA sponsors the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Friends of the Cumber-land County Public Library and Information Center received grants from the NEA, the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, and the William C. Powell, M.D., Advised Fund to support the project. In conjunction with the exhibit, the historical complex presented several relevant pro-grams. On March 10, Dr. Richard Layman, curator of the exhibit and author of numerous books on Dashiell Hammett, discussed the author of The Maltese Falcon. On Saturday, March 14, Chip Gentry, a member of the North Carolina Falconers Guild, hosted a pro-gram that included a film, a brief talk about raptors, and flight demonstrations with live V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 5 3 birds of prey in Arsenal Park. On Saturday, March 28, Kathryn Beach, the museum’s research historian, examined pop culture of the 1930s. On two other Saturdays of the exhibit’s brief run (March 28 and April 5), the museum offered an afternoon film series. North Carolina Maritime Museum at Beaufort The restoration of an LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel), or “Higgins Boat,” was completed by volunteers at the Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center of the North Carolina Maritime Museum at Beaufort, concluding a seven-month project. The boat was returned to the protective care of its owner, the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois, in a hand-off ceremony at the center on March 6. The landing craft is approximately 10½ feet wide and 36 feet long. “It’s probably the biggest single object we ever restored at the museum,” observed curator Paul Fontenoy, “but we overcame the challenges.” Although more than twenty-three thousand LCVPs were manufactured dur-ing World War II, only about twelve survive in the United States. Landing crafts carried troops from transport vessels right onto shore, including the First Infantry Division at North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy. The LCVP has been a draw for veterans to visit the museum and observe restoration of the vessel. “It was just great to meet all the astonished veterans who showed up,” Fontenoy continued. “It was great to hear their life stories.” North Carolina Museum of History Gov. Beverly Eaves Perdue selected a garnet red formal gown for her historic inaugu-ral ball, which took place on January 10 in Raleigh. The governor has donated the silk gown, matching shoes, and earrings to the North Carolina Museum of History, where they are on view in the exhibit, Elected to Serve: North Carolina’s Governors. Traditionally, the museum acquires inaugural gowns from the state’s First Ladies. This year marks the first time that a governor’s inaugural gown will be added to the collection. Governor Perdue selected Lynda Narron Bunn of Bailey to design her gown of double-layered, beaded silk chiffon that is complemented by a sheer organza yoke and straight sleeves. The gown fea-tures a unique skirt: the back apron panel is lined with satin, which is revealed when walk-ing. In addition to the inaugural gown, the museum acquired another first: the tuxedo that North Carolina’s first First Gentleman wore to the inaugural ball. Governor Perdue’s hus-band, Robert W. “Bob” Eaves Jr., donated his black tuxedo with black satin lapels, which is also on display in Elected to Serve. 5 4 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Gov. Beverly Perdue and the red silk gown that she wore to her inaugural ball and donated to the North Carolina Museum of History, where it is displayed in the Elected to Serve exhibit. Also pictured are the First Gentleman, Robert W. “Bob” Eaves Jr. (far left), who donated the tuxedo that he wore to the ball, and Linda A. Carlisle, secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources (center left). Approximately 4,500 people attended the Eighth Annual African American Cultural Celebration on January 31. The family event included musical performances, storytelling, craft demonstrations, and hands-on activities. Blues guitarist Boo Hanks, sweet grass basket maker Kisha Rawlinson, and children’s authors Miles and William Rabun were among the more than seventy presenters and exhibitors at the free daylong program. “The celebration featured a variety of presentations, so visitors had many firsthand opportunities to explore African American history and present-day culture,” said Emily Grant, youth programs coordinator at the museum. New presentations this year included scenes from the Burning Coal Theatre Company’s new play, 1960, and vignettes from “Greensboro Then and Now,” a commissioned work by the Greensboro modern dance group, Cyrus Art Production. Special guest Sana Butler, author and Newsweek correspondent, discussed her book, Sugar of the Crop: My Journey to Find the Children of Slaves, about an unprecedented quest to locate the last surviving children of enslaved people. At noon, visitors watched a Jonkonnu procession with masked dancers in colorful costumes who played drums and sang. The performance resembled part of the Jonkonnu celebrations that were observed by enslaved African Americans in eastern North Carolina in the 1800s. Other notable pre-senters included Jaki Shelton Green, recently named poet laureate of the Piedmont; jazz saxophonist Ron Baxter; the trombone shout band Mangum and Company; the Gospel Jubilators; legendary harness horseman Charles “Red Eye” Williams; basket maker Neal Thomas; doll maker Marilyn Griffin; furniture maker Jerome Bias; and woodcarver Frank Barrow. The museum celebrated Black History Month with special programming in February that featured gospel singing, scholarly lectures, and topical tours. Four generations of the Landis family of Granville County, who perform as the gospel group, the Golden Echoes, took center stage in the museum auditorium on Saturday, February 8. The program also included clips from the film, A Singing Stream: A Black Family Chronicle, which documents this remarkable family. PineCone cosponsored the event as part of the museum’s Music of the Carolinas series. The lunchtime History à la Carte segment for the month, titled “Breaking the Silence and Healing the Soul,” was presented on February 11 by Sharon D. Raynor, director of the honors program at Johnson C. Smith University. Inspired by a diary that her father kept while serving in Vietnam, Raynor interviewed African American veterans about their service in Southeast Asia. In her presentation, she shared excerpts from these oral histories, photographs, newspaper accounts, and soldiers’ memorabilia. A grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council’s Road Scholars Speakers Bureau helped to fund the program. The initial lecture in the museum’s new series, Perspectives on History, presented by fellows from the National Humanities Center, also addressed a topic appropriate to Black History Month. Daina Ramey Berry, professor of history at Michigan State University, discussed “Appraised, Bartered, and Sold: The Value of Human Chattels” on February 19. A reception followed the evening lecture, which was sponsored by the North Carolina Museum of History Associates. Finally, on each Saturday afternoon during February, Afri-can American History Tours focused on the exhibit, Bearing Witness: Civil Rights Photo-graphs of Alexander Rivera. Individual items in other galleries with relevance to African American history, such as the Thomas Day furniture in the Pleasing to the Eye: The Decora-tive Arts of North Carolina exhibit, were also highlighted. At the end of each tour, actor Holmes Morrison portrayed a black doctor reflecting on the travails of his grandmother, a domestic laborer with “doctoring” skills, during the years of segregation. Pirates have wreaked havoc on the high seas since maritime travel began. These seafar-ing scoundrels receive attention in Knights of the Black Flag, a major new exhibit that opened at the museum on March 6. The exhibit explores the legacy of pirates from ancient times to the present, through intriguing artifacts, legends, and historical facts. Knights of the Black Flag includes the largest collection of artifacts, including cannons, tobacco pipes, and a ship’s bell, yet to be exhibited from the shipwreck in Beaufort Inlet that is believed to be Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge. Legends surround V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 5 5 another unusual artifact, on loan from the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massa-chusetts: the alleged skull of Blackbeard. The exhibit also features works of art, such as paintings of pirates by Don Maitz, which illustrate the continuing mystique of piracy in popular culture. The interactive exhibit is an exciting experience for all ages: young visitors can handle reproduction pirate weapons and try on sailors’ clothing. The Museum of History partnered with the North Carolina Maritime Museum at Beaufort and the Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project of the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the Office of State Archaeology to create the exhibit. Admis-sion is free for ages eighteen and under, and for adults who accompany school or youth groups of ten or more. The fee is $5 for ages nineteen and up; $4 for senior citi-zens, active military personnel, and mem-bers of adult groups of ten or more. Tickets may be purchased at the Museum Shop, located in the lobby. The exhibit will run through January 3, 2010. Staff Notes In the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties, Capt. David Scheu retired as site manager at the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial and was succeeded by Capt. Terry Bragg on March 1. Myra Shapiro, a 1968 graduate of Palmer Memorial Institute who retired after twenty-two years as an educator and school administrator in New York City, was hired as historic site manager III at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum. At Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens, Rebecca Reimer joined the staff as curator of education, and Nancy Montague began work as an accounting clerk III. Kerri Clavette, historic interpreter II, transferred from the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum to Alamance Battleground. Jeff Fritzinger joined the staff at Bentonville after many years as a farm interpreter at Charles B. Aycock Birthplace. Wayne Steelman transferred from Horne Creek Living Historical Farm to serve as maintenance mechanic at Fort Dobbs. Matt Vernon joined Bennett Place as a historic interpreter. Jesse Cox, office assistant III at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, resigned. Courtney Rounds, historic interpreter II at the President James K. Polk State Historic Site, completed the Leadership Development Program courses in January. Christian Dwight, collection manager at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, participated as an instructor in the MACREN (Mountain Area Cultural Resource Emergency Network)-sponsored workshop, When It Counts: Handling Material in a Disaster, on March 23. In the Division of State History Museums, Dr. Jeanne Marie Warzeski, curator of colonial and antebellum history at the North Carolina Museum of History, was one of three individuals nationwide to be awarded a fellowship by the Smithsonian Affiliations Visiting Professionals Program. In April, she will conduct research and study collections at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), the NMAI Cultural Resources Center, and the National Museum of American History. 5 6 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Don Maitz’s colorful painting, Blackbeard’s Revenge, is among several works of art in the exhibit, Knights of the Black Flag, which illustrate the continuing mystique of piracy in popular culture. Obituary William Samuel “Sam” Tarlton, the first superintendent of the Division of Historic Sites who directed the development of a statewide system of historic properties, died in Raleigh on March 12, 2009, aged 87. A native of Union County, Sam Tarlton gradu-ated from Wingate Junior College and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wake Forest College around a stint of active duty in the U.S. Navy. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during World War II. After a brief sojourn as a teacher at Cumberland University in Tennessee, Tarlton joined the State Department of Archives and History on August 1, 1954, in the dual capacity of researcher for the high-way historical marker program and editor of Carolina Comments. He helped to compile the fourth edition of the guide to the highway markers. On October 1, 1955, he was named superintendent of the Division of Historic Sites, newly established within the department. At that time, administration of state-owned historic properties was divided among various state agencies and commissions. By the end of Tarlton’s thirteen-year tenure, thirteen sites were operated by the division, and many had progressed beyond the initial phase of archaeological investigations and historical research to the interpre-tive phase, characterized by visitor centers in the nature of small museums. In fact, a year after his departure in December 1968, the Division of Historic Sites was merged with the Division of Museums. On March 18, 1969, the executive board of the department adopted a resolution praising the excellence of his superintendency and his enviable national reputation. Tarlton served as an officer of the American Association for State and Local History, the Historic American Buildings Survey, the Association of Historic Sites Administrators, and the North American Association of Historic Sites Public Offi-cials. He was also a member of the Historic Murfreesboro Commission and the Raleigh Historic Sites Commission. He won the Cannon Cup Award from the North Carolina Society for the Preservation of Antiquities in 1959 and an Anthemion Award from Capital Area Preservation in 2003 for the restoration of a house in Raleigh. After leaving state service, Tarlton formed a partnership with former colleague James Craig and for the next forty years conducted a high-end antiques business in the capital city. Tarlton was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. He is survived by a son, William S. Tarlton Jr., and a daughter, Meribeth McKenzie, both of Raleigh. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 5 7 Was Abraham Lincoln a Tar Heel? Ansley H. Wegner EDITOR’S NOTE: Ansley Herring Wegner has been a research historian in the Research Branch of the Office of Archives and History since 2000. Previously, she worked in the Search Room of the North Carolina State Archives for six years. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985 and a master’s degree from North Carolina State University in 2000. She is the author of History for All the People: One Hundred Years of Public History in North Carolina (2003) and Phantom Pain: North Carolina’s Artificial-Limbs Program for Confederate Veterans (2004), and contributed several essays to The Governors of North Carolina (2007), all published by the Historical Publications Section. North Carolina has been so foolish in laying claim to everything in sight and on every occasion that I am sick unto death of claims that cannot be proved. When we can prove claims then we may boast. Stephen B. Weeks to R. D. W. Connor 25 July 1905 When Chicago newspaperman John Locke Scripps offered to write Abraham Lincoln’s campaign biography in 1860, Lincoln responded, Why Scripps . . . it is a great piece of folly to attempt to make anything out of my early life. It can be condensed into a single sentence, and that sentence you will find in Gray’s Elegy, “The short and simple annals of the poor.” That’s my life and that’s all you or any one else can make of it. Lincoln knew little about his family and apparently did not wish to pursue a genealogical investigation. He always said that his parents were originally from Virginia—that his mother was Nancy Hanks, and his father, Thomas Lincoln, was the son of Abraham Lincoln, but that they were not connected to the wealthy New England Lincolns. Lincoln’s cousin Dennis Hanks, who, being of an age between Nancy and Abraham, grew up as friend to both, provided a few more details concerning the Hanks family. From Dennis Hanks Americans learned that Nancy Hanks was the daughter of Lucy, who was the sister of Dennis’s mother, also named Nancy. The proclivity for Hankses to name their daughters Nancy plays a significant role in the confusion. Despite Lincoln’s own disregard for his genealogy, the general public, it seems, remained keenly interested in Lincoln’s family tree. The paucity of information, unfortu-nately, left room for fabrication. What likely began as an attempt to discredit the president during the Civil War has snowballed over the years. In 1861 a woman in Nelson County, 5 8 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S New Leaves Kentucky, told a newspaper reporter that Abraham Lincoln’s real name was Abraham Enlow, and that he was a thief who ran off to Illinois and changed his name. She said that old Abe Enlow “has become a traitor president, under the stolen name Abe Lincoln. But we all said that [he] would never come to any good end.” The supposed connection between Abraham Lincoln and Abraham Enlow/Enloe/Inlow (the name and its variations were common in the early 1800s) would flourish. In March 1863 an article appeared in the Wilmington Journal stating that Lincoln was the son of Abra-ham Inlow of Hardin County, Kentucky. Later that year, a man wrote to Secretary of State William H. Seward to expose the president as “the illegitimate son by a man named Inlow.” The story of Lincoln’s illegitimacy found seed in many communities, especially those with Enloes and Hankses. About a dozen stories arose claiming to expose Lincoln’s true father, and of those, four were men named Abraham Enloe (or Enlow/Inlow). Besides Enloe, it was also said that Senator John C. Calhoun fathered Lincoln with Nancy Hanks, a South Carolina tavern keeper’s daughter. Some even said that Lincoln and Jeffer-son Davis shared a father. North Carolina boasted three alleged fathers of the president— an Enloe, a Martin, and a Springs. However, the rumors that began as libel intended to discredit the Great Emancipator have become legends steeped in civic pride. The North Carolina Abraham Enloe story, first published in book form in 1899 by James H. Cathey as The Genesis of Lincoln, is based on circumstantial evidence and oral tra-dition. In short, it is as follows: A young Nancy Hanks arrived in the state through various means, depending on the version, and ended up in the household of Abraham Enloe of Rutherford County. Abraham Enloe got Hanks pregnant and was forced by embarrass-ment to move westward. Most versions of the story have Hanks giving birth in Rutherford County after the Enloe family had moved on to Haywood County. Enloe then sent her to Kentucky and paid Thomas Lincoln, either a wandering horse trader or an itinerant farm laborer, to marry her. The birth took place, depending on the account, between 1804 and 1806, in order to fit the time frame of Enloe’s life. The legend also requires that Lincoln be born before his older sister, as Enloe would not have waited for a second child before sending Nancy Hanks away. Lincoln’s ability to pass for three years V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 5 9 Daguerreotype of Abraham Lincoln, aged about thirty-seven, ca. 1846–1847. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. younger, even as a small child, was explained by people’s accepting that he was simply “tall for his age.” Documents related to Abraham Enloe can be found in the North Carolina State Archives, but records that support his fathering of Abraham Lincoln do not exist. A 2005 publication on the subject included several abstracted census records that are not true to the originals. For example, in presenting evidence from the 1800 federal census for Rutherford County, the author records a Nancy Hanks, aged sixteen, living in the house-hold of Abraham Enloe. Not only does the 1800 census not provide names for anyone other than the head of household, but the author’s ages of the various household members do not match those on the original document. The author also merged at least two or three Abraham Enloes in an attempt to prove the legend. A 2003 book about Lincoln’s supposed North Carolina roots includes copious footnotes; however, they merely lead the reader to secondary sources and oral traditions. The only original document mentioned in the book is the marriage bond between Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. Yet the authors discounted the veracity of the paper, saying that even though it “was found in a courthouse,” there is no reason to believe that it is authentic. North Carolina’s Enloe is described by most proponents of the tale as a large slaveholder and slave trader and a man who made peace with the Cherokee. Records in the State Archives, however, show a man who owned at various times no more than four slaves (none in 1800), and a man who was involved in a lawsuit brought by the Cherokee chief, Yonaguska. The North Carolina story often described Nancy as living with her drunken “Uncle Dickey” (Richard) Hanks. The “Uncle Dickey” story seems to be an attempt to establish a Hanks connection whereby Nancy Hanks can be placed in North Carolina. The story goes that he could not take care of her, that he was an alcoholic who was often in jail, and, as a consequence, she was sent to live with the Enloes. However, records show Richard Hanks, who lived in Lincoln County and later Gaston County, to be a man of responsibility and property. Court minutes do not indicate that he was a public nuisance. A Revolutionary War veteran, Hanks was supported in his claim for a pension by his clergyman. Finally, Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, did not have an uncle named Richard Hanks. The entire effort to defend the legend is based on undocumented oral tradition and misinterpretation of the few available primary sources. Yet North Carolina’s Abraham Enloe legend endures and is, in fact, the focus of the Bostic Lincoln Center in Rutherford 6 0 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Marriage bond of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, June 10, 1806, filed in the courthouse of Wash-ington County, Kentucky. A recent book alleging Abraham Lincoln’s North Carolina roots questioned the authenticity of the document. County. The mission of the center, www.bosticlincolncenter.com, is to research, docu-ment, and preserve the “generational lore” of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in North Carolina. The Abraham Enloe link to Abraham Lincoln is a fascinating piece of folklore. The stories that connect the two men are widely varied, but none is substantiated. For exam-ple, a number of writers describe a fight in which Thomas Lincoln bit off the end of Enloe’s nose, and some attribute the Lincoln family’s move to Indiana to the fight (as opposed to documented problems related to land claims). People who knew the various Abraham Enloe/Enlows do not recall any of them having such a deformity of the face. Wesley Enloe, the youngest son of North Carolina’s Abraham Enloe, was quoted in the Charlotte Observer in 1893 as saying that he had not heard of the connection between his father and Abraham Lincoln until he read the story in an Asheville newspaper in 1871. However, by 1909, likely having grown fond of being considered Lincoln’s half-brother, Wesley Enloe stated unequivocally that Nancy Hanks lived with his family, and that his father sent her to Kentucky because she had borne him a son. Lincoln scholars have no reservations in accepting the traditional Abraham Lincoln genealogy. Although there is no paper trail for his mother prior to her marriage license in Kentucky, that is not unusual for a young woman in that time period. William Barton published two books on Lincoln’s genealogy in the 1920s. The Paternity of Abraham Lincoln and The Lineage of Lincoln are thorough and leave no doubt that Lincoln was born to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln about three years after they were married. Benjamin P. Thomas, in his 1952 standard work, Abraham Lincoln: A Biography, lauded Barton’s “exhaustive critical analysis” of Lincoln’s legitimacy. Barton further proved that there were many Hanks families in the United States, and that Nancy was a popular name among them. He accepted that Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks, was likely illegitimate. But Thomas Lincoln came from respectable stock, and, had Lincoln the desire or opportu-nity to investigate his ancestors, he would have found, as historian and Lincoln biographer David H. Donald wrote, “instead of being the unique blossom on an otherwise barren family tree, [Lincoln] belonged to the seventh generation of a family with competent means, a reputation for integrity, and a modest record of public service.” With Lincoln’s reluctance to speak of his family, the appearance of the name Abraham Enloe was like a dandelion, spreading seeds of Abraham Lincoln’s illegitimacy to the wind. Some of the seeds flourished and have become legend. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 6 1 Thomas Lincoln, father of Abraham, was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, in 1778. He moved with his family to Kentucky in the 1780s; his father, also named Abraham, was murdered by Indians in 1786. Thomas married Nancy Hanks in 1806 and their first child, daughter Sarah, was born a year later. Abraham followed on February 12, 1809. Image courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee. 6 2 C A R O L I N A C O M M E N T S Additions to the National Register of Historic Places (Administered by the State Historic Preservation Office) The Enfield Graded School in Halifax County was among the last public schools in the state to be built on the campus plan. The Colonial Revival-style main building, designed by architect Frank B. Simpson of Raleigh, was constructed in 1950, and a separate gymnasium (1951) and agricultural building (1952) followed soon thereafter. The facility closed in December 2007. The Bishop John C. Kilgo House, which faces The Plaza, the grand boulevard of the upscale neighborhood of Charlotte that was developed in the early twentieth century as Chatham Estates, is an attractive blend of the Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles. The house was built in 1915 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for its bishop, John Carlisle Kilgo. President of Trinity College (later Duke University) from 1894 to 1910, Kilgo settled in Charlotte after leaving Durham. His home was designed by Louis Humbert Asbury, one of Charlotte’s leading architects. Crossnore School opened in Avery County in 1913 as a school for under-privileged mountain children, the creation of an altruistic husband-and- wife team of doctors, Eustace Henry and Mary Martin Sloop. The six contributing historic structures in the Crossnore School Historic District, which consists of less than a tenth of the eighty-acre campus, date from 1928 to 1960, and include a hospital, chapel, bell tower (pictured), dormitory, chapter house, and the 1936 Homespun House/Weaving Room, which was entered on the National Register individually in 2001. V O L U M E 5 7 , N U M B E R 2 , A P R I L 2 0 0 9 6 3 Additions to the National Register of Historic Places (Administered by the State Historic Preservation Office) The first of three public schools to be constructed at the main crossroads in Tobaccoville in northern Forsyth County, the ca. 1914 two-room Old Richmond Schoolhouse was operational only until replaced in 1922. The building was remodeled to serve first as apartments for school-teachers and later as the residence of the principal and his family. The school was restored in 1980 for use as a museum. The school’s gymnasium was constructed with Works Progress Administration funding in 1940. Richard Sharp Smith, an English-born architect, arrived in Asheville in 1889 as the supervising architect for the construction of Biltmore Estates. He would settle in the area and become its most prominent and prolific architect during the first two decades of the twentieth century, designing numerous courthouses, churches, schools, hotels, and mansions in western North Carolina. Smith built his residence, known as Stoneybrook, east of downtown Asheville, in 1902–1903, using local stone for the foundation, exterior walls, fireplaces, and chimneys. The eighty-five-acre McAdenville Historic District encompasses 102 contributing resources, including fifteen original mill village houses built of brick in the 1880s. The picturesque town in eastern Gaston County developed around the McAden Mills along the South Fork of the Catawba River. The historic district also includes three large frame houses constructed for the mill owners and operators, two mid-twentieth- century churches, and the R. Y. McAden Memorial Hall (pictured), a community library and assembly hall built in 1907. Historical Publications Section Office of Archives and History 4622 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-4622 Telephone (919) 733-7442 Fax (919) 733-1439 www.ncpublications.com Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid Raleigh, NC Permit No. 187 Carolina Comments Jeffrey J. Crow, Editor in Chief (ISSN 0576-808X) Kenrick N. Simpson, Editor |
OCLC number | 02047645 |