Left : Margaret Bauer presents the second annual Hardce-Rives Award to Bland Simpson. Right'.
Jerry Cashion (left) presents the Crittenden Memorial Award to Carole and George Troxlcr.
behalf of his wife, who died on September 4. More about the awards may be found at
www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/affiliates/lit-hist/awards/awards.htm.
The R. Hunt Parker Memorial Award, bestowed annually by the NCLHA for signifi¬
cant lifetime contributions to the literary heritage of North Carolina, went to Michael
McFee, professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
and author of several volumes of poetry as well as anthologies of North Carolina writers.
Monika Fleming of Tarboro made the presentation, and Michael Chitwood accepted on
behalf of McFee, who could not be present. Margaret Bauer of Greenville presented the
second Hardee-Rives Dramatic Arts Award to Bland Simpson who, like McFee, teaches
creative writing at Chapel Hill. The announcement took note of Simpson’s long tenure in
the Red Clay Ramblers and his collaborative work on stage productions.
In the final ceremony of the evening, Jerry C. Cashion, in his capacity as chairman of
the North Carolina Historical Commission, presented the Christopher Crittenden Memo¬
rial Award to Carole and George Troxler, both retired professors of history at Elon Uni¬
versity. In doing so, he noted their service to the Office of Archives and History and other
historical organizations over a long period. He drew upon his personal acquaintance with
both parties extending back almost fifty years. The award, presented annually since 1970,
recognizes lifetime contributions to the preservation of North Carolina history and honors
Crittenden, the director of the Department of Archives and History' from 1935 to 1968.
Alamance Battleground Research Project Concludes Extensive Work
Friday, December 3, 2010, witnessed the conclusion of a fourteen-month archaeologi¬
cal and historical investigation at Alamance Battleground State Historic Site. The project
began as a seemingly innocuous conversation in the summer of 2009 between John J.
Mintz, archaeologist with the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology and Marty
Matthews, curator of research with the North Carolina Division of State Historic Sites and
Properties. Initial discussion concerned the placement of interpretive signage at the site,
but quickly turned into a multi-year, multi-disciplinary research endeavor, the Alamance
Battleground Research Project (ABRP). The project focused on assembling never before
collected archaeological information and reexamining the extant historical record with the
overall goal of developing a better understanding of the events that took place on May 16,
1771, just south of the small, backcountry village of Alamance.
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