Cover
Story
Helping the Future Meet the Past
THE TRYON PALACE COUNCIL OF FRIENDS IS A KEY PLAYER IN THE EFFORT TO PRESERVE
NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY
The Jankonmi celebniiion re-created a
1 9th-ccntury African American tradition.
T
By Nancy Mansfield
u
г
I ' he further backward you can
look,” Sir Winston Churchill
once observed, “the further
forwarcl you are likely to see."
“ If 1 have been able to see further, it is by
standing on the shoulders of giants," Sir
Isaac Newton wrote in 1 675,
ackn* nvledging the int luence of earlier
scholars on his defining work in science.
And even further back, in the first
cent ury B.C., Cicero queried, "To be
igni >rant of what happened before you were
born is n ) be ever a child, for what is man’s
lifetime unless the memory of past events
is woven with those of earlier times’”
Clearly, the centrality of history to the
human condition is a principle as old as
dvilizatic m. And just as clearly, the inexorable
relatii >nship i >f past, present, and i urine was
a belief shared by those who helped bring
Tryon Palace back to life in the 1 950s.
T< >day you can see the commitment to
preserving North Carolina's past in
everything and everyone you encounter at
Tryon Palace Historic Sites Ck Gardens,
from the valuable objects in our collection
to the valuable lessons we teach to school
children visiting on field trips. The
commitment is visible every day in the
faces of the characters from the year 1855
who greet visitors at the Ri ibert Hay House,
just as it was in thejonkonnu parades —
re-creations ofa 1 9th century African
American tradition — that delighted large
crowds during our recent ( "hristmas
holiday celebration and, later, at the
governor’s inaugural parade in Raleigh.
And the appeal of history certainly was
evident at the Palace’s first-ewer Free Day
in March, when clouds and rain foiled to
dampen the enthusiasm of almost 1 ,800
visitors who stood in line for as long as two
hours for a glimpse into the past.
It is a commitment shared by our staff
and volunteers alike. You can even get a
sense of it from the Tryon Palace Council of
Friends membership application stapled
into the center of this issue of The Palace,
on which the cover slogan sums the idea
up perfectly: “Help the Future Meet the
Past. Join the Friends.”
Since its inception in 1 993, the Council
of Friends has focused on underwriting
special programming at Tryon Palace,
including the annual holiday celebration,
which depends largely on the Council of
Friends support. But holiday programming,
important as it is to us and to thousands of
our visitors, is just one of the many ways
the Council of Friends helps Tryon Palace
Historic Sites &. Gardens keep North
Carolina's history alive. Here are some
others:
African American History
The Council of Friends played a key role
in instituting the African American
Research Program, providing both seed
money and moral support to get the effort
under way. An early maj< >r success came in
publication of Recollections of My Slavery
Days, it compelling first-hand account of
the extra* irdinary life of William Henry
Singleton, who worked on a Craven
County plantatii >n and later helped recruit
an African American regiment that served
in the Civil War.
A spellbound racially diverse audience
packed the New Bern High School
auditorium last spring for Let My People
Gc, a dramatization based on North
Carolina civil court cases involving slavery.
The Council of Friends underwrote this
production of the Touring Theatre
Ensemble of North Carolina and, in
response to popular demand, will sponsor
a return engagement on June 1 9 this year.
The first-ever Free Day in March drew nearly 1,800 visitors to the Palace.
Alace
Spring 2001
4 4
