2011 Annual Convention Highlights Life in North Carolina during the Antebellum and Civil War Years

The Tar Heel Junior Historian Association held its 2011 Annual Convention on April 29 at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh.

In a morning ceremony, Jessica Pratt, THJHA program coordinator, welcomed attendees and made announcements. Junior historians from the Smith-McDowell House Museum club led the attendees in singing North Carolina’s state song, “The Old North State.” A roll call of clubs followed, then everyone prepared to attend workshops. This year’s attendance numbered 410 junior historians, advisers, and family members.

The 2011 Annual Convention highlighted antebellum life and North Carolina during the Civil War. Workshops focused on article topics from the fall 2010 and spring 2011 issues of Tar Heel Junior Historian magazine.

Students made cipher discs that helped them decode secret Civil War messages and learned to use flags to communicate information in the Secret Signals workshop. In the Making Do workshop, junior historians learned that soldiers were responsible for making repairs to their own uniforms and then made their own oilcloth pouches. The Civil War affected what people in North Carolina ate; attendees in the Food for Thought session sampled some creative food substitutions from the time and made their own hardtack. A workshop on Civil War Pastimes gave students a chance to see and try toys and games played by children in the 1860s. In the museum’s new exhibit The Story of North Carolina, students in the Doing It the Hard Way workshop learned about antebellum farms and the chores done by kids their age, as they tried a few barnyard tasks. For a session on School of the Soldier, convention attendees became soldiers to learn about Civil War camp life and troops’ preparations for battle. In Long Time Going, actors from Burning Coal Theatre Company entertained junior historians with a collection of scenes from their historical plays about the Tar Heel State during the Civil War. In The Next Apprentice workshop, students learned how workers advanced through the ranks in an antebellum craft shop like master cabinetmaker Thomas Day’s. 

The day also included a delicious lunch served by Gardner’s Barbecue of Rocky Mount. Those who had reserved lunch tickets enjoyed barbecue sandwiches, coleslaw, chips, a drink, and cookies.

In the afternoon, everyone convened in the museum lobby. Museum Director Ken Howard updated the junior historians on exciting changes that have been happening and are planned for the museum, including a new THJHA discovery gallery scheduled to open in the fall. Everyone was eager to learn who would win the top prizes in the 2011 THJHA Annual Contests and have their projects displayed in this new gallery.

Click on the headings above for descriptions and images from the 2011convention!