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The Story of North Carolina Part 2
The N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh will open The Story of North Carolina, its largest exhibit ever, on Saturday, Nov. 5. The exhibit traces life in North Carolina from its earliest inhabitants through the 20th century. Part One of The Story of North Carolina debuted in April, and the final part opens with a grand celebration on Nov. 5. Admission is free.
Artifact installations are taking place in preparation for the grand opening of The Story of North Carolina on Nov. 5. These Civil War objects will be featured in an exhibit gallery titled “North Carolina in Crisis.”
More than 14,000 years of the state’s history unfold through fascinating artifacts, multimedia presentations, dioramas, and hands-on interactive components. Additionally, two historic houses and several re-created environments convey places where North Carolinians have lived and worked.
“An exhibit the size and scope of The Story of North Carolina requires years of planning, and we are excited to present this engaging interactive exhibit in which visitors can see, hear and experience the state’s history,” says Ken Howard, Museum Director. “We believe visitors will gain a deeper understanding of the people and events that have shaped North Carolina.” This will be the only permanent exhibit in North Carolina chronicling the history of the entire state.
Thousands of people have already seen Part One of The Story of North Carolina, which carries the state’s history through the 1830s. Highlights in Part One include American Indian life, European settlement, piracy, the American Revolution and early 1800s farm life.
When Part Two opens Nov. 5, museum-goers will continue North Carolina’s story through the antebellum era, the Civil War, the rise of industry, the Great Depression, the two World Wars, and the Civil Rights movement.
Hundreds of artifacts, such as a restored slave cabin from Martin County, help tell these stories. Step inside a re-created weaving room of an early 20th-century textile mill: watch the lint fly, hear the ear-piercing machinery and feel the vibrating floor. Nearby, look up to see a full-size replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer soaring overhead.
At the turn of the 20th century, many North Carolina families left their farms to seek “public work” in the state’s booming textile, tobacco and furniture industries.
With so much to explore, these brief descriptions of each gallery section provide only a small glimpse of what is revealed in Part Two of The Story of North Carolina.
Living Together —Discover what life was like in North Carolina before the Civil War.
At this gallery’s entrance is a massive interactive map highlighting the state’s improvements in transportation, education and agriculture from 1840 to 1860. New railroads, plank roads and canals as well as a free school system moved the state forward. Advances in farming practices and equipment boosted cash crops of tobacco, cotton and rice.
Learn about the state’s antebellum social order. In 1860 about one-third of North Carolina’s population was enslaved. Look inside the former slave cabin and imagine how seven enslaved African Americans lived in this one-room house in 1860.
Find out how Tar Heels made a living from the land as farmers, miners, mariners, turpentiners, and artisans. See tools and equipment they used and objects they made.
North Carolina literally struck gold in 1799, and the state led the nation in gold production until 1849. Christopher Bechtler began a private mint near Rutherfordton in 1831. On view are coins, a gold roller and a coin die from the Bechtler Mint.
The Tar Heel State became the world’s leading source of tar, pitch, turpentine and rosin, all needed to maintain wooden sailing ships. Some believe that the name Tar Heel originated because workers often had tar on their feet.
North Carolina in Crisis—The Civil War brought changes, division and hardships from 1861 to 1865.
On May 20, 1861, North Carolina delegates voted to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy. On exhibit is the quill pen that Pitt County Rep. Bryan Grimes used to sign the N.C. Ordinance of Secession.
Flags, weapons, uniforms and other objects bring to life the experiences of soldiers in battle and citizens on the home front. For example, see the Confederate battle flag carried by the 7th Regiment N.C. State Troops at the Battle of Gettysburg. Or examine an 1861 early-production Fayetteville rifle produced at the Fayetteville Arsenal and Armory. Watch the video “Choosing Sides: Loyalty to Country or to the State?”
Hope, Fear, and Freedom— The war’s end brought new beginnings, and Reconstruction forced difficult changes.
African Americans embraced freedom and the opportunity for education. An exhibit artifact, a writing slate, symbolizes freedom. Sallie Arrington used the slate in 1866 when she attended first grade in a North Carolina school set up by the Freedmen’s Bureau.
Many white North Carolinians could not come to terms with the new federal laws, and some decided to join vigilante groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Racial tension continued.
Charred walls surround an exhibit area recounting the Wilmington Race Riot. On Nov. 10, 1898, the black-owned newspaper Daily Record was burned and vandalized during the only coup d’état of a city government in the nation’s history. The video “ ‘When Hell Jolted Loose’: Overthrowing Wilmington’s Government” explains how a group of influential white men brought down Wilmington’s biracial city government and effectively introduced the Jim Crow era to North Carolina.
Into the Modern Age—At the turn of the 20th century, North Carolina became an industrial leader in the South, bringing economic and social change.
This gallery features artifacts associated with the state’s “Big Three” industries — textiles, tobacco and furniture — as well as objects representing the impact of new inventions on North Carolinians.
Step inside two re-created environments: the textile mill weaving room and a tobacco warehouse. Another area showcases examples of North Carolina furniture. Follow the development of these major industries.
New technologies changed lives. The replica of the Wright Flyer recounts Orville Wright’s first flight on Dec. 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk. See Tar Heel inventions that range from Gilbert Waters’ 1903 Buggymobile (prototype automobile) to products such as Pepsi-Cola.
An American State—The state moved onto the national stage in the 20th century.
North Carolinians struggled through two World Wars and the Great Depression. In 1917 Tar Heels stepped up to fight in the First World War. Among the World War I weapons and uniforms on view is a 1918 Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to soldier Lester Blackwell.
A re-created World War I-era recruitment office lets museum-goers experience enlisting for military service. Have your photograph taken “wearing” a doughboy uniform.
During World War II, more soldiers trained in North Carolina than in any other state. Artifacts speak to wartime experiences: home front items, weapons North Carolina soldiers used, and enemy weapons soldiers brought home from overseas. Learn about German U-boats that stalked the state’s coast in 1942. Watch a video to see how close these enemy submarines came to our state and how much damage they caused to Allied shipping.
This gallery also focuses on African Americans and American Indians who sought equality during the Civil Rights movement. Shortly after the nationally recognized sit-in movement began in Greensboro in February 1960, a second sit-in took place at a F.W. Woolworth store in Salisbury. On view, the lunch counter from the Salisbury sit-in serves as a reminder of those who struggled for equal rights.
The Story of North Carolina concludes with an audiovisual experience that fast forwards the state’s history from the end of World War II to the present, emphasizing the changing face of North Carolina.
These descriptions only skim the surface of Part Two of The Story of North Carolina. Major sponsors of the exhibit are Josephus Daniels Charitable Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation, SECU Foundation ● GlaxoSmithKline ● Bank of America, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Reynolds American Foundation ● Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth B. Howard; Mr. and Mrs. S. Davis Phillips; Mr. and Mrs. W. Trent Ragland Jr.; Wachovia, A Wells Fargo Company ● Senator and Mrs. James T. Broyhill, Duke Energy, First Citizens Bank, John R. and Carolyn J. Maness Family Foundation, Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee, Sallie Boyle Phillips, Progress Energy, and Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Wright.
On Nov. 5 don’t miss the Celebrate NC History Festival, a grand event to mark the exhibit opening. This free event for all ages takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Award-winning musicians, storytellers, dance groups, authors, craftspeople, re-enactors and other presenters will capture the flavor and diversity of the state. Catch performances by the Red Clay Ramblers, The Chairmen of the Board, Molasses Creek and many others. For details go to ncmuseumofhistory.org/festival. The festival is sponsored by Progress Energy and Duke Energy.
For more information about Part One of The Story of North Carolina or the N.C. Museum of History, call 919-807-7900 or access ncmuseumofhistory.org or Facebook.
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About the N.C. Museum of History
The museum is located at 5 E. Edenton Street, across from the State Capitol. Parking is available in the lot across Wilmington Street. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The Museum of History, within the Division of State History Museums, is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.
About the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation’s first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the N.C. Arts Council, and the State Archives.
The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources serves as a champion for North Carolina’s creative industry, which employs nearly 300,000 North Carolinians and contributes more than $41 billion to the state’s economy. To learn more, visit www.ncculture.com.
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