Workshop Introduction
Welcome
Welcome to the North Carolina Museum of History’s online teacher workshop Legends of North Carolina! From Virginia Dare to Charles Drew, legends have played—and continue to play—an important role in North Carolina culture. This six-week, self-paced program, combining historical information with interactive activities, will provide you with resources to integrate North Carolina legends into your curriculum.

Log on anytime during the program dates and proceed through the sessions and activities at your own speed. Expect to spend approximately six hours per week on the workshop and related assignments.

You will explore North Carolina legends through

  • sessions on specific topics
  • links to related Web sites
  • interaction with museum staff and other participants via the Bulletin Board
  • printable handouts
Submit assignments by mail or e-mail. You will earn eight contact hours for each completed assignment (maximum of forty hours). After completing the workshop, you will receive a certificate of completion listing the contact hours earned.

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System Requirements
To fully access this workshop, you will need a computer with Internet access and an e-mail address. Although some Web site links require a sound card and speakers to hear music
and oral histories, the sites are not required to complete the workshop. 
 
Navigating the Workshop Web Site
Choose any of the six sessions or other main workshop sections from links listed under Contents on the Home page.

At the end of each section, choose Back to go to the previous section, Home to return to the Home page, or Next Session to proceed in order through the workshop.

To view the workshop photos on a separate page, which you may also print, click once on the photo. Click on Back to return to the main text.

If you have difficulty navigating the workshop, please contact Tricia Blakistone at 919-807-7977 or at tricia.l.blakistone@ncdcr.gov.
 
Student Input
For several years, the Museum of History has worked with students from Exploris Middle School, a charter school in Raleigh associated with the global learning center Exploris. In a seven-week class titled History Explorers, the students learn about the roles of history museum professionals through hands-on projects. They conduct research, learn to present a Gallery Cart program to museum visitors, and create and promote a public program of their own. One class recently acted as a focus group for the exhibit Man-Made Marvels (on view through September 2005).

In March 2002 the education staff held a brainstorming session with the History Explorers class to identify North Carolina legends and determine why they are famous. Their ideas appear throughout the workshop to lend a student perspective to the subject. The museum gratefully acknowledges the contributions of teacher Karen Rectanus and her class to this project.

The Museum of History and Exploris Middle School hope classes like History Explorers will deepen young people’s understanding of history and encourage them to reflect on how museums explore the past.

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Project History
The Division of State History Museums promotes the understanding of the history and material culture of North Carolina for the educational benefit of North Carolinians. Through collections and historical interpretation, its museums encourage citizens and visitors to explore and understand the past; to reflect on their own lives and their place in history; and to preserve state, regional, and local history for future generations.

In 1998 the North Carolina Museum of History offered a pilot online teacher workshop, The Role of Women in North Carolina History, as a new way to serve educators. Since that time, the museum has developed six additional online workshops, as well as this one: Stories from the Civil War, North Carolina at Home and in Battle during World War II, North Carolina Geography, African American Life and Culture in North Carolina, Antebellum North Carolina, and American Indians in North Carolina, Past and Present. All eight workshops are updated and offered at least once every two years. Based on evaluations of Legends of North Carolina, the museum will develop other Web-based programs for teachers.
 
Flora MacDonald was one of ten legendary figures featured in the 2000 exhibition Legends of North Carolina at the Museum of History.

Much of the material in this workshop comes from the North Carolina Museum of History’s 2000 exhibit North Carolina Legends and from the spring 2000 issue of Tar Heel Junior Historian magazine.
 
Acknowledgments
The North Carolina Museum of History gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the following individuals and organizations:

Bobby Buten
Cyd Read
The Dolley Madison Project
Kathy Hopson
North Carolina State Archives, North Carolina Division of Archives and History
North Carolina Supreme Court
Scottish Heritage Center, Saint Andrews Presbyterian College, Laurinburg
SoulOfAmerica.com
United States Olympic Committee
Unto These Hills outdoor drama

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