Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War in North Carolina, 2011-2015

The North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Office of Archives and History, established a team in 2006 to plan for commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

The mission is to prepare appropriate and historically accurate state-sponsored activities to commemorate the
  • richness
  • diversity
  • significance

of North Carolinians’ Civil War experience.

Accordingly, the objective is to bring an understanding of the Civil War’s complex issues and interpret the events for a new generation.

"North Carolina and the Civil War: Freedom, Sacrifice, Memory" is the theme. The sunburst image logo is derivative of a button worn by North Carolina soldiers, 1861-1865.

An ambitious three-part series of panels will be held:

  1. Memory: North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, spring 2011

  2. Freedom: Greensboro, 2013, coinciding with the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation

  3. Sacrifice: Wilmington, 2015

A call for papers will be forthcoming.

Activities

Thirteen of the twenty-seven State Historic Sites will launch a new, comprehensive, education initiative in 2011 to highlight the North Carolina experience.

State Historic Sites with site-specific programs are:
  • Bennett Place
  • Bentonville Battlefield
  • Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson
  • CSS Neuse
  • Fort Fisher
  • State Capitol
  • Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace

Non-traditional Civil War sites will also offer programs:

  • Duke Homestead
  • Historic Edenton
  • Somerset Place
  • Historic Stagville
  • Tryon Palace
  • Roanoke Island Festival Park

Archaeological work will be undertaken at selected venues.

A teacher workshop for renewal credit is planned about the programs which will be designed to meet eighth grade curriculum standards.

Exhibitions and Special Events

The North Carolina Museum of History will build upon previous exhibits and highlight aspects of the war over the course of the anniversary period.

The North Carolina Museum of Art plans an exhibit of American art of the period.

Noteworthy milestones precede commemoration

  • State Capitol, December 1, 2008: Jefferson Davis and Andrew Johnson were born in 1808. A program will commemorate Johnson, a Raleigh native, featuring Dan Carter, University of South Carolina.

  • North Carolina Museum of History, February 12, 2009, program to commemorate the 200th birthday of the sixteenth President and contrast leadership styles of Lincoln and Jefferson Davis.

  • Speakers slated are Dr. Paul Escott of Wake Forest University, Dr. Jospeh T. Glatthaar and Dr. Heather Williams of UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Loren Schweninger of UNC-Greensboro, Dr. John David Smith of UNC-Charlotte, and Dr. William Harris of N.C. State University.

  • This program will be offered in cooperation with the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Dr Jeffrey J. Crow, Deputy Secretary, Archives and History, is North Carolina’s state liason to this commission.

New Ventures

The Division of Historic Sites and Properties will initiate a broad-based educatiuonal program geared toward eighth grade students.

The Historical Publications Office will publish new books and posters, a series of reprints, and will continue the volumes in the ongoing North Carolina troop roster series.

A North Carolina Civil War Atlas, conceived by Mark A. Moore, will be published in a collaborative effort with the University of North Carolina Press

Also being discussed are placement of one or more monuments, establishment of a speakers bureau, and heritage tourism-based marketing efforts.

Committee

Dr. Jeffrey J. Crow, Deputy Secretary, Archives and History, established the Commemoration Committee. He noted that the department long has had a commitment to projects associated with the Civil War and, during the anniversary, those efforts will intensify. The Cultural Resources team is co-chaired by by Keith Hardison, Director of the Division of State Historic Sites and Properties, and Michael Hill, Research Branch Supervisor.

An advisory panel of leading Civil War historians will consult with staff and guide development and execution of programming.

With all programming, the committee wishes to reach the widest possible audience, extending the reach of the Office of Archives and History geographically, thematically, and demographically.

Preserving Bentonville

Bentonville Campaign - Civil War Preservation Trust

Please support the Civil War Preservation Trust's 2008 Bentonville Campaign to preserve an additional 173 acres on the battlefield. Every $1.00 donated multiplies into $7.72, so there has never been a better time to increase the value of your donation.

North Carolina at War

North Carolina Battlefields

Visit our sites and museums, and walk in the steps of history.

Tar Heel Confederates

Bryan Grimes and E. A. Osborne

Voices from the Battlefield — From Bethel to Gettysburg, Franklin, Nashville, and Appomattox, North Carolina soldiers describe their combat experiences in all theaters of the war.

Civil War Flags

Flags of the Civil War

North Carolina's state flag and national banners of the Union and Confederacy.

What's In A Name?

The Union Is Dissolved!

Why do we call it the "Civil War"?

An overview of the evolution of the war's terminology.

Interpreting the War

William Henry Singleton - Former Slave, 35th USCT

Slavery and the "Lost Cause" mythology . . . an overview of the evolution of the war's interpretation.

Public Education and the National Park Service: Interpreting the Civil War, by Dwight T. Pitcaithley (Perspectives, American Historical Association)

NC Civil War Trails

NC Civil War Trails

From Atlantic coastal sites at Forts Fisher and Macon to Union cavalry operations in the western mountains, North Carolina offers a collection of Civil War sites as varied as its landscapes.

NC Civil War Books

NC Civil War Books

NC Civil War Books — Histories, Letters, Diaries, Maps, and Troop Rosters.

Lincoln Bicentennial - 2009

Abraham LincolnExploring Lincoln's life and legacy. Strengthening freedom, democracy and equal opportunity for all.