NCMC Events From Around the State… March 10, 2014

1). The North Carolina Museum of History invites you to a special program, Created Equal: “Slavery by Another Name”, on Sunday, March 16th at 1:00 p.m.  Special speakers include W. Fitzhugh Brundage and William B. Umstead, Distinguished Professor and Department Chair, UNC-Chapel Hill.  Based on the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Douglas Blackmon, this 2012 PBS film challenges the commonly held assumption that slavery ended with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Brundage will talk after the film (CARA rating: TV-PG-L,V) about new forms of forced labor that persisted in the South. Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle is a series of programs made possible through a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

2). Kings Mountain Historical Museum presents a lecture & book signing by James F. Muench on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. James F. Muench will present a lecture on his first novel, The Teutonic Cross, which was published by Silver Tongue Press in 2013.  This historic mystery adventure novel follows the story of Heinrich Kueter, a young history professor and veteran of the Philippine–American War who solves the murder of a Chinese student, finds love, and fights racism in a small Missouri college town on the eve of World War I.  Admission is free!  Donations are appreciated.  All donations go towards fulfilling the Museum’s mission to collect, preserve, and interpret history through exhibits, educational programs, tours, and other appropriate means, in order to foster a deeper understanding of the history of our community and the region.  To find out more about upcoming exhibits and events, please visit us at: www.kingsmountainmuseum.org or call (704) 739-1019.  You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest.

3). Bellamy Mansion Museum announces that Dr. Lucinda MacKethan will be giving a special lecture “Slave Voices in North Carolina” on Thursday, March 13th at 6:30 p.m. Dr. MacKethan presents the personal narratives, letters, poetry, and interviews of North Carolina slaves and discusses how these works fill in a lost or often distorted picture of slavery in our state before the Civil War. The narratives of Moses Roper, Lunsford Lane, and Harriet Jacobs; the poetry of George Moses Horton; and interviews from the WPA narratives will be explored to give a realistic picture of how North Carolina slaves lived, worked, created families, worshipped, and sometimes escaped from bondage.  Dr. MacKethan is an author, editor and specialist on the culture of the Old South. She recently retired as Alumni Distinguished Professor of English at NC State University, where she taught courses primarily in Southern and African American literature.

4). Museum of the Albemarle announces that the 2014 Albemarle Pinewood Derby scheduled for Saturday, March 8, 2014 has been rescheduled for Saturday, March 15, 2014 due to area schools making up an inclement weather day.  The Museum of the Albemarle will be the site of the Pinewood Derby.  Cub Scouts will begin registering and weighing in cars at 9 a.m., with a strict closing time of 10:30 a.m.  Races will begin at 11 a.m. and last until approximately 2 p.m.  Get caught up in the excitement of the Pinewood Derby by stopping by the Museum!  The Pinewood Derby is a Cub Scouts annual event. It is the most popular event for many Scouts and is probably the best known Scouting event among non-Scouts. Free family program. For more information call 252-335-1453

5). North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort invites you to “Boats and Boating”, a children’s program, on March 17th, from Noon – 1 p.m.  Children (grades 2-5) and their caregivers are invited to spend some of their day off at the Museum and learn about some of the different boats seen off the Crystal Coast and boat safety.   Visitors will have the chance to build their own blow boats and learn more about the importance of wearing a life jacket.  Program by School & Group Coordinator Christine Brin.  Free Admission.  Advance registration preferred. 252.728.7317. North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, 315 Front Street, Beaufort 28516.  www.ncmaritimemuseums.com.

6). Hands On!, the children’s museum located in downtown Hendersonville, invites you to a St. Patty’s Day Treasure Hunt on Tuesday, March 18th. All day. All ages. Try your hand at the luck o’ the Irish. Follow the clues to the treasure at the end of the rainbow!. Free with $5 admission/free for members. Hands On! is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and admission is $5 per person.  For more information about Hands On!, call 697-8333 or visit the website at www.handsonwnc.org.

7). Greensboro Science Center to host Pajama Jam Light up the Night, an after-hours science celebration on March 28^th. The Greensboro Science Center (GSC) will light up the night with a science celebration and dance party featuring Big Bang Boom! From 6pm - 9pm, the Center will be transformed into a kid-friendly cosmic complex for this glowing gathering targeted toward children ages 3 - 10. Children are encouraged to wear pajamas and enjoy activities such as: dancing to live music by Greensboro's own Big Bang Boom, listening to bedtime stories in front of the Carolina SciQuarium's shark reef, meeting some of the GSC's friendly animals up close, watching Night Sky and Laser Shows in the OmniSphere Theater, experimenting in Professor Van de Graaff's Funhouse, playing glowing games such as Glow Bowling and Tic Tac Glow, creating rock star crafts, including Backstage Passes and Glow-in-the-Dark Necklaces.  Admission to Pajama Jam is $10 for Greensboro Science Center members and $12 for non-members ages 3 and up. Children 2 and under are free. Additional information can be found online at: http://www.greensboroscience.org/events/special/pajamajam/.

8). The Asheville Art Museum is excited to host an opening reception for two exhibitions Sunday, March 16 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Both Pierre Daura: Modernist in the Mountains and Take 10: Collectors’ Circle 10th Anniversary are on view beginning Saturday, March 15th. Pierre Daura: Modernist in the Mountains features the beautiful artwork of artist Pierre Daura, including many mountain landscapes – scenes that residents of Western North Carolina will feel connected to. Take 10: Collectors’ Circle 10th Anniversary celebrates the generosity of the Asheville Art Museum’s Collectors’ Circle, a membership group that encourages the exchange of ideas and interests, art learning, connoisseurship and collecting. As a vibrant and critical source of support, they are dedicated to growing the Museum’s Permanent Collection through annual gifts of artwork, selected and presented in partnership with the curatorial staff. Take 10 is on view in the Museum’s Holden Community Gallery, which is always free and open to the public.

9). North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences announces that Thursdays are already exciting at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and now the Museum has partnered with the Smithsonian to present Smithsonian Science How?, delivering real-world science into classrooms through free, interactive, 25-minute live webcasts with Museum scientists, followed by  webcasts featuring Smithsonian scientists from the National Museum of Natural History.  These webcasts welcome the participation of students and teachers who can pose their own questions to our researchers and convey the curiosity and questioning at the heart of every scientific endeavor. The webcasts also provide students with positive STEM role models, information about science careers and pathways, and connections to current research. The Museum is also working with The Science House, a program of North Carolina State University, to implement this program statewide.  For more information on these virtual learning opportunities, visit http://naturalsciences.org/education/programs/distance-learning-programs.

10). The Mount Airy Museum of Regional History announces that back by popular demand, acclaimed actor and playwright Mike Wiley will perform his primarily one-man show (with audience participation) called One Noble Journey: A Box Marked Freedom.  Henry “Box” Brown was an African American born into slavery in 1816 in Virginia. He devised an ingenious escape plan - sealing himself in a wooden box for shipment to friends and freedom in Philadelphia.  This program will be held on the 3rd floor of the Museum at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 21st and is free to the public, however donations are welcome. This project receives support from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Surry Arts Council.