The Old North State has a rich history that has lasted approximately 450 years.
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Experience the rich history of North Carolina through lectures, publications, historical interpretations, and an educator’s corner.
When did North Carolina become known as North Carolina and acquire its modern shape? We must go back to Jan. 24, 1712, when Edward Hyde became the first governor of what became known as North Carolina, or more specifically, he was the first official governor under the Lords Proprietors. Carolina was then divided into two...
North Carolina many times has been a battleground state and a determining factor in national debates. A study of the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and in particular what has become known as the “Connecticut Compromise,” provides an example of how North Carolinians provided key votes in the budding new union.
The 1787-89 debates over ratifying the Constitution offer another example of North Carolina's longstanding role as a battleground state in U.S. political history.
North Carolinians, and their Southern counterparts, have contributed much to the American music scene.
For many years, North Carolina was a leading textile-making state, specializing in cotton.The fortunes of North Carolina’s textile industry illustrate how industries can grow and shrink. Factors such as geography, competition, changing tastes, and changing technology have all contributed to the industry’s ups and downs. North Carolina has many rivers, most of which are not...
When the North Carolina Supreme Court was established in 1819, John Louis Taylor became its first chief justice, a post that he would hold until his death in 1829. During his time on the court, he would profoundly shape American law and establish the North Carolina Supreme Court as a source of new legal ideas....
Not many North Carolinians are aware that a Wilmington shipyard was a major force in the Second World War. It built 243 ships to carry military cargo. Named the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, the company’s workforce reached 21,000 in 1943. In addition to contributing to the war effort, it gave a big economic boost to...
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Its courses include dance, design and production, drama, filmmaking, and music. The school was established in 1963 when Governor Terry Sanford and writer John Erle worked together to create the first public arts conservatory in the United States.
Once an eminent Siouan tribe that thrived in the middle Carolinas, the Catawba Nation first encountered white settlers through the fur trade. Both war and European disease proved fatal to the Catawba, and by 1760, only 1,000 tribe members survived. The tribe, now numbering over 2,800 members, gained full federal recognition in 1993, and they live on a reservation near Rock Hill, South Carolina.