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.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding, we see that many events contributed to the nation's declaration of independence. This article tells us about the women's political resistance of Oct. 25, 1774.
Penelope Barker (1728–1796) was a remarkable woman. She is known for organizing what is called the Edenton Tea Party. On October 25, 1774, she persuaded fifty women to support fellow colonists in their resistance to British taxation. In a formal statement, the 51 ladies promised not to drink tea or wear English linen.
The 2024 electoral cycle once again showed that North Carolina is a battleground state. But this should not be surprising—it has often been divided over important issues. This article begins with the Constitutional Convention in1787.
A public and political action by Wilmington women, the Wilmington Tea Party occurred sometime between March 25 and April 5, 1774. It was one of the many tax protests that swept the American colonies after the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773.
Joseph Hewes is best known as one of North Carolina’s three signers of the Declaration of Independence. But he also played an important role in the creation of the U.S. Navy. In fact, a World War II transport ship, the U.S.S. Joseph Hewes, was named for him, and so was a frigate deployed in the...
The Rev. Morgan L. Latta was the founder and president of Latta University, located in Oberlin Village, which is now part of Raleigh, North Carolina. Born in 1853, he was enslaved on the Cameron Plantation in Durham County. Fifty years later (in 1903) Latta published his autobiography, which tells, among many things, about how he...
During the first six months of 1942, 86 merchant ships, primarily American and British, were sunk off the Outer Banks of North Carolina. At least 1200 men died. Many North Carolinians are still unaware of those losses.
On January 1, 2021, Congress enacted (over President Trump’s veto) a defense funding law that calls for renaming military bases that honored Confederate generals. Samuel R. Staley, writing for the Independent Institute, gives an intriguing argument in favor of the renaming. His argument is not that Confederate generals were traitors, as some have claimed (and others...
The Great Wagon Road was an important throroughfare in colonial and early America. Northern colonists searching for farmland began traveling the road in the 1720s, and thousands others followed suit during the mid-eighteenth century. The Moravians, in particular, migrated into North Carolina via the pathway, and the main road prompted the establishment of Charlotte and Salisbury.