African American
Latta University
1836-1865
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...
North Carolina’s Role in the Creation of the U.S. Forest Service
The story is complicated. In the United States in the late 1800s, demand for wood seemed insatiable—for houses, ships, fuel, and railroad ties. Americans were logging trees all over the country.
Cleaning Up the Tar-Pamlico River Basin
In the 1980s, a group of North Carolina business and government leaders figured out a way to reduce water pollution when the Clean Water Act could not achieve it.
Joseph Hewes and the Navy
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...
Latta University
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...
The Battle of the Atlantic off the Outer Banks of North Carolina
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.
Should Southern Military Bases Be Renamed?
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 Mecklenburg Resolves
On May 31, 1775, the county of Mecklenburg, North Carolina signed 20 resolutions or “Resolves.” They start by saying that a recent address by Parliament had stated that “the American Colonies are declared to be in an actual State of rebellion.” Whereas by an Address presented to his Majesty by both Houses of Parliament in February last,...
The Battle of Kings Mountain
The Battle of Kings Mountain took place on Oct. 7, 1780. A Patriot victory, it was a turning point of General Charles Cornwallis's Southern Campaign and of the revolution itself.
Battle of Hayes Pond
The Battle of Hayes Pond took place on January 18, 1958. A clash or skirmish more than a battle, the event pitted two groups against one another—a Ku Klux Klan rally of about 50 men and a spontaneous gathering of about 500 Lumbee Indians. The place was near a pond close to Maxton, North Carolina,...
The Mecklenburg Declaration (or Meck Deck)
The date May 20, 1775, is on North Carolina's state flag to commemorate the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence of 1775. But was there really such a declaration?
Ben Cone, Jr., and the Endangered Species Act
One of the species that the Endangered Species Act was supposed to protect was the red-cockaded woodpecker. But the law's negative incentives led Ben Cone, Jr., to cut down trees that might harbor the woodpecker.
Tobacco in North Carolina History, Part II
Note: This entry continues the story of tobacco in North Carolina, beginning in the late 1800s. Part I tells the story of North Carolina tobacco from the time of its discovery by Europeans. Cigarette consumption in the U.S. reached 2.19 billion cigarettes in 1889. That was five times what it was before James Duke introduced...