The Burwell School opens a new exhibit

The Burwell School Historic Site, 319 N. Churton St., presents a new temporary exhibit entitled Around the Town: The Burwell’s Hillsborough. The exhibit highlights a view of Hillsborough in the year 1839, four years after the Burwell family moved to the town and two years after Mrs. Burwell opened her landmark school for young ladies.
Based on a map drawn by William H. Bailey, who himself married a Burwell School student, this unique exhibition shows the recognizable roads, landmarks, offices and residences of Hillsborough’s most prominent residents. In the 19th century, Hillsborough remained at the center of political activity, attracting lawyers, doctors, politicians and merchants, many of whom were friends of the Burwell family. The exhibit interprets the relationships between the Burwell family, the Burwell School students and the town residents. The exhibit features the original Bailey map, medical instrument case, jeweler’s tweezers and other key photographs, newspaper articles and artifacts from this critical time in Hillsborough’s history.
Join the Burwell School Historic Site for this exciting opportunity to see Hillsborough during the time of the Burwell family, their neighbors and friends who would become so prominent in North Carolina’s history.
Our business hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The exhibit and free docent-led tours will be available during these hours, and you can find our special event calendar listed on our website, www.burwellschool.org or call (919) 732-7451 for more information.

Burwell School hosts Sally Greene

The Hillsborough Literary Association will hold its February meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Burwell School Historic Site, 319 N. Churton St.
Sally Greene, J.D., Ph.D., associate director of the UNC Center for the Study of the American South, will give a lecture titled, “Judge Thomas Ruffin and the Shadows of Southern History.”
Hillsborough's own Thomas Ruffin—who served as Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1833 to 1852—is considered by many to have been the most brilliant, most distinguished jurist in the state's history. Among legal historians, Ruffin is much less kindly regarded for having written the coldest and starkest defense of the brutality of slavery ever to appear in an American judicial opinion: State v. Mann (1829).
In tracing the ways in which these two conflicting depictions of the man have come down to us, Sally Greene will explore contemporary questions of the nature and uses of historical memory.
Admission is free, and light refreshments will be served. Reservations are not required, but seating is limited. For more information, contact the Burwell School Historic Site at (919) 732.7451 or director@burwellschool.org.

The Burwell School Historic Site re-opens for 2012

The Burwell School Historic Site, 319 N. Churton St., will re-opened today—Wednesday, Feb. 1—for the 2012 season. Free docent-led and self-guided tours of the buildings and grounds will resume during business hours: Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.
The site’s free docent-led tours highlight life at the Burwell School from 1837 to 1857 when it was home to the Burwell family, the enslaved members of the Burwell household and the students of the Burwell's landmark school for young women.
To learn more about tours, special events and programs offered at the Burwell School Historic Site, visit www.burwellschool.org or call (919)732-7451.

Sculpture tour—"Anhinga at Burwell School"

Harry McDaniel's "Anhinga," an abstract piece constructed of aluminum, sits at the Burwell School Historic Site, 319 N. Churton St., as part of Hillsborough Sculpture Tour 2011. Though the tour officially opens Saturday, April 16, McDaniel set up his piece a few weeks early. The tour runs through Sept. 30, and includes five other sculptures within walking distance of downtown Hillsborough.
McDaniel has been sculpting for more than 30 years, beginning with a few teenage dabbles in wood. He has since moved to outdoor art, preferring the more natural setting as opposed to a gallery.
For more information on "Anhinga," McDaniel and the art tour, see the Wednesday, April 13, edition of the News of Orange.