N.C. Museum of History presents Cotton Mill Colic

In the early 20th century, Piedmont mill towns were incubators for innovative string bands and musical performers in an emerging genre known as country music. Mill workers sang of their hard fate, protesting living conditions, poor wages and workplace struggles. As tension increased between management and labor, the songs became a rallying cry in labor halls, on strike lines and at protest rallies.
At the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh, musicians Gregg Kimball, Sheryl Warner and Jackie Frost will present Cotton Mill Colic: Songs of Labor from the North Carolina Piedmont, which will draw on commercial recordings by millworkers, such as Dave McCarn, the Dixon Brothers and Wilmer Watts as well as union strike songs—especially those sung by Ella Mae Wiggins, the voice of the 1929 Gastonia strike. This free performance takes place Sunday, March 4, at 2 p.m. in Daniels Auditorium. Parking is free on weekends.
With Kimball on guitar, banjo and fiddle, Warner and Frost will add their own distinctive vocal styles. Warner's rich, expressive voice has developed from more than 30 years of singing in the blues and folk traditions.
With two CDs to her credit, Frost’s music is grounded in early-American music traditions, ranging from early country to jazz to blues. She is especially adept at tight, soul-stirring harmonies.
Kimball is a historian and musician who has lectured and written extensively on the South’s musical traditions. He is Director of Public Services and Outreach at the Library of Virginia. He earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia.
Don’t miss this performance with an intriguing, historical twist on March 4 at the N.C. Museum of History.

About the N.C. Museum of History
The museum is located at 5 E. Edenton St. in Raleigh, across from the State Capitol. Parking is available in the lot across Wilmington Street. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The Museum of History, within the Division of State History Museums, is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

Researcher details excavation of ancient port of Constantinople

A unique first-person report on the exploration of the archaeological site Byzantium, or Constantinople, is available to North Carolina residents this week.
Dr. Ufuk Kocabas, director of Istanbul University's Department of Marine Archaeology and Yenikapi Shipwrecks Project, will speak at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh on Thursday, March 1, the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort on Saturday, March 3, and the N.C. Maritime Museum in Southport on Sunday, March 4.
The lecture and question-and-answer session at each venue will review work and archaeological findings of the ancient harbor beneath the modern Yenikapi neighborhood in present day Istanbul, Turkey. In 2004, workers discovered the silted remains of the 4th century harbor during construction of the world's deepest tunnel for a rail and metro network designed to run under the Bosphorus Sea and link Europe and Asia.
The vast archeological site covers the equivalent of ten city blocks in Istanbul. Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of 36 Byzantine ships, cargo boats, gold coins, marble, 8,500 year old skeletons and more.
"This is unquestionably one of the most important archaeological finds in the last 100 years," said Joseph Schwarzer, director of the N.C. Maritime Museums. "This has changed and will continue to change, our understanding of history."
The two-week lecture tour is the first for Kocabas in the United States. The free presentations will be at the N.C. Museum of History, March 1 at 6:30 p.m.; the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort March 3 at 5;30 p.m.; and the N.C. Maritime Museum in Southport March 4 at 2 p.m.
The Division of State History Museums is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. For additional information call (919) 807-7389.

N.C. Museum of History presents a new Readers' Theater work about Sojourner Truth

A new Readers’ Theater work about the family life of Sojourner Truth, a 19th-century abolitionist and women’s rights activist, will be presented at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh on Friday, March 2, at 7 p.m. Four professional actors in the performance group Voices in Concert will present a play that suits all ages. Begin your weekend with a First Friday performance of Sojourner Truth and Her Children. Tickets cost $5 per person; ages 12 and younger are free. Purchase tickets in advance at ncmuseumofhistory.org or the night of the event in the Museum Shop.
Written by playwright Rudy Wallace, artistic director of Voices in Concert, the drama begins when Truth and her son, Peter—both of whom are free—visit a farm in upstate New York, where three of her children are enslaved. They will be freed in six months, and Truth is making every effort to reunite her family when they receive their freedom. However, the children have other plans, which are not worthy ones. Truth is challenged to inspire them to dream of more for themselves as they await their freedom.
What is Readers’ Theater?
Like storytelling, Readers’ Theater is a format that stimulates the imagination and often leads to a powerful experience for the audience. Minimal stage props free the performers and the audience from the physical limitations of conventional theater, and narration serves as the framework of the dramatic presentation.
Come learn more about the inspirational life of Sojourner Truth at the Museum of History on March 2.

The museum is located at 5 E. Edenton St. in Raleigh, across from the State Capitol. Parking is available in the lot across Wilmington Street. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The Museum of History, within the Division of State History Museums, is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

Program focuses on people of color in the American Revolution

During Black History Month, the N.C. Museum of History and the Sons of the American Revolution will present the program Return to Tradition highlighting a lesser-known fact about the American Revolution: significant numbers of people of color fought for the Patriots during the war.
This free program on Saturday, Feb. 25, from 10 a.m. to noon in Raleigh features keynote speaker Brig. Gen. James Gorham, the first African American general in the N.C. Army National Guard. His talk will focus on these soldiers who served in integrated troops during the war for independence.
“Though nearly lost to history, these Patriots of color served as equals in the typical regiment of Continental soldiers,” said Earl Ijames, Curator at the N.C. Museum of History.

First African American in North Carolina Will Be Inducted Into SAR
Another program highlight will center on Raleigh resident Chaz Moore, whose enslaved ancestor, Tobias “Toby” Gilmore, fought for the Patriots in the American Revolution. During a brief installation ceremony, Moore will be the first African American in North Carolina inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution. He is a firefighter with the Raleigh Fire Department.
Moore’s ancestor was born in coastal West Africa as Shibodee Turrey Wurry. At age 16, around 1758, this son of a chieftain was kidnapped by slave traders and sent to Rhode Island aboard the slave ship Dove. He was purchased by Capt. John Gilmore of Massachusetts and became known as Tobias Gilmore. He enlisted in the Continental Army and fought in several major battles.
Learn more about this lesser-known, yet important, part of our nation’s history during Return to Tradition on Feb. 25 at the Museum of History.