Historic Stagville

Historic Stagville is closed today, Thursday August 8, due to hazardous weather. We hope to re-open with regular hours on Friday, and will update here if conditions change.

We are expecting heavy storms through Friday, August 9. As a reminder, our site tours are mostly outdoors! Tours may be shortened or cancelled this week depending on storm conditions. Be cautious and reschedule your visit if hazardous weather is in the forecast. Thank you, and stay safe!

Our partners at the Stagville Descendants Council (SDC) are accepting applications until August 30 for a descendant representative to fill an open SDC Executive Board seat. Visit https://www.sdchq.org/ for more information about this opportunity.

Save the date! Come see us at the Museum of Durham History on August 10 for a one-day pop-up exhibit, curated by the Friends of Geer Cemetery - Durham, NC. Many freed people from Stagville were buried in Geer. We'll be sharing their stories!

🌟EXCITING NEWS! 🌟 The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice will open to the public on September 7th, 2024! 🎉

Experience a day filled with celebration, community, and thanksgiving as we honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray—civil rights activist, lawyer, educator, historian, writer, Episcopal priest, LGBTQ community member, and proud Durhamite! 🏠✨

Activities include:
📜 Original poetry readings
🍹 Signature refreshments
🧘‍♂️ Meditation and reflection opportunities
🎨 Youth activity zone
🎵 Community concert
🎟Free timed entry self-guided tours

Be among the first to step inside Pauli's childhood home and explore engaging exhibits that connect history to contemporary human rights issues. Reserve your free timed entry pass soon on our website—details coming shortly!

The Pauli Murray Center, a nationally significant history site, is anchored by Pauli Murray’s childhood home in Durham’s West End. Let's stand together for peace, equity, and justice, inspired by Pauli Murray's enduring legacy.

📍 906 Carroll Street, Durham, NC
ℹ️ For more information, visit https://www.paulimurraycenter.com/grand-opening

We can't wait to welcome you to this joyous celebration of homecoming! 🌈

Thank you to all who joined this year's annual July 4th Frederick Douglass Community Reading. Special thanks to our fifty-nine volunteer readers! We hope to see you all again in 2025. Enjoy this wonderful gallery of event photos by Dare Kumolu-Johnson:

What To The Slave Is The 4th of July - Stagville, Durham, NC Kumolu Studios, LLC,What To The Slave Is The 4th of July - Stagville, Durham, NC,July 4th Event at Stagville Historic Site in Durham North Carolina

Register now for this Saturday's Stagville descendants panel at the Durham County Library! Our partners at The Stagville Memorial Project are hosting this creative discussion. https://durhamcountylibrary.libcal.com/event/12262607

Stagville's community read-aloud of "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July" starts at 10 am today! We suggest you prepare for the heat and bring a chair or blanket to sit outdoors during the reading. Thank you for joining us for this annual tradition!

"This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn." Join us on July 4 at 10 am for our community reading of Frederick Douglass' "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July" address. This free event takes place at the historic slave quarters at Horton Grove, and lasts about 1 hour.

Don't miss our July 4th Frederick Douglass Community Reading - Thursday at 10 am at Horton Grove! You can download or print your own copy of the speech to bring. Use the PDF linked in the sidebar on our event page:
https://historicsites.nc.gov/news/events/frederick-douglass-community-reading-2024

Join us on July 4 at 10 am for our Frederick Douglass Community Reading, on the grounds of the historic slave quarters at Horton Grove. This is a participatory reading! 60 community readers volunteer to read this speech together. You can sign up to read when you arrive. Bring a chair or blanket to sit during the reading.

Learn more: https://historicsites.nc.gov/news/events/frederick-douglass-community-reading-2024

Don't miss tonight's launch for this new digital exhibit, curated by the Stagville Memorial Project! Register at the link to join the opening event at the main Durham County Library.

Happening this evening! Come join us tonight for The Stagville Memorial Project's opening exhibit event at the Durham County Library. The Stagville Descendants Council will be tabling, come by and say hello.
Registration is required for this free community event:
https://historicsites.nc.gov/news/events/2024-stagville-descendants-reunion-say-my-name

A few tips to prepare for Saturday's open house! The forecast calls for high temperatures, so please come prepared to be outdoors in hot weather. The program starts at 10 am. If you are able, we suggest coming early to avoid the hottest part of the day!

In honor of Juneteenth, we are sharing photographs of those who lived to see Emancipation at Stagville in April 1865. Amy Sowell Shaw and Doc Edwards, pictured here, were children when they and over 900 other people were liberated from the Cameron properties in North Carolina. Morgan Latta, also enslaved here as a child, remembered Emancipation: "I heard the shouts of joy all over the plantations, 'We are free!' 'Free from slavery!' 'God has heard our prayers...'"

One week away from Stagville's Juneteenth Open House! Join us on June 22 to learn, reflect, and remember the local history of emancipation. Explore stories of freedom seeking long before 1865, and visit the historic slave dwellings at Horton Grove for contemplation and remembrance.

Today’s the today! Come celebrate Juneteenth with the Bragtown Community Association as they center the legacy of Stagville Descendants and the path they paved towards liberation. Today will be a day celebrating freedom, resilience and Black joy!

New research reveals that Jerry Bennehan, enslaved at Stagville, delivered supplies during the construction of the North Carolina State Capitol. Our colleagues at the North Carolina State Capitol uncovered this connection. Learn more about Jerry Bennehan, and the many enslaved laborers at the Capitol, with "From Naming to Knowing": https://namingtoknowing.org/stories/jerry-bennehan/

There are many chances to celebrate Juneteenth with community events connected to Stagville! Support the Bragtown Community Association and the Stagville Memorial Project's 2024 Juneteenth programs, and don't forget to visit Stagville for our Juneteenth Open House on Saturday, June 22!

There will be no 3 pm guided tour tomorrow. All other tours will run on the regular schedule. Our staff will be offsite at the Durham County Library event, honoring Jean Bradley Anderson's 100th birthday! https://durhamcountylibrary.libcal.com/event/11999561

Save the date for summer events at Historic Stagville. We look forward to welcoming you for our Juneteenth and July 4th programs. Learn more about upcoming events on our website.

[Note: Say My Name is a private Stagville descendants reunion event - contact site staff to learn more or to RSVP.]

Historic Stagville is now hiring for a historical interpreter! Accepting applications until 5/27/24. This full-time position helps our team lead and develop tours, field trips, and events to share the history of slavery at Stagville with all audiences. Training provided on-site. Link to apply: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/northcarolina/jobs/4377844/historical-interpreter-i

Featuring one of our fantastic Historic Stagville Foundation Board members!

This Teacher Appreciation Week, we shine a spotlight on Ms. Valencia Abbott, a passionate history and civics teacher at Rockingham Early College High School in Wentworth, NC.

Discover how Ms. Abbott's dedication to cultivating young historians for over a decade, coupled with her involvement as an America 250 NC Freedom Fellow and National History Day coach, is making a profound impact. Dive into the vibrant atmosphere of her history club meetings and witness firsthand the transformative power of engaged teaching.

Join us as we celebrate educators like Ms. Abbott who ignite a lifelong love of learning and foster a deeper appreciation for our state's rich history and culture.

🔗 https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2024/05/09/classroom-world-changers-celebrating-teachers-week

Save the date! Visit Stagville on June 22 for our Juneteenth Open House:
https://historicsites.nc.gov/news/events/2024-juneteenth-stagville-open-house

Almost a thousand people were emancipated from the Cameron plantations at the end of the Civil War. Visit Stagville for the site's annual Juneteenth event to remember the struggle and celebration of freedom at one of the state's largest plantations. Explore local history about slavery and freedom, and visit original slave quarters at Horton Grove to reflect and remember enslaved ancestors. Stories of love, loss, freedom, family, and resistance will illuminate the complex history of the transition to freedom in 1865.

WE HAVE GREAT NEWS… As you all know, there has been a lot of construction happening at the tribal grounds. We are excited to share that we have recently completed the construction of a tribal center, a significant milestone for our community.

On May 30th, 2024 from 5:00pm-8:00pm we invite all who are able to come out and be among the first to visit our tribal center, see the unveiling of our historic marker, and to meet our FIRST EVER Occaneechi-Saponi Youth Ambassadors 2024-2025!

Please share with family and friends! We look forward to welcoming you all.

The deadline is approaching to submit your application for the full-time Education and Interpretation Specialist position with the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission. For consideration, submit your application by April 24, 2024. To learn more about the position, visit the link below.
https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/northcarolina/jobs/4299684/education-interpretation-specialist?department[0]=Dept%20of%20Natural%20and%20Cultural%20Resources&sort=PositionTitle%7CAscending&page=1&pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

Historic Stagville is closed on Friday, March 29 for the state holiday. Our site will be open regular hours on Saturday, March 30, with guided tours available at 11, 1, and 3.

Now accepting applications for an Assistant Site Manager at Historic Stagville! Our historic site team shares the history and memory of slavery at Stagville through preservation, interpretation, research, genealogy, and descendant engagement.
See the job posting for details: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/northcarolina/jobs/newprint/4387203

Did you know many enslaved men built and maintained one of Raleigh's most iconic buildings?

"From Naming to Knowing: Uncovering Slavery at the North Carolina State Capitol" is a new public website researched by our colleagues at the Capitol. From Naming to Knowing shares the stories of the over 130 enslaved African American men who built and maintained the Capitol between 1833 and 1865.

Have you had a chance to check out our new website honoring the enslaved laborers who constructed, maintained, and worked in the Capitol? www.NamingToKnowing.org
From Naming to Knowing: Uncovering Slavery at the North Carolina State Capitol shares the stories of the over 130 enslaved African American men who built and maintained the Capitol between 1833 and 1865. This website is an evergreen project that will continue to grow and develop as more is information about these individuals is located. Take a look at some of the stories we currently feature - https://namingtoknowing.org/stories/
OR join the Capitol staff and the State Archives of North Carolina for a free zoom tomorrow - Wednesday, February 21st - at noon! Listen to Capitol staff as we walk through our research and some of the archival resources we explored to build the stories of these individuals. Click here to register or learn more: https://www.facebook.com/events/939875721312596/?ref=newsfeed

Sadly, tomorrow's event has been cancelled! We apologize for any inconvenience. Please visit Historic Stagville for our 1 pm guided tour if you'd still like to visit the site on February 14, 2024. We look forward to welcoming you for a Douglass Day program next February.

Save the date! Join us at Stagville for a Douglass Day transcribe-a-thon. Douglass Day honor Frederick Douglass' chosen birthday by bring folks together to transcribe historical documents. Transcription helps make Black history resources more accessible for all. https://historicsites.nc.gov/news/events/douglass-day-2024-stagville

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Historic Stagville visitors center is closed until 12:30 pm today. The 1 pm guided tour is still available. The grounds are open and the outdoor self-guided tour is available all day.