North Carolina Conversations Summer-Fall 2008.pdf

Summer 2008N o r t h C a r o l i n aCONVERSATIONSA Publication of the North Carolina Humanities Council

Events and DeadlinesLarge GrantsFor projects beginning after July 15 and December 15• Draft proposals are due March 20 and August 20• Final proposals are due April 20 and September 20The cover photo, “Skiffs, Atlantic, NC 1985,” wastaken by Lawrence S. Earley. For over twentyyears, Earley has been photographing boats andinterviewing fishermen in the Core Sound area ofeastern North Carolina. He discovered that “eachboat is a link to people, families, towns, locallandscapes, and, of course, to the types of fishingthat the region offers.” Read more about Earley’swork in “The Spirit of the Tidewater Community,”page 6. Discover the Core Sound through the CoreSound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center atwww.coresound.com .North carolina conversationsA biannual magazine published by theNorth Carolina Humanities CouncilVolume 1, Issue 2, Summer 2008North Carolina Conversations (ISSN 1941-3165)is published biannually by the North CarolinaHumanities Council, a 37-year-old statewidenonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment forthe Humanities. This publication is supportedby the NEH’s “We the People” initiative grant.The Council is located at 122 North Elm Street,Suite #601, Greensboro, North Carolina 27401.Telephone: (336) 334-5383; fax: (336) 334-5052;email: nchc@nchumanities.org;web: www.nchumanities.org.North Carolina HumanitiesCouncil StaffShelley Crisp: Editor & Executive DirectorHarlan Gradin: Associate DirectorLynn Wright-Kernodle: Associate DirectorGenevieve Cole: Associate DirectorDarrell Stover: Program AssociateJennifer McCollum: Communications& Development OfficerDonovan McKnight: Program & Office AdministratorCarolyn Allen: Resource CoordinatorLeda Wilkins Johnson: InternBrianna Bruce: InternMini-GrantsMini-grant applications must arrive at the Humanities Council office by the firstday of the month to be considered for funding within the same calendar month.Planning GrantsThere is no deadline for a planning grant.Road ScholarsRoad Scholars applications must be made at least four weeks in advanceof the requested program.Let’s Talk About ItLet’s Talk About It grant applications are due at least six weeks prior to the startdate of a series.Council Board Meetings• November 14, 2008• February 20–21, 2009• June 12, 2009New Board Member NominationsNominations for new Council Board members must arrive in the Council officeby April 15, 2009.Linda Flowers Literary AwardEntries must be postmarked by August 15, 2009.Teachers Institute• October 24–25, 2008, Reading Textiles: Narrative and Art seminar, Charlotte• June 21–27, 2009, summer seminar, Chapel HillInformation for other TI seminars will be available in January 2009.John Tyler Caldwell Award for the HumanitiesOctober 23, 2008, Stewart Theatre, NCSU, Raleigh, NCDesignMegan Kilpatrick, Kilpatrick Designwww.kilpatrickdesign.comISSN 1941-3173 ©2008

Table of Contents2John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities• 2007 Caldwell Lecture in the Humanities6 Crossroads• The Spirit of the Tidewater Community1416182832Road Scholars• Opening Windows on North Carolina’s HistoryLet’s Talk About It• Introducing Six New SeriesThe 2007 Annual Report to the People• Many Stories, One PeopleNorth Carolina Teachers Institute• “Somerset Place: Slavery and Its Legacy”• Generous Donors Provide ScholarshipsFrom the Field• The Smithsonian Comes to North Carolina• Museum on Main Street’s New Harmoniesp6 — Crossroads34Council Board and Staff• The Millennial Voice36The Last Word• Poems by James Applewhitep28 — Teachers Institute

CaldwellAwardThe 2007 Caldwell Lecturein the HumanitiesDelivered by Tom Lambeth, October 19, 2007, at the ReynoldaHouse Museum of American Art on the Occasion of HonoringCaldwell Laureate Emily Herring WilsonOur honoree tonight,just like my mother, came to NorthCarolina from Georgia. Indeed theycame here — some years apart —from two Georgia towns separatedby only one county and 48 milesof highway.I am glad my mother came to NorthCarolina, although I must tell youshe always identified herself as aGeorgian. If she had not come, Imight not be here tonight. I might notbe in North Carolina. Indeed, I mightnot be anywhere.I am surely glad that Emily [HerringWilson] came. On the letterheadof the North Carolina HumanitiesCouncil and explicit or implicit inmuch of the work it supports, onereads “Many Stories, One People.”Emily’s career since she came tothis blessed Tar Heel land is markedby her many efforts to help peopletell their stories, and out of that shehas helped to tell the story of NorthCarolina. She has worked hard tomake us one people both freedand empowered by the tellingof many stories.So, what is the North Carolina story?Why is it worth telling? What does itstelling say about the kind of peoplewe are? How does our story fit intoour national story?Some years ago a lady of somevintage showed up to vote inRockingham County. While standingin line, she asked those around her ifthey knew what the North Carolinastate motto was and what it meant.One or two replied, “To Be Ratherthan to Seem.” One might even haveknown the Latin Esse Quam Videri.Yet, it was her translation that isremembered decades later:“It means,” she declared, “standfor something in North Carolina.”The North Carolina HumanitiesCouncil stands for something inNorth Carolina — for importantthings, for things that go to the verymarrow of our being as a state.Tonight, by our choice of recipient forthe Caldwell Award, we confirm boththe value of the award and the valueof the Council. Yet as important asthe statement we make tonight is, itis what the Council does throughoutthe year that is the best measure ofhow well we uphold the standardof that Rockingham County lady.If the Council did not exist andwe were true to our heritage as TarHeels, we would need to go outtonight and create it. In that event Iwould turn for our marching ordersnot to the inspiration of the scriptures(although they are an important andinspiring source for a discussion ofthe humanities and of what it meansto stand for something).Instead I would turn to the wordsof a North Carolina journalist, anEnglish explorer, and a Pennsylvaniafounding father. What all of themwrote and how the years haveembraced their words speak to thepurpose of the Council. For in themain what we are about as a publicbody supported in part by taxpayermoney is determining whether weas North Carolinians and we as

Americans will live up to our promiseand the promises of our past.Now, to my eloquent trio.The journalist is the late JonathanDaniels who decades ago wrote ofNorth Carolina the following:The State, good, beautiful,varied, is a long way fromperfection; but more thanany other State in the oldAmerica, it is as it was in thebeginning — with the samehigh hope in it, the same freepeople and the will to possessthe same free chance. Otherstates possess the houses, thecapitals, the preserved places,the restored buildings but theNorth Carolina continuity is ofpeoples, not of buildings, of thepioneer possibility of equalityand comradeship in equality.That belief in that possibility ismore than anything I know themark of North Carolina.The English explorer is Ralph Lanewho in September some four hundredtwenty two years ago, wrote in thefirst letter written in the Englishlanguage from the New World to theold, the following:Since Sir Richard Grenville’sdeparture from us...we havediscovered the mainland to bethe goodliest land under thecope of heaven.And finally the words of GouveneurMorris of Pennsylvania who wassuccessful in taking the words in theoriginal draft of the “Preamble” to theUnited States Constitution — whichwere “we the delegates of the sovereignstates of Delaware, Georgia,...”—and substituting for them the wordsthat are there today: “We the people.”Three sets of words: a belief in “thepioneer possibility of equality”; “thegoodliest land under the cope ofheaven”; “We the people.”When Daniels wrote those words, allNorth Carolinians did not share thesame pioneer possibility of equality;it was a possibility deferred. Andwhen the founders settled upon “Wethe people,” “We” was clearly onlysome of the people — it was, essentially,“We” the white males and notall of them. And the “goodliest land”spoke of a geography, not a people.Yet over the years, North Carolinahas moved towards the expansion ofthose pioneer possibilities; the nationand North Carolina have come closeto making “We the people” all of thepeople; and we in North Carolinahave done much to create out of that16th-century description of the landand water and climate a new notionof what we could as a state becomefor all of our people.The humanities embrace history andinsist that we have respect for thetruths of history. The story of NorthCarolina is not always the story Iwould wish it to have been or tobe. Walter Hines Page, who surelyloved his native state, wrote oncethat “there must be somewhere inAmerica where people dream anddream and sleep and sleep and itmight as well be North Carolina,”and at least one respected historianhas described us as a “Rip VanWinkle state.”The power of the humanities to helpus build understanding and communityis not just when the subject iseasy. The recent re-examination ofthe legacy of Charles Brantley Aycockseems to me to offer a classic opportunityfor the humanities. Thosewho are the heirs of the victims ofthe racism which characterized thecampaign that brought GovernorAycock to office have confronted uswith the need to look deep into thelife of a hero of the past. I wouldwant us to look not only at thetravesty of the 1898 race riots andthe KKK-like campaign of Aycock’sparty, but to consider as well that hewas the leader who risked his careerto insist that education funds mustgo to black as well as white children.Indeed the humanities can force usto examine Aycock’s rise to officeagainst his own description of therole of the leader as that of “speakingthe rightful word and doing thegenerous act.” If the humanities insistthat we seek truth throughTom LambethNoted for his leadership in politics, philanthropy, and service, Tom Lambeth is a UNC graduateand native of Clayton, NC. Lambeth helped elect Terry Sanford governor and then worked as oneof the youngest principle advisors to a governor in the nation. After serving on Congressman RichardsonPreyer’s staff, Lambeth campaigned in North Carolina for gubernatorial succession. In 1978, Lambethbecame Executive Director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.Lambeth continues to serve North Carolina as chair of the NC Rural Center and as a member of theNC Community Colleges Foundation, the Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership, the UNC Schoolof Social Work, and the North Carolina Humanities Council.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 3

such examinations, we can perhapsdefine the heroic for future generations,and we might even get folksto pay attention to North Carolinahistory. The humanities can help usexamine not only where we havebeen but how far we have come.My father was the first graduate ofhis rural Guilford County high schoolto go to the state’s university, andthere his life and mine were foreverinfluenced by a bantam-weightex-Marine history professor namedFrank Porter Graham, and muchof my outlook has been the resultof serving Terry Sanford and RichPreyer. Yet one of the great electoralsuccesses of our state is Jesse Helms.The story of North Carolina is inlarge part a tug between the differentbrands of leadership those menrepresent.In that contest we are usually identifiedas a conservative state — aperfectly respectable designation.Yet we are a conservative state thatwould not join the union without apromise of a Bill of Rights; that firstvoted not to leave the Union and onlydid so when it became a choice ofleaving or fighting our neighbors;we are a conservative state whichcreated the first public university, thefirst state symphony orchestra, thefirst state museum of art, and thefirst state school of the performingarts. Perhaps Zeb Vance had it rightwhen he described us not as conservativebut as a “state of sobersecond thought.”As the Council encourages us toexamine the paradox of our state, it isimportant that we are a public body,that we are funded in part by all thepeople of North Carolina, that we are“We the people.”I do not believe that such a publictrust can be fulfilled by a commitmentto the humanities that is a callonly to contemplation or preservation“A Conversation Between Friends”: Valeria Lee (right), President of the Golden LEAF Foundation,interviewed Emily Herring Wilson at the 2007 Caldwell Award ceremony.or celebration — although all of thoseare worthy pursuits. If our work attimes gives voice to those who sufferfrom the injustices of the past or theinequities of the present, we cannotconsider our work a success if thevictims of such failures of our democracycontinue to suffer. If we tellthe story of children in rural NorthCarolina who still play among rawsewage, our purpose has not beenfully served if the sewage remains.I believe that the “public humanities”are a call to action. It is okay if theyare unsafe. The humanities are notjust celebrated or encouragedor displayed. They are lived.Just outside this room, an exhibitioncelebrates the story of the flightof Zachary Smith Reynolds fromEngland to China in 1931 and 1932.The tragedy of his death 75 yearsago has been noted in recent weeks.One of the fictionalized accounts ofthat event was a movie Written onthe Wind with a score that becamea popular song. That song tells of“dreams we’ve thrown away.” It isin the best of North Carolina traditionsthat the dreams of none of ourcitizens should be thrown away. Tothrow away the dreams is to throwaway the people.What I want us to say through thehumanities in North Carolina is notthat we are all of one mind just aswe are not of one religion or race orpolitical affiliation. We have, as wedeclare, many stories; but we areone people, and that surely meansthe one people are all of the people.4 • North Carolina Humanities Council

Caldwell LaureatesWe can perhaps agree on somethingwhile respecting our diversity. Wecan agree that to be great we mustalso be good.Finally, in a year when our nationand our state confront the challengesof both a war and a national election,the humanities might remindus that we are a nation in large partcreated by scholars named Franklin,Jefferson, Rush, and Madison. In atime when there will be an inevitableclash of ideas, we might rememberthat it was the idea of liberty thatinspired them. Osama Bin Ladenmade one bad calculation in his evildesign. He thought that buildingslike the Pentagon, the Twin Towers,and the Capitol were the symbolsof our democracy and that bringingthem down would destroy us. Yet theidea was here long before the buildingsand will be here long after thesymbols are gone.In the horror just after 9/11 at agathering in another place in NorthCarolina, one of the great riches ofour state and a great friend of thehumanities, Betty McCain, told thestory of Sir Richard Shirley, who inEngland centuries ago built a cathedralin a time of pestilence and war.Many of those around him wereoutraged at such an act. Yet thewords that you would find tonightengraved on the wall of that greatchurch should inspire all of us. Theyread, “In the worst of times, do thebest of things.”The Humanities Council is aboutletting people in North Carolina standfor something in their own places,in their own times, through theirown dreams; it is about our workingtogether — even in the worst of times— to do the best of things. It is aboutour being as good as we are great.The John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities,the Council’s highest honor, has been presented annually since itsinauguration in 1990. Named for its first recipient, the late Dr. JohnTyler Caldwell, former chancellor of North Carolina State Universityfrom 1959–1975 and a founding member of the Council, the awardpays tribute to individuals whose life and work illuminate one ormore of the multiple dimensions of human life where the humanitiescome into play: civic, personal, intellectual, and moral.1990 - John Tyler Caldwell †1991 - John Hope Franklin1992 - Doris Waugh Betts1993 - Samuel Talmadge Ragan †1994 - Anne Firor Scott1995 - John Marsden Ehle1996 - William W. Finlator †1997 - Charles Bishop Kuralt †1998 - Dorothy Spruill Redford1999 - William C. Friday2000 - Thomas J. Lassiter, Jr. †2001 - Houston Gwynne (H.G.) Jones2002 - Reynolds Price2003 - Wilma Dykeman † & Hugh Morton †2004 - Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans2005 - Louis D. Rubin, Jr.2006 - Benjamin Eagles Fountain, Jr.2007 - Emily Herring Wilson† deceasedA n I n v i tat i o n t o H o n o r t h e2008 Caldwell LaureateDr. Walt Wolfram, WilliamC. Friday DistinguishedProfessor of EnglishLinguistics, North CarolinaState UniversityThe North Carolina Humanities Council board has chosen pioneeringsociolinguist Walt Wolfram as the recipient of the 2008 John Tyler CaldwellAward, one of the state’s oldest and most prestigious public humanitieshonors. The award ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, October 23,at 7 p.m. in the Stewart Theatre of North Carolina State Universityin Raleigh, NC. Wolfram will premier The Carolina Brogue, one of thenewest films produced by the North Carolina Language and Life Project.Chancellor James L. Oblinger will offer welcoming remarks, and PresidentWilliam C. Friday will deliver the annual Caldwell Lecture in the Humanities.The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contactDonovan McKnight at (336) 334-4770 or dmcknight@nchumanities.org.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 5

CrossroadsThe Spirit of the Tidewater CommunityLawrence S. Earley and Karen Willis Amspacher“Here at the water’s edge, wherethe land meets the sea with marshand shoal, sandy beaches and muddybottom, is where life begins for allcoastal people,” writes Karen WillisAmspacher, a Down East native.Even now, the area still bears aresemblance to the New World as itfirst appeared to the ancestors of thefamilies who live there today. Theinseparable connection to the watermakes it a “different world,” as onefisherman says.Atlantic, perched on the landwardside of the shallow waters of CoreSound near the very northeastern tipof Carteret County, is such a world.Yet, in many respects, Atlantic is likeany other small community in NorthCarolina. People here are churchgoers,they attend college, they jointhe armed forces. They are Tar Heelsand Americans linked in the largerweb of allegiances that bind ustogether as a state and nation.As you enter town on the main drive,you will see a Red & White, a chaingrocery store being a necessity evenamong the independent fishermen ofthe town. You’ll also find the AtlanticMissionary Baptist Church acrossfrom the cemetery and the UnitedMethodist Church just up the roadfrom the elementary school.The sign at the edge of this town,however, declares its difference:“Atlantic — Living from the Sea.”Between the community’s nameand its motto, the designer hasplaced the image of a boat’s wheelto graphically reinforce the town’sidentity. Living from (and with) thesea means fishing, and fishing is atthe core of Atlantic’s self-definition.As fisherman Buster Salter says ofhis Atlantic forebears, “They werefishermen. That’s what we’ve doneall our lives here, our fathers andgrandfathers and their fathersbefore them.”The fishing life is a harsh one, fullof tedious hours of hands-on laborand frequent disappointment. Butfishermen are known for their nativeoptimism. For most of them, therewill always be another day, anotherseason, another year. And even whennets were half-full, they lived a lifethat was so rich in the sights andsounds and smells of the sea thatthey wouldn’t willingly trade it fora desk job and a steady salary.“That’s the thing that most peopledon’t understand about fishermen;they’re free spirits,” says J. M. Brownof Marshallberg, another Core Soundcommunity well-known for its fishingand boatbuilding traditions. “That’swhat my daddy said. He’d say, ‘Idon’t have one hour that’s for sale.’He didn’t think much of having towork at a job where he had to be inat 8 o’clock.”Fishermen are fierce competitors,but they also recognize that theyare ultimately brothers engaged ina life of common purpose and sharedhardships. Often, that link is moreimportant than a day’s success. “I’veseen a lot of people throw down aday’s work to give somebody a handworking on an engine or a net ortowing somebody back in,” JonathanRobinson of Atlantic says. “I don’tthink they do that on Wall Street.”In many small towns, the mostimportant public buildings asidefrom the school and the churches arethe court house and the municipalbuilding. In Atlantic, the most importantpublic places have traditionally

een the harbor and the fish house.If there’s a beating heart to thischanging community, it throbs atAtlantic Harbor where the whitefishing boats are tied up in a longrow, bows pointed out, ready toembark. One can still come here at3 a.m. and watch the long-haul workboatshead out of the harbor, brightlights stabbing the darkness, sea birdsproviding a noisy accompaniment asthe boats work the long passage upCore Sound toward Ocracoke. You cansee the pound netters, the crabbers,the shrimpers and the oystermendepart, tying up in the evening aftera long day or night on the water,engines finally falling silent for thefirst time in hours.A returning fisherman invariablyheads to the fish house. The fishhouse is where the fishermen selltheir catch and buy their fuel andice. It’s the fisherman’s indispensableconnection to the larger worldAbout the AuthorsIn late winter 2008, the North Carolina Humanities Council, with additionalsupport from the North Caroliniana Society, cosponsored “The Workboatsof Core Sound Symposium and Photography Exhibit” at the Core SoundWaterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island in CarteretCounty. The exhibit was based on photographs taken over a period oftwenty years by Lawrence S. Earley, scholar and former editor of Wildlifein North Carolina magazine and author of the award-winning Looking forLongleaf: The Fall and Rise of an American Forest (2001). In addition tophotography, Earley contributed material from thirty interviews with localresidents and fisherman.The symposium, “A Day-Long Celebration of Down East Boats & the MenWho Work Them,” featured remarks by museum Executive Director KarenWillis Amspacher, a life-long resident of Harkers Island, a descendant offishermen and boatbuilders. Presentations included a panel discussionby fishermen Danny Mason, Jonathan Robinson, John “Buster” Salter,and Bradley Styron. As the exhibit, the symposium, and this issue ofCrossroads show, the boats provide an entry point into a discussionfor this community about its past, the changing present, and theunclear future.Long-haul workboats and run boats tied up at Clayton Fulcher SeafoodCo. in Atlantic, NC, in the early 1960s. Photo by Jerry Schumaker.NC Conversations • Winter 2008 • 5

of commerce. Until recently, therewere two fish houses in Atlantic,Luther Smith & Sons behind theBaptist Church, and Clayton FulcherSeafood Co. just up the shore. Atone time, they would have been thebusiest places in the community nomatter what the season, especiallywhen a runboat docked, iced fishbrimming from its holds. Men andwomen from the community gatheredaround the conveyor belt and sortedby size and species whatever cameashore that day (or night) — fish,clams, shrimp, blue crabs. Old-timersdropped in for a while to feel theexcitement again, measuring thecatch of the day against the catchesof their memories, gauging a fisherman’sreputation at the same time.In a fishing village like Atlantic, thesecommunity rhythms governed thelives of all the people, young and old,as basic as the pulse of blood runningthrough their veins. Children playedtheir parts in this common enterprise.Boys were expected to becomefishermen and they took their lessonsearly, in a boat or a fish house.Fisherman Buster Salter remembersthat “from the time I was a little boyI used to go to the [Outer] Banks withmy grandfather who clammed overthere, and I used to go with him inthe summer months when I wasn’tgoing to school. From the time I wassix years old on, he would go overthere clamming into a dory skiffand I would go with him. Me andmy cousin.”Girls were expected to join in thisworld of fishing-related work, too.When her father started making netsas a business, recalls net maker HeidiHarris Roberts, “He used to get uskids to come out here and work andhelp him while we went to school.We all worked in the net shop.” Thegirls would marry fishermen as hadtheir mothers and grandmothersbefore them, and theirfamilies would settleinto a familiar life. Ina fishing community,things were expected tostay the same.The closing of ClaytonFulcher Seafood inFebruary 2007 was likea door slamming shuton the past, an acknowledgementthat thingswould not remain thesame, that they werechanging beyond recall.The fish house had beena mainstay in Atlanticfor more than 70 years,a seat of politicalpower Down East whenClayton Fulcher, Jr., wasalive, but it could nolonger function in the new world thathad come to pass in which fish populationshave been dwindling for thelast decade and belief in the future ofcommercial fishing has dimmed.Clayton Fulcher, Sr., started his fishhouse in the 1930s and it flourishedfor decades after that. He began withsix or seven boats that picked up thecatch from crews, buying from fifteendifferent locations and sending boatsto Ocracoke and Hatteras. Businesswas peaking by the late 1970s andthere were seventeen or eighteenfish houses in the area includingFulcher’s. By the mid 1980s, theFulcher fish house employed as manyas 50 workers.Fully one third of all North Carolina’sfish houses have locked their doorssince 2000. In 2007, Fulcher’s hadonly three employees. “It tearsme up,” says Ann Fulcher, formerco-owner of the fish house withher husband Harry Michael and hisbrother Tommy. “My grandchildrenwill never know this life. They’llnever see the fishing boats come in orRoger “Bubba” Harris, Jr., describes his life and work as“peaceful, quiet, come and go and do as you want. Ain’tnobody telling you what to do. You’re your own boss.”Photo by Susan Mason.play with the fish and see the processfrom the beginning to the end.”“I hate this,” adds Clayton Fulcher,III. “I have been here my wholelife, but the fish house can’t survivebecause we don’t have enoughfishermen.”How did this happen? It’s a complexquestion with few clear answers.Fish catches have declined overthe past decade; and to protect thefish populations, state and federalregulators have placed increasinglyrestrictive limits on the harvests ofmany commercial fish species, whichhas greatly hampered fishermen.Fishermen point to other factors inthe disappearance of fish: increasedwater pollution from booming residentialdevelopments along the coast,devastating hurricanes that struck theregion in 1999 and 2003, an imbalanceof fish populations caused bythe restrictions, and even climatewarming.More recently, imported fish fromAsian and South American fish farms8 • North Carolina Humanities Council

The Long-Haulare being sold at prices so cheap thenative wild-caught fish are at a pricedisadvantage. And the price of dieselfuel has risen inexorably and catastrophically.In 2006, shrimpers werecomplaining, “You can’t make moneyon a dollar and a quarter [paid fora pound of] shrimp and $2.25 [fora gallon of] fuel.” In 2008, with fuelprices hovering around $5 a gallon,the complaint seemed merely quaint.Real estate speculators have roamedcoastal communities offeringoutlandish prices for waterfront propertiesthat they can resell for evenhigher prices to retirees seeking aplace by the water. As a result, manyfishing communities are in the midstof profound changes.“Ultimately, what is even more significantis the change that will occur tothe social fabric of the village,” saysCapt. Ernie Foster of Hatteras, a sisterfishing community turned resort. “Avillage is not barren rental structures,but, rather, a village consists of thepeople who live there, people whohave homes, families, jobs and businesses.They are people who belongto churches, volunteer fire departments,and civic associations. Theyare also people with roots, peoplewho are interconnected to each otherin ways both large and small.”The Western writer Wallace Stegnerdescribed a community as a placewhere people were born, lived, anddied over more than a generation.Then it was truly a community. Acommunity shapes people throughits unique culture, he said, and itsculture is created by the people wholived there. Atlantic was once sucha place and it is still such a place,but its character and that of manyother fishing villages along the NorthCarolina coast are changing fast.What it will become is not yet evident.Crew haul in the net in the final stages of a long-hauling operation. Thefish are corralled within the loop of the net. They will be bailed into therun boat seen in the distance. Photo by Lawrence S. Earley.Down East fishermen employ many different methods to catch the widediversity of fish available. One particular process is long-haul fishing.Fisherman Jonathan Robinson describes this arduous work.Typically a haul rig is comprised of two boats. We use net skids on eachboat and three men on a boat. There are four nets on each side, and thenets from each boat are tied together and towed, usually covering anarea of about a square mile. It’s more to corral the fish — we don’t gillthem. We kind of corral the fish. The process of taking them out takesabout two-and-a-half, three hours taking the nets up. We just encirclethe fish and keep making the enclosure smaller until we get to a pointwhere we can bail the fish up on the boat. It’s an interesting process.It’s primitive — it dates back to when they first started putting poweron boats. I’m sure they had gill nets and discovered that by pullingthe ends around that they could cover more bottom and catch morefish. And then naturally, two fellows got together and tied their netstogether and worked in unison. It’s a gear that has limitations. You can’tgo out and set it randomly, you have to be in close proximity to shallowwater or shoals. Usually you can only cover about a mile and it takesfrom three to six hours to pull and then two or three hours to get thenets back. It’s restrictive, very restrictive where you can use one. Youusually go where you’ve historically landed fish under certain weatherconditions and certain times of the year and you fish those places.Technically you start from two to five a.m., depending on how far andthe time required to run to specific fishing grounds. Sometimes it’s latein the evening when you get home if you make day trips. Of course earlywhen I first started fishing, we spent a lot of time away from the island.We’d leave on the weekends, on Sunday afternoon, and most timesreturn on Friday night.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 9

Down East — From the InsideKaren Willis AmspacherDown East is that string ofcommunities that follow along andnear Highway 70 and then ontoHighway 12 where you reach the“big water” of Pamlico Sound. Itbegins with Bettie, then Otway, andturning south takes you throughStraits, Harkers Island, back throughGloucester and Marshallberg beforeheading northeast through Smyrna,Williston, Davis, Stacy, Sea Level,Atlantic, and Cedar Island.Down East is thirteen communitiesof men born to be fishermen,boatbuilders, decoy carvers, huntingguides and of women born to be allthose things if needed and everythingelse — mothers, community leaders,teachers, storekeepers, fish houseworkers, doctors, nurses, preachers.Traditionally, women have been thebackbone of these communities whilethe men fished, and that continuestoday. Here, there are no such thingsas rights without responsibilities andhere everyone has a responsibility —to God, family, one another.“But, change is a-coming.”We hear that a lot Down Eastthese days. We know it, wesee it, we feel it. Every daya new name appears in ourcommunity, a new home, anew neighbor. Property valuesare rising much quicker thanlocal folks’ checkbooks canhandle. People are worriedabout taxes, getting to thewater, where to tie their boats,keeping community schools, whereand how their children are going tosurvive in this new economy.Yes, Down East Carteret County is abeautiful, natural, and until recentyears, isolated and unspoiled landscapethat had already survived allkinds of change including hurricanes,a world war, roads and bridges. Butthose changes came at a pace andin a way that local people could stillhold onto their homes, their communities,while maintaining a respectfor the past and hope for their futureand their heritage.Regardless of what economic developmentreports may tell or not tell,commercial fishing remains themainstay of Down East’s heritage, thebackdrop for its landscape, a sharedbond among Down East people.When this industry is threatened, weall fear together for what this meansfor the fishermen, their families, andthe communities they serve.It is more than a livelihood that isat risk. It is what this way of liferepresents — the tradition, the characterthat has been instilled in eachgeneration to work the water. It isthe underlying and deep-rooted senseof independence and self-reliancethat fishermen are made of that wehold dear, that reaffirms our heritage,holds us together as a community,and gives us hope for an uncertainfuture.Now, as a people we face a futurein a place we locals do not recognize,cannot afford, and feel helplessin warding-off. First one bulldozerat the time and now in 10-, 20-,up to 90-acre tracts, marshland isturned into subdivisions that emptyinto productive rivers, creeks, andsounds. Fishermen and their familiesare wondering what this will do tothe waters they depend on for theirlivelihood, their mortgages, theirgroceries, their children’s education,their tomorrow.In a haul-net skiff on a stormyOctober afternoon, Hugh Styron, Jr.,(left) and Shane Moldenhaur (right)work the nets at the northern endof Core Sound. Photo by LawrenceS. Earley.10 • North Carolina Humanities Council

Jonathan Robinson: Fisherman and Community LeaderInterview with Jonathan Robinson, Core Sound Waterfowl Museum’s Oral History CollectionWhen Jonathan Robinson speaks of commercial fishing, it is not only about something he has learned. It isabout something he has lived. The son of a commercial fishing family in the community of Atlantic, Robinson isa college graduate, former legislator in the NC House of Representatives, and currently a county commissionerfor the Down East area of Carteret County.Most proudly though, Robinson is a long-haul fisherman on Core Sound, part of the shared fishing grounds ofNorth Carolina’s watermen. He is one of the fishermen who has roots generations deep in the shallow waterswhere he has worked his entire life. Robinson’s words speak to the deeper meaning of commercial fishing, itsplace in history, its connection to the people and this place, their hopes — and fears — for the future.We’re all kind of willing to sharewith each other. Maybe that comesfrom living in a sense of communityor being out on the water, the vastnessof the water. You’re dependenton one another. I’ve found that mostof the people who’ve fished for aliving will always readily share anyinformation they have. Anything I’veever learned about fishing I learnedit from a fellow fisherman whowillingly shared it with me. I thinkthere’s a camaraderie in the fisheriesthat doesn’t exist in some industries.Today there’s more and more demandon our coastal resources. There’sa certain appeal about living alongthe water and magnetism about theshore that draws people here. One ofthe biggest threats, I think, that thoseinvolved in the fisheries face will bethe loss of access to the water front.We need some immediate — notonly long-term — but immediate andshort-term efforts by the governmentand economic developers to ensureaccess not only for the fishermen, butfor the public along our waterways.Our founding fathers held our waterwaysas resources. I’ve had to liveunder the umbrella of the public trustdoctrine: that these resources belongto all the citizens of the state. Alongthat same line and under that samethought process, if the waterwaysbelong to the public then we need toprotect the public’s access to them.And that includes commercial access.The lingering question of the tidemenof North Carolina is: Is there goingto be a place here for us? Many ofus see the tidewater becoming aplayground for the rich and we feelthreatened by that. It’s a real threatbecause we’re all struggling hereto survive in trades that have beenpassed down to us by our fathers andhave served our communities. Part ofour character has been to welcomepeople here. I always thought itwas a virtue, but it seems like it hasbecome a liability.Fishermen Jonathan Robinson (left) and DarylStyron (right) sort fish at Quality Seafood onCedar Island. Quality Seafood (owned andoperated by Bradley Styron) is one of the fewfishhouses in Carteret County that works yearround. Photo by Susan Mason.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 11

Glossary of Down East TermsLawrence S. EarleyDory skiff. A small, open boat; a skiff.Fish house. An establishment that buys fish from fishermenand then resells them to fish dealers and other buyers. Thefish house often provides ice to the fishermen and dockingfacilities and in some cases sends “buy boats” or “runboats” to offload a catch directly from the fisherman.Fisheries. The term is used variously to refer to areaswhere certain fish populations are harvested and to thefishing effort itself. Thus, “shrimp fishery” can refer bothto the inshore waters where shrimp are caught and to theshrimp fishing industry.Gill nets, gill-net fishing. Stretched across a body of water,gill nets can entrap fish when they try to pass through thenet’s meshes. Fish bigger than the opening of the meshcannot move forward, and when they try to move backwardto escape, they are caught by the gills.Grading. A catch is graded by size or weight in the fishhouse or fish market.Long-haul fishing (long-hauling, long-haulers). A formof haul-seining in which two workboats haul linked netsof different sized meshes between them. They head towardshallower waters where the boats crisscross, creating awide loop that is gradually tightened as the nets are pulledout of the water. In the final stages, the fish are corralledin a small enclosure and are bailed out into a larger boat(called a “run boat” or “buy boat” sent by the fish house).Long-haulers fish for spot, trout, flounder, and other species.N.C. Dept. of Marine Fisheries. The DMF is the stateagency entrusted with the stewardship of the state’smarine and estuarine resources. In essence, DMF establishesmanagement plans for specific fish populations thatinclude setting size limits of fish and the length of seasonswhen commercial and recreational fishing can be done. Itsauthority extends throughout the state’s coastal waters upto three miles offshore.Net skiff. A skiff in the long-hauling operation that carriesthe nets. The fishermen set out their nets from the skiffs.NOAA. The National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration is a federal agency under the U.S.Department of Commerce. Its mission is to understand andpredict changes in Earth’s environment and conserve andmanage coastal and marine resources to meet the nation’seconomic, social, and environmental needs.Public Trust Doctrine. The doctrine states that nationsmanage natural resources for the benefit of their citizensand that private owners cannot deprive the public of accessto the resources that belong to everyone. The public trustdoctrine originated in Roman law, entered English commonlaw, and has become an important part of American law.Shoals. Shallow places in a body of water formed byshifting sand.Trawler. A workboat that pulls a fishing net behind it ata specified depth for specific kinds of fish. Trawlers canbe large or small, depending on where they fish. In theshallow waters of Core Sound, most trawlers are smallerboats that fish for shrimp.Workboat. Any kind of boat usedfor commercial fishing purposes.Generally the term refers to boats of40 feet in length and greater, but itcan also refer to skiffs.Core Sound’s shallow waters invite aremarkably diverse fleet of workboats,large and small. These are sheltered inNorth Harbor at Davis, NC. Photo byLawrence S. Earley.

Confessionsof an AccidentalDocumentarianLawrence S. EarleyTwo fishing boats. One issecured to the dock while a secondapproaches. I took this photographin 1985 while exploring the fishingvillages on the peninsula northeastof Beaufort, North Carolina, an areaknown as “Down East.” It’s an artlessphoto, with little in its compositionor lighting to distinguish it. In fact, Inever bothered to print it until 2004when I was asked to show some ofmy workboat photographs at the CoreSound Waterfowl Museum on HarkersIsland, North Carolina. I titled it“Workboats, Core Sound, 1985.”During the festival, I noticed thata few men had stopped in front of“Workboats, Core Sound, 1985” andstudied it intently. One of them toldme that he had worked on one of thevessels; it was a boat he knew well.Another said that his father ownedthe boat on the right, which wascalled the Wasted Wood. Two othersstood in front of it, talking quietly.One of them, a boat builder by thename of Jimmy Amspacher, said hewas building a model boat like thetwo boats in the photograph. Then,in the distinctive brogue of a DownEaster, he told me about the scenethat I had photographed in 1985.The boat on the right was the WastedWood, he said, although it could wellhave been the Nancy Ellen. The boaton the left was definitely the Linda.Both of them were built in Atlantic— he called them “Atlantic-builtboats” — a fact that was evident intheir styling. Because each communityin the region was fairly isolatedfrom the others before the coming ofroads and bridges, communities hadFrom its very beginning, a workboat lay at the center of a social web that linked the builder, theowner, the person for whom the boat was named, and the place where she was built. Photo byLawrence S. Earley.distinct workboat styles based ontradition and the influence of importantlocal boat builders. Both boats inthe photo were used to do a particularkind of fishing called long-haulfishing which was characteristic ofAtlantic’s fishermen. The photographhad a new title now: “Wasted Woodand Linda, Atlantic, 1985.”Jimmy Amspacher spent five minutestelling me what was in my photograph,and when he was finished,I had learned an important lesson:I was blind to the very things thatmade the photo interesting to thelocal people. To me, the photographwas an ordinary snapshot; to them,the photograph was layered withstories — historical, biographical,technological, and environmental.My “snapshot” was a portal thatopened into a world with hiddendepths revealing multiple humanrelationships. The boats that Ihad photographed as aestheticallypleasing parts of the landscape wereso much more than that.Many things in the photograph havechanged since I took the picturetwenty-three years ago. The WastedWood went to pieces in 1998 or 1999.The weather-beaten Linda still sits atthe Luther L. Smith Seafood docks,but she is decrepit now and unused;her paint is pealing and debris isstrewn over her deck. The last timeI saw her, she was half sunk afterthe bailing pump had failed. In the1990s, a hurricane destroyed thewooden docks in the photograph.In March 2008, at the symposiumon the “Workboats of Core Sound,”Jonathan Robinson spoke as one ofthe panelists. Jonathan’s openingwords were mournful:I came here today expecting tosee some photographs of the oldboats that Larry Earley has beentaking for some time and I waslooking forward to it. But as Ilooked at the photos I becamesad. I know these boats and Iknow the people who workedthem, and when I see themand read the words of people Iknow it seems that what we’redoing here today is like visitinga dying person in the hospitaland trying to extract as muchinformation from him before hepasses away....My photographs brought him face-tofacewith a world that he knew andloved but that was dying. It was afear that he and others had admittedto themselves for years; it was somethingthey told me over and overagain in my interviews. But to see itin pictures was a little like looking inthe mirror in a strange light and notrecognizing yourself.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 13

RoadScholarsOpening Windows onNorth Carolina’s HistoryKenny DalsheimerWhere can you go to learn about the grassroots of stockcar racing or the blues heyday of 1930s Durham, NC?You may be surprised to learn that one source canoffer you insight into both, North Carolina HumanitiesCouncil Road Scholar Kenny Dalsheimer, a filmmaker,producer, and media educator from Durham.Dalsheimer has worked on behalf of the HumanitiesCouncil statewide for ten years. He shares below someof his thoughts about being a Road Scholar.Since 1999, I have been visitinglibraries, museums, and communitycenters in counties across NorthCarolina to screen and talk about twoof my film projects: Shine On: RichardTrice and the Bull City Blues and GoFast, Turn Left: Voices from OrangeCounty Speedway. My “Road Scholars”travels provide opportunities to screenmy films with audiences I mightotherwise never meet and who mightotherwise not visit the local library ormuseum and to give diverse audiencesopportunities to reflect on the historyand themes explored in the films.Opening a window on essential traditionsand parts of North Carolina’sculture also encourages further explorationand challenges stereotypes andpreconceptions about people living inour very own communities.At many of the programs, the screeningsintroduce one or more audiencemembers to unfamiliar cultures andtraditions from around the state and tounfamiliar experiences, perspectives,and practices. A while back I heardfrom one attendee who shared, “Itmade the life of stockcar racing realto me.” After a screening of Shine On,one viewer wrote, “I like the focus onlocal history and the importance of anindividual life and community.”After each program comes myfavorite part of my travels. Folks inthe audience offer their own stories,their own take on the traditions andhistories captured in my films. Oftenthey contribute ideas or questionsabout what they heard or experiencedin the film. They might makenote of inconsistencies, geographicvariations, or something so personalas recollections of the sweetness ofchildhood: “You know when I was12 my uncle drove one of those carstoo,” and “I had a chance to seehis brother play the blues back inthe ’50s in Fayetteville.” Questionsabout what has changed or whatmight come next lead to talk aboutthe connections between history andchange, the past and the present,economics, religion, and more. Thefilms call up conversations aboutidentity and community, good timesand hard times, and what motivatespeople to do what they do.It has been great fun and quiterewarding to be included in the“Road Scholars” program. I have metpeople I would never meet, visitedbeautiful towns I might not otherwisesee, and most importantly, shared myfilms with the people who come outto the programs. I have experiencedthe themes, voices, and cultures

presented in my films resonate withdiverse audiences and transcendthe geographic boundaries of ourstate’s county borders. As with manyNorth Carolina Humanities Councilprograms, my travels and film screeningshave helped me keep alive thevital traditions of local stockcarracing and the Piedmont blues in ourconversations and ensured that ourmost cherished histories and traditionsare nourished, remembered,and celebrated.National Endowment for the HumanitiesWelcome toTo receive a Road ScholarsSpeakers Bureau Catalog for2007–2008, contact Carolyn Allenat callen@nchumanities.orgor (336) 256-0140.NORTH CAROLINAHUMANITIESRoad Scholars ★ Speakers Bureau 2007/2008 Catalog ★ The North Carolina Humanities CouncilA PROGRAM OFTHE NORTH CAROLINAHUMANITIES COUNCILAmerica’s History Through Our Nation’s ArtThe National Endowment for the Humanities in partnership with theAmerican Library Association developed Picturing America as a toolto help teach American history and provide…a gateway to the entireuniverse of the humanities. Picturing America helps us understand ourdemocracy by reintroducing us to our common heritage and ideals. It bringsus face to face with the people, places, and events that have shaped ourcountry, and provides an innovative way to experience America’s historythrough our nation’s art. To view the images with detailed information onthe artist, inspiration, and historic or thematic significance, please visitPicturingAmerica.neh.gov. For information about a North CarolinaHumanities Council Road Scholar to visit your area with a Picturing Americapresentation, please contact Carolyn Allen at callen@nchumanities.org or(336) 256-0140.How to Sponsor a “Road Scholars” ProgramAny nonprofit organization planning a public program for an adult audience is eligible to apply for a “RoadScholars” program. All applications are subject to approval and availability of funds. Organizations may apply for three speakerappearances per year.An application form can be obtained from the Road Scholars catalog or online from the North Carolina Humanities Council’swebsite at www.nchumanities.org. For assistance in planning or applying, please contact Carolyn Allen at (336) 256-0140 orcallen@nchumanities.org. Applications should be received by the Humanities Council at least four weeks in advance of thedesired program date.The Humanities Council provides grant funds to pay the speaker’s honorarium and up to $100 in travel expenses to the speaker.Any travel expenses above $100 must be paid by the sponsoring organization.Programs are designed to last 45 minutes to one hour, followed by a 15–30 minute question-and-answer and discussion period.Programs cosponsored by more than one community organization are acceptable and may even attract greater local participation.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 15

Let’s TalkAbout ItIntroducing Six New SeriesCarolyn Allen“Let’s Talk About It” isgrowing. With the assistance of librariansand scholars across the state,six new book discussion series havebeen developed and will be availablein Fall 2008. Five were created byNorth Carolina Humanities Councilstaff and the North Carolina Centerfor the Book. Two of these honorrevered North Carolina scholarsLouis and Eva Rubin. The sixth serieswas created by the Friends of theLexington Library and donated to the“Let’s Talk About It” program.Discovering the Literary South:The Louis D. Rubin, Jr., SeriesThe books in this series werepublished within the last twentyyears by writers who have movedbeyond the Southern hometowns oftheir youth. Yet they take a long lookback, not for nostalgia’s sake, butto bear witness to the full panoplyof time’s interactions with place,memory, and family.• Gap Creek: The Story of aMarriage, Robert Morgan• A Virtuous Woman, KayeGibbons• The Jew Store, Stella Suberman• Clover, Dori Sanders• The Coal Tatoo, Silas HouseLaw and Literature:The Eva R. Rubin SeriesBlaise Pascal once wrote, “Justiceis what is established.” In thisseries, writers who demonstratethe powerful interaction of lawand human affairs invite readers toponder the difference between whatis established and what is just.• Billy Budd and Other Stories,Herman Melville• The Tragedy of Pudd’nheadWilson, Mark Twain• A Lesson Before Dying, ErnestGaines• Snow Falling on Cedars, DavidGuterson• The Emperor of Ocean Park,Stephen CarterAmerica’s Greatest Conflict:Novels of the Civil WarIn these selections, novelists usetheir imaginative powers to re-createthe greatest upheaval in our historyin a way that touches emotions andsenses as much as the intellect.• The March, E.L. Doctorow• On the Occasion of My LastAfternoon, Kaye Gibbons• The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara• Enemy Women, Paulette Jiles• Lincoln’s Dreams, Connie WillisAffirming AgingAging in our “youth-dominated” culturehas become something to dread.Happily, the characters in these booksfind that the past’s intrusions into thepresent can offer life-renewing revelations.The characters’ confrontationswith memory and time recover personalhistories as a surprising way to enrichthe present and face the future.• The Memory of Old Jack, WendellBerry• Having Our Say: The DelaneySisters’ First 100 Years, A.Elizabeth Delaney, Sarah Delaney& Amy Hill Hearth• Water for Elephants, Susan Gruen• Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence• Crossing to Safety, WallaceStegnerDivergent Cultures: The MiddleEast in LiteratureThe literary landscape of the MiddleEast offers stories of tragedy, triumph,and perseverance.

North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame to InductJ a m e s A p p l e w h i t eW i l l i a m S . P o w e l lLee SmithEva and Louis Rubin. Photo by Lucinda Mackethan.• Reading Lolita in Tehran, AzarNafisi• The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini• Palace Walk, Naguib Mahfouz• A Perfect Peace, Amos Oz• Three Cups of Tea: One Man’sMission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time, GregMortenson & David Oliver Relin• Nine Parts of Desire, GeraldineBrooksBeyond the Battlefield:Alternative Views of WarThese books examine the battlefieldof the heart, the individual’s strugglethrough the emotional consequencesof witnessing the ravages of war.• March, Geraldine Brooks• All Quiet on the Western Front,Erich Remarque• The Reader, Bernhard Schlink• The Coldest War, Jim Brady• The Things They Carried,Tim O’BrienThe North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame will addthree new members this fall when the poet James Applewhite, historianWilliam S. Powell, and novelist Lee Smith are inducted into the Hall ofFame at the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities in SouthernPines on Sunday, October 19, 2008. “The three inductees representNorth Carolina’s best literary traditions and achievements in fiction,poetry, and nonfiction,” said North Carolina State University professoremeritus Jim Clark, who chaired the selection committee.The North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame was founded in 1996 underthe leadership of Poet Laureate Sam Ragan, a founding member ofthe North Carolina Humanities Council, and continues as a programof the North Carolina Writers’ Network. The 2008 induction will be thefirst in which the Network and the Weymouth Center collaborate withthe North Carolina Center for the Book, the North Carolina HumanitiesCouncil, and the North Carolina Collection of the Wilson Library at UNCto cosponsor the induction ceremony, to promote the Hall of Fame, andto celebrate North Carolina’s literary heritage.“These organizations share many of the same goals as the Network andthe Literary Hall of Fame,” said Network executive director Ed Southern.“They’re very excited to help honor this year’s inductees and to makesure more North Carolinians know about this state’s contributionsto literature.”How to Sponsor a “Let’s Talk About It” ProgramAny public library in the state seeking a program for an adult audience is eligible to apply for a “Let’s TalkAbout It” program. The librarian selects the series and decides on the dates for the program. The two-hour sessions takeplace at the same time and day every two weeks for nine weeks. The film and poetry series run weekly for six weeks. Allapplications are subject to approval and availability of funds and books. Programs are available spring and fall.An application form can be obtained online from the North Carolina Humanities Council’s website at www.nchumanities.org.For assistance in planning or applying, please contact Carolyn Allen at (336) 256-0140 or callen@nchumanities.org.Applications should be received by the Humanities Council at least eight weeks in advance of the desired program start date.Once the program is confirmed, the Humanities Council arranges for the books to be made available from the North CarolinaCenter for the Book, schedules scholars for each book, and provides grant funds to pay the scholars an honorarium.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 17

The 2007AnnualReport tothe PeopleMany Stories, One PeopleShelley Crisp, Executive DirectorIn late spring 2007, theNorth Carolina Humanities Counciladopted a new tagline: Many Stories,One People. The words reflect theHumanities Council’s mission tosupport vital conversations thatnurture the cultures and heritage ofNorth Carolina. But with a populationof more than nine million NorthCarolinians, how is it possible to layclaim to the ideal that one nonprofitorganization can afford every voicea time and place and that together,all those voices can comprise aunited citizenry? Such goals are forgrasp not reach. The HumanitiesCouncil musters as many resourcesas possible to serve a set of corevalues that prize the interdisciplinaryapproach to the humanitiesand inclusiveness for every citizento be in dialogue with each other,with knowledge, and with the publicdestiny that they themselves create.The Council is privileged to partnerwith many individuals and organizationsacross the state. The set of factsand figures that follows in this 2007Annual Report to the People givessome indication of the partnershipsthe Council forges and the variedprograms it extends throughoutthe state. From small-town publiclibraries to state university campuses,from communities sharing beaches,sounds, rivers, mountains, andall that lies between, the Councilmeets with oral historians, localarchivists, archeologists, teachers,government officials, farm workers,photographers, filmmakers, folkliferesearchers, and a myriad of otheradvocates for humanities in everyguise in order to offer programs todelight and enlighten.I invite you to take note of thosewho have made the Council’s workas much about fact as it is aboutpossibility, as much about realizationas it is about aspiration. Council staffand board members, project directorsand scholars, legislative supportersand donors all help to make theNorth Carolina Humanities Councila day-to-day presence across 550miles of vastly, beautifully variouslandscapes, among people whoselives are comparably as differentand valuable. It is a shared laborthat is documented here and one tocelebrate, especially if, in RoxanneNewton’s words, the Council andits friends do indeed empower thehearts and minds of North Carolina’smany voices.Because of the generous support of the North Carolina HumanitiesCouncil, we were able to…stitch together a living communityof hearts and minds empowered to understand our diverse andoften-fragmented past and to strive for a promising united future.~Roxanne Newton, Mitchell Community CollegeLillium michauxii (Carolina Lily): North Carolina’s official state wildflower, oftenoverlooked, thrives from the pocosins to the Blue Ridge Parkway.Photo © 2008 Breath O’Spring, Inc.

Financial OverviewListed below are the balance sheet, revenues, and expenses for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2007. The audited statementfor fiscal year 2007 is available upon request. Contact Genevieve Cole, Associate Director & Director of Administration andFinance at (336) 334-4771 with any questions.RevenuesPublic SupportNational Endowment forthe Humanities (NEH) $ 681,324Grants — We thePeople (NEH) 138,170State 100,000Other gifts and grants 125,744Other RevenueInterest income 13,661Investment Income 57,474Miscellaneous – –Loss on disposal of propertyand equipment (191)Total Revenue $1,116,182Net AssetsChange in Net Assets $176,081Net Assets: Beginning of year 736,813Net Assets:End of year $ 912,894ExpensesProgram ServicesProgram Activities $ 229,215Caldwell Program 10,754Road Scholars 43,271Teachers Institute 85,863Newsletter 6,131Crossroads 6,553Southern HumanitiesMedia Fund 15,000Let’s Talk About It 14,365We the People Conference 467Linda Flowers Literary Award 3,965Regrants — Restricted funds 10,000Regrants — NEH funds 90,661Regrants — NC funds 104,824Supporting ServicesManagement and General 254,250Fundraising 64,7822007 RevenuesNEH — 61% — $681,324WTP — 12% — $138,170State — 9% — $100,000Gifts and Grants — 11% — $125,744Other — 6% — $70,944Total Expenses $940,101Support the Council’sWork by donating atwww.nchumanities.org2007 ExpensesAnnual Program Services — 56%— $621,069Management — 22% — $254,250Fundraising — 6% — $64,782Restricted Funds for OngoingPrograms — 16% — $150,416NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 19

RegrantsThe North Carolina Humanities Council awarded one planning grant, 19 mini-grants, and 25 large grantsto cultural and educational organizations to conduct humanities programs in 2007. Funded groups matched the HumanitiesCouncil’s grants with in-kind and cash contributions.* The projects supported during this grant period are integral to theHumanities Council’s commitment to vital conversations that nurture the culture and heritage of North Carolina. The NorthCaroliniana Society also added its financial support to two Council programs.**Planning Grants(up to $750)Yadkin County$748 to the Yadkin CountyHistorical Society, YadkinvilleThe History of the YadkinCounty Poorhouse ($816*)Mini Grants(up to $1,200)Buncombe County$1,200 to Trust Fund of theAsheville-Buncombe LibrarySystem, AshevilleAnne Frank: Her Story, OurStory ($1,412*)Burke County$1,200 to Western PiedmontCommunity College,MorgantonEnergy: Fueling Our Future($20,250*)Caldwell County$1,200 to CaldwellCommunity College, HudsonBranches ($2,315*)Cumberland County$1,060 to Friends of theCumberland County PublicLibrary, FayettevilleAuthor Visit: David Clary,author of Adopted Son($1,415*)Davie County$1,128 to Davie County PublicLibrary, MocksvilleThe Mystery of RobertE. Lee ($2,186*)Durham County$800 to St. Joseph’s HistoricFoundation, DurhamBlack Authors on Tour($806*)Forsyth County$1,200 to Wake ForestUniversity, Winston-SalemVisit by Poet AdamZagajewski ($5,366*)Guilford County$911 to the North CarolinaFriends Historical Society,GreensboroSpeech: How You GonnaKeep Em’ Down on theFarm? ($911*)$1,200 to GreensboroHistorical Museum, Inc.,GreensboroLiberty & Freedom: TheNorth Carolina Bill of Rights($1,480*)Henderson County$600 to Folk Horizons, Inc.,Hendersonville/Black MountainThe Early Settlers of NorthCarolina: A Song & StoryJourney ($845*)Lenoir County$1,200 to the CulturalHeritage Museum, KinstonUS Colored TroopsWorkshops & Lectures($1,400*)Madison County$1,000 to Mars Hill College,Mars HillTo Kill a Mockingbirdthrough African-AmericanEyes ($3,150*)New HanoverCounty$1,200 to the HistoricWilmington Foundation,WilmingtonSaving Spaces: ProgressiveDesigns for Infill Lots($2,080*)$1,200 to UNC Wilmington,WilmingtonTransnational Music in aGlobal Scenario ($6,989*)$1,017 to Bellamy MansionMuseum, WilmingtonLecture: Literacy AmongEnslaved African Americans($1,190*)Wake County$1,200 to Cultural EnrichmentServices/UNC, RaleighForgotten Roots: The Worldof Omar Ibn Sayyid andAfrican Muslims in SouthernAmerican History ($8,824*)$1,200 to the N.C. Dept. ofCultural Resources, RaleighPirate Ships, Slave Shipsand Colonial AmericaSymposium ($3,347*)Yadkin County$1,200 to the Yadkin CountyHistorical Society, YadkinvilleYadkin County Poorhouse($2,470*)Yancey County$1,200 to the CarolinaMountain Literary Festival,BurnsvilleRoots and Wings: CarolinaMountains LiteraryChildren’s Program($3,235*)Large Grants(up to $10,000)Bertie County$7,902 to Historic HopeFoundation, Inc.Plantation at theCrossroads: PublicPrograms, a series of publicprograms organized aroundthe history of African Americanslavery ($9,002*)Buncombe County**$9,000 to Asheville’s GladTithings Foundation’sTogether We Read, 2007, acommunity-wide read of LeeSmith’s On Agate Hill andassociated programs across a21-county area ($74,824*)$5,000 to the YWCA ofAsheville100 Years of Empowerment:The History of the YWCA ofAsheville in the Strugglefor Civil Rights, a projectdocumenting its historic rolein the Civil Rights Movementin honor of its centennial.Its particular interest in andadvocacy for civil rights beganin the late 1930s ($5,000*)Craven and PamlicoCounties$4,265 to the Neuse-PamlicoSound Women’s CoalitionPreserving the PamlicoCounty African AmericanExperience, a project todocument and preservethe history and heritage ofPamlico County from 1930-1965, train young adults toconduct oral history interviewsof these elders, present apublic program includinginterviewees and humanitiesscholars ($5,179*)Carteret County**$9,778 to the Core SoundWaterfowl Museum, Harker’sIslandWorkboats of Core Sound, aphoto exhibit and symposiumexamining the culture and lifeof an eastern coastal communitythat had been anchoredby a fishing economy andwhich has undergone afundamental transformationas a result of local, state,and global changes in theeconomy ($13,765*)Counties of Grants AwardedIndicates Multiple Grants in County20 • North Carolina Humanities Council

Durham County$9,800 to the North CarolinaFolklife Institute, DurhamCommunity FolklifeDocumentary Institute, atraining program for citizensacross the state to help themdocument the cultural life oftheir own communities($63,380*)$10,375 to the DurhamLibrary FoundationDurham Reads Together,2007, a wide range ofprograms in conjunction withDurham’s second One City,One Book project ($58,487*)$10,000 to the DurhamLiteracy CenterConnecting Communitiesthrough Literature, afour-week artist-in-residencyprogram featuring New Yorkbasedhip-hop writer SofiaQuintero ($106,562*)$10,555 to Student Actionwith Farm Workers, DurhamNuestras Historias/Nuestras Suenos: OurHistory/Our Dreams —Latino Immigrants in NorthCarolina, the fieldworkcomponent of a collaborationbetween SAF and the Centerfor Documentary Studiesat Duke University thatdocuments the “stories andfolklore practices of Latinomigrant students and theirfamilies.” ($12,454*)Forsyth County$8,789 to the Wake ForestMuseum of AnthropologyRosebud Sioux Exhibitand Humanities Programsand its partnership with theGuilford Native American ArtGallery to support RosebudSioux — A Lakota Peoplein Transition, “an exhibit ofLakota Sioux photographsand artifacts,” and to developprogramming to support theexhibit in both Winston-Salemand Greensboro ($8,789*)Guilford County$5,250 to the Friends of theGreensboro Public LibraryElders Poetry Project, whichprovides opportunities forGreensboro elders to read,learn about, and write poetryin conjunction with its annualpoetry festival ($28,100*)Carolina textile artists, asymposium on textile history,and a series of workshops ontextile art and literature aboutthe experience of former milltown residents ($35,636*)Halifax County$5,000 to Concerned Citizensof TilleryWe Shall Not Be Moved:A History of the TilleryResettlement, Tillery, NC,to support production anddistribution of its completedhistorical video, We ShallNot Be Moved: A History ofthe Tillery Resettlement, anda complementary CD of theJoyful Sound Gospel Choir ofTillery ($7,000*)Henderson County$2,720 to The Friends of CarlSandburg at Connemara inFlat RockCarl Sandburg:Contemporary Perspectivesand Criticism, a symposiumheld at the Blue RidgeCommunity College inHendersonville to discussrecent Sandburg scholarshipand Sandburg’s contributionsto American culture($5,385*)MecklenburgCounty$4,000 to International Houseof Metrolina, CharlotteAfrican Identity in the 21stCentury, a two-lecture serieson the ways in which Africanidentity is understood differentlythrough three framesof reference: the experiencesof African immigrants toCharlotte, African Americans,and the African Diaspora; acollaboration between theAfrican Council of Charlotteand the Department ofAfricana Studies at UNCC($8,125*)$9,190 to the CharlotteMuseum of HistoryFrom Brooklyn toBiddelville, a projectexamining the history andconsequences of urbanrenewal for two of Charlotte’straditionally African Americanneighborhoods ($12,909*)$7,350 to The Light Factory,CharlotteRiver Docs to document theCatawba River, tell its storythrough imagery and narrativefrom the various stakeholders,expose the effects of industryon the river, address thechallenge of access to theriver, and reenergize activityand commitment to theriver and surrounding land;a collaboration of the LightFactory with the CatawbaLands Conservancy, CatawbaRiverkeepers Foundation,the York County Culture andHeritage Museums and theU.S. National WhitewaterCenter ($33,050*)Moore County$5,000 to SandhillsCommunity College, PinehurstCrossing the Atlantic: AnInvitation to Communicate,an innovative correspondencebetween faculty atSandhills Community Collegein Pinehurst and the NewryInstitute in Northern Irelandto share cultural perspectiveswoven into an exhibit to beshown on both sides of theAtlantic Ocean($38,968*)New HanoverCounty$4,000 to Randall Library atUNC-WilmingtonOne Book, One Community,2007, New Hanover Countyto support a series of eventsand discussions centeredaround Persepolis, MarjaneSatrapi’s memoir aboutgrowing up in Iran during theIslamic Revolution ($6,746*)Orange County$9,300 to the Department ofMusic, UNC, Chapel HillFestival on the Hill 2008which celebrates LatinAmerican music’s diversity,its ongoing dialogue with andcontributions to the music ofthe country and the state($52,790*)$9,000 to Hidden Voices inCedar GroveBecause We Are Still Here(and Moving), a communitybasedproject that trains teenresidents to record the oralhistories of their elders intwo historic African Americancommunities — Pine Knollsand Northside (Chapel Hilland Carrboro, NC) — grapplingwith intense pressuresof development ($59,000*)$2,500 to NC Public Radio/WUNC-FM and UNC for NCVoices: Diagnosing HealthCare, a comprehensive twoweekseries focused on theconnections between healthand heath care. Segments ranon Morning Edition, All ThingsConsidered, and The State ofThings ($,2,500*)$9,000 to NC Public Radio/WUNC-FM and UNC for NCVoices: Diagnosing HealthCare, a comprehensive twoweekseries focused on theconnections between healthand heath care. Segmentsran on “Morning Edition,” “AllThings Considered,” and “TheState of Things” ($90,000*)Watauga County$4,370 to Appalachian StateUniversity, BooneBlowing Rock HistoricalSociety for Flat Top Manor:The People and Its History,a symposium to highlightthe history of the 3,500acre estate and the peoplewho lived there, Moses andBertha Cone and thirty tenantfamilies ($7,116*)$5,000 to Appalachian StateUniversity’s Department ofEnglish, BooneGo Back and Fetch It:African American BanjoTraditions Now and Then, adocumentary of 2005 BlackBanjo Exhibit and Gathering,an event which placed theorigins of the banjo in Africaand provided a glimpse ofa new generation of AfricanAmerican string players($5,000*)The 2007 JohnTyler CaldwellAwa r d f o r t h eHumanitiesEmily Herring Wilson is the North CarolinaHumanities Council’s 2007 John Tyler CaldwellLaureate. “We are honored to acknowledgeEmily’s life with the Caldwell Award, notedHumanities Council Board Chair Lynn JonesEnnis. “Emily is a living testament to the humanitiesin North Carolina and across the country.”Following the annual Caldwell Lecture on theHumanities, presented by Tom Lambeth, formerdirector of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation,Valeria Lee, of the Golden LEAF Foundation,conducted an informal conversation with EmilyWilson. The roots duo Polecat Creek performedas part of the ceremony.Writer, lecturer, poet, community volunteer, andgardener, Wilson has authored and edited severalbooks, including No One Gardens Alone: A Lifeof Elizabeth Lawrence (2004); Two Gardeners:Katharine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence —A Friendship in Letters (2002); North CarolinaWomen: Making History, co-authored withMargaret Supplee Smith (1999); and Hope andDignity: Older Black Women of the South (1983).In 1999, she was awarded the Mayflower Cup forthe best book of non-fiction for North CarolinaWomen.$2,000 to the Green HillCenter for North Carolina ArtTextile Monuments Exhibit,an exhibit of current NorthNC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 21

The Teachers InstituteThe Teachers Institute helped remind me why I am a teacher, and because of that, I continue to be one.~Teachers Institute ParticipantThe Teachers Institute isa FREE, interdisciplinary professionaldevelopment program for K–12 NorthCarolina public school teachers.The North Carolina HumanitiesCouncil has completed a comprehensiveassessment of the past ten years(1996-2006) of Teachers Instituteprogramming. Based on evaluationinformation, TI now offers• additional programming forteachers with four weekendseminars during the academicyear and a week-long seminar inthe summer• options for summer seminarparticipants to earn graduatecredit through UNC Greensboro• grant-writing workshops forteachers to provide professionaldevelopment opportunities fortheir own school systemsMajor Impact Evaluation ResultsThe Teachers Institute• is the only professional developmentprogram for teachers in thestate that focuses solely ongraduate-level study andacademic enrichment• addresses teacher retentionissues ~ 60% cite their participationin the Teachers Instituteas a major reason for remainingin education• creates better teaching andclassroom planning ~ 81%report student success withhigher-order thinking skills• prepares teachers to becomeresources for their own faculty~ 90% specify ways they shareInstitute materials and knowledgewith their colleagues• moves teachers forward in theirprofessional growth ~ 40%report work toward additionalcertifications and/or higheracademic degreesAdditional FindingsBetween 1996 and 2006, the TeachersInstitute has reached over 600educators in 72 NC school districts.Participating teachers have, in turn,shared resources and ideas withtheir colleagues and have enrichedthe curriculum for a vast number ofstudents.Teachers Institute participant Kim Locklear(Robeson Co. Schools) looks on as LendellWayne (Lenoir Co. Schools) shares a newsarticle highlighting their summer seminarexperience at Somerset Place in Creswell, NC.Photo by Jennifer McCollum.Teachers Institute Participant CountiesTeachers Institute Sites22 • North Carolina Humanities Council

Let’s Talk About ItLet’s Talk About It is alibrary discussion series that bringsscholars and community memberstogether to explore how selectedbooks, films, and poetry illuminatea particular theme. The book seriesincludes nine weeks of reading anddiscussion held every other weekand led by a new scholar each week.(*Some libraries opt for a four-bookseries.) The film series offers sixweeks of film and discussion heldweekly and led by one scholar.The poetry series offers six weeksof reading-audio/video-discussionprograms that are held weeklyand led by one scholar. “Let’s TalkAbout It” is sponsored by the NorthCarolina Humanities Council incooperation with the North CarolinaCenter for the Book, a program ofthe State Library of North Carolina,Department of Cultural Resources.ALAMANCE COUNTYGraham Public Library, GrahamNC Reads NC: Our Poets SpeakAlamance County Public Libraries,BurlingtonTar Heel Fiction: A Second LookBLADEN COUNTYBladen County Public Library,ElizabethtownTar Heel Fiction: Literary Perspectiveson North CarolinaCABARRUS COUNTYCabarrus County Public Library, ConcordThe Journey Inward — Women’sAutobiographyCALDWELL COUNTYFriends of the Caldwell County PublicLibrary & the Caldwell County PublicLibrary, LenoirMysteries: Clues to Who We AreCARTERET COUNTYCarteret County Public Library, BeaufortMaking a Living, Making a LifeCarteret County Public Library, BeaufortJourneys across Time and SpaceCASWELL COUNTY*Caswell Friends of the Library, Inc.,YanceyvilleHow Folklife Crafts Our Literature,Lives, and CommunitiesCATAWBA COUNTYHickory Public Library, HickoryHow Folklife Crafts Our Literature,Lives, and CommunitiesCRAVEN COUNTYNew Bern-Craven County Public Library,New BernNot for Children OnlyDAVIDSON COUNTYFriends of the Lexington Library,LexingtonHow Folklife Crafts Our Literature,Lives, and CommunitiesDAVIE COUNTYDavie County Public Library, MocksvilleA Reader’s FeastEDGECOMBE COUNTYEdgecombe County Memorial Library,TarboroFaith Differences and Different FaithsHAYWOOD COUNTYFriends of the Haywood County PublicLibrary, WaynesvilleDestruction or RedemptionIREDELL COUNTYIredell Friends of the Library, StatesvilleTar Heel Fiction: A Second LookMARTIN COUNTYMartin Memorial Library, WilliamstonNot for Children OnlyMcDOWELL COUNTYFriends of McDowell County PublicLibrary, MarionNot for Children OnlyNASH COUNTYBraswell Memorial Library, Rocky MountWhat America ReadsONSLOW COUNTYFriends of Sneads Ferry Library, SneadsFerryMysteries: Clues to Who We ArePAMLICO COUNTYPamlico County Library, BayboroMad Women in the AtticPamlico County Library, BayboroMaking a Living, Making a LifePENDER COUNTYTopsail Township Friends of the Library,HampsteadMysteries: Clues to Who We ArePERSON COUNTYFriends of the Person County Library,RoxboroJourneys across Time and PlacePITT COUNTYSheppard Memorial Library, GreenvilleJourneys across Time & PlaceROWAN COUNTYRowan Public Library, SalisburyTar Heel Fiction: A Second LookSURRY COUNTYFriends of the Mount Airy Public Library,Mount AiryNot for Children OnlyUNION COUNTY*Union County Public Library, MonroeOne Vision, Many Voices: LatinoLiterature in the U.S.VANCE COUNTYFriends of the Perry Library, HendersonTar Heel Fiction: Literary Perspectiveson North CarolinaWAKE COUNTYCameron Village Library, RaleighThe Way We Were, The Way We AreWake County Public Library, RaleighTwentieth-Century African AmericanLiteratureWAYNE COUNTYWayne County Public Library, GoldsboroThe Sixties: A Film History ofAmerica’s Decade of Crisis andChangePhoto by Jennifer McCollum.Let’s Talk About ItMultiple Let’s Talk About It Programs in County23

Road ScholarsThe North Carolina Humanities Council has been offering speakers, free of charge, to public audiencessince 1990. Road Scholar speakers provide stimulating and fascinating programs to cities, towns, and rural communitiesacross the state.This year’s new catalog features more than 50 speakers whose lectures focus on issues of history, literature, philosophy,ethics, religious studies, linguistics, jurisprudence, history and criticism of the arts, sociology, and certain aspects of socialscience. (Additional speakers are also listed on the Council website.) These speakers explore North Carolina in a multitude ofways: rural farm life, regional folklore, the dynamics of ethnic populations throughout the state, and the history of local traditions,to name a few. Others discuss the legacies of historical events such as the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898, the HarlemRenaissance, and the Holocaust.ALAMANCE COUNTYAlamance Community College,GrahamFabric of Hope andResistance$700Elon University, ElonDemocratic Reconstructionsof Religions and WorldPeace$2350ALLEGHANY COUNTYAlleghany County Library,SpartaSuper Scenic Motorway$1090ASHE COUNTYFriends of the Ashe CountyPublic Library, West JeffersonStill Cookin’$650Friends of the Ashe CountyPublic Library, West JeffersonWe Have Stories$650BEAUFORT COUNTYHistoric Bath, BathWar Zone$650Historic Bath, BathEntering a White Profession$300BRUNSWICK COUNTYLeland Library, LelandLost Light$810Harper Library, SouthportHow Shipwrecks Shapedthe Destiny of the OuterBanks$895BUNCOMBE COUNTYPack Memorial Library,AshevilleWitness to the Holocaust$320Skyland/S. Buncombe Library,AshevilleAudacious and Fantastic$775CASWELL COUNTYCaswell County HistoricalAssociation, YanceyvilleTrading Paths and theContact Era in NC$765CATAWBA COUNTYSouthwest Branch Library,HickorySincere Forms of Flattery$600Patrick Beaver MemorialLibrary, HickoryFannin’ the Heat Away$1114Catawba County PublicLibrary, NewtonCreating the Blue RidgeParkway$750CHEROKEE COUNTYChatauqua AVE, AndrewsCherokee Removal$285Chatauqua AVE, AndrewsLong Legacies$530CHOWAN COUNTYShepard-Pruden PublicLibrary, EdentonDiscovering Elvis$424CRAVEN COUNTYTryon Palace, New BernHarlem Renaissance$1150CURRITUCK COUNTYCorolla Friends of the Library,CorollaAmerican Popular Music$430Currituck County PublicLibrary, BarcoAmerican Popular Music$400Corolla Friends of the Library,CorollaLost Light$820Currituck County PublicLibrary, BarcoLost Light$875Corolla Friends of the Library,CorollaGermany’s U-85$690Currituck County PublicLibrary, BarcoGermany’s U-85$503DARE COUNTYGraveyard of the AtlanticMuseum, HatterasGermany’s U-85$1450Outer Banks History Center,ManteoVirginia Dare in Fact andFancy$650DAVIE COUNTYDavidson County CommunityCollege, MocksvilleTrading Paths and theContact Era in NC$1500Davie County Senior Services,MocksvilleStill Cookin’$925DURHAM COUNTYOsher Lifelong Learning,DurhamNC Way: Civil Rights andWrongs in the 20th Century$125Durham Parks & Recreation,DurhamKwanzaa$1020Durham Tech CommunityCollege, DurhamCulture and PersonalExperience Inform aWriter’s Work$1250Osher Lifelong Learning,DurhamSincere Forms of Flattery$525Osher Lifelong Learning,DurhamWhat Happened to theLost Colony$525FORSYTH COUNTYWinston Salem Writers,Winston-SalemVirginia Dare in Fact andFancy$700FRANKLIN COUNTYLouisburg College, LouisburgCulture and PersonalExperience Inform a Writer’sWork$410GASTON COUNTYGaston County Public Library,GastoniaVirginia Dare in Fact andFancy$1275Gaston County Public LibraryGastoniaThe Heart Has Reasons$510GUILFORD COUNTYCentenary United MethodistChurch, GreensboroNC Alive$325Senior Resources of GuilfordCounty, GreensboroAppalachian Story Quilt$325First Presbyterian Church,GreensboroLost Light$1178Greensboro Power Squadron,GreensboroLife Along the Waterways$725Guilford Park PresbyterianChurch, GreensboroIslam: History, Traditions,Practices$200Greensboro Power Squadron,GreensboroBlackbeard$250First Presbyterian Church,GreensboroNC Alive$1003Senior Resources of GuilfordCounty, GreensboroAppalachian Story Quilt$300Senior Resources of GuilfordCounty, GreensboroAppalachian Story Quilt$275HARNETT COUNTYCampbell University Dept.of Government, Buies CreekSouthern Writing asHistorical Perspective$1625Campbell University Dept.of Government, Buies CreekHard Times, Mill Workers$1073HENDERSON COUNTYBlue Ridge CommunityCollege, HendersonvilleDiscover the Gilded Age$305Blue Ridge CommunityCollege, HendersonvilleAudacious and Fantastic$560Henderson County PublicLibrary, HendersonvilleBallad Novels of SharynMcCrumb$925Blue Ridge CommunityCollege, HendersonvilleCarolina Mountains: Writersand Travelers$350Blue Ridge CommunityCollege, HendersonvilleA Confluence of RemarkableWomen$300Blue Ridge CommunityCollege, HendersonvilleCherokee CeremonialPractices in the 1800s$425Blue Ridge CommunityCollege, HendersonvilleArchaeology of the SouthernAppalachians$400National League of AmericanPen Women, HendersonvilleRich & Fertile Mystery$560IREDELL COUNTYMitchell Community College,StatesvilleWitness to the Holocaust$625Mitchell Community College,StatesvilleBreaking the Silence& Healing the Soul$835Mitchell Community College,StatesvilleBuilding CommunityThrough Writing$91524 • North Carolina Humanities Council

JACKSON COUNTYNorton/Cashiers HomemakersClub, Cashiers & NortonRole of the Chestnut inAppalachian Life$430LEE COUNTYSanford Literary Club, SanfordJohn Charles McNeill$1425MECKLENBURGCOUNTYBeatties Ford Road Library,CharlotteKwanzaa$1150Freedom Regional Library,CharlotteKwanzaa$1150Charlotte Folk Society,CharlotteJane Hicks Gentry$1200Levine Sklut Judaic Library,CharlotteThe Heart Has Reasons$950MITCHELL COUNTYMayfield Community CollegeLifelong Learning,Spruce PineFrederick Law Olmsted$650Mayfield Community CollegeLifelong Learning,Spruce PineSuper Scenic Motorway$1000MOORE COUNTYWalter Hines Page Book Club,Southern PinesVirginia Dare in Fact andFancy$630Southern Pines Public Library,Southern PinesLong Legacies$722Sandhills Community College,PinehurstJohn Charles McNeill$1550Center for CreativeRetirement,Sandhills Community College,PinehurstBlackbeard$425Arts Council of Moore County,Southern PinesLiterary Chagall$875Sandhills Community College,PinehurstBlackbeard$525NASH COUNTYNC Wesleyan College,Rocky MountDemocratic Reconstructionof Religions and WorldPeace$585Rocky Mount Power Squadron,Rocky MountHow Shipwrecks Shapedthe Destiny of the OuterBanks$47520th Century Study Club,Rocky MountJohn Charles McNeill$1125Rocky Mount Kiwanis,Rocky MountLife Along the Waterways$1125Rocky Mount Power Squadron,Rocky MountBlackbeard$350ONSLOW COUNTYOnslow County Public Library,JacksonvilleWar Zone$765ORANGE COUNTYCarol Woods RetirementCenter, Chapel HillBlackbeard$825UNC Alumni Association,Chapel HillJohn Charles McNeill$1525UNC Curriculum in Folklore,Chapel HillOrville Hicks: Mule EggSeller$1223Carol Woods RetirementCenter, Chapel HillSleeping Single in a DoubleBed$625PASQUOTANK COUNTYElizabeth City State University,Elizabeth CityLandfall Expedition$150Museum of the Albemarle,Elizabeth CityGermany’s U-85$1545PENDER COUNTYHistorical Society of TopsailIsland, Topsail BeachLife Along the Waterways$284Pender County HistoricalSociety, BurgawFannin’ the Heat Away$690PERSON COUNTYResearch Club, RoxboroAmerican Women’s Humor$470PITT COUNTYUnitarian UniversalistCongregation, GreenvilleEntering a White Profession$542Eastern NC Associationof Black Social Workers,GreenvilleAfrican American Churchin Works by Ernest Gaines$1965East Carolina Univ. FolkloreArchive, GreenvilleOrville Hicks: Mule EggSeller$550Unitarian UniversalistCongregation, GreenvilleDouglas Freeman & theSouthern IntellectualCommunity$625RANDOLPH COUNTYHillsville History Club, TrinityTrading Paths and theContact Era in NC$693ROCKINGHAM COUNTYRockingham County HistoricalSociety, ReidsvilleEngland’s First Frontier$325SAMPSON COUNTYSampson County Hall of Fame,ClintonWe Have Stories$1742STOKES COUNTYWalnut Cove Senior Center,Walnut CoveFannin’ the Heat Away$825TYRELL COUNTYTyrrell County Public Library,ColumbiaSnakes in the Collards atthe Grocery Store$350WAKE COUNTYNC Museum of History,RaleighSincere Forms of Flattery$335Cameron Village Library,RaleighVirginia Dare in Fact andFancy$570Micajah Bullock ChapterNC DAR, RaleighTrading Paths and theContact Era in NC$550Raleigh-Wake ReadingAssociation, RaleighAppalachian Story Quilt$1450NC Museum of History,RaleighWhat Happened to theLost Colony$1640Holly Springs Branch Library,Holly SpringsCultural Writing Using Music& Visual Art in Poetry$585Holly Springs Branch Library,Holly SpringsBlackbeard$405WATAUGA COUNTYWatauga County Library,BooneLong Legacies$245Center for Judaic, Holocaust &Peace Studies, BooneChagall and the Bible$1012Appalachian State University,BooneMyths, Legends, and SacredPlaces of the Cherokee$566Center for Judaic, Holocaust &Peace Studies, BooneChagall Biblical Windows:St. Stephan’s Church$1112WAYNE COUNTYWayne County Public Library,GoldsboroStill Cookin’$1900Goldsboro Sail & PowerSquadron, GoldsboroBlackbeard$500Road Scholars CountiesMultiple Road Scholars in County25

2007 North CarolinaHumanities Council DonorsWe are pleased to acknowledge with deep appreciation the many individuals and foundations that generously contributed tothe North Carolina Humanities Council during the 2007 Calendar Year. Donors that were inadvertently omitted for 2006 inthe previous issue of the North Carolina Conversations are noted as well. Support from foundations, corporate givers, organizations,and individuals is critical in funding the Humanities Council’s programs and projects throughout the state. On behalfof all the North Carolinians served, the Humanities Council thanks its generous donors.DESIGNATED GIFTSTEACHERS INSTITUTEENDOWMENTBill & Sandra Moore/Triangle CommunityFoundation(2006, 2007)Russell & Sally Robinson/Foundation for theCarolinas (2006, 2007)TEACHERS INSTITUTEEd & Mary Martin BordenRobert & Peggy B.Culbertson/Foundationfor the CarolinasJohn & Grace McKinnonThrus & Patty MortonSherwood & Eve SmithLeon & Sandra Levine/TheLeon Levine FoundationState of North Carolina/Department of PublicInstructionThe Alice BarkleyScholarshipThe John T. CaldwellScholarshipLET’S TALK ABOUT ITNorth Carolina Departmentof Cultural ResourcesHelen E. CrispWE THE PEOPLERichard J. RichardsonREGRANTThe North CarolinianaSocietyROAD SCHOLARSThrus & Patty MortonCALDWELL PROGRAMH. G. JonesBetty Ray McCainBENEFACTORSRobert S. BrunkRobert & Peggy CulbertsonMurphy & Helen Wolfe EvansFrank & Jane HanesBarnes & CammieHauptfuhrerLuther & Cheray HodgesLeon & Sandra Levine/TheLeon Levine FoundationJohn & Grace McKinnonWyndham Robertson(2006, 2007)Russell & Sally RobinsonMary D. B. T. SemansLanty & Margaret SmithBen Wilcox & Patsy DavisEd & Marylyn WilliamsPATRONSShelley J. CrispMarvin V. CurtisJoseph P. & Victoria DurhamBill & Marcie FerrisBen & Norma FountainDonald Mathews & Betsy F.BufordJohn and Polly MedlinMyles, Edward, Alice StandishJeanne L. TannenbaumHarry Tuchmayer & KathleenBerkeleyPARTNERSSamuel & Carol BoggessPaul & Jean CarrAl & Jo Ann CorumLarry & Sarah DagenhartRoddey & Pepper Dowd/TheDowd FoundationEducational Media FoundationCalvin L. HallTom & Donna LambethJane Ann LoveTownsend LudingtonJohn & Lucinda H. MacKethanJohn Parker & Easter MaynardSheila NicklasJames & Florence PeacockJim & Libby PrestonAl & Suzy PurringtonDavid & Jenny RouthGeorge & Melinda StuartTeen TimberlakeWillis P. WhichardADVOCATESJohn & Christine AlmeidaBecky AndersonColin K. Austin & JillHemmingWilliam B. AycockJune P. BairRita BargMike & Sylvia BerkelhammerH. David BrutonRichard & Brooke BurrCharles F. CaldwellJoseph & Shelley L. CallahanPaul & Bessie CarringtonAlan ConeJulie CurdAnne C. DahleLucy D. DanielsDick & Marlene DaughertyDonald & Ramona EnsleySteven FerebeeStan & JoAnn FoxHarvey & Cindy GanttWilliam & Becky GibsonSandy GovanHarlan Joel Gradin & EliseGoldwasserPaul & Anne GulleyJohn & Stephanie HaleyTom Hanchett & Carol SawyerBertha Merrill HoltBob & Kathy HykesDavid & Nancy JonesH. G. JonesJim KrattSarah E. LeakEdwin B. LeeCatherine K. LevinsonThe Marc Mattye SilvermanFamily FoundationTom & Joanna Ruth MarslandBetty Ray McCainThomas A. McGowanThomas and Jane NorrisDan OkunSarah ParkerMary Dudley P. PriceMr. & Mrs. J. Timothy ProutAl & Suzy PurringtonDorothy Spruill RedfordLorraine H. RobinsonSampson Arts Council, Inc.Richard R. & Sandra SchrammHoward & Juanita SpanogleJim & Linda F. TaborWilliam H. TerryEunice L. ToussaintStella A. TrappBurton & Nan WeissJohn R. WesterLynn Wright-KernodleASSOCIATESE. Osborn & Emily AyscueAlice S. BarkleyKate D. Weaver BarrowBarbara BirgeBlue Ridge ParkwayFoundationSuzan BlyGloria N. BlytheRichard D. CarmichaelPeter CaulfieldJames W. Clark, Jr.Georgena H. ClaytonGenevieve E. ColeGrady & Elizabeth CooperWilliam Darity & KirstenMullenVirginia DeLaceyJim & Pam DoughertyPhyllis H. DunningCarl & Janet Ray EdwardsLynn Jones EnnisFriends of Carl Sandburg atConnemaraFriends of the Ashe CountyPublic LibraryHenry & Shirley FryeS. Hewitt FultonFarnum Gray & DarlyneMenscerChuck & Kate GreenMadeleine R. GrumetRobert C. HansenElizabeth M. HolstenTricia Inlow-HatcherRichard H. KohnMary Louise R. LittleForrest & Eldiweiss LockeyPaul Luebke & Carol GallioneEmory and Martha MaidenNancy P. MangumRebekah H. MegerianRosalie V. MillerRichard D. MooreCecil & Vivian PattersonJames & Florence PeacockSuzanne PellJ. Dickson PhillipsMr. & Mrs. William S. PowellGlenn & Linda RankinGregory A. RichardsonRyan RiddleAlex F. & Elizabeth A. RolandEdward & Thomasina SadlerTodd L. SavittStephen M. Schewel & LaoRupertRobert & Pearl SeymourJack & Helen S. SharpeBland & Ann SimpsonNeva SpechtMelinda Young StuartSteve SumerfordJim & Linda TaborTed Thompson & Rep. MaggieJeffusMonica ThompsonRichard A. WhiteSim O. WildeKen & Jayne WolfskillMary Ann YarboroughJames E. YoungFRIENDSCatherine L. AdamsJ. Allen AdamsCarolyn T. AllenSteven AndersonRobert G. Anthony, Jr.Edwin T. Arnold, IIIFrannie AshburnPhil & Margaret B. BaddourClara Bond BellJanet BenwayBlue Ridge Center for LifelongLearningLaura BoosingerBurning Coal TheaterCompanyCatawba County HistoricalAssociationChatham County Arts CouncilPatricia S. ClarkClem & Hayes ClementCorbin & Joann CooperWilliam DickinsonDiane S. DonovanTiffany D. DoveJennifer EdwardsMadeline FlaglerFriends of the Leland LibraryFriends of Sneads FerryLibraryTristan GenettaAbbe GodwinDeborah HallamJonathan & Nahomi HarkavyMr. & Mrs. Christopher M.HarrisAnna HayesKristin HerzogAnnie Hicks-HagerMary Gee HollowayFrances HuffmanCharity JohanssonKen & Jean JohnsonReece & Ruth Jones26 • North Carolina Humanities Council

Leah KarpenWilliam Keesler &Barbara PresnellLee KennettJulia KevilleRhonda KonigDebra KuhnDana B. LacyValeria L. LeePeter F. Lydens & LindaG. WrightTom & Diane MagnusonTom & ElizabethMcPhersonMiranda MonroeCatherine E. MooreSyd Nathans & JudithWhiteRon & Kathy OakleyRobert W. Oast, Jr.Algine N. OgburnLeland M. ParkSylvia S. PinyanThe Riverside Church inthe City of New YorkLeonard W. RogoffThe Roxboro ResearchClubJohn L. SandersW. G. & T. P. SasserRichard & Linda SealeStephen & ElizabethSimmonsDavid SontagShelby StephensonU.T. Miller SummersJoe & Amy ThompsonWilliam H. ToweTom & Karyn TrautMichael & SandraWagonerPeter F. WalkerJeanne W. WallJames M. WallaceClarence R. WaltonClem & Helen WaltonDavid & Marsha WarrenWayne County PublicLibraryIsabelle WebbAnne B. WilgusGrace G. WilsonGarland & Jane YoungJames E. YoungJean & Paul YountVicki YurkoIN HONOR OF...Alton BallanceRobert AnthonyAlice Smith BarkleyE. Osborne Ayscue,Jr.Sarah E. LeakAlice Barkley & HarlanGradinAl & Jo Ann CorumSally & RobertBucknerAnne C. DahleJanie Leigh CarterTeen TimberlakeFred & Susan ChappellBecky AndersonSue S. PhillipsShelley CrispSuzan BlyRebekah H. MegerianMyles, Edward, AliceStandishPeggy CulbertsonMattye & MarcSilvermanMr. & Mrs. DougDibbertTom LambethLynn Jones Ennis,Helen WolfeEvans & LucindaMacKethanChuck & Kate GreenJoel L. Fleishman &William Ivey LongJeanne TannenbaumTristan Blake GenettaJean & Paul YountHarlan GradinSuzanne PellCalvin HallHoward & JuanitaSpanogleTrudier HarrisJohn & ChristineAlmeidaHumanities CouncilStaff & AliceBarkleyHarlan Joel Gradin &Elise GoldwasserHumanities CouncilStaffSteve SumerfordWalter JacksonSteve Schewel & LaoRupertPeter KaufmanDavid & Jenny RouthLouly Peacock KonzJames & FlorencePeacockLaura A. Kratt &George ElamJim KrattTownsend LudingtonDavid & MarshaWarrenKatharine MeachamCarol BoggessHumanities CouncilStaffSuzanne PellGlenn PerkinsClara Bond BellDick & Jean PhillipsElizabeth M. HolstenDoug QuinWillis P. WhichardMr. & Mrs. Jessie W.RichardsonGregory A.RichardsonMary Trent SemansClem & HayesClementMr. & Mrs.Christopher M.HarrisInza WalstonGeorgena H. ClaytonDavid & MarshaWarrenTownsend LudingtonR. L. & Kay WatsonDavid and NancyJonesWillis P. WhichardWilliam B. AycockShelley CrispEmily Herring WilsonPatricia S. ClarkKen JohnsonH. G. JonesBetty Ray McCainDonald Mathews &Betsy F. BufordLynn Wright-KernodleClem & HayesClementIN MEMORY OF...George E. BairJune P. BairSandy BasnightBetty Ray McCainFrances F. BufordDonald Mathews &Betsy F. BufordBetty Ray McCainAlfred A. DunnThomas A. McGowanWilma DykemanLaura BoosingerGeorge H. EsserBland & AnnSimpsonLinda FlowersSteve FerebeeW. G. & T. P. SasserAnn B. WilgusStephen Lee GaillardEdwin B. LeeAllison & SarahKinneyDebra KuhnJohn Lewis McCain,M.D.Betty Ray McCainJames Otis Mullen& Evangeline R.DarityWilliam Darity &Kirsten MullenJohn RossDonald & RamonaEnsleyZachary T. SmithTom & DonnaLambethKatharine E. WhiteRichard A. WhiteThe 2007L i n d a F l o w e r sLiterary AwardSusan Weinberg Vogel, Associate Professor ofEnglish and Creative Writing at Appalachian StateUniversity, was awarded the 2007 Linda FlowersLiterary Award for her creative nonfiction essay“The Pick-up Line.” Vogel’s entry was amongmore than fifty received from across the southeastand as far away as California for the annualNorth Carolina Humanities Council’s writingcompetition. “The Pick-up Line” recounts Vogel’sexperience as a foster parent savoring the relationshipshe has been able to maintain with herfoster son and his brother, even after they haveresumed life with their biological mother. “ThePick-up Line” was featured in the inaugural issueof North Carolina Conversations. In addition,Vogel received a $500 cash prize and a writer’sresidency at the Weymouth Center for the Artsand Humanities in Southern Pines, NC.Every dollar spent on a North Carolina Humanities Council program• Ensures free public humanities programs for North Carolinians statewide• Makes use of scholars in colleges and universities as well as lay scholars across the state• Represents at least one or more matching dollars of in-kind support or matched spending• Provides seed money for programs that promote community awareness, understanding, and insight• Provides opportunities for citizens to learn and create together• Makes knowledge about North Carolina’s culture and history available for future generationsTO FIND OUT HOW TO MAKE A DONATION, VISIT WWW.NCHUMANITIES.ORG .NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 27

TeachersInstitute“Somerset Place: Slavery and Its Legacy”A Teachers Institute Summer Seminar — July 13–18, 2008Lynn Wright-KernodleThis has been one of the most enriching and informative seminars I’veever attended.~ Seminar ParticipantFor six very hot, very full daysin July, 39 educators from eighteenNorth Carolina counties exploredwith scholars and North CarolinaHumanities Council staff the historyof slavery and its legacy in easternNorth Carolina and the South. UsingSomerset Place plantation, a statehistoric site in Creswell, NC, as thefocus for this study, participantsdiscussed such issues as the healthcare and education of the enslaved,the separation of families duringthe Antebellum period, and thecontinuing impact of this era on race,economics, and education.Participants read five books in preparationfor this summer seminar:• The Waterman’s Song: Slaveryand Freedom in Maritime NorthCarolina, David Cecelski• Incidents in the Life of a SlaveGirl, Harriet Jacobs• Somerset Homecoming:Recovering a Lost Heritage,Dorothy Spruill Redford• Blood Done Sign My Name,Timothy Tyson• Self-Taught: African AmericanEducation in Slavery andFreedom, Heather A. WilliamsLead scholars were Dorothy SpruillRedford, Executive Director ofSomerset Place and a descendantof Somerset’s enslaved people, andHeather A. Williams, an associateprofessor in the history departmentat UNC Chapel Hill. Visiting scholarswere Todd Savitt, a professor ofmedical humanities at East CarolinaUniversity’s School of Medicine, andTim Tyson, a senior scholar at theCenter for Documentary Studies atDuke University.In addition to classroom activities,participants learned throughnumerous hands-on experiences. Onefull day at Somerset Place, participantsmade baskets and candles,hand-ginned cotton, churned butter,ground corn, and cooked a mealover an open hearth. On anotherday, participants canoed or kayakedon the Scuppernong River with parkrangers from Pettigrew State Parkand saw first-hand the dark waterthat provided sustenance, escape,and danger for Somerset’s enslavedpeople. The Touring Theatre of NorthCarolina presented The Life andTimes of Fannie Lou Hamer, a playdepicting a brave woman’s struggleduring the Civil Rights Movement —a catalyst for discussing the legacyof slavery.Somerset Follow-up ~ Mary A. Bonnett, a participant in the Teachers Institutesummer seminar and teacher at the Swannanoa Vocational Youth Detention Facility, invitedNorth Carolina Humanities Council staff member Darrell Stover to visit her school and sharewith students part of the presentation he made at Somerset Place. His program included awriting workshop about poems inspired and informed by history. Bonnett reported thatStover motivated students to continue writing poetry and sparked in them a desire to explorehistory in a new way.

The Eastern 4H EnvironmentalEducation Conference Center locatedon the Albemarle Sound in nearbyColumbia, NC, was the site forlodging and classroom activities. Anadditional fifteen teachers stayed fora Humanities Council grant-writingworkshop on the Saturday morningfollowing the summer seminar. Fiveteachers will seek graduate creditduring the fall semester in a followupcourse to this beginning experienceat Somerset.The Teachers Institute is designed tocreate strong learning communitiesthroughout the state. Participantsencourage each other as they enrichtheir teaching and the classroomcurriculum. One teacher’s descriptionof the Somerset experience highlightsthis kind of enrichment:All the aspects of the seminar— history, stories, art, music —provided a comprehensiveapproach which allowed us toappreciate the history of slaveryand to give us the courage tostand up for justice — and tofurther teach our children.~Seminar Participant“I Started with the People First”Linda S. HarrelsonHarrelson is a professional development trainer with the NewHanover County Schools in Wilmington, NC.After a lingering breakfast and one last round of hugs andgood-byes, I started my lone four-hour journey home. As I drovedown the winding roads of eastern North Carolina, my mind swirledwith the adventures of my week — bits of conversation, phrasesfrom songs, scenes from the play, scholars sharing their expertise.Then, the memory of Dorothy Spruill Redford’s introductory words— “I started with the people first” — took me back to SomersetPlace and the enslaved people began to come back to life. I heardthe whispers, the moans, the singing as they worked day after day,year after year, under circumstances almost impossible to understand.In my mind’s eye, I saw the open fields, the remains of thecanal originally dug out of the swampland, the slave quarters, andthe plantation house. Then, I heard Dorothy’s voice again, “Thingswe value, we preserve.” I am grateful for the contributions she madeto preserve Somerset and to ensure that her ancestors will be foreverremembered.“Things we value, we preserve.” I will preserve in my memory adeep understanding and respect for the enslaved people of Somersetwho used their muscles, their intellect, and their inner strength tomake a lasting impact on our society.I also have a deep respect for the people who bring these summerseminars to life and appreciate the efforts of the North CarolinaHumanities Council’s Teachers Institute to provide such a richlearning environment for the state’s public school educators. Mydays at “Somerset Place: Slavery and ItsLegacy” flowed with different experiencesand activities and scholars — all of whichcame together into one unforgettableweek. While this was my first experiencewith the Teachers Institute, I amconfident that it will not be my last. I amalready looking forward to the next one.Harrelson peels potatoes for the fish stew alreadycooking on the open-hearth. Photo by DonovanMcKnight.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 29

Generous Donors Provide ScholarshipsTeachers Institute programs are free for those K-12 public school teachers who are accepted for participation.Grants from foundations, monies from the National Endowment for the Humanities “We the People” initiative, andfunds from the NC General Assembly help support the Teachers Institute.However, without gifts from individual donors, the North Carolina Humanities Council would not be able to offer theseprofessional development opportunities to as many educators. The teachers, their colleagues, and their students benefitfrom the generosity of these donors.Twelve teachers received scholarships provided by the generous gifts of individual donors.These teachers and their scholarship sponsors are listed below.Alice Smith Barkley Endowed Scholar,Nikisha S. LeakLanguage arts, Rowan Salisbury Schools —Scholarship gift from Polly and John Medlinfrom Winston-Salem and Sally and BobMcCoy, formerly of Winston-Salem, in honor ofAlice Smith Barkley, former Executive Directorof the North Carolina Humanities CouncilCaldwell Endowed Scholar,Lynne McNeilLanguage arts, Randolph County Schools— Scholarship gift from the North CarolinaHumanities Council’s Caldwell Fundwhich honors one of the Council’s foundingmembers, John Tyler CaldwellAlice Smith Barkley Endowed Scholar,Tiffany MayoMedia Specialist, Carteret County Schools —Scholarship gift from Polly and John Medlinfrom Winston-Salem and Sally and Bob McCoy,formerly of Winston-Salem, in honor of AliceSmith Barkley, former Executive Director of theNorth Carolina Humanities CouncilCulbertson Scholar, Nicole CovingtonScience teacher, Richmond County Schools —Scholarship gift from Peggy and Bob Culbertsonof CharlotteBordon Scholar, Connie WhaleyLanguage arts and social studies, WayneCounty Schools — Scholarship gift fromMary Martin and Ed Borden of GoldsboroLevine Scholar, Alice Mae EvansScience, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools— Scholarship gift from Sandra and LeonLevine/ The Levine Foundation, CharlotteCaldwell Endowed Scholar,Carl Brent LocklearSchool counselor, Robeson County Schools— Scholarship gift from the North CarolinaHumanities Council’s Caldwell Fundwhich honors one of the Council’s foundingmembers, John Tyler CaldwellLevine Scholar, Artarshia LyonsScience and social studies, CharlotteMecklenburg Schools — Scholarship giftfrom Sandra and Leon Levine/The LevineFoundation, Charlotte30 • North Carolina Humanities Council

Seminar Offers Personaland Professional GrowthTiffany MayoMayo is a Media Specialist with theCarteret County Schoolsin Morehead City, NC.I recently attended the2008 Teachers Institute summerseminar sponsored by the NorthCarolina Humanities Council. As aTI alum, I was eager for an excitingjourney of learning and growing.However, I was unprepared forthe personal growth that I wouldexperience.The Teachers Institute is alwaysenlightening. This year, I learnedabout Somerset Place, slavery inNorth Carolina, experiences ofthose involved in the Civil RightsMovement, and about AfricanAmerican culture and heritage.Somerset was unlike any museum Ihave ever visited. Walking the plantationand hearing the stories of thepeople who lived there was riveting.Both intellectual and emotionallearning occurred as my colleaguesand I reenacted some of the jobs thatslaves were required to do every day,such as cooking over an open hearth,weaving baskets, churning butter,and making rope. The intense heatof summer, the exhaustion of theday, the thirst in my throat, and therepetitious work — for just one day— was enough to humble me.I was also moved by discussions withDorothy Redford, TI lead scholar andExecutive Director of Somerset, ofher extraordinary work over the pastthirty years to build Somersetinto a place of learning through theeyes of those who lived there. I wasinspired by her passion, honesty,and intellect.The other lead scholar, HeatherWilliams, an associate professor ofhistory at UNC Chapel Hill, spokeeloquently about the separationof enslaved families, making clearhow much we take our own freedomfor granted.Mayo churns butter in a 19th-century replicachurn. Photo by Donovan McKnight.I also learned from visiting scholarTim Tyson’s encouragement ofopen discussion. Discussing racewith honesty can be difficult, butacknowledging my own issues withrace was empowering to me.I am so grateful to the HumanitiesCouncil, the General Assemblyof North Carolina, and generousdonors for providing these seminars.I consider myself a lifelong learner.The opportunity to learn and to growis unique to the Teachers Institute.Moore-Robinson Endowed Scholar,Heather LynchAcademic Facilitator, Charlotte MecklenburgSchools — Scholarship gift from Sandra andBill Moore of Chapel Hill, NC, and Sallyand Russell Robinson of CharlotteMcKinnon Scholar, Kevin ClaryMedia Specialist, Stokes County Schools— Scholarship gift from Grace and JohnMcKinnon of Winston-SalemMoore-Robinson Endowed Scholar, Larry L.MooreFrench, Gaston County Schools — Scholarshipgift from Sandra and Bill Moore of ChapelHill, NC, and Sally and Russell Robinsonof CharlotteMorton Scholar, Julie BordoSpanish, New Hanover County Schools —Scholarship gift from Patty and Thrus Mortonof CharlottePhotos by Donovan McKnight.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 31

From thefieldThe Smithsonian Comesto North CarolinaThe North CarolinaHumanities Council is bringingMuseum on Main Street, an excitingtraveling Smithsonian exhibit,to North Carolina museums andhistoric sites in 2010. Museum onMain Street brings together theSmithsonian Institution TravelingExhibition Service (SITES), theFederation of State HumanitiesCouncils, individual state humanitiescouncils, and small rural museumsin a collaborative effort to serverural audiences. The partnership,established in 1991, was formed asa creative response to the challengesfaced by rural museums to enhancetheir own cultural legacies.By hosting a Smithsonian exhibitionaugmented by humanities programs,participating rural museums embracenew opportunities for professionaltraining in volunteerism, philanthropy,marketing, and collectionscare and handling. SITES providesstaff to help in exhibit managementand object care.The state humanities councils trainrural organizers in program planningand proposal writing. Workingwith in-state scholar teams, the statehumanities councils also provideresources to help museums prepareexhibition-related events for andabout their communities.Through the combined resources ofSITES and state humanities councils,the program provides a lasting legacyof professional development andtools for future growth.The Museum on Main Streetexhibitions, which have traveled tonearly seven hundred towns withpopulations of 500 to 20,000 inmore than forty states, capitalizedon small town local histories. Pastexhibits have included Produce forVictory: Posters on the AmericanHome Front, 1941-1945; BarnMuseum on Main Street’sNew HarmoniesThe New Harmonies:Celebrating American Roots Musicexhibit invites museum visitors tolisten to America’s music and hearthe story of freedom. It’s the storyof people in a New World, placesthey have left behind, and ideas theyhave brought with them. It is thestory of people who were alreadyhere, but whose world is remade.The distinct cultural identities of allof these people are carried in song —both sacred and secular. Their musictracks the unique history of manypeoples reshaping each other intoone incredibly diverse and complexpeople — Americans. Their music isthe roots of American music.The music that emerges is known bynames like blues, country western,folk ballads, and gospel. The soundsare as sweet as mountain air and

Again! Celebrating an AmericanIcon; Yesterday’s Tomorrows: PastVisions of the American Future;and Key Ingredients: America byFood. The exhibitions sparked anastonishing array of public programsthat in turn have generated unprecedentedvolunteerism, local philanthropy,cultural tourism, performingarts projects, and ambitious capitalimprovements.For SITES, Museum on Main Streetexemplifies the fulfillment of itsmission: to extend Smithsoniancollections, research, and exhibitionsto communities across the nation. ForState Humanities Councils, Museumon Main Street broadens publicinvestigation of the humanities,inspires community pride and cooperation,and develops heightenedawareness of local heritage.— —as point-person for the NewHarmonies exhibit tour throughthe state. He will collaborate withstaff at the exhibit sites, the statescholar, and the national MoMSteam over the three-year life cycleof the project.Stover founded and directed theSpoken Word Performance PoetryEnsemble in Washington, D.C.,and edited its anthology, Bad BeatsSacred Rhythms. He wrote andproduced “Run on Water,” an epicnarrative for radio, stage, and filmthat examines the Black experiencein coastal Carolina during theCivil War.As with these previous programs,Stover expects New Harmonies will“invite diverse audiences statewideto experience creative expressionthrough performances and toexplore the rich musical heritageof North Carolina and the country.”Darrell Stover, theHumanities Council’s ProgramAssociate and Statewide Coordinatorfor Museum on Main Street, servesHere Stover poses with a statue of hisfavorite jazz musician in High Point. Photoby Harlan Gradin.as sultry as a summer night inMississippi delta country. The instrumentsvary from fiddle to banjo toaccordion to guitar to drum. Buta drum in the hands of an Africansounds different than one in thehands of a European. And neither isthe drumbeat of an American Indian.Yet all the rhythms merge, as do themelodies and harmonies, producingcompletely new sounds — newmusic. The musics merge becausethis is America.The exhibition provides a fascinating,inspiring, and toe-tapping listento the American story of multiculturalexchange. The story is fullof surprises about familiar songs,histories of instruments, the rolesof religion and technology, and thecontinuity of musical roots from“Yankee Doodle Dandy” to the latesthip hop CD.The North Carolina HumanitiesCouncil has received proposalsfrom museums and historic sitesacross the state to host the NewHarmonies exhibit. Selected siteswill be announced in the fall. Eachsite will develop programming andactivities to complement the exhibit— for example, lectures, films, andperformances. Then New Harmonieswill be heard across the state in 2010.For more information contact DarrellStover, MoMS Statewide Coordinatorat (336) 334-5723 ordstover@nchumanities.org.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 33

CouncilBoardand StaffThe Millennial VoiceJennifer McCollumFor the past year, the NorthCarolina Humanities Council hashad the pleasure of employing twostudents from the University of NorthCarolina at Greensboro, BriannaBruce and Leda Wilkins Johnson.Originally from American Fork, UT,Johnson graduated in 2006 fromBrigham Young University with aB.A. in classical civilization and aminor in art history. She is now aMaster’s candidate at UNCG studyingpublic history with an emphasis inmuseum studies. At the Council shehas worked extensively with HarlinGradin, Associate Director andDirector of Community Development,in analyzing and evaluating the grantapplication process. She and ProgramAssociate and MoMS CoordinatorDarrell Stover are currently developing“North Carolina Roadwork,”a “We the People” initiative thatwill bring together diverse people ofvarying generations.Brianna Bruce, from Brooklyn, NY, iscompleting a B.A. in communicationsstudies with a minor in history atUNCG. She assists Associate Directorand Director of the Teachers InstituteLynn Wright-Kernodle in planningand organizing the Institute seminarsthat occur year-round. Bruce findsthese projects especially gratifyingbecause she can witness her workbenefiting North Carolina’s publiceducators.Johnson and Bruce represent anupsurge in the so-called MillennialGeneration’s interest in the humanities.Both women believe that today’syounger set is engaged in the humanities.Bruce says that the humanitiesare certainly “relevant” and importantto people in their 20s and 30s.She recalls, “Reading provided mewith a way to expand my imaginationin an active way, helped me developcritical thinking skills, and encouragedme to think more broadly.”“Nothing,” Johnson says, “liesoutside the realm of the humanities.They provide a medium forthe stories of all generations tobe heard.” But she also observes:“Perhaps we should broaden ourdefinition of the term ‘humanities’to include not only what it once wasbut also what it has become.”Brianna Bruce and Leda Wilkins Johnson. Photo by Donovan McKnight.

Council Bids a Fond Farewellto Out-Going Board MembersThe Humanities Council thanksthese board members for their expertiseand volunteerism. Their deep commitmenthas contributed significantly tothe Council’s mission to serve NorthCarolinians.• Dr. Carol BoggessGubernatorial AppointeeMadison and Yancey Counties• Dr. Sandra GovanMecklenburg County• The Reverend Jane Ann LoveHalifax County• Ms. Easter MaynardGubernatorial AppointeeWake County• The Honorable Willis P. WhichardFormer Council ChairGubernatorial AppointeeOrange County• Dr. Martin CurtisCumberland CountyLynn Jones Ennis,* ChairRaleighKathleen BerkeleyWilmingtonCarol Boggess*BurnsvilleRobert S. BrunkAshevilleJulie E. CurdChapel HillMarvin V. CurtisFayettevilleJoseph Porter Durham, Jr.CharlotteDonald EnsleyGreenvilleBoard Members* Gubernatorial AppointeeSandra GovanCharlotteCalvin HallBanner ElkTom LambethWinston-SalemJane Ann LoveFuquay-VarinaTownsend LudingtonChapel HillJoanna Ruth Marsland*Chapel HillEaster Maynard*RaleighMiranda M. MonroeFayettevilleADVISORY BOARDJim PrestonCharlotteGreg RichardsonRaleighDavid RouthChapel HillRichard SchrammCarrboroGeorge E. StuartBarnardsvilleJeanne TannenbaumGreensboroWillis P. Whichard*DurhamNorth Carolina HumanitiesCouncil Mission Statementand Core ValuesThe mission of the North CarolinaHumanities Council is to support throughgrants and public programs vital conversationsthat nurture the cultures and heritageof North Carolina.The North Carolina Humanities Councilascribes to the following core values:• A commitment to an interdisciplinaryapproach to the humanities• A commitment to dialogue• A commitment to self-discovery such thatan individual can come to one’s own understandingof the humanities — culture, identity,and history• A commitment to meeting communitymembers where they are and honoringall who participate• A commitment to humanities scholarship andscholars to develop humanities perspectives• A conviction that the end-result of participatingin the process of historical self-understandingis to become an informed and activecitizen willing to grapple in the public realmwith how to make decisions about local,public destiny• A long-standing programmatic commitmentto cultural diversity, meaning inclusivenessfor every North Carolina citizenSally Dalton Robinson,Chairand Russell RobinsonCharlotteDan and Earle BlueRaleighEd and Mary Martin BordenGoldsboroHerb and Frannie BrowneCharlottePaul and Jean CarrRaleighPeggy and RobertCulbertsonCharlotteLarry and Sarah DagenhartCharlotteRoddey and Pepper DowdCharlotteBob Eaves and BeverlyEaves PerdueChapel HillRobert and Mary AnnEubanksChapel HillMurphy and Helen WolfeEvansRaleighBill and Marcie FerrisChapel HillHenry and Shirley FryeGreensboroHarvey and Cindy GanttCharlotteFrank and Jane HanesWinston-SalemBarnes and CammieHauptfuhrerCharlotteLuther and Cheray HodgesChapel HillBill and Sara McCoyChapel HillJohn and Grace McKinnonWinston-SalemJohn and Polly MedlinWinston-SalemAssad and Emily MeymandiRaleighPaul and Martha MichaelsRaleighBill and Sandra MooreChapel HillPatty and Thrus MortonDurhamPaul and Sidna RizzoChapel HillWyndham RobertsonChapel HillMary D. B. T. SemansDurhamLanty and Margaret SmithRaleighSherwood and Eve SmithRaleighWade and Ann SmithRaleighBen Wilcox and Patsy DavisPittsboroEd and Marylyn WilliamsCharlotteRobert and JoanZimmermanCharlotteNC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 35

The LastWordPoems byJames ApplewhiteHomeward, under Congregated CloudICrowds of clouds patrol their mansionin this sky, inkblots of heartbreak,congregations of Rorschach souls, losses in mist;the mightiness one feels in the past. Homeward,we leave behind those lakes of the East,brimful in grass, that flooded the water table feelings.A house with a white, afterthought room,under triangle of roof, proposes paradigm people:Sunday school folk, rectilinear, who thoughta mistake in addition a sinfully bad business.Now they roam from Clyde Philips Seafoodand help us salvage these relics from the flood —celery, fetishes of lettuce, a weekend ended.We speed into narrowing vees of pineswhere roadside boles flicker by like the yearsas our future pulls apart from the past.The flounder stuffed in our cooler will bealmost as good as that last evening,with grown son Jim, Martha and Christian.IIThe chalk splotches of clapboard churchesreach into me from deep in those fields.Sermons from my crippled minister unclearise with the ark of his book.His half-bowed brow at the pulpitteaches me yet, searching into Pharoah years —and onward, touching waters of creation.The Holy Spirit soars there,within the width of his bent, stretched arms.Framed by his arthritic elbows, a dovebrings forth new land from the seas.And now I drive, dryin disbelief, facing away fromthe vaster past — revivingin amazement, feelingfootsteps behind me on the flood.James Applewhite has published eleven volumes of poetry, including Selected Poems(Duke Univ. Press, 2005) and A Diary of Altered Light (LSU Press, 2006). He has received aGuggenheim Fellowship, the Associated Writing Programs Contemporary Poetry Prize, theAmerican Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Jean Stein Award in Poetry, the NorthCarolina Award in Literature, and the Roanoke-Chowan Poetry Award in 198l, 1986, 1993,and 2006. Applewhite will be inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame inOctober 2008.

Visiting the Wright MemorialMy Brother the PhotographerKitty Hawk, N. C.for LisaWalking the twilight beach I searchinto the sea wind, seeingwaves cold-brightly ascending,sliding back, blindly drying.Gulls walk pacing me, shabbyand old in overcoats of feathers,unwilling to fly. One whiteyet in the rosy lightrises onto tip-toe, mid-angledwings expanding, catching the air,its webbed feet suddenly graceful.I think of the Wrights’ first lengthof ascent, the kite-like wing boxshuddering, gathering liftfrom the prone man intendingit upward; the next flight longer —then Wilbur, mastering dune-distance,balanced them together in conceptalong the tensioned high wire of creation.I look out. One gull dwindles whereair down-bends at the horizon,in that endless finitudeas it turns with the Earthout of sight. My heart’s questnarrows with its white,a wing-arc liftedfrom the uncanny slight curve,of ocean marked against distance.The wing-line goes finer,my ache is with its edgeas it chalks their idea of flyingon sky in ever-recessionat sunset.The gull disappears toward a star.for HenryIn the photo my brother would have taken,an enormous magnolia flattens at evening,leaning in onto the ash-gray cabin.The clapboard absorbs the darkening, but isX-rayed for our eyes, to show the roomsjust inside, the straight-backed chairs,a quilt folded onto a trunk, the stark clockin its case on the mantel. The tablein the other room with its dried flowerin a Mason jar holds a smell of well waterfrom the kitchen through the door, wherethe iron pump in an enameled sink stillraises its handle, able to spilliron-spiced water from its jaws.A grandpa stands flat in his cloth,the suit jacket folded like metal, his stareframed in its moment, hung byan angle of wire from the beaded sheathing.We are standing on a ditchbank outside,across the tar and gravel road, noticingthe first swallows weaving abovethe magnolia leaning on this cabin like evening.We each drink a beer from the crossroads storethree miles distant, down the longstraight rise beyond Toisnot Swamp.The way the magnolia’s visual weightplays against the flattening cabin inthe coming evening prints our thoughts.He would have captured it later, without me.The negative must be hiding in the coolerhe filled with these reversals of light and darkacross the years, driving the countrywe came from, town boys, haunted bythe enigma of the farmland and its denim peoplegrowing up out of the rank feral fields.The magnolia’s cloud of ink seems froman octopus life beneath, bequeathedto the paling sky, helping it flatten, composingthe union of cabin and tree and evening,so that later his camera could catchthis outermost darkening in its innermost light.NC Conversations • Summer 2008 • 37

Summer 2008www.nchumanities.orgMANY STORIES, ONE PEOPLEThe mission of the North Carolina Humanities Council is to supportthrough grants and public programs vital conversations that nurture thecultures and heritage of North Carolina. The North Carolina HumanitiesCouncil is a nonprofit foundation and state affiliate of the NationalEndowment for the Humanities.N o r t h C a r o l i n aCONVERSATIONSNorth MANY Carolina STORIES, Humanities ONE PEOPLE Council122 North Elm Street, Suite 601Greensboro, NC 27401NONPROFITORGANIZATIONUS POSTAGE PAIDGREENSBORO, NCPERMIT NO. 705