Events

by Jeffrey, Thomas E. 1835 Constitutional Convention Originally published as "It Needed to Change before the State Could Grow: The Constitutional Convention of 1835" by Thomas E. Jeffrey Reprinted with permission [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Ijames, Earl. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a hurricane is a three-dimensional, severe tropical cyclone with sustained winds at or above 74 miles per hour. When these big storms strike, they [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Parramore, Thomas C. At 10:35 a.m. on 17 Dec. 1903, the first powered flight of an airplane was made from the base of Kill Devil Hill, a sand dune four miles south of the village of Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks. The [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Evans, Phillip W. The Amadas and Barlowe Expedition was the first of the English voyages to Roanoke Island in the 1580s and was one of Sir Walter Raleigh's attempts to establish a colony in the New World. The [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Neville, John D. Between 1984 and 1987, North Carolina commemorated the quadricentennial of the attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh to colonize what are now the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the years between 1584 and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The American Revolution Bicentennial Observance in North Carolina in 1976 involved many different events and was preceded by several years of planning. A state agency, the North Carolina Bicentennial [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. In response to orders from King George III, the leaders of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia met with representatives of the southern Indians (Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stinson, Craig M. The North Carolina Azalea Festival is held every April in Wilmington as a celebration of the beauty of the abundant azalea flowers in the vicinity. In the 1930s Houston Moore, interested in the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. The loose structure of government institutions in colonial North Carolina at times resulted in lapses of decorum that appear outrageous and humorous from a modern perspective. An early example of the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Johnson, Lloyd. Bassett Affair by Lloyd Johnson, 2006 See also: Bassett, John Spencer, Trinity College The Bassett Affair significantly enhanced the ideal of academic freedom in North Carolina and the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Pearson, Susan. Better Baby contests were held throughout the nation, including in North Carolina, during the early decades of the twentieth century. The contests were a part of both the larger infant welfare [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Moose, Bill. Bostian Bridge Train Wreck by Bill Moose, 2006 See also: Ghost Train of Bostian's Bridge (from Tar Heel Junior Historian) The Bostian Bridge train wreck occurred on 27 Aug. 1891, just [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The Cape Fear Valley Scottish Festival, held in Fayetteville on 19-24 Nov. 1939, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the Scottish Highlanders in the Cape Fear Valley as well as the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. The great fire of 1922 burned 40 city blocks in New Bern and left thousands of people homeless. It was the most destructive fire in the state's history. Dorcas E. Carter, one of the few people who [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Meekins, A. Christopher. Chatham Blood Shower, 1884 By A. Christopher Meekins, State Archives of North Carolina   On February 25, 1884, Mrs. Kit Lasater, “noted for truthfulness,” was walking [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Powell, William S. Circuses were considered by many to be both educational and entertaining when they began to appear in early nineteenth-century North Carolina. Along with dancing and the theater, the circus came to [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stinson, Craig M., Malo, Jorge. El Concurso Gritos, una feria anual establecida en Spivey's Corner en 1969, celebra el arte de gritar, que, antes del teléfono, era un medio esencial de comunicación para la gente de las zonas [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Ijames, Earl. During the antebellum era—the years leading up to the Civil War—North Carolina’s population of free people of color blossomed. This group included American Indians, African Americans, and multiracial [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Faulkner, Ronnie W. Convention of 1868 by Ronnie W. Faulkner, 2006 See also: State Constitution; Black and Tan Constitution; Convention of 1835 (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina); 1835 Constitutional [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J. County fairs began in North Carolina nearly 200 years before the first state fair was held in Raleigh in 1853. Early North Carolina counties such as Albemarle, Clarendon, and Craven were authorized [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Shires, Nancy P. Dogwood festivals are held in five North Carolina cities: Farmville (Pitt County), Fayetteville (Cumberland County), Lake Lure (Rutherford County), Mebane (Alamance and Orange Counties), and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williford, Jo Ann. The Monday after Easter, rather than Good Friday as in every other state, was a legal holiday in North Carolina for 52 years. The bill establishing the holiday was introduced by Senator Paul Davis [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Jeaneane. The Eastern Music Festival (EMF), established on the Guilford College campus in Greensboro in 1962, is one of the most acclaimed music educational camps and festivals in the United States. Originally [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stokes, Matt. Edenton Tea Party by Ansley Wegner, 2015 https://www.dncr.nc.gov/about-us/history/division-historical-resources/nc-highway-historical-marker-program Women in this town led by Penelope Barker [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Troxler, George W. The Enfield Riots were the culmination of protests in eighteenth-century Edgecombe, Halifax, and Granville Counties against land agents in the Granville District. While the Crown governed the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McFee, Philip. The Festival for the Eno, a multiple-day event held annually in northern Durham since 1980 and sponsored by the Eno River Association with the help of local establishments, is considered to be one of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Pertalion, Patricia L., Baker, Bruce E., McFee, Philip. Folk Festivals by Philip McFee and Bruce E. Baker, 2006 Additional research provided by Patricia L. Pertalion. See also: Azalea Festival; Eastern Music Festival; Festival for the Eno; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Baker, Bruce E. Folk Festivals by Philip McFee and Bruce E. Baker, 2006 Additional research provided by Patricia L. Pertalion. See also: Azalea Festival; Eastern Music Festival; Festival for the Eno; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Baker, Bruce E. Folk Festivals by Philip McFee and Bruce E. Baker, 2006 Additional research provided by Patricia L. Pertalion. See also: Azalea Festival; Eastern Music Festival; Festival for the Eno; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Baker, Bruce E. Folk Festivals by Philip McFee and Bruce E. Baker, 2006 Additional research provided by Patricia L. Pertalion. See also: Azalea Festival; Eastern Music Festival; Festival for the Eno; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Baker, Bruce E. Folk Festivals by Philip McFee and Bruce E. Baker, 2006 Additional research provided by Patricia L. Pertalion. See also: Azalea Festival; Eastern Music Festival; Festival for the Eno; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Pertalion, Patricia L. Folkmoot USA, headquartered in Waynesville, is a folk music and dance festival celebrating a diversity of cultures from around the world. Started in 1983, Folkmoot-also known as the North Carolina [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Vocci, Robert Blair, Seaman, Jean H. Gold Rush by Jean H. Seaman, 2006 Additional research provided by Robert Blair Vocci. See also: Gold Hill Mine; Portis Gold Mine; Reed Gold Mine; Gold Rush, The North Carolina; Gold [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Fish, Peter G. In 1805 U.S. Supreme Court chief justice John Marshall and district judge Henry Potter, sitting in the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of North Carolina, considered the claim to the Earl [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Causey, Ellen Fitzgibbons. The Great Awakening was one of the earliest Protestant revival movements to sweep through North Carolina. This religious revival, which actually encompassed two parts separated by a few decades, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stoesen, Alexander R. Greensboro Sit-Ins by Alexander R. Stoesen, 2006 See also: Greensboro Four, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Mazzocchi, Jay. The fight for a U.S. Senate seat in 1984, pitting Democratic governor James B. Hunt Jr. against incumbent Republican senator Jesse Helms, is considered one of North Carolina's most infamous political [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Murray, Elizabeth D. R. The Henry Clay Oak, a venerable white oak of unusually large height and girth, stood in Raleigh near the northwest corner of the intersection of North Blount and East North Streets from a time [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Caudill, William S. The staging of Highland Games in a number of sites throughout North Carolina-home to the largest settlement of Highland Scots outside of Scotland until well into the nineteenth century-has succeeded [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stinson, Craig M. The Hollerin' Contest, an annual fair established in Spivey's Corner in 1969, celebrates the art of hollering, which, before the telephone, was an essential means of communicating for people in the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cohn, Scotti. In 1890 the North Carolina Piedmont town of Winston had become as modern as anyone would want it to be. Its residents enjoyed electric streetlights, paved streets, railroad service, telephones, and [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Hunt, James L. The Inter-State Farmers' Conference, held in Raleigh in August 1888, was the Second Annual Meeting of the Inter-State Farmers' Association. The association had been formally organized by elite [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Causey, Ellen Fitzgibbons. The Jamestown Exposition of 1907 marked the threehundredth anniversary of England's first permanent American settlement at Jamestown, Va. Held along two miles of the Norfolk, Va., waterfront from 29 [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Michael. The lynching of Wyatt Outlaw on the courthouse square in Graham in 1870 continues to reverberate across the generations. The consequences for North Carolina were profound, leading to the first [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Kuhl, Paul E. In April 1864 a Union brigade from Tennessee, commanded by Col. George Washington Kirk, entered Madison County to recruit "home Yankees" for the 2nd and 3rd North Carolina Mounted Volunteers, defeat [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Norris, David A. The Massachusetts Circular Letter was written by Samuel Adams on behalf of the Massachusetts legislature in reaction to the unpopular Townshend Acts passed by Parliament in 1767. Dated 11 Feb. 1768, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Menius, Arthur C., III. Medicine Shows by Arthur Menius, 2006 See also: Crazy Water Crystals; Patent Medicines; Country Music Medicine shows, from roughly the end of the Civil War through the 1940s, provided a [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McFee, Philip. MerleFest, a huge American roots and folk music festival that yearly draws nearly 80,000 people to Wilkes Community College and its surrounding area, stands as a musical homage to its namesake, the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Merritt, Eli F. The Mississippi Navigation Crisis of 1786-88 was the first serious North-South political quarrel in U.S. history. Some of the most outspoken and vociferous opponents to Secretary of State John Jay's [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Baker, Bruce E. Asheville since 1928. That year, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, a passionate lover of mountain music and culture and an active collector of folk music, organized a contest for musicians and dancers in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Faulkner, Ronnie W. Mule Day is an annual celebration drawing tens of thousands of visitors to the small Johnston County town of Benson. Held in late September, the event was started in 1949 by Nowell Smith Jr., with [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bishop, RoAnn. Agriculture lies at the heart of the North Carolina State Fair. You can tell that by the many varieties of livestock, produce, and farm equipment exhibited at the annual autumn event. From grand [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by McLaurin, Melton. In the years before the Civil War, North Carolina’s farmers faced many problems. Many were illiterate, and an even larger number were just barely able to read and write. Farmers relied on oral [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Tinkler, Robert. Union or Disunion? North Carolina Votes for Secession by Robert Tinkler Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian. Fall 1996. Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, NC Museum [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by McKown, Harry W., Jr. North Carolina Colored Industrial Association Fair by Harry McKown UNC - North Carolina Collection, 2009. "This Month in North Carolina History" series. See also: North Carolina Industrial [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by Causey, Ellen Fitzgibbons. North Carolina Day was a program presented in North Carolina's public schools during the early years of the twentieth century that was designed to "awaken a proper pride in the history of the state." [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hill, Michael. The North Carolina Exposition of 1884, promoting the agricultural and mechanical arts, was an important step in the progress of the state's industrial growth. The aim of the exposition was to boost [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Agan, Kelly. On June 24, 2016 the North Carolina General Assembly adopted the Veterans Day Parade held in the Town of Warsaw in Duplin County as the official State Veterans Day Parade (S.B. 160).  The bill [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Williams, Jeaneane. O. Henry Festival by Jeaneane Williams, 2006 See also: Porter, William Sidney The O. Henry Festival, held annually in Greensboro in April, was founded in 1985 to commemorate the life and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Dough, Wynne. Old Christmas, or "Little Christmas," celebrated by some eighteenth- and nineteenth-century North Carolinians around 5 January each year, resulted from the adoption of the Gregorian calendar by the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. Leila Pigott and her husband, Dallas, owned a fleet of shrimp trawlers and a shrimp packing house in Southport when hurricane Hazel struck Brunswick County on Oct. 15, 1954. With 150 mph winds, Hazel [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Roundtree, Lynn. Plessy v. Ferguson by Lynn Roundtree, 2006 In 1896 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the so-called separate-but-equal segregation of whites and blacks in public facilities in its decision on [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Agan, Kelly. The local human inhabitants call Clay County's Brasstown the “Opossum Capital of the World.” While this claim may be difficult to prove, the town has become known internationally from news [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Hunt, James L. The Round Knob Hotel Affair was a major political event in North Carolina in the late 1890s, pitting the Fusionist administration of Governor Daniel L. Russell Jr. against the state's Railroad [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wright, Marilyn. In the early 1800s, the Sandhills region of North Carolina faced considerable obstacles to economic prosperity. There was only one river of any consequence in the area, the Cape Fear, which ran along [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Neill, Rosemary Clifford. Shad Festival by Rosemary Clifford Neill, 2006 See also: Festivals: North Carolina Official [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cockrell, David L. The Shelton Laurel Massacre, which occurred in January 1863, serves as a graphic illustration of the divided loyalties of North Carolinians during the Civil War as well as the tenuous relationship [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. The Slaves' Midsummer Holiday, when enslaved laborers were permitted a few days off by their enslavers, occurred after crops were laid by and before harvesting began. On August 26, 1862 Catherine Ann [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Pleasants, Julian M., Burns, Augustus M., III. The sudden death of U.S. senator J. Melville Broughton on 6 Mar. 1949 caught North Carolinians by surprise and set the stage for a momentous political brawl. The task of appointing Broughton's [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hunt, James L. The author of the lawsuit was Daniel L. Russell Jr., Republican governor of the state from 1897 to 1901. Russell conceived the plan in 1900, while his party was collapsing from the onslaught of white [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Rohr, Karl. Square Dancing by Karl Rohr, 2006 See Also: Country Music Square dancing in North Carolina is inseparably linked to the history and culture of the state's Mountain region. The earliest [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McLaurin, Melton. State Fair by Melton McLaurin, 2006 The North Carolina State Fair, created in 1853 by the North Carolina State Agricultural Society, was designed as the society's principal agency for the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Whittenburg, James P. In the spring of 1765, men from the Sugar Creek and Reedy Creek neighborhoods in newly created Mecklenburg County attacked a crew surveying plantations on approximately 1.2 million acres granted to [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McKown, Harry W., Jr. Late on the night of March 10, 1948, a fire started in a kitchen of the main building of Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina. Spreading rapidly through a dumbwaiter shaft, flames reached [...] (from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.)

by Agan, Kelly. Late in the evening of November 23, 1963 as the clock neared midnight in Raleigh, an attempt was allegedly made at the Dallas County jail on behalf of Lee Harvey Oswald to contact one or two phone [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Mazzocchi, Jay, O'Brien, Gail Williams. Violence, Group by Gail Williams O'Brien and Jay Mazzocchi, 2006; Revised by NC Government and Heritage Library, January 2023 See also:"Death to the Klan" March; Gastonia Strike; Ku Klux [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cravey, Altha J. Hundreds of thousands of Latin American migrants have settled in North Carolina in the last twenty years. Like many earlier waves of people arriving from England, Africa, Germany, and other places, [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Umfleet, LeRae. The Wilmington Coup of 1898 was not an act of spontaneous violence. The events of November 10, 1898, were the result of a long-range campaign strategy by Democratic Party leaders to regain political [...] (from NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Powell, William S. Milton Winslow, Quaker minister and author, was born in Randolph County, the oldest child of Thomas and Anna (Nancy) Nixon Winslow, members of the Back Creek Quaker Monthly Meeting. His mother died [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Norris, David A. In 1892 the United States celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's first voyage and the following year staged the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago from May to November [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr. The Indonesian volcano Tambora catastrophically erupted in the late spring of 1815, casting well over a million tons of dust into the upper atmosphere. These particles caused not only spectacular [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)