Hours of operation, admission fees, and exhibition dates for the following sites are subject to change. Admission is free unless noted.
Coastal Plain
Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station
Hwy 12, Rodanthe
Hours: Limited from May through October
(grounds open year-round)
252-987-1552
http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/park/chiclss.htm
This National Park Service historic site features exhibits about the lifesaving crews on the Outer Banks, including the all–African American crew at Pea Island Lifesaving Station.
C. S. Brown Regional Cultural Center and Museum
511 Main Street, Winton
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 A.M. to
1:00 P.M.
252-358-1127
http://www.ncculturetour.org/csbrown/
The circa 1926 building that houses the center was part of a school founded in 1888 for African American youth. The center features exhibits and programs on African American history and art.
Freedmen’s Colony
U.S. 64/264, Freedmen’s Colony Park, Manteo
Hours: Daily, sunrise to sunset
252-473-2138
http://www.roanokefreedmenscolony.com/index.html
Outdoor exhibits at the site of the country’s first freedmen’s colony explore African American life during the Civil War.
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
1401 National Park Drive, Manteo
Hours: Daily, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
252-473-5772
http://www.nps.gov/fora/raleigh.htm
This precolonial site includes an exhibit on the freedmen’s colony.
North Carolina Maritime Museum
315 Front Street, Beaufort
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 A.M.
to 5:00 P.M.; Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, 1:00 to 5:00 P.M.
252-728-7317
http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/maritime/
The exhibit Soldiers of Surf and Storm highlights lifesaving stations along the Outer Banks, including the Pea Island station, which was manned by an all–African American crew.
Poplar Grove Plantation
10200 U.S. 17 North, Wilmington
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9:00 A.M.
to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, noon to 5:00 P.M.
Fee: Adults, $8; seniors and military,
$7; students 6–15, $5
910-686-9518
http://www.poplargrove.com/
Costumed interpreters lead visitors through this mid-nineteenth-century peanut plantation, where African Americans worked as slaves before 1864 and as free tenant farmers after the Civil War.
Somerset Place State Historic Site
2572 Lake Shore Road, Creswell
Hours: (April through October) Monday
through Saturday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, 1:00 to 5:00 P.M.; (November
through March) Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.; Sunday,
1:00 to 4:00 P.M.
252-797-4560
http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/somerset/somerset.htm
During its eighty-year existence as one of North Carolina’s most prosperous plantations, the 100,000-acre Somerset Place (1785–1865) was home to more than three hundred enslaved men, women, and children of African descent.
Upperman African-American Cultural Center
601 South College Road, University Union
Room 208, Wilmington
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 A.M. to
5:00 P.M.
910-962-7087
http://www.uncw.edu/upperman/
On the campus of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, the center offers adults and children programs and resources on African American heritage, culture, and art.
Piedmont
African American Cultural Complex
119 Sunnybrook Road, Raleigh
Hours: By appointment
919-212-3598
http://www.aaccmuseum.org
The complex, housed in several buildings along a nature trail, has a unique collection of artifacts, documents, and exhibits highlighting African American contributions to the development of North Carolina and the United States.
Afro-American Cultural Center
401 North Myers Street, Charlotte
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00
A.M. to 6:00 P.M.; Sunday, 1:00 to 5:00 P.M.
704-374-1565
http://www.aacc-charlotte.org/
Founded in 1974, the center preserves and presents the arts, history, and contemporary culture of the African diaspora, and contemporary African American life as depicted in the arts.
Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum
U.S. 70, Sedalia
Hours: Monday
through Saturday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; closed Sunday and most major state holidays
336-449-4846
http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/chb/chb.htm
This state historic site, showcasing the life and work of Charlotte Hawkins Brown, a pioneer in African American education, features a visitor center, Brown’s gravesite, and buildings from Palmer Memorial Institute, the school that Brown founded.
Charlotte Museum of History and Hezekiah
Alexander Homesite
3500 Shamrock Drive, Charlotte
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00
A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, 1:00 to 5:00 P.M.
Fee: Adults, $6; seniors and students,
$4; children, $2
704-568-1774
http://www.charlottemuseum.org/
The museum interprets the history of Charlotte and the region, including the role African Americans have played since its settlement. Visitors to the Hezekiah Alexander Homesite on the museum grounds will learn about the role of slaves on that colonial farm.
Delta Arts Center
1511 East Third Street, Winston-Salem
Hours: Monday through Friday, noon to 5:00
P.M.
Fee: varies
336-722-2625
http://www.deltafinearts.org/
Established in 1972, the center offers programs in the visual arts, music, literature, history, and folk art.
Greensboro Historical Museum
130 Summit Avenue, Greensboro
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00
A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, 2:00 to 5:00 P.M.
336-373-2043
http://www.greensborohistory.org/
The Greensboro Sit-Ins, a permanent exhibit featuring four seats from the Greensboro Woolworth’s store, photographs, and a time line, recalls the Civil Rights protests that spread across the South in the 1960s.
Hayti Heritage Center
804 Old Fayetteville Street, Durham
Hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00 A.M.
to 5:00 P.M.; Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.
919-683-1709
http://www.hayti.org/
Located in St. Joseph’s AME Church, one of the first autonomous African American churches in the United States, the center features the African-American Archives and Resource Center, exhibits of traditional and contemporary African American art, and cultural and educational programs.
Levine Museum of the New South
200 East Seventh Street, Charlotte
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday,
10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, 12:00 to 5:00 P.M.
Fee: Adults, $6; children 6-18, students,
and seniors, $5; children under 6, free
704-333-1887
http://www.museumofthenewsouth.org/
Fulfilling its mission to interpret Southern history and culture from 1865 to the present, the museum currently features COURAGE: The Carolina Story That Changed America about Brown v. Board of Education (through August 15, 2004) and Focus on Justice: Carolina Photographers and the Civil Rights Movement (through October 17, 2004).
Mattye Reed African Heritage Center
Dudley Building, North Carolina A&T State
University, Dudley Street, Greensboro
Hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00 A.M.
to 5:00 P.M.
336-334-3209
http://www.ncat.edu/~museum/collect.html
The center offers exhibits on the culture, history, and accomplishments of African societies and people of African descent.
Mendenhall Plantation
603 West Main Street, Jamestown
Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 11:00 A.M.
to 3:00 P.M.; Saturday, 1:00 to 4:00 P.M.; Sunday, 2:00 to 4:00 P.M.; $2 adults, $1.00 students, seniors, and children
336-454-3819
http://www.mendenhallplantation.org/
The former home of Quaker abolitionist Richard Mendenhall and stop on the Underground Railroad houses such artifacts as a false-bottomed wagon used in transporting slaves to freedom.
Native American Resource Center
Old Main Building, University of North
Carolina at Pembroke, Pembroke
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 A.M.
to 5:00 P.M.
910-521-6282
http://www.uncp.edu/nativemuseum/
The center exhibits Indian artifacts, arts, and crafts from across North America, focusing on the Lumbee tribe. Films and research materials are available to the public.
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical
State University
1601 East Market Street, Greensboro
336-334-7500
http://www.ncat.edu/
Established in 1891, the school has become one of the nation’s premier historically African American universities, specializing in agriculture and technical arts.
North Carolina Central University
1801 Fayetteville Street, Durham
919-530-6100
http://www.nccu.edu/
Established in 1910 as the National Religious Training School and Chataqua, the school began receiving state support in 1923 and two years later became the nation’s first state-supported four-year liberal arts college for African Americans.
North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance
Company
411 West Chapel Hill Street, Durham
919-682-9201
http://www.ncmutuallife.com/
The nation’s oldest and largest African American–owned insurance company was founded in 1898. The company’s headquarters, built in 1921 on the site of the first office, has become both a landmark and a symbol of racial progress. Tours of the Heritage Room can be arranged.
North Carolina Museum of History
5 East Edenton Street, Raleigh
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9:00
A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, noon to 5:00 P.M.
919-715-0200
http://ncmuseumofhistory.org/
The role of African Americans in North Carolina history figures in exhibits and educational programs.
Raleigh City Museum
220 Fayetteville Street Mall, Raleigh
Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.; Saturday, 1:00
to 4:00 P.M.
919-832-3775
http://www.raleighcitymuseum.org/
The museum features the civil rights-related exhibit: Let Us March On: Raleigh's Journey Toward Civil Rights.
Shaw University
188 East South Street, Raleigh
919-546-8200
http://www.shawuniversity.edu/main.htm
This historically black university, founded in 1865, was the site of the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Thomas Day House/Union Tavern
Main Street, Milton
336-694-6106 (Caswell County Chamber of
Commerce)
http://www.miltonnc.com/day.html
Now being restored, this building was the residence and workshop of free African American cabinetmaker Thomas Day from 1848 to 1858.
Walnut Cove School
U.S. 311, north of Winston-Salem
336-591-5442
This building, now a community center, is one of the best preserved Rosenwald schools remaining in the South. One of the larger Rosenwald schools in the state, it began in 1921 as the Walnut Cove Colored School with five classrooms and operated until the 1950s.
Winston-Salem State University
601 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Winston-Salem
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday,
11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
336-750-2000
http://www.wssu.edu/
Founded in 1892 as a private teacher-training institution for African Americans, the school expanded to a four-year program in 1925. In 1972 it became part of the University of North Carolina system. Diggs Gallery, in the O’Kelly Library, offers exhibits and educational events highlighting African and African American art and culture.
Mountains
Museum of the Cherokee Indian
U.S. 441 and Drama Road, Cherokee
Hours: daily 9:00 A.M. to
5:00 P.M.
Fee: Adults, $9; children
6–14 $6; children under 6, free; group rates available
828-497-3481
http://www.cherokeemuseum.org/
Completely renovated in 1998, this museum uses high-tech effects and an extensive artifact collection to tell the story of the Cherokee people.
YMI Cultural Center
39 South Market Street, Asheville
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 A.M.
to 5:00 P.M.
Adults, $4; seniors and students, $3
828-252-4614
http://www.ymicc.org/
In 1893 George Vanderbilt built this facility, known as the Young Men’s Institute, as a community center for the families of black craftsmen who helped construct Biltmore Estate. Today the center offers cultural arts programs as well as exhibits by African American artists.
These are only some of the historic sites and museums in North Carolina that highlight civil rights; see the following sources for further listings.
- http://www.ncculturetour.org/index.htm, the North Carolina African American Cultural Tour’s Web site.
- A Travel Guide to Black Historical Sites and Landmarks in North Carolina by Lenwood G. Davis (Bandit Books, 1991)
- The Rich Heritage of African Americans in North Carolina (North Carolina Department of Commerce and Department of Cultural Resources, 2000?)
- A Traveler’s Guide to the Civil Rights Movement by Jim Carrier (Harcourt, Inc., 2004)