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Browse Exhibits (59 total)

Chowan River Basin Loyalty

The subject of wartime loyalties can be a tricky one, with many vested interests governing what is acceptable and encouraged in society. With an eye toward controlling this variable, to what governments and for what reasons were the citizens of the Chowan River Basin loyal? The answer unsurprisingly is a complex one, with some having loyalties of convenience to cover for activities of terror, to others being loyal enough to volunteer at the outset of war for military service. The memory of these loyalties are equally diverse and contentious.

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Delicate Ladies and Brave Gentlemen: The Gendered Experience of the Civil War in North Carolina

This exhibit uses gender as a lens to look at the South during the Civil War. Examining the antebellum and war years shows the formation and devastation of southern society. “Home, Sweet, Home” focuses on antebellum gender roles and separate spheres ideology accepted by southerners. The call to war created a surge of patriotism and shifted roles for white men and women. “Protect Us!” uses North Carolina as a case study to show how the loss of protection and ruin of the home front destroyed southern society. The breakdown of separate spheres demonstrated the failure of the Confederate cause and reciprocal obligation. The Civil War challenged the established race, class and gender structure of the South by undermining white men’s authority over their dependents. During the Civil War in the South, gender roles became fluid and the implications of these changes shaped the South for years to come.

Desertion in the Tar Heel State

This exhibit is about the desertion crisis that took hold of the Confederate South during the Civil War, taking a specific interest in North Carolina. There will be evidence to support two claims, that desertion was a major issue in the Confederacy, yet desertion was not any worse off in North Carolina than any other Southern state. Primary sources include correspondence, autobiographies and proclamations. Further research comes from scholarly secondary sources debating the extent of desertion in North Carolina, what reasons led to desertion and what measures the government and military took to try and prevent this absenteeism.

Finding, Reading, and Interpreting Newspapers as Primary Sources

This tutorial offers a brief overview on using newspaper articles in historical research. The first section provides background information on newspapers in the nineteenth century. The second section addresses how to find newspaper articles. The last section covers how to read and interpret newspaper articles.

Following Sherman's March in Blue and Grey 1864-1865

This activity traces General William Sherman, of the Union Army, and his men as they marched through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina near the end of the Civil War.  The accounts start with Sherman’s occupation of the city of Atlanta in September of 1864, and then follow his army’s march from Savannah to North Carolina, from November of 1864 to April of 1865.  The accounts of Sherman's March in each state were told from Union soldiers’ perspectives and Confederate citizens’ and soldiers’ perspectives.  The accounts discussed the carnage and purpose of Sherman’s March, to destroy the South's resources and the will to fight mentally. The first section you encounter is the Introductoin, which provides you with more  background information on Sherman's March.  The next two sections demonstrate how to properly compare Union sources and how to compare a Confederate source to a Union source.  The final section has the activity.  

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Forcing Confederate War Guilt, Displaying National Triumph: Salisbury Prison and the Salisbury National Cemetery

The Salisbury National Cemetery was built as a triumph to Union victory and attempted to force guilt on the former Confederacy. The Confederate prison at Salisbury was one of the most brutal prisons in the Civil War. Immediately after the war, the United States created a National Cemetery at Salisbury, which damned the Confederacy for its actions. However, in the decades following the Civil War, reconciliation transformed the cemetery into a truly national site. The state monuments in the early twentieth century symbolize this. They focused on individual sacrifice instead of Confederate guilt or US triumph. Today the Salisbury National Cemetery is a shared site of grief, no longer dominated by any one section.

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From Power to Impeachment: William Woods Holden, The Ku Klux Klan, and Impeachment, 1868-1871

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The end of the Civil War would begin an era of Reconstruction that lasted from 1865 to 1877. The goal of Reconstruction was to reestablish the South into the Union and create a new society in which all men were created equal regardless of race. The battle between the Republican and Democratic Parties made Reconstruction a long and strenuous process. North Carolina was not exempt from the struggles of Reconstruction. As governor between 1868-1871, William Woods Holden faced many political struggles. The Republican governor fought to protect the citizens of North Carolina against violent groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Governor Holden's struggle against the Ku Klux Klan ended his political career and reestablished the dominance of the Democratic Party.

Goldsboro during Sherman's Occupation, March and April 1865: Citizen Accounts from the Outskirts and City

This exhibit discusses Goldsboro and it's occupation by General Sherman and his 100,000 plus troops during the weeks of March and April of 1865. It outlines the goals of Sherman while he was in Goldsboro. More importantly it discusses the treatment of the citizens inside the city of Goldsboro, and how it differed from the treatment of citizens on the outskirts of Goldsboro. General Schofield set up a security perimeter around Goldsboro shortly before Sherman arrived to prevent pillaging of the city by the infamous "bummers" of Sherman's army. The exhibit outlines detailed accounts from individuals within the city of Goldsboro, as well as the citizens on the outskirts of Goldsboro. These accounts help add to the historiography of the Carolinas Campaign, which argues that Sherman destroyed morale in the South. This exhibit seeks to show while that that may have occurred in some places in Goldsboro, there was still a will to fight a resist the Union there. The focus will be specifically in Goldsboro, and how Sherman treated the city differently than any other city he occupied. The sources in the exhibit are first hand accounts from citizens, soldiers of the Union army, and a response from General Sherman himself. 

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Harriet Jacobs and the God that Saved Her

This exhibit focuses on the extraordinary life of Harriet Jacobs, a slave from North Carolina during the years before the Civil War. She is most famous for the fact that she wrote the events of her life down for the rest of the world to read them. This autobiography has been proven by a geat scholar, Jean Fagan Yellin, to be authentic and true from cover to cover. The exhibit will discuss primarily the religious aspect of Jacobs's journey from slavery to freedom. Her determination and, more importantly, her faith in God are the only things that led this fascinating woman to a new life - a life of freedom. Using mainly primary sources, I seek to look into the heart of Harriet Jacobs. I seek to understand her decisions to never give up hope, to push through obstacles when it seems an inevitable defeat, and to share her life with the rest of the world. 

Henry Berry Lowry: An Examination of the Outlaw’s Influence of Post Civil War Media and Reconstruction Era Politics

The purpose of this exhibit is to better understand the conditions that led to the creation of Henry Berry Lowry as "The Swamp Outlaw,” and how Northern and Southern medias used the North Carolinian outlaw as a tool to fight their battles in lieu of full armies. The depiction of the outlaw, and people with whom those depictions are associated, play an important role in the history and the understanding of narrative of the Lowry Gang, and with the story of Reconstruction America.