The modern Thanksgiving holiday stems from a mid-19th century campaign by Sara Josepha Hale for the adoption of a national thanksgiving holiday. President Abraham Lincoln created the federal holiday in 1863 during the American Civil War.
Topics Related to Historical Tours and Reenactments
Join a special guided tour for Juneteenth to explore the history of slavery and freedom at Stagville.
Commemorate Independence Day with a reading of Frederick Douglass' powerful Fourth of July address, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July" at Historic Stagville State Historic Site. The abolitionist speech resonates today, inviting all to reflect on the United States' founding ideals and our shared history.
Visit Stagville to celebrate and remember emancipation at one of the state's largest plantations.
Let's bike and learn about the history and nature around us. Join us for a scenic bike ride across the Little Sugar Creek Greenway!
The ride starts at 9am on May 17
Meet at President James K. Polk State Historic Site
Learn about 18th century home life with Susie Worcester Join us each Saturday in April for a special tour about Death and Dying in the North Carolina Backcountry! Experience an authentic Christmas of long ago in the warm glow of lantern light. Enjoy homes, public buildings, and taverns decorated for the season with festive, all-natural décor. Interactive historical vignettes will bring each building to life. Enjoy a warm fire in the Tap Room tavern just as guests did two hundred years ago! Tickets go on sale Nov. 1st. Come learn about the traditional crafts and trades that helped to make Halifax “The Hub of the Roanoke”. See traditional crafts being made, talk with the tradesmen and women of the era, and discover how people lived and labored in early Halifax. Did you know that North Carolina’s first public reading of the Declaration of Independence took place in Halifax on August 1st, 1776? Join historical interpreters as they reenact events surrounding the joyous news of American independence from Britain. At 12:00pm, see a reenactor portray Cornelius Harnett, President of the Council of Safety, read the Declaration for the first time in North Carolina. |