250th Commemoration of the Edenton Tea Party
October 25-24, 2024
Join us in Edenton on October 25 & 26 as we remember "A Society of Patriotic Ladies" that led a protest against English goods in October 1774, that became known as the Edenton Tea Party. These 51 women led the colony in
Events will occur across two days that will include presentations, living history, and a parade.
Event details, schedules, and more information about the Edenton Tea Party found below.
A series of events will occur on both Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26
Friday, October 25
- 10:00- Opening Ceremony- Courthouse Green- Opening ceremony and student engagement program for the district's fourth grade classes. The occasion marked by ringing the historic Courthouse bell 250 times to signify each year of the anniversary.
- 1:00- "A Society of Patriotic Ladies"- 1767 Chowan County Courthouse- Living history program demonstrating how North Carolinians protested British taxation efforts prior to the American Revolution. Featuring costumed interpreters from North Carolina State Historic Sites.
- 5:30- Keynote Lecture- 1736 St. Paul's Episcopal Church- Speaker program featuring Margaret Pritchard, retired Deputy Chief Curator for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Ms. Pritchard's lecture will focus on the 1775 satirical print, "A Society of Patriotic Ladies at Edenton in North Carolina" in its social and historical context.
Saturday, October 26
- 10:00-250 Years of Edenton-Chowan Women Making History Parade- South Broad Street- Parade celebrating 250 years of impactful female leadership in Edenton and Chowan County. Featuring Colonial Williamsburg Fife & Drum Corps, the Tryon Palace Fife & Drum Corps, and Bill Caudill, Bagpiper.
- 11:00- "Acts of Rebellion"- 1800/1827 James Iredell House- Living history program with lively, hands-on demonstrations of the many ways in which women participated in North Carolina's protest against the hated British tax on tea. Featuring costumed interpreters from North Carolina State Historic Sites.
- 11:30- Within Our Power Book Launch- Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library- Launch of the new children's book, Within Our Power: The Edenton Ladies' Tea Party by Sally Walker, illustrated by Jonathan Voss, and produced by the North Carolina Department of Archives & History. Storytime and book signing.
- 4:00- Celebratory Concert- Colonial Waterfront Park- Outdoor concert featuring performances by Jamie Laval, Fiddler, and the Grammy-nominated, three-time I.B.M.A. Award-winning all-female bluegrass band, Sister Sadie.
- 7:00- Fireworks Show- Colonial Waterfront Park
All activities in this schedule are grant-funded and are free and open to the public.
This event is made possible by:
Town of Edenton ∗ A250NC ∗ Chowan County NC ∗ Destination Downtown ∗ Edenton Historical Commission ∗ Visit Edenton ∗ Chowan Arts Council ∗ NC Historic Sites ∗ Edenton Chowan Chamber of Commerce ∗ Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library ∗ Friends of the Library
Within Our Power: The Story of the Edenton Tea Party
By: Sally Walker
Book launch is scheduled for October 26, 11:30 am at the Shepard- Pruden Memorial Library.
The children's book aimed at children in grades 3-5 will be available from UNC Press and at bookstores and gift shops all around the state!
In 1774, many people in thirteen of Great Britain’s North American colonies were angry. They had been ordered to pay money—taxes—to the government. However, they had no governmental representatives in faraway England to say how they wanted their money spent. The colonists rallied around the cry “Taxation Without Representation.” They boycotted tea, cloth, and other British products. Fearing punishment for protesting the unfair practice, some disguised themselves to avoid recognition, specifically when dumping tea in a harbor. Others wrote about it but hid their identity by using an alias.
A group of fifty-one women in Edenton, North Carolina, strongly opposed taxation without representation. At that time, women could not serve in the government, nor were they permitted to vote. But the Edenton ladies knew that their beliefs mattered. They decided they would make a difference. Like others, they would boycott British products. Unlike others, they shunned anonymity.
Using a “tea party” of a different sort, Edenton’s courageous women powerfully expressed their belief in a very public way. One that spread their belief and commitment not only throughout the North American colonies, but also across the Atlantic Ocean. The Edenton ladies’ courage still resonates today. They show us that people can join together and create a strong voice that stands firm against injustice.
In the fall of 1774, fifty-one women in Edenton, North Carolina undertook a revolutionary act: they signed a resolution in protest of Britain's colonial taxation policies and gave their oaths to boycott British goods. Later remembered as the Edenton Tea Party, this event was an early example of women's political activism during the American Revolution.
The Edenton Historical Commission is housed in the Penelope Barker Welcome Center, in the heart of Edenton, NC.