As fellow members of the community, we invite you to join us for an inaugural fundraiser for the Friends of President Polk's Birthplace, Inc.,
As fellow members of the community, we invite you to join us for an inaugural fundraiser for the Friends of President Polk's Birthplace, Inc.,
James and Nancy Bennett lived along the Hillsborough Road, a major throughway between the county seat of Hillsborough and the state capitol of Raleigh. They earned money selling goods & services to passers-by on the roadway. On November 22, Bennett Place State Historic Site brings back that entrepreneurial, small-business spirit with the Old Hillsborough Road Market. Shop from local craft, retail, and food vendors for a perfect holiday gift!
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.
So how did our Thanksgiving narrative come to focus on a fantastical meal shared between colonists and American Indians? What messages did Americans hope to convey with the Thanksgiving holiday? What were some popular Thanksgiving foods in generations past?
In 1923, a committee of influential local leaders commissioned the monument at Bennett Place to inform visitors about the history and significance of the Civil War surrender that occurred here. They inscribed their understanding of history onto the landscape with the Unity Monument, which in turn shaped what future generations learned about Bennett Place & the outcomes of the Civil War.
These committee members joined a long tradition of telling stories about the past and its meaning through artwork.