North Carolina Museum of History

Coordinates: 35°46′53″N 78°38′19″W / 35.7815228°N 78.6384874°W / 35.7815228; -78.6384874

North Carolina Museum of History
Location within North Carolina
Established	5 December 1902 (as "Hall of History")[1]
Type	history museum
Director	Ken Howard
Website	http://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org

The North Carolina Museum of History is located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Permanent exhibits focus on the state’s military history, decorative arts, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, and more. Visitors will see a variety of short-term and traveling exhibits. (An exhibit list follows the "History" section below.) Admission is free, and special programs include craft demonstrations, music concerts and family events. The Museum Shop features North Carolina crafts. The museum is a part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, an agency of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.

History

Frederick Augustus Olds, known as the “father” of the North Carolina Museum of History, began collecting items from across North Carolina in the late 19th century. He traversed the state, acquiring pieces of the past and the stories associated with them. Some of the objects were related to events in the state’s history, while others might have seemed rather strange. (One item was simply labeled a “box of rocks.”) Olds amassed a large private collection, and on December 5, 1902, he merged his items with the collection owned and displayed in the State Museum (the modern-day North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences). This assortment of historical artifacts became known as the "Hall of History" and was opened to the public. Thirty-seven cases contained everything from a studded shoe buckle owned by James Iredell to the death mask of Confederate General Robert Hoke.

The North Carolina Historical Commission took over the Hall of History in 1914 and moved the collection to the Ruffin Building; however, this space quickly became limited. The hall made another move in 1939 to the Education Building, where an area was specifically designed to accommodate both artifacts and exhibits. With the continued growth of the collection, the expanded exhibit space, and an increase in staff, it was decided on July 1, 1965, that the Hall of History would be renamed the North Carolina Museum of History. The museum moved to the Archives and History/State Library Building in 1968. In 1973 the museum opened to the public and soon became a landmark for visitors to Raleigh.

Finally, on June 16, 1988, the State of North Carolina broke ground at 5 East Edenton Street to begin construction of a new building. Symbolically placed between the old North Carolina State Capitol and the newer Legislative Building, the museum’s permanent home was completed in 1994. For more than $29 million, the new building featured a research library, classrooms, a 315-seat auditorium, a design shop, conservation labs, artifact storage space, offices, the Museum Shop, and 55,000 square feet (5,100 m²) of exhibit space. ^[2]

Exhibits

This section requires expansion.

Current

• The 1920s Drugstore Re-created interior of a typical North Carolina drugstore from the 1920s, complete with pharmacist's workroom and authentic marble-topped soda fountain.^[3]
• “A Call to Arms: North Carolina Military History Gallery" A look at North Carolina’s military heritage from the American Revolution to the Iraq War.^[3]
• The North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame: Audio, video, and interactive biographies, plus Richard Petty's stock car, Meadowlark Lemon's uniform, and other sports artifacts.^[4]
• The Story of North Carolina Part One of this major exhibit is open. Part Two will open Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011. Part One traces life in North Carolina from its earliest inhabitants through the 1830s. The final part of the 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m²) exhibit tells the rest of the state’s story.^[5]

Past

• The Tar Heel Junior Historian Association: Award-winning history projects by North Carolina students.^[3]
• “Barbie — Simply Fabulous at 50!” Through July 5, 2010. Beginning with a first-edition Barbie, this small exhibit offers glimpses of the history and evolution of the American icon and business phenomenon.
• “Museum Sleuths: Whatchamacallits and Thingamajigs” This exhibit features 21 objects from the museum's collection and spotlights a selection of unusual items that will befuddle or bemuse you.
• “Pleasing to the Eye: The Decorative Arts of North Carolina” Objects from the museum's collection, including furniture, ceramics, metalwork, silver, portraits, pottery, and textiles ranging from the 17th century to the late 20th century.^[3]
• "Workboats of Core Sound" On view through May 2, 2010. This photography exhibit showcases the work of Lawrence S. Earley, an author, photographer and former editor of Wildlife in North Carolina. Earley’s black-and-white images, combined with excerpts of interviews with fishermen, boatbuilders and other Core Sound residents, tell us about the history and culture of fishing communities in “Down East” North Carolina.^[3]
• "A New Land, 'A New Voyage': John Lawson’s Exploration of Carolina" Through Feb. 15, 2010. This small exhibit commemorates the 300th anniversary of the publication of "A New Voyage to Carolina." Published in 1709 in London, this book by English explorer and naturalist John Lawson was the first major attempt to describe the natural history of the New World to Europeans. The book is based on Lawson’s 550-mile (890 km), 57-day trek with nine others through Carolina in 1700 and 1701. The exhibit showcases artifacts, natural history specimens, illustrations, maps and manuscripts related to this epic journey.
• "In Search of a New Deal: Images of North Carolina, 1935-1941" Through Jan. 31, 2011. The exhibit features Farm Security Administration photographs documenting daily life in rural North Carolina during the Great Depression. The 50 images provide a compelling and diverse portrait of a state coping with tough economic times. The exhibit, originally produced by Historic Oak View County Park in Raleigh, is supplemented with Depression-era artifacts from the N.C. Museum of History collection.

North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame

The North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame is a 4,000 square feet (370 m²) permanent exhibit on the third floor of the museum. It was originally established in February 1963, with the support of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, "to honor those persons who by excellence of their activities in or connected with the world of sports have brought recognition and esteem to themselves and to the State of North Carolina." The Hall of Fame inducted its first five members in December of that year. As of 2010 the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame numbers 274 members.

Since that time, the inductees, elected annually, have donated mementos of their sports careers to the Hall of Fame. In 1969 the Charlotte Coliseum agreed to display these objects in the corridor of the building, hoping to eventually expand the building to include a room dedicated to the Hall of Fame. The expansion never occurred, however, and in 1981 the objects moved to the North Carolina Museum of History.

Artifacts on display include Richard Petty’s race car, North Carolina State University basketball coach Jim Valvano’s warm-up suit, Arnold Palmer’s Ryder Cup golf bag, Meadowlark Lemon’s Harlem Globetrotters basketball uniform, North Carolina State University coach Kay Yow’s Olympic team basketball, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill football star Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice’s jersey.

Basketball great and Wilmington, North Carolina native Michael Jordan was conspicuously missing from the hall for many years, because even though he had been selected for induction, he had been "unable" to attend the required induction banquet.^[6] In 2010, it was announced that Jordan would be formally inducted to the hall.^[7] Uniquely, his ceremony was held at halftime of a Charlotte Bobcats game (Jordan owns the NBA team).^[8]

Other museums in the Division of State History Museums

• Museum of the Albemarle, Elizabeth City
• Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex, Fayetteville
• Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center, Old Fort, North Carolina
• North Carolina Maritime Museum, locations in Beaufort and Southport
• Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, Hatteras

References

External links

• Official website
• N.C. Department of Cultural Resources official website
• Capital Area Visitor Services

Online exhibits

• A Call To Arms
• The North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
• Mysteries of the Lost Colony
• Health and Healing in North Carolina
• The Civil War in North Carolina
• Crafted from Silver: Objects from the Museum's Collection