Press Releases

N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Susi H. Hamilton announces the appointment of Angela Thorpe as the director of the N.C. African American Heritage Commission (AAHC). Thorpe has served as acting director since September 2018.

As North Carolina continues to celebrate 2019 as the Year of Music, a first-time collaboration with the Americana Music Association and the state will be announced Tuesday, May 28 at 5:30 p.m. at the Executive Mansion.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced that 16 organizations will receive $1.3 million for fiscal year 2019.

After a day of competing and presenting facts at the History Day competition in Raleigh, 64 middle and high school students from across the state will advance to the National History Day competition at the University of Maryland-College Park, June 9-13, on the topic “Triumph and Tragedy in History.”

A new multi-use trail system will open Saturday, May 4 at Carvers Creek State Park’s Sandhills access in Cumberland County. The trails will allow hikers, cyclists, and equestrians to explore the park, which opened to the public in 2013. 

North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green has been named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow by the Academy of American Poets.

Hundreds of middle and high school students will compete Saturday, April 27, at the National History Day Competition in the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. The 450 students from 70 schools are the winners of district competitions held across North Carolina. The public is invited to view their projects on the theme “Triumph and Tragedy in History.”

Dancing in the street, a 5K run, a classic car show and a new health and wellness fair are all activities being held in conjunction with Mountain Gateway Museum’s 35th Annual Pioneer Day festival Saturday, April 27, in Old Fort.

Gold mining at Reed Gold Mine was in its heyday in the 1850s -- before the California gold rush -- when for gold mining North Carolina was the place to be. In 1799, young Conrad Reed discovered a 17-pound gold nugget while fishing in Little Meadow Creek, giving rise to America’s first gold rush.