Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed Oct. 2017 as North Carolina Archives Month and the State Archives of North Carolina presents two programs exploring the relevance of historical records in our lives today.
Home Movie Day
Saturday Oct. 21, 1– 4 p.m.
State Archives of North Carolina; 109 East Jones Street, Raleigh; First Floor Auditorium
Home Movie Day is an international celebration of amateur films designed to showcase home movies and other forms of amateur media, and to provide a forum to discuss best practices for film and digital media preservation. Hosted in the State Archives’ building auditorium, this annual event invites attendees to bring in their own films to screen and share with all. A/V Geeks Transfer Services will transfer film to digital formats (file to download or DVD) on-site for free. An archivist from the State Archives will provide film preservation tips for films, photographs, and digitized and born-digital documents. Bring in your family's home movies (8mm, Super8mm, 16mm film, VHS and Video8/Hi8 video tapes) to share or just show up and watch the films of others and play Home Movie Day Bingo.
Virtual Family History Fair
Saturday, Nov. 4, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Streaming online
Winding down the activities of Archives Month, the annual virtual Family History Fair, with its theme, “Start @Home,” focuses on practical tools used to research family history. Experts from the State Archives, the Government and Heritage Library, the N.C. Digital Heritage Center, and the State Historic Preservation Office will feature ways to search and use newspapers, government records, maps, directories, and digital collections to uncover community and family connections. Explore the genealogy of your own home in the “Genealogy of a House” session.
These sessions will stream online for free, so log on to your own laptop or desktop, or join a local participating public library for the presentations.
For details on streaming, a presentation agenda, and a list of participating libraries, see the online flyer. For additional information please email slnc.reference@ncdcr.gov or call (919) 807-7460.
“North Carolina has millions of records and archival collections that are used for historical, cultural, legal, and many other types of research,” said Sarah Koonts, State Archivist of North Carolina. “Genealogists use primary and secondary resources to discover ancestors and extended family. As custodians of these documents, photographs, films, and public records, archivists and librarians serve an important function in our democratic society—one of access to information. We are pleased bring these tools to a wider audience through the Family History Fair.”
Extended Research Hours
Friday, Oct. 27, to 8 p.m.
State Archives of North Carolina
Government and Heritage Library
109 East Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601
To accommodate those attending the N.C. Genealogical Society’s annual meeting on Oct. 28, the State Archives Search Room and the Government and Heritage Library will extend their service hours for Friday, Oct. 27. This is a rare opportunity to continue family research later into the evening.
About the State Archives of North Carolina
The mission of the State Archives of North Carolina is to collect, preserve, manage, and provide access to information that protects citizen rights, promotes transparency, encourages stewardship of government records, and documents North Carolina history and culture. Holdings consist of official records of state, county, and local governmental units; copies of federal and foreign government materials; and private collections.