Share a captivating evening of African folk tales of the sun, moon and stars at the program, “Stagville Under the Stars,” Friday, Aug. 24, 8 to 10 p.m., at Historic Stagville. This is a new summer presentation of the popular winter event.
A storyteller starts the evening with African folk tales while educators give hands-on demonstrations about the science behind the night sky. As the sun sets, head outside to see the stars with planetarium telescopes as staff from Morehead Planetarium lead you through a guided star tour of the night sky. The Stagville staff also will offer informal candlelight tours of the Bennehan House.
Come enjoy the warm evening and different constellations and celestial bodies than are seen in the February “Stagville Under the Stars.” Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter can be seen on a clear night, and brilliant constellations including Cygnus and Cassiopeia might be visible overhead.
Over 200 years ago, enslaved people of African descent at Stagville saw the same stars and constellations still visible in the August sky. The oral storytelling tradition follows the oral traditions that might have been kept by enslaved people at Stagville, who preserved West African traditions through many generations of slavery.
For more information, please contact Historic Stagville at (919) 620-0120. Historic Stagville is located at 5828 Old Oxford Highway, Durham, NC 27712. It is within the Division of State Historic Sites of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.