DURHAM
Sep 29, 2016
The brothers' war was finally over, lasting longer than any had expected. The Civil War claimed the lives of about 35,000 sons of North Carolina, both Union and Confederate troops. Bennett Place State Historic Site will give voice to soldiers and civilians, men and women, black and white, attempting to rebuild their lives in "A Soldier's Return Home: Reunion and Remembrance" Saturday, Oct. 8.
Personal stories will reveal the human costs of the war through vignettes and narratives. From soldiers returning home in 1865 to a former slave's cautious encounter with a census taker in 1870 (the first year blacks were legally counted the U.S. Census) to the return of Union soldiers to old battlefields, all will be explored.
Saturday hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tickets for the special guided tour will be available on site and the cost is $3 for adults and $2 for children. Other activities include lectures from several historians and authors.
The mission of Bennett Place State Historic Site is to interpret the site of the largest surrender of the American Civil War on the Bennett farm in April 1865. Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnson and Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman negotiated the surrender of the armies of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, totaling more than 89,000 exhausted troops, and effectively ending the Civil War.
For additional information, please call (919) 383-4345. Bennett Place State Historic Site is within the Division of State Historic Sites in the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. It is located at 4409 Bennett Memorial Rd., Durham.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state's natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. Led by Secretary Susan Kluttz, NCDNCR's mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to
experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state's history, conserving the state's natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.
NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette's Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the nation's first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please call (919) 807-7300 or visit www.ncdcr.gov.