On Oct. 11, 1896, during hurricane conditions and in the darkness of the night, Keeper Richard Etheridge and the all-Black surfmen crew he commanded at the Pea Island Life-Saving Station — Benjamin Bowser, Dorman Pugh, Theodore Meekins, Lewis Wescott, Stanley Wise and William Irving — saved all onboard the shipwrecked schooner.
culture and history
Our Coast: In my great-uncle’s sweet potato fields, 1942
This installment of historian David Cecelski’s photo-essay series, “Working Lives: Photographs from Eastern North Carolina, 1937 to 1947,” is more personal than usual for the author. They were taken at his great-uncle George Ball and his brother Raymond Ball’s potato farm in Harlowe.
Wilmington to celebrate Greenfield Park’s 100th anniversary
Wilmington’s popular Greenfield Park’s 100th anniversary celebration will be hosted at the park Nov. 1.
Update: Annual Duck Jazz Festival canceled this weekend
Duck officials announced Friday that the 16th annual Duck Jazz Festival, a free, two-day event scheduled to be held this weekend, has been canceled due to the weather forecast.
Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Festival to honor tradition
Decoy carving and duck hunting, crabbing, fishing and harvesting shellfish — the skills and trades islanders have passed down through the generations — are set to be celebrated Oct. 11.
Fort Fisher to mark 80th year since end of World War II
The state-managed historic site in Kure Beach has planned a daylong commemoration Oct. 4 that will feature a military convoy, living history displays and reenactors.
Monthly nature walks to highlight Bird Island history, wildlife
The Bird Island Stewards will begin hosting monthly guided nature walks on the Bird Island Coastal Reserve at Sunset Beach every third Wednesday morning beginning Oct. 15.
Brunswick Town to offer two living history programs this fall
A demonstration on the process of extracting indigo and the science behind dye production is set for Saturday, and on Oct. 18, reenactors are to demonstrate colonial life and trades at the port.
Wild herd, long shadows
Wild horses cross tidal waters from Town Marsh to Bird Shoal along Beaufort’s barrier islands, which are part of the Rachel Carson Reserve, in Carteret County. The cluster of islands includes Carrot Island, Town Marsh, Bird Shoal, and Horse Island, and the horses are descended from those brought to the islands by a Beaufort area resident in the 1940s, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. The state manages the horse population for its health and for the health of the environment, but the herd is otherwise left to fend and forage for itself. Photo: Dylan Ray
Our Coast: On the James Adams Floating Theatre in 1940
Historian David Cecelski in this installment of his photo-essay series, “Working Lives: Photographs from Eastern North Carolina, 1937 to 1947,” goes behind-the-scenes at the James Adams Floating Theatre in 1940, when the vessel was docked on the Pamlico River in Washington.
Vanishing Bayous: On a boat at ground zero for sea level rise
Second in a series: Folks on Louisiana’s bayous, where Big Oil is really big, know firsthand the perils of sea level rise, and a group of North Carolinians recently visited there looking to start a conversation.
State receives grant for archaeology study at Brunswick Town
The grant from the National Park Service is to fund an “up-to-date, all-encompassing study of the site’s waterfront where a significant colonial port once operated.”
City seeks proposals for Revolutionary War art installation
Professional artists or artist teams may submit proposals to Wilmington beginning Sept. 1 for the design, fabrication, and installation of a permanent public artwork commemorating the city’s role in the American Revolution.
Our Coast: Sawmill workers of the Roanoke River, 1938-1939
The next installment in historian David Cecelski’s “Working Lives: Photographs from Eastern North Carolina, 1937 to 1947″ series takes the reader to a sawmill, a handle mill, and a veneer plant on the banks of the Roanoke River in 1938 and 1939.
Our Coast: In the peanut fields of Edenton, 1937-1942
“Working Lives: Photographs from Eastern North Carolina, 1937 to 1947″ series begins with a group of 21 photographs that chronicle threshing time on a peanut farm near Edenton in the years just before the Second World War.
Historian explores the working lives of eastern NC 1937-1947
Historian David Cecelski introduces a series of photo-essays focusing on the working lives of people in eastern North Carolina just before, during, and after the Second World War.
