John Guss, site manager inside the Bennett Home
Greetings from Bennett Place!
Springtime is finally upon us after a very long cold winter. While we did not receive the mounds of snow like our northern friends we certainly got our share of chilly and rainy weather. But now it is time to start thinking about getting outside and enjoying the great outdoors at our parks and historic sites. We have already begun our special event season with a splendid living history and lecture series commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation in February. The Trail To Freedom Tour received tremendous accolades.You can enjoy this educational video filmed and sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources on YouTube by clicking on this link.
In March, North Carolina became 350 years old and we commemorated this grand celebration with Tar Heel soldiers encamped at the Bennett Farm. The 6th North Carolina Infantry, Cedar Fork Rifles Company encamped around the Bennett Farm with three wonderful lectures by authors of North Carolina to include one of our favorites, Michael Hardy, and newly published authors Martha Brown, and David Reavis. We have a variety of other superb events planned for the year, which you will not want to miss. The 148th Anniversary of the Largest Surrender of the American Civil War entitled, War and Surrender Through Photography, Art, and Journalism will be a unique perspective of how the war has been depicted throughout history. This event will be held on April 20-21, 2013, followed by what has become a popular military timeline living history honoring our American soldiers with our Memorial Day Remembrance program on May 25-26. Second Saturdays are back again with a variety of history and cultural related activities in June, July, and August as well followed by Fall and Christmas events.
Please check out the remainder of our calendar of events on our website or on our Bennett Place Facebook page. We will continue to add to our calendar of events with lectures of interesting Civil War related topics, living history programs on the farm, and other commemorative and anniversary events.
We continue to climb toward the mountain peak of our $50,000 goal for a new museum exhibit gallery, which we plan to have opened by April 2014. This will be a much more comprehensive story of the Bennett Family and the surrender negotiations between Major General Sherman and General Johnston at the Bennett Farm. Please visit our museum fundraising webpage at: www.bennettplacehistoricsite.com/museum-fund to find out more information of how you can help us build a new museum that is an important part of our nation’s journey to reunification. We greatly appreciate all donations in helping us reach the goal.
ATTENTION HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS!! Don’t forget to send in your scholarship applications for the William Vatavuk Scholarship!! The college scholarship is $500.00 and will be awarded in April!! Visit our webpage for all the details: www.bennettplacehistoricsite.com/education/william-vatavuk-scholarship
On behalf of the staff and volunteers at Bennett Place State Historic Site THANK YOU again for your continued support in helping us preserve the memory of those American men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice from 1861-1865.
Sincerely,
John Guss, Site Manager
