John Guss, site manager inside the Bennett Home

Greetings & Happy New Year
from Bennett Place!

We trust all of you had a wonderful Christmas and Holiday Season with family and friends, and rang in the New Year of 2013 with many great expectations. We broke an all time visitation record for our Christmas in the Carolinas During the Civil War living history event in December thanks to Santa paying a visit to the Bennett farm, a special guest appearance by General D. H. Hill portrayed by historian and author Doug Batson, the support of our incredible volunteers who continue to help preserve the significant history of this hallowed ground, and you our devoted visitors.

As I stated in my previous address we began our Museum Fundraising Capital Campaign for the redesign of our museum on October 4^th and have continued to raise monies through a variety of ways to generate donations! Thank you to all of you who have made a contribution thus far. Our goal is $50,000 and we hope you can help us reach our objective in 2013 as we are already in the process of designing the museum with a much more comprehensive story of the Bennett Family and the Largest Surrender of the American Civil War. Our grand opening is planned for April 2014! Please visit our fundraising webpage at:  www.bennettplacehistoricsite.com/museum-fund or you can mail in a contribution. We greatly appreciate the contribution.

Our new year begins in February with an exciting 150^th Sesquicentennial Anniversary event entitled, “The Emancipation Proclamation: An Exploration” on Saturday, February 23, 2013.  Earl Ijames, historian with the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, will be our keynote speaker in addition to “A Trail to Freedom”, a living history guided tour through the forest of the Bennett Farm to hear stories of struggle and freedom from those who lived it. Other local African American related historic sites and museums will make presentations and have displays in honor of this significant event in American history. March follows with our Tar Heels: Soldiers of the Old North State, a living history of the Confederate soldiers of North Carolina, and in April, the 148^th Anniversary of the Surrender will take place with a unique event depicting how the American Civil War has been covered by artists, photographers, journalists, and newspapers throughout history. Many more new impressive programs are being introduced this year, so you don’t want to miss them. So please check out the remainder of our calendar of events and join us for these special lectures, living histories, and commemorative events.

ATTENTION HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS!! Don’t forget to send in your scholarship applications for the William Vatavuk Scholarship!! The college scholarship is $500.00!! Visit our webpage for all the details:

http://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

If you would like to help us with a small donation, please Click Here.