History Happens Here
Press Release
For more information
contact
Fay Mitchell Henderson at (919) 807-7389.
Release: December 29, 2006
“HISTORY HAPPENS HERE” UNDERWAY
(RALEIGH—Dec. 29) – Flanked by a pint-sized pirate, a bantam British redcoat and a cast of costumed interpreters on one side, and an oversized proclamation of 2007 as “History Happens Here” year on the other, N.C. Department of Cultural Resources Secretary Lisbeth C. “Libba” Evans launched North Carolina’s 2007 theme of “History Happens Here” on Wednesday, Dec. 27, at the State Capitol.
“Our state’s history is filled with many stories…the first English settlement in the New World, the first formal sanction of independence, the first state university to open its doors,” Evans observed, continuing, “the first discovery of gold in the U.S., the first powered flight, the first state symphony and art museum.”
During 2007, more than 500 events and programs will take place at the state’s historic sites and history museums. The N.C. Museum of Art and N.C. Symphony also will offer theme related programming. The state’s sites and museums attract 2.5 million visitors of all ages annually. The proclamation states that history contributes to cultural life, and kindles a creative economy fueled by cultural tourism. Cultural tourists seek the authentic and a wide array of choices, which they find in abundance in North Carolina. They also spend $102 per person per day, twice as much as the general traveler.
N.C. Division of State Historic Sites Director Keith Hardison noted that visitors can find costumed interpreters at all of the state’s 27 historic sites. Interpreters at the launch included a provincial soldier from Fort Dobbs State Historic Site, Gov. William Graham from the State Capitol, a colonial farm wife, a Civil War widow, a young Civil War soldier, a World War II 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper, and a World War II nurse. North Carolina can boast of being the only state to interpret five centuries of history.
A calendar of selected events for History Happens Here year is attached, along with FAQs. For additional information contact Fay Mitchell Henderson at (919) 807-7389, or fay.henderson@ncmail.net. The Department of Cultural Resources is a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. Now podcasting 24/7 with information about the Department of Cultural Resources, all available at www.ncculture.com.
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