Colin Calloway, professor of History and professor of Native American Studies at Dartmouth College discusses how, during the American Revolution, some tribes supported the British, while others supported the colonists and many tried to stay neutral. Regardless of their allegiance, few historical events had a more profound impact on American Indian peoples.


American Indians and the American Revolution

Vann Newkirk, assistant provost and dean of graduate studies at Alabama A&M University discusses his book "Lynching in North Carolina: A History, 1865–1941," and the impact of lynching and mob violence in North Carolina from just after the Civil War to the mid-1900s.


Bits of History

Lynching in North Carolina

Patricia C. Click, professor emeritus in the Department of Science, Technology, and Society at the University of Virginia discusses her research examining a second “Lost Colony” on Roanoke Island that occurred during, and shortly after, the American Civil War.

The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony

In "Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guildford Courthouse," historian Josh Howard, who co-wrote the book with Lawrence E. Babits, hopes to provide a new starting point for students and scholars. In addition to providing an accurate account of the battle, the book attempts to correct long-standing myths while building awareness of the southern campaign during the Revolutionary War and the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in particular.

Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse

Professor Charles Ewen, East Carolina University, compares and contrasts the historical record of piracy using film and popular literature on the one hand, and historical documents and archaeology on the other. Their differences, in some cases, may not be as far apart as one might think.

Bits of History - NC Museum of History

A Pirate's Life for Me?

Daina Ramey Berry, associate professor of history, University of Texas, discusses slave prices in the antebellum South, exploring both planters’ criteria and slaves’ perceptions of their value. Berry’s research reveals interesting patterns with contemporary relevance to slave insurance claims and reparations. Approximate run time: 1 hour

Perspectives on History

Appraised, Bartered, and Sold: The Value of Human Chattels

Patricia Phillips Marshall, former curator of decorative arts at the North Carolina Museum of History, discusses the life and work of Thomas Day. Day was a free man of color who owned and operated one of North Carolina’s largest cabinet shops prior to the Civil War. The museum’s exhibit "Behind the Veneer: Thomas Day, Master Cabinetmaker," showcases furniture crafted by this accomplished artisan and entrepreneur from Milton, Caswell County, and explores the extraordinary story of a man who succeeded and flourished despite shrinking freedoms for free people of color in antebellum North Carolina.

Behind the Veneer: Thomas Day, Master Cabinetmaker

Journalist and author Sana Butler spent nearly ten years crisscrossing the country locating the last surviving African Americans whose parents were born in slavery. In this poignant and moving presentation, Butler discusses and reads from her book "Sugar of the Crop."

Sugar of the Crop

Sugar of the Crop: My Journey to Find the Children of Slaves

Few figures in American history are as well-known and respected as George Washington. In this episode, Carol Cadou, senior curator, and Sabrina Hiedemann, exhibition coordinator, at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens, discuss the traveling exhibition "Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon." The exhibition examines Washington’s legacy and provides new perspectives on Washington aside from his more prominent careers as general and president.

The Real George Washington

Balladeer, musician, author, and storyteller Sheila Kay Adams talks about performing and preserving the songs that have been handed down through her family since the mid-1700s.

The Ballads of Sheila Kay Adams

Noted for his unique style of elongation and movement, artist Ernie Barnes was the first American professional athlete to become a noted painter. Luz Rodriguez, trustee of the Ernie Barnes Estate, discusses Barnes' work and how his childhood roots remained a constant influence as shown in an exhibition at the North Carolina Museum of History, "The North Carolina Roots of Artist Ernie Barnes."

The North Carolina Roots of Artist Ernie Barnes

John Wertheimer, professor of History at Davidson College, discusses how he worked with his undergraduate students to research and write the story of a small town lawyer whose battles for Civil Rights led to challenging the State’s literacy test—all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

James R Walker Jr and North Carolina's Literacy Test

Taneya Thompson, a 2018 summer Museum of History intern, hosted this podcast—which explores her experiences as a student at NCCU, one of 11 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in North Carolina—with André Vann, whose own higher education is deeply intertwined in the culture and mission of HBCUs.

A Personal Connection to HBCUs

Kevin Barksdale, professor of American history at Marshall University, discusses the movement to create the state of Franklin and its impact on North Carolina, and the future United States, in the early years following the American Revolution.

North Carolina and the Franklin Statehood Movement

Six former Confederate soldiers organized a social club in 1866. It would become one of the most notorious white-supremacy groups in modern history. Based in the South, yet influenced by northern culture and newspaper coverage, historian Elaine Frantz discusses her book "Ku-Klux: The Birth of the Klan during Reconstruction."

Ku-Klux and the Birth of the Klan

Dr. Brooks Simpson’s edited collection of more than 120 speeches, newspaper and magazine articles, letters, and other period writings provides a sweeping view of the hope and despair that existed during the tumultuous period in American history following the Civil War, a time known as Reconstruction.

Reconstruction and the Struggle for Racial Equality

The state’s Colonial Records Project cares for thousands of documents that depict the history of the state from its earliest days of settlement by Europeans through ratification of the United States Constitution. Historian Joseph Beatty discusses his work with the project, including some insights he discovered while working, in particular, with the records of Royal Governor Arthur Dobbs.

Arthur Dobbs and the Colonial Records Project

A discussion with curator Katie Edwards about the museum's new exhibit Toy Boom!, and how toys of the Boomer generation reflected American society and culture during the 1950s and '60s.

Toy Boom! Toys from the 1950s and '60s

In 1754 war spread from Europe to North American and became a struggle over territory fought between the French and the British and their respective American Indian allies. By 1763 the British had won domination over the colonies—but they also had sown seeds of discontent among American colonists. Historian and author John Maass discusses this critical and fascinating period of America’s past.

The French and Indian War

What began in the middle 1800s as a series of public talks that promoted full voting rights for women finally became a national cause during the years leading up to America's involvement in World War I (1917–1918) and after. Although many people today are aware of the radical actions of women in England and in the northeastern United States, museum curator RaeLana Poteat describes a very different, more modest, picture of the suffrage movement in North Carolina and the conservative South in general.

BIts of History

Women's Suffrage in North Carolina

Sharing the stories of North Carolina and North Carolinians.

NC Museum of History

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks