‘Tar Heels and Textiles’ for 2nd Saturday series at Bennett Place State Historic Site

DURHAM – Tar Heel soldiers in Civil War dress along with civilians in period garb will be portrayed by living historians at the July 9 program of 2nd Saturdays at Bennett Place State Historic Site in Durham .

The free “Tar Heels and Textiles” program from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. will demonstrate period techniques of weaving, sewing, carding of sheep’s wool, and related activities. The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources is presenting the gas-tank-get-away 2nd Saturday events (http://www.ncdcr.gov/2ndsaturdays.asp) at its 37 state historic sites and museums statewide.

The yard will be filled with exhibits and living history demonstrations about the 19th-century textile industry. Presentations will show how the North Carolina industry ramped up dramatically during the Civil War to meet demand and equip soldiers. Creative artists will show and sell related pieces of art.

One of the speakers for the program will be from the Textile Heritage Museum in Glencoe (http://www.textileheritagemuseum.org/).

In April 1865, the Bennett Farm was the site of the largest surrender of the American Civil War. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman met at the Bennett farmhouse to negotiate a solution to America ’s most tragic war. The surrender ended fighting in North and South Carolina , Georgia , and Florida , allowing 89,270 exhausted Confederates to return home. The mission of Bennett Place is to preserve and interpret the history of the largest surrender and the lives of yeomen farmers such as the Bennetts.

Bennett Place is located in west Durham and can be reached from Raleigh by taking I-40 West to the Durham Freeway (Hwy. 147), exiting on to Hillsborough Road, then following the brown historic site signs, or from Greensboro by taking I-85 East and continuing to Exit 170 on to Hillsborough Road, then following the brown historic site signs.

For further information contact Bennett Place at 919-383-4345, e-mail bennett@ncdcr.gov or go to the Web site at http://www.nchistoricsites.org/bennett/bennett.htm. Also follow N.C. State Historic Sites during the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War at Web site http://www.nccivilwar150.com.

Administered by the N.C. Division of State Historic Sites, Bennett Place State Historic Site is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina ’s social, cultural and economic future. Information on Cultural Resources is available at http://www.ncculture.com/