Banjos, Books and Brogans -- 2nd Saturdays Series at Bennett Place Historic Site

DURHAM –Authors will share engaging tales as banjo players and soldier re-enactors surround the grounds of Bennett Place State Historic Site in Durham the weekend of Aug. 13-14.

Writers Stewart Dunaway, Myron Miller, Keith Jones and others from across North Carolina will offer a variety of talks on the history and culture of the Old North State . Music, musket firings and other living history demonstrations are highlights of the free program on Saturday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and on Sunday, Aug. 14, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

The 6^th North Carolina Infantry, Cedar Fork Rifles Company, will encamp on the grounds and share their re-enactment experiences in the recent commemoration campaign in Northern Virginia . Nationally known musician Joe Ayers, who performs 19^th-century banjo music, will play throughout the day and in concert in the visitor center theater Saturday from 7-9 p.m. Concert tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance at the visitor center.

The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources is presenting the 2^nd Saturdays gas-tank-get-away events (www.ncdcr.gov/2ndSaturdays.asp) at 37 state historic sites and museums statewide through August.

In April 1865, the Bennett Farm was the site of the largest surrender of the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and Union 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 Civil War surrender and the lives of yeomen farmers such as the Bennetts. Follow the observance of the 150^th anniversary of the end of the Civil War at www.nccivilwar150.com.

Bennett Place is at 4409 Bennett Memorial Road in west Durham . From Raleigh take I-40 west to the Durham Freeway (Hwy. 147) exit to Hillsborough Road , then follow the brown historic site signs. From Greensboro take I-85 north to Exit 170 to Hillsborough Road , then follow the brown historic sites signs.

For further info rmation call (919) 383-4345, e-mail Bennett@ncdcr.gov, or visit www.nchistoricsites.org/bennett.bennett.htm.

Administered by the N.C. Division of State Historic Sites, Bennett Place 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 www.ncculture.com