Collection Timeline

1739 to 2024

1739
Article about slave rebellions and impact in NC

1745
Article about enslaved man Ishmael Titus who served in the Revolutionary War

1761
Papers of the Collins family of Chowan, Tyrrell, and Washington counties, especially Josiah Collins I (1735-1819), who emigrated from England in 1773 and purchased large amounts of land, Josiah II (1763-1833), Josiah III (1808-1863), and Josiah IV (1830-1890). Correspondence concerns land, estate settlements, schooling in Jamaica, N.Y. (1818-1819), relatives in England (1826, 1829), election of 1840, fisheries, medical treatments, and will of a freed slave (1859). Civil War letters (1863) are to Josiah III in Hillsborough concerning slaves and plantation management in Franklin and Washington counties; Federal rule in Washington and Tyrrell counties; work of Episcopal ministers such as Chaplain George Patterson, 3rd Regt. NCST, including his semiannual report to Bishop Atkinson; and soldiers in the 17th Regt. NCT along Roanoke River and at Kinston.

1770
Article about enslaved man Ned Griffin who served in the Revolutionary War as a substitute for his enslaver
Article about Planters and Plantations and the enslaved people who worked on them as well as ways they resisted their enslavement

1775
Article about African Americans fighting for freedom from enslavement during the American Revolutions
Article about a regiment of enslaved people fighting for the British during the American Revolution

1776
Article about Manumission Socities in North Carolina
Article about a regiment of enslaved people fighting for the British during the American Revolution

1777
Article about enslaved man Christopher Rush

1785
Resources related to Somerset Place State Historic Site
An archaeological dig site at Somerset Place - Old Sucky's House, home in 1843 to 23 enslaved people
Exterior front of Somerset Place plantation home as seen from across the canal
Report on the slave hospital and large slave quarters building at Somerset Place
Article about Somerset Plantation
Article about Somerset Place and its conservation as part of Pettigrew State Park
Website for the Somerset Place Historic Site
Article about black abolitionist David Walker who published a pamphlet against slavery
Article about Somerset Place Plantation

1786
Article about enslaved man Moses Grandy

1787
Resources related to Stagville State Historic Site
Sign explaining the Horton Grove section of Stagville Historic Site
One of the plantation's slave houses built in 1850
The interior of the slave house. These houses have "nogging" or brick insulation
The bricks in the slave house's chimneys were made on the plantation. Thumbprints are still visible in the bricks
Article from Tar Heel Junior Historian about life on Stagville Plantation
Volume of Tar Heel Junior Historian dedicated to Stagville Plantation
Website for the Stagville Historic Site
Article about Stagville Plantation

1800
Article about the freedom settlements in the Outer Banks

1803
Article about enslaved man Lunsford Lane who bought his freedom

1806
Article about formerly enslaved abolitionist Thomas H. Jones

1808
Summary: "In this study, Mitch Kachun explores the multiple functions and contested meanings of African American emancipation celebrations, from the abolition of the slave trade to the fiftieth anniversary of U.S. emancipation." "Based on extensive research in African American newspapers and oration texts, this book retraces a vital if often overlooked tradition in African American political culture and addresses important issues about black participation in the public sphere. By illuminating the origins of black Americans' public commemorations, it also helps explain why there have been increasing calls in recent years to make the "Juneteenth" observance of emancipation an American - not just an African American - day of commemoration."

1813
Article about Harriet Jacobs

1819
Article about the Underground Railroad in North Carolina

1820
Article about formerly enslaved women Elizabeth Keckly
Article about Planters and Plantations and the enslaved people who worked on them as well as ways they resisted their enslavement
Summary: Focusing on slave women on the rice plantations of low-country South Carolina, Leslie Schwalm offers a thoroughly researched account of their vital roles in antebellum plantation life and in the wartime collapse of slavery, and their efforts as freedwomen to recover from the impact of war while redefining life and labor in the postbellum period.

1829
Article about a published speech by David Walker

1830

Article about Hannah Bond, a woman who escaped enslavement

1831
Article about Nat Turner's rebellion with a discussion of impacts felt in NC
Article about a published speech by David Walker

1833
A primary source document of enslaved man Ned Hyman petitioning for his freedom

1837
Article about Abraham Galloway
Summary: "Abraham H. Galloway (1837-70) was a fiery young slave rebel, radical abolitionist, and Union spy who rose out of bondage to become one of the most significant and stirring black leaders in the South during the Civil War. Throughout his brief, mercurial life, Galloway fought against slavery and injustice. He risked his life behind enemy lines, recruited black soldiers for the North, and fought racism in the Union army's ranks. He also stood at the forefront of an African American political movement that flourished in the Union-occupied parts of North Carolina, even leading a historic delegation of black southerners to the White House to meet with President Lincoln and to demand the full rights of citizenship. He later became one of the first black men elected to the North Carolina legislature. Long hidden from history, Galloway's story reveals a war unfamiliar to most of us. As David Cecelski writes, "Galloway's Civil War was a slave insurgency, a war of liberation that was the culmination of generations of perseverance and faith." This riveting portrait illuminates Galloway's life and deepens our insight into the Civil War and Reconstruction as experienced by African Americans in the South.

1840
Primary source narrative written by enslaved man James Curry about his escape from enslavement

1842
Primary source narrative from Lunsford Lane about his life in enslavement and his work to save to purchase his freedom

1856
Article about Harriet Beecher Stowe's book Dred, which was a sequel to Uncle Tom's Cabin

1859
Article about two NC free black men who participated in the Harper's Ferry raid.

1862
Article about the Freedmen's colony on Roanoke Island

1863
Article about the emancipation of enslaved African Americans
Third part of a multi-part article about African Americans in North Carolina discussing Emancipation of enslaved people
Article about African Americans who fought during the Civil War
Article about enslaved man Lunsford Lane who bought his freedom
A look at emancipation and slavery through U.S. Pension Bureau records
Summary: On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, an event that soon became a bold statement of presidential power, a dramatic shift in the rationale for fighting the Civil War, and a promise of future freedom for four million enslaved Americans. But the document marked only a beginning; freedom's future was anything but certain. Thereafter, the significance of both the Proclamation and of emancipation assumed new and diverse meanings, as African Americans explored freedom and the nation attempted to rebuild itself. Despite the sweeping power of Lincoln's Proclamation, struggle, rather than freedom, defined emancipation's broader legacy. The nine essays in this volume unpack the long history and varied meanings of the emancipation of American slaves. Together, the contributions argue that 1863 did not mark an end point or a mission accomplished in black freedom; rather, it initiated the beginning of an ongoing, contested process.

1865
North Carolina’s copy of the 13th Amendment, this document formally ended legal slavery in the United States. This document is stored in a climate-controlled vault, the original location of the document was: Governor’s Papers, Provisional Governor William Woods Holden, Box 185 (February-June 1865), Folder 1 (2 February 1865 to 31 May 1865)
Resources related to Bennett Place State Historic Site
A view of the Hillsborough Road on the grounds of Bennett Place, the site of the largest troop surrender of the Civil War
Kent McCoury (l) and Peter Hymas in front of the Bennett's log cabin kitchen
A sign discussing the details of the surrender of the Confederacy at Bennet Place
Audio: Bennett Place: The end of the war: Carolinas campaign
Website for the Bennett Place Historic Site
Article about the orgins of Emancipation Day
Article about Freedmen's Conventions
Article about African Americans who fought during the Civil War
Article about Somerset Place Plantation
Article about the Civil War negotiations at Bennett Place

1866
Article about Freedmen's Conventions
Primary source report written by Louisa Jacobs about her work to educate freed people in Georgia

1868
Article about the Black Caucus of the Constitutional Convention of 1868 from the Tar Heel Junior Historian

1885
A sign discussing the creation and growth of Princeville.

1974
Article about the Great Dismal Swamp which discusses it's importance to freedom seeking enslaved people

2007
2007 General Assembly at its regular session 2007 and its extra session 2007

2010
Records contain official proclamations issued by the Governor on behalf of various organizations and individuals, or in relation to public events.

2011
A newsletter from the NC Maritime Museum at Southport with an article about Juneteenth

2013
Records contain official proclamations issued by the Governor on behalf of various organizations and individuals, or in relation to public events.

2014
A newsletter from the NC Division of Archives and Records which discusses the tour of the Thirteenth Amendment through the state.

2021
2021 Proclamation of Juneteenth Day by Governor Roy Cooper
Article discusses ways that the NC State Park system is working to increase diversity and inclusion for staff and visitors
Newsletter of the Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses discussing the celebration of Juneteenth.
Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners with an article talking about plans for a Juneteenth celebration in Raleigh

2023
Federation Bulletin with DNCR News of Juneteenth presentation at NC Museum of History
LibGuide on resources related to Freedom Park in Raleigh, NC.

2024
Article about the history of Juneteenth
Calendar of 2024 Juneteenth events
A resource guide to assist in celebrating the Juneteenth holiday.