Cultural Resources at a Glance
Students visit the art museum
The North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources was formed in 1971 to serve North Carolina’s citizens across the state in an outreach to broaden minds and spirits, preserve history and culture, and to recognize and promote our cultural resources as an essential element of North Carolina’s economic and social well being. It was the first state organization to include all agencies for arts and culture under one umbrella.
The department is comprised of the Office of Archives and History and the Office of Arts and Libraries. Through these offices, the department addresses a wide range of interests and provides assistance to North Carolina’s residents and visitors to the state.
The N.C. Office of Archives and History, founded in 1903, preserves and maintains a record of North Carolina’s rich cultural heritage through the preservation and interpretation of documents, artifacts, buildings, and by promoting history education. It sponsors programs for students and teachers including National History Day in North Carolina, the Tar Heel Junior Historian and the History Bowl. The office includes three divisions – the Division of State History Museums, the Division of State Historic Sites and the Division of Historical Resources.
The N.C. Museum of History
The Division of State History Museums is administered by the N.C. Museum of History, which was founded in 1902 and preserves and displays the state’s heritage. Located in Raleigh, the museum offers long-term exhibits including the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, and Health and Healing Experiences in North Carolina. The museum also hosts major traveling exhibits. Regional branches of the museum are located in Elizabeth City, Fayetteville and Old Fort. Also part of the Division of State History Museums are the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort and its branch locations at Roanoke Island and Southport.
Re-enactors sign-up for the militia at Polk Memorial Historic Site
The Division of State Historic Sites maintains 27 state-owned historic properties, including governors’ birthplaces, a plantation, battleship, state capitol, battlegrounds, farms, and a palace, all of which demonstrate crafts and lifestyles typical of bygone eras. Programs present living history demonstrations of everyday crafts, battle re-enactments and interactive exhibits.
State Archives Search Room
The State Archives contains public records of enduring value related to the state’s documentary heritage. This section provides assistance to citizens and government bodies in accessing these records. The Search Room is open to the public.
The State Records Center promotes efficient records management through training and development of retention guidelines for public agencies; it also provides storage for inactive and semi-active public records. For more information, visit web site www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/records.
Estey Hall, at Shaw University, was restored with assistance from the State Historic Preservation Office.
The State Historic Preservation Office works with individuals, communities, institutions and government agencies in the identification, evaluation, protection and enhancement of properties significant in North Carolina history and archaeology. This office surveys historic buildings, districts and landscapes, and also nominates eligible properties to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Office of State Archaeology coordinates and implements a statewide program of research on prehistoric, historic, and underwater sites, and also preserves artifacts. This office serves as the professional archaeology staff for the State Historic Preservation Office and the North Carolina Historical Commission, and has offices in Raleigh, Asheville, Greenville and at Fort Fisher (near Wilmington).
The Historical Publications Section stimulates investigation and promotes the knowledge of the history of North Carolina through the publication of books, papers, manuscripts and documents about the state’s history, adhering to high editorial and scholarly standards. Publications may be ordered from the annual catalog or via telephone.
Sculpture by Antonio Canova at the N.C. Museum of Art.
The N.C. Office of Arts and Libraries encompasses four divisions—the N.C. Museum of Art, the N.C. Arts Council, the N.C. Symphony, and the State Library of North Carolina. These divisions help to provide arts, education and cultural experiences to citizens all across the state.
The N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh is home to the first state art collection purchased with public funds that were committed by the General Assembly in 1947. The collection spans more than 5,000 years, from Egyptian to 20th century masterworks. The collection of European paintings and sculpture from the Renaissance to the Impressionist period is internationally celebrated. Other galleries include African, American, Oceanic art, and Jewish ceremonial objects. Films, concerts, educational programs and workshops are offered.
The North Carolina Arts Council works to make North Carolina a better state through the arts by building vibrant communities, creating opportunities for citizens to be more creative and productive, and ensuring that the state’s culture remains strong and vital. The Arts Council accomplishes this in partnership with artists and arts organizations, other organizations that use the arts to make their communities stronger, and North Carolinians — young and old — who enjoy and participate in the arts.
The Arts Council provides leadership, guidance, planning assistance, information resources, technical support, and funding to artists, arts and civic organizations, learning institutions, government agencies and the general public. The Arts Council promotes excellence in the many forms of artistic expression, supports the exemplary artists and organizations that make up the state’s robust arts industry, builds sustainable place-based economic development strategies, enhances student learning by putting artists in the classrooms and in after school programs, works throughout the continuum of lifelong learning, and expands the range of opportunities for North Carolinians to experience the arts.
The State Library of North Carolina, founded in 1812, has three primary responsibilities under North Carolina’s General Statutes: partnering with communities statewide to improve public library services; coordinating activities among all types of libraries; and providing library service to state government employees, blind and physically handicapped North Carolinians, and the general public, with an emphasis on genealogical researchers.
The State Library provides a variety of services and programs to assist local libraries in strengthening their services. State and federal grants support local libraries operations and development. Annually, the State Library coordinates a Summer Reading Program. The Center for the Book offers programs that focus on the joy of books and reading for people of all ages. State Library staff coordinates a range of workshops and conference for North Carolina’s library community and provide individual advice and assistance to local libraries. Information and publications prepared by the State Library provide statistics to support the management of local libraries.
NC ECHO
Innovative projects spearheaded by the State Library include NC ECHO, which enables users to search an online directory to the cultural repositories of the state; and StartSquad.Org, an Internet portal to child-appropriate web sites selected by librarians. The State Library coordinates efforts among all types of libraries to access specialized resources including the NC LIVE (nclive.org), an online electronic library that gives every North Carolinian access to thousands of books, magazines, and reference resources.
Through its library facilities, the State Library provides library and information resources for North Carolinians to promote knowledge and, education targeting state agency personnel, local government officials, genealogical researchers and NC residents with visual and physical impairments. The Genealogical Research Service offers an extensive collection of published materials including family histories, published abstracts, and county, state and federal records. The Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is a special library that circulates books and magazines especially made for persons who cannot use regular print due to a visual or physical disability.
Members of the North Carolina Symphony string section in performance
The North Carolina Symphony is a full-time, professional orchestra with 65 members. Its home base is in Raleigh’s Meymandi Concert Hall and it performs about 75 concerts a year in the Triangle area. The orchestra has one of the most extensive music education programs of any U.S. orchestra. About 50 of the orchestra’s concerts are performed for schoolchildren throughout the state each year. Other educational outreach programs include the Young Strings of the Triangle, the Triangle Youth Philharmonic, the annual youth concerto competition and the Young People’s concert series in Raleigh. Grant Llewellyn serves as the Symphony’s Music Director. William Henry Curry serves as Resident Conductor, Joan Landry is the Assistant Conductor, and Gerhardt Zimmerman is Conductor Laureate.
