Welcome to the Supporters of Durham 150 newsletter, designed to keep those interested in Durham’s sesquicentennial updated on all the planning activities surrounding the yearlong commemoration.

Closing Ceremony Tickets on Sale

In case you missed it, tickets for the Durham 150 Closing Ceremony Presented by Duke University and Duke Health are now on sale! We’re thrilled by the early response — more than 20% of available tickets were snapped up in the first two weeks since tickets went on sale, months before the culminating event takes place on November 2 at DPAC. Tickets are available for either $15 or $30 (plus taxes and fees) at DPACnc.com or in-person at DPAC’s box office.

To ensure the production is an accessible community event, there will also be a lottery established for $5 tickets closer to November 2. More information about the lottery will be announced soon.

The Durham 150 Closing Ceremony presented by Duke University & Duke Health will open with remarks from Mayor Steve Schewel, along with a welcome from Occaneechi Tribal Chairman, Tony Hayes. Throughout the Closing Ceremony, guests will enjoy three large video walls featuring historical visual materials, narration written by historian Jim Wise and recorded by WUNC, 91.5 FM host Frank Stasio, and live and recorded music from the John Brown Little Big Band. Live actors will perform in transitional scenes created by Durham playwright Howard Craft and directed by JaMeeka Holloway-Burrell, and a light-hearted video about Durham’s future (created, produced and narrated by Durham middle and high school students under the direction of David Stein) will then be shown to the audience. The program will conclude with a live performance of a new Durham anthem composed by Joshua Gunn, Phil Cook, Mavis Swan-Poole, Loverboy Vo, Kwesi Justice and Gavin Williams for the sesquicentennial commemoration. It will surely be a night to remember!

Got your Durham 150 merch? 

Shop the Durham 150 store (www.Durham150.org/store) to check out the selection of t-shirts, hats, magnets, and stickers available. If you’re a retailer interested in carrying Durham 150 merchandise, let us know.

Taking a Moment to Thank our Sponsors

In the last newsletter, we thanked the sponsors of the Closing Ceremony. Here, we want to provide a shout out to the E.T. Rollins, Jr. and Frances P. Rollins Foundation for sponsoring the Historic Herald-Sun Photography Exhibit. The Durham Herald-Sun Papers were owned by the Rollins family for more than 100 years. This special exhibit draws from vast Herald-Sun photo negative archives held in the North Carolina Collection at UNC Wilson Library. A small preview of the exhibit is currently set up in the Bull City Business Center next to CCB Plaza, including panels that spotlight events and storylines from our past. The full exhibit will contain more than 40 images while displayed at Golden Belt in September. In October through November, the exhibit will be at the Durham Convention Center.

As we recognize Durham’s past, present, and future with a year of events, activities, and community engagement, we thank all that have already contributed to Durham 150 this year.

You can find a full list of Durham 150 sponsors on our website.

Upcoming Durham 150 Events

There are a host of significant events coming up for people of all ages and walks of life. Many are free and designed to help us all learn more about Durham’s past, present, and future. Find a searchable listing of all events here.

Appetites and Desires: Audio Under The Stars
Durham 150 Grantee
August 30, 2019 (Rain Date)
8-10 p.m.
FREE
Center for Documentary Studies
1317 W. Pettigrew St., Durham, NC 27705

Where We Find Ourselves: The Photographs of Hugh Mangum, 1897 -1922
LAST EXHIBIT DAY
September 1, 2019
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
2001 Campus Dr., Durham, NC 27705

Brazilian Day Festival NC
Durham 150 Grantee
September 7, 2019
2 p.m.
FREE
Parade begins at Dame’s Chicken and Waffles
Durham Central Park
501 Foster St., Durham, North Carolina 27701

Mallarmé – Chamber Music of 1869
Durham 150 Grantee
September 8, 2019
3 p.m.
Psi Theater, Durham Arts Council
120 Morris St., Durham, NC 27701

Tapestry Tours by Brown Hat Tours
Durham 150 Grantee
September 13 and September 20, 2019
5-6 p.m.
FREE
Major The Bull
237 Corcoran St., Durham, NC 27701

Nuevo Espíritu de Durham: New Spirit of Durham
September 13, 2019
6-8 p.m.
FREE
Museum of Durham History
500 W. Main St., Durham, NC 27701

Foster Street Arts Festival For Entrepreneurship 
Durham 150 Grantee
September 14, 2019
9 a.m.-5 p.m.
FREE
Foster Street/CCB Plaza
201 Corcoran St, Durham, NC 27701

DOCTA Tennis Everyone – Durham 150
Durham 150 Grantee
September 14, 2019
10 a.m.-1 p.m.
FREE
Southern School of Energy and Sustainability
800 Clayton Rd, Durham, NC 27703

FIESTA!
Durham 150 Signature Event
September 15, 2019
3-7 p.m.
FREE
Carolina Theatre
309 W. Morgan St., Durham, NC 27701

The Durham Arts Council’s 45th Annual Centerfest
September 21, 2019
10 a.m.-6 p.m.
September 22, 2019
11 a.m.- 5 p.m.
FREE
Downtown City Center

Worship Under the Heavens
September 21, 2019
5-8:30 p.m.
FREE
Durham Central Park
501 Foster St., Durham, North Carolina 27701

 

Historical Note

With the new school year underway, we thought it would be timely to feature the changemakers and heroes nominated in the Sesquicentennial Honors Commission’s report under the category of History and Education.

The following bios have been sourced from the Herald-Sun article published when the commission presented their recommendations to City Council in March.

▪ Louisa Whitted Burton. One of the first women admitted to Shaw University, Burton taught both grammar school and high school and was Hillside High School’s dean of girls.

▪ Dr. Lucinda McCauley Harris. An educator and the founder of Durham College, a junior college that operated from the mid-1940s until 1980.

▪ Dr. John Hope Franklin. Franklin was one of the most prominent historians of African American history in the United States. Interstate 85 through Durham is named for him, as are the John Hope Franklin Center and Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University.

▪ C.P. Ellis and Ann Atwater. African American activist Atwater and Klansman Ellis co-chaired the 1971 “Save Our Schools” charette and famously became friends. The film based on their story, “Best of Enemies” came out in April.

▪ Dr. James E. Shepard. Shepard was the founder of what is now North Carolina Central University, the first public liberal arts college for African Americans in the U.S.

Do you have a friend, family member or colleague who would be interested in receiving these Durham 150 newsletters? Let them know they can subscribe to updates on Durham 150 here.

Sincerely,
Shelly Green & Patrick Mucklow
Co-Chairs, Durham 150