A 250^TH COMMEMORATIVE EVENT

Sponsored by the Friends of Historic Halifax and Historical Halifax Restoration Association in cooperation with the Halifax County Genealogical Association, Halifax 250^th Commission (Church and Genealogy Committee), and the Halifax County Library

PRESENTATION ON HISTORY OF NATIVE AMERICANS

Come and hear about the real history…it is not what you learned in school.

SATURDAY MARCH 14, 10:30-12:00

HALIFAX COUNTY LIBRARY, HALIFAX, NC

Kathleen DuVal, Carl W. Ernst Distinguished Professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will present a short glimpse in her Pulitzer Prize winning book, NATIVE NATIONS, an informative book that will challenge and change your historical concepts about Native Americans.

“Native Nations provides a new way of understanding the long sweep of Native American history. Based on prodigious research reflecting the latest scholarship, and incorporating diverse perspective, Kathleen DuVal’s engagingly written new book reveals how Indigenous peoples’ varied strategies of presence, resistance and endurance fundamentally shaped the governmental and social structure of the United States as we know it today.”            Daniel K Richter, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Facing East from Indian Country. 

BOOKS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE.  Please bring check made out to FOHH or exact change.

·        $25.00  - Native Nations: A Millennium in North America

·        $25.00  -  Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, EMAIL This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

COMMEMORATING THE 250th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Tea And Toddies with George

              Saturday, April 11, 2026       5 PM to 8 PM

UNDER THE TENT, NEAR FOOTPRINT OF COLONIAL COURTHOUSE, ON HISTORIC HALIFAX STATE SITE

The event features George Washington, Toasts, and colonial dancing and music, along with a period tavern drink — Cherry Bounce — and a Cash Bar by Weldon Mills Distillery.

TICKETS: $50.00 PER PERSON

Serving Oysters, Shrimp, and BBQ Sliders with sides by Washington Crab Co.

Purchase tickets via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tea-and-toddies-with-george-tickets-1978305521068

Limit of 200 tickets, first come, first served

SPONSORS:

Friends of Historic Halifax (FOHH), Halifax 250^th Commission, Historical Halifax Restoration Association (HHRA) with additional funding support from John William Pope Foundation, NC 250^th Grant from NCDNCR, and Society of Cincinnati.

Davie House Ribbon-Cutting - Free to the public, Friday, Dec. 5th at 5:30 p.m. Stay for a reception and see the newly restored, c 1783 home of Sarah & William R. Davie! An optional, ticketed candlelight tour of historic buildings, festively decorated with all-natural materials, follows from 6-8 p.m.

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We are looking forward to a renovated visitors center that will formally open in April of 2026. The exhibit areas will also be updated and completed soon after the opening. Including in the exhibit area will be a special, climate-controlled viewing window that can showcase authentic documents and artifacts.

The staff at the historic site currently has temporary offices at the Tap Room and the historic site is open from Tuesday to Saturday. 

SPOTLIGHT:  The outside patio area will showcase a design by artist Senora Lynch of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe.

Senora Richardson Lynch

Senora Richardson Lynch is a contemporary Native American potter known for her creative designs that feature the symbols of Native American mythology.  She was a 2007 winner of the North Carolina Heritage Award, the 2013 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the River People Music and Culture Fest, and is recognized nationally for unique style of detailed, hand-coiled pottery. Lynch is a resident of Warren County, North Carolina.

Lynch designed walkways on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an interesting connection to Historic Halifax, since the father of this university was William Richardson Davie who lived for many years in Halifax and his home is part of the historic site. 

“I’ve always been inspired by the spirit of clay,” says Senora Lynch, an artist who calls her pottery Living Traditions. Lynch became interested in making pottery at the age of fourteen, when she assisted her tribe’s elders with a pottery class. Years later, Senora met a tribal potter who agreed to teach her the craft of hand-coiling, thus renewing her interest, and creating her own style of hand carved pottery. She’s been a potter ever since.

Old sayings and stories from the Haliwa-Saponi inspire Lynch’s unique designs, as does the natural environment. Lynch creates her pottery at home using the traditional hand-coiling method. First, she pounds red clay and rolls it into long ropes. Next, she coils the ropes and stacks them to form the desired vessel’s shape, which is done by pressing them together. She then smoothes the clay with her fingers and scrapes it with a tool to make the coils stick together. Finally, she polishes the vessel with a rock to make it smooth and shiny. To create a design, Lynch places white clay on top of the red clay and uses a tool to etch beautiful patterns. The vessel is then fired in a kiln.

The process results in exquisite pottery which has been exhibited at the North Carolina Museum of History, 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.