This is your last chance to see two popular exhibits at the NC Museum of History
Two popular exhibits at the N.C. Museum of History in downtown Raleigh will close for good at the end of this Memorial Day weekend.
“North Carolina and World War I,” which focuses on the state’s role in the war that was supposed to end all wars, opened on April 8, 2017, just before the 100th anniversary of the United States joining the conflict.
And “The North Carolina Roots of Ernie Barnes” tells the story of a Durham native who had a successful career in the National Football League, then went on to become one of the country’s leading African-American artists.
Both exhibits close when the museum does Monday at 5 p.m. Admission to both exhibits is free.
The World War I exhibit set attendance records for the museum, drawing more than 600,000 people since it opened. It includes about 500 artifacts, old photos, historical film footage, a trench diorama and video re-enactments.
“World War I veterans — soldiers and nurses — feared that their service and sacrifice would be forgotten by future generations,” museum director Ken Howard said earlier this year. “But visitors have come to see the exhibition in record numbers, proving that we all want to remember and honor their memory.”
Both exhibits had been scheduled to close earlier this year, but the museum decided to extend them through Memorial Day.
The museum has several other exhibitions, including one on Reconstruction called “Freedom: A Promise Disrupted, North Carolina 1862-1901.” It is scheduled to remain up through Oct. 27. For more information, go to www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/.
