What is North Carolina Lives and Legacies?
Started by Robert Buerglener in Fall 2022 as an Information Science + Studies student research lab, North Carolina Lives and Legacies began with the goal of creating a more inclusive interpretation of Bennett Place, a state-run historic site in Durham, NC. The ongoing goal of the project has been to tell new stories about North Carolina’s history based on current historical scholarship and original research, using methods from critical digital humanities, public history, and heritage studies.
Clues & Questions
Clues
Most of our work relies on a combination of archival papers, historic photos, and digitized newspapers. See how we blend this source material on our projects page.
Questions
What was James Bennett’s Life Like as a Yeoman Farmer in North Carolina’s Piedmont Region?
Bennett Place is a State Historic Site in North Carolina, where Yeoman farmer James Bennett once lived. We have considered Bennett Place through different themes, including Environmental History and material culture. That said, our primary effort as a group has been to transcribe James Bennett’s personal day book from the 1840s as a way to better understand his lifestyle, and the lifestyle of Orange County Yeoman families during the mid-19th century.
What hidden narratives exist within the records at Catawba Trails Farms?
Catawba Trails farm is currently a community garden, but was once part of the Snow Hill Plantation. As a new place of interest for 2025, we hope to explore extant records and describe the agency of the community.
