Know Your Park Series - Roanoke Island Freedmens Colony

Date: February 18, 2013
Contact: Outer Banks Group, 252-475-9000

Know Your Park: The Other Army--Northern Teachers and the

February 21^st presentation to be held at the Fort Raleigh NHS Visitor Center

The National Park Service Outer Banks Group Know Your Park citizen science program series continues this winter with an upcoming presentation.

On Thursday, February 21at 7: pm Dr. Patricia Click from the University of Virginia will present "The Other Army: Northern Teachers and the Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony." This program will take place in the auditorium of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site's visitor center. The program is free and will last approximately 1 hour.

Using narratives from historical documents, letters, and images, Dr. Click will discuss an important element to the story of the Freedmen's Colony on

Roanoke Island . In the spring of 1863, the United States government established a freedmen's colony at the site of what had been a spontaneous gathering of former slaves in a freedmen's camp following the Union victory in the Battle of Roanoke Island. Encouraged by the Union Army and sponsored by a variety of freedmen's aid organizations, in the fall of 1863 Northern teachers began arriving to work in the freedmen's colony. In celebration of the upcoming 150^th anniversary of the Freedmen's Colony on Roanoke Island, this talk will focus on the education programming provided to the colony residents and the teachers who taught them.

The Know Your Park citizen science program series is designed to further connect the Outer Banks communities and residents with the rich natural world and cultural heritage of their neighboring national park sites; Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial, and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site."These presentations offer park visitors as well as local residents an opportunity to learn more about and enjoy this fascinating coastal environment and their national parks," stated Superintendent Barclay Trimble.

For general park information, visit the park websites at www.nps.gov/caha or www.nps.gov/wrbr or www.nps.gov/fora.

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