Join us for a series of events to commemorate America's 250th anniversary at the nation's first public university. The events run from Oct. 14 to 23 and include performances, poetry readings, lectures, panel discussions and more. Most of the events are free and open to the public. Visit America 250 at Carolina on the history website. Schedule of Events Wednesday, October 14 4:30-6 p.m. (Flyleaf Books) – Discussion with Antwain Hunter (History) on Frederick Douglass’s What to the Slave is the Fourth of July (1852) with Aisha Booze-Hall (Jackson Center) Please purchase tickets for this event. Monday, October 19 12:30-1 p.m. (Pleasants Room, Wilson Library) – Opening Keynote by Pamela Brewington Cashwell (Secretary, NCDC), North Carolina at 250 1-2 p.m. (Pleasants Room) – Preserving North Carolina’s History for the General Public, a panel discussion with Sec. Pamela Brewington Cashwell, Darin Waters (Dep. Sec. Office of Archives and History), and Biff Hollingsworth (Wilson Library) 2:15-3:30 p.m. (Pleasants Room, Wilson Library) – Teaching the Foundations of American Democracy in K-12 Schools, a panel discussion with Cori Greer Banks (Carolina K-12, CPH), Jillian La Serna (EPIC/Public Policy); and Mike Henning (Carrboro Elementary) 3:40-3:45 p.m. (Pleasants Room, Wilson Library) – Poetry Reading by Alexis Clifton (English and Creative Writing class of 2027), You Say the New American Dream is to Leave/Honeysuckle Dosage. 3:45-5 p.m. (Pleasants Room, Wilson Library) – Poetry and Liberty, a panel discussion with Tyree Daye (English and Comp Lit) Eliza Richards (English and Comp Lit), and Denise Xu (English and Comp Lit) 6-7:30 p.m. (Stone Center Auditorium) – Welcome by LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant (Director, Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Research in Black Culture and History). Poetry Reading and Conversation with Natasha Trethewey (Pulitzer-Prize Winning Former U.S. Poet Laureate), moderated by Michael A. Betts II (High Point University) and Miguel La Serna (Chair, History). SOLD OUT Tuesday, October 20 10 a.m. - Noon (Pleasants Room, Wilson Library) – Great American Stories: Food, Music, and Folklore of the American South with Amanda J. Cobb (American Studies), Kelly Alexander (American Studies), and Gabrielle Berlinger (American Studies) 2:30-4 p.m. (Pleasants Room, Wilson Library) – Lecture and conversation with David Crabtree (CEO and General Manager, PBS North Carolina), moderated by Michael A. Betts II 5-5:30 p.m. (Playmakers Lobby) – Colonial Fiddling by Eli Howells 5:30-7 p.m. (Playmakers) – Lecture by Mandy Cooper (History) Hamilton in Historical Context. Conversation with Daveed Diggs, a Tony, Grammy, and Lucille Lortel Award-winning actor, writer, producer, and musician best known for originating the dual roles of Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in the original cast of the Broadway hit Hamilton, earning a Tony Award for his performance. Moderated by Michael A. Betts II (High Point University), Miguel La Serna (Chair, History), and Katherine Hunter Williams (Chair, Dramatic Arts). Limited tickets will be available by sponsoring departments. Wednesday, October 21 2:30-3:30 p.m. (Pleasants Room, Wilson Library) – Lecture by Katherine Turk (History), “All Men Would be Tyrants if They Could”: Women and Power in Revolutionary America 3:45-4:30 p.m. (Pleasants Room, Wilson Library) – Performance by Singer-Songwriter Dawn Landes, The Liberated Woman’s Songbook 6-7 p.m. (Person Recital Hall) – Welcome by Jocelyn Neal (Chair, Music). Lecture and conversation with John Wood Sweet (History), Bancroft-Prize winning author of The Sewing Girl’s Tale, moderated by Michael A. Betts II and Miguel La Serna (Chair, History) 7-8:30 p.m. (Person Recital Hall) – Mending Sampler: Lanah Sawyer and the Cost of Courage in Revolutionary America, a concert featuring C. Leonard Raybon (Director of Choirs, Composer at Tulane University; Founder of Sacred Nine Project), Jeanne Fisher (Music), E. Katherine Hargrove (Colonial Williamsburg interpreter), and undergraduate performers (Music) Thursday, October 22 2:30-3:30 p.m. (University Room, Hyde Hall) – Lecture by Wayne E. Lee (History), The Cutting-Off Way: Indigenous Warfare in the American Revolution 3:45-4:45 p.m. (University Room, Hyde Hall) – Lecture by Amanda J. Cobb (American Studies), Indigenous Perspectives on America 250 Memory and Commemoration 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (Fearrington Reading Room, Wilson Library) Lecture by Kathleen DuVal (History), author of Native Nations, North Carolina and the War for Independence Friday, October 23 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (Love House) – Southern Cultures: Black Freedom Narratives in Place, Publication, and Performance, a conversation between Michelle Lanier (Director, North Carolina Historic Sites), Danielle Purifoy (Geography)and artist and activist Toshi Reagon (NYFA) 1–2 p.m. (Love House) – Lecture by Danita Mason-Hogans (Southern Oral History Program), The Role of Oral History and Community Memory in Interpreting Early American History and its Long Afterlives 2:15-3:30 p.m. (Love House) – SOHP and Civil Rights: Partnering with LDF NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) archivists and SOHP oral historians and project leaders will explore freedom as an ongoing and active pursuit 4-5:30 p.m. (Moeser Performance Hall) Theatrical Performance and Conversation with Mike Wiley (Director and Artist in Residence for the Kenan Institute for Ethics),One Noble Journey: A Box Marked Freedom 7:30-8:30 p.m. (Moeser Performance Hall) Concert by LaToya Lain (Music), Narrative of a Slave Woman, moderated by Michael A. Betts II The events of America 250 at Carolina are presented to you by: College of Arts and Sciences | Center for the Study of the American South | Department of Dramatic Art | Department of English | Department of History | Institute for the Arts and Humanities | Department of Music | Department of Political Science | Office of the Provost | Department of Public Policy | Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Research in Black Culture and History | University Library Additional support for America 250 at Carolina is provided by: Department for African, African American, and Diaspora Studies | Carolina Performing Arts | Carolina Public Humanities | Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense | Department of Sociology | Southern Cultures | Southern Oral History Program | Triangle Early American History Seminar