Stories that Connect Us: A Community Conversation on Telling the Full Story
2025-12-04 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-11-27 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-11-20 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-11-13 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-11-06 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-10-30 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-10-23 17:30 - 19:30, 2025-10-16 17:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York) and 11 more dates | Passmore Center, 103 Meadowlands Dr, Hillsborough, NC, 27278, United States
Discover the stories that shape our community in a special four-part conversation series! Hosted by the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough and the Telling the Full Story committee, each session dives into the history of local sites from our interactive map, with engaging video presentations and oral histories that bring these places to life. Join us for lively discussions and reflections on the impact of these spaces in Hillsborough.
Mark your calendar for Thursday evenings in February 2025, 5:30–7:00 PM at the Passmore Center in Hillsborough, NC. Come to learn, connect, and be inspired—see you there!
February 6th- Entrepreneurship in the 20th Century
February 13th- The Land Remembers
February 20th- Community Institutions
February 27th- Navigating Freedom
What is Telling the Full Story: The Alliance for Historic Hillsborough’s Telling the Full Story program seeks to uncover and share the diverse, often untold histories of Hillsborough. Through community conversations, interactive maps, and oral histories, this program invites everyone to explore the people, events, and places that have shaped our community, fostering a richer understanding of our shared heritage.
Funding for this program series is generously provided by North Carolina Humanities.

Cucalorus Film Festival
2025-11-19 - 2025-11-23
The Cucalorus Film Foundation is a multi-disciplinary media arts organization supporting emerging and innovative artists through festivals, grants, residencies, and a community cinema with screenings and youth education programs throughout the year. Cucalorus brings people together to celebrate, discover, and create. The annual Cucalorus Film Festival provides a non-competitive environment to support independent filmmakers, performance artists, and community organizers who use storytelling to transform our world.

The Cucalorus Conversations program brings fresh new voices to the stage for post-screening discussions that focus on community issues like racial history, Indigenous culture, access to healthcare, and community-building. Humanities experts join filmmakers after these five special screenings for extended dialogue. Conversations are supported in part by North Carolina Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
https://cucalorus.eventive.org/films/remaining-native-68d72cbc13b2249056fd78bf
https://cucalorus.eventive.org/films/post-conviction-68d55fe5074b563376e5861d
https://cucalorus.eventive.org/films/the-last-partera-68bb0c2ad6b9e3bbba9005d4
https://cucalorus.eventive.org/films/street-smart-lessons-from-a-tv-icon-68d4a4dd815fd4ba25d12fae
https://cucalorus.eventive.org/films/love-chaos-kin-68d5396b2bd186f8f6602dcf

Music of the Appalachian Highlands, Setting the Stage for the Birth of Country Music
2025-10-25 15:00 - 16:00 | Burnsville Town Center, 6 South Main Street, Burnsville, NC, 28714, United States
For RiddleFest Seminar 2025 Roy Andrade (guitar, mandolin) and Kalia Yeagle (fiddle), faculty members from the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music program in the Department of Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University, will explore the musicians and music of the southern Appalachian Highlands with reference to the musical development of Lesley Riddle and AP Carter, who are considered to be key figures in the birth of country music. The Seminar is free and open to the public.

Hometown Walkabout Cultural Tours
2025-10-25 08:00 - 13:30, 2025-09-25 08:00 - 13:00, 2025-09-23 09:00 - 15:00, 2025-08-30 09:00 - 15:00
We will host two Hometown Walkabout Community Group tours and two law enforcement tours during the remainder of 2025. The tours will encompass: pre-tour guides, orientation, curated cultural site stops, guest speakers, cultural lunch, reflections, and follow-up resources.
Our mission is to increase awareness of the rich cultural landscape in Burke County, NC, through place-based and art-based tours and guided discussions that highlight and celebrate the unique qualities of local communities.

08/30, Community Cohort 1 starts at The Industrial Commons, 647 Hopewell Rd., Morganton, NC 28655
09/23, Law Enforcement Cohort starts at the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, 150 Government Drive, Morganton, NC 28655
9/25, Law Enforcement Cohort starts at the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, 150 Government Drive, Morganton, NC 26855
10/25, Community Cohort 2 starts at The Industrial Commons, 647 Hopewell Rd., Morganton, NC 28655

Reckoning with Racial Covenants in Durham Exhibit Opening Reception
2025-10-17 18:00 - 20:00 | perfect lovers, 2823 N Roxboro St, Durham, NC, 27704, United States
The Hacking into History Project was conceived in 2020 on a walk between neighbors. An archivist and the ED of the nonprofit, DataWorks NC, vented about what was happening in our home of Durham: the lack of affordable housing and gentrification. The conversation turned to Durham’s history of barring nonwhites from owning or leasing properties, or even being laid to rest in burial plots. At the time, this historical practice of racially restrictive covenants was not well known.
This year, supported by a North Carolina Humanities grant, we are creating and presenting an exhibit about racial covenants in Durham. Our intentions are: to increase awareness of this lesser-known form of structural racism, show its impact on our city and county in the present day, inspire community action, and find possible remedies.
Our grant project included hosting a series of community listening sessions during which we shared our work from the past five years, and gathered input to help shape the design of the exhibit.
We are excited to share this exhibit with you, and celebrate what we have accomplished together over the past five years as a community-driven project. Refreshments will be provided.
This event is at Perfect Lovers, an art space & espresso pop-up, 2823 N Roxboro St. The exhibit, supported by an NC Humanities grant, will remain on display during Perfect Lovers’ open hours. There is plenty of parking behind the building via E. Edgewood Dr.
Date: October 17, 2025 at 6:00 PM (Eastern Time)

20th Annual Bookmarks Festival of Books & Authors
2025-09-27 09:30 - 17:00 | Bookmarks, 634 W. Fourth St., Winston Salem, NC, 27101, United States
Bookmarks is celebrating 20 years of providing access to books and cultivating community in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County area. There are ticketed events on Thursday and Friday before the free Saturday festival. On Saturday, everyone is invited to join us for books talks and book signings with 50+ authors of various genres. There will also be activities and panels for kid and family all day long. Stay connected and learn more by visiting bookmarksnc.org/festival.
Bookmarks began as an annual book festival in 2004 and has since grown to be the largest annual book festival in the Carolinas. After several years as a volunteer-run book festival, Bookmarks has grown to be a 501(c)(3) literary arts nonprofit organization and independent bookstore in downtown Winston-Salem with year-round programming and outreach. All of Bookmarks’ programming, including the Festival of Books & Authors, is part of the organization’s mission to cultivate community by bringing people of all ages together with books and authors that educate, inspire, challenge, and entertain.

John C. Campbell Folk School Log Cabin Museum Ribbon Cutting
2025-09-22 11:30 - 12:30 | John C. Campbell Folk School, 1 Folk School Rd, Brasstown, NC, 28902, United States
As part of the Folk School’s 100th Anniversary celebration, we are restoring our historic log cabin and transforming it into a museum. As part of this event, we will also be unveiling our new interactive walking tour featuring 13 sites on campus. Join us for this special Ribbon Cutting ceremony—an unforgettable milestone you won’t want to miss!

Washington NC's National Night Out 2025: Strengthening Community Bonds
2025-08-05 18:00 - 20:00 | Beebe Memorial Park, 1101 N. Bridge Street, Washington, NC, 27889, United States
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, better places to live. This event invites families, neighbors, and local organizations to come together for an evening of fun, food, games, and safety education. The Black Oral Histories of Beaufort County Project will have an information booth at the event to share more information about the project.

Reckoning with Racial Covenants Community Listening Session
2025-07-31 18:00 - 19:30 | The People’s Solidarity Hub, 1809 Chapel Hill Rd, Durham, NC, 27707, United States
Help the Hacking into History Project develop a community-driven exhibit about restrictive racial covenants in Durham, supported by a North Carolina Humanities grant. As this is a collaborative project, your ideas matter.
Join us for food and conversation at our final Reckoning with Racial Covenants Community Listening Session on Thursday, July 31 from 6:00-7:30 pm at The People’s Solidarity Hub (white building). We shared visual displays and gathered feedback from attendees at our first two listening sessions. At this third and final session, we will review the outline draft of the exhibit content.
All Durham residents are welcome, whether you have been to one of our previous events or not.
