Fall 2025 HSNC Meeting, Hillsborough, NC

The Fall 2025 meeting of the Historical Society of North Carolina will be on Friday afternoon and evening, 17th October 2025 at the Eagle Masonic Lodge at 142 West King Street, in Hillsborough.

This will be our first meeting in the Orange County Seat in quite some time, and we look forward to the opportunity of meeting in this historic venue as we begin to observe the 250th anniversary (Semiquincentennial) of the American Revolution and the independence of the nation.

The two-story, square brick Eagle Lodge was erected in 1823 in the Greek Revival Style, reportedly the design of State Architect William Nichols who is credited with work on the original State House in Raleigh and the present-day Capitol Building.

In addition to its continuous Masonic purposes the building has served as the town’s lecture hall, opera house, Civil War hospital, and in many other functions. Its architectural and historical significance made the building suitable for inclusion on the National Register a half-century ago. It is an integral part of the Hillsborough Historic District.

Program

4:00 pm Presentations

• Dr. Hilary Green, the James B. Duke Professor of Africana Studies at Davidson College, “Bridging the 1865 Divide of the ‘With These Hands Memorial’ at Davidson College”
  • In May 2025, Davidson College broke ground on the “With These Hands: A Memorial to the Enslaved and Exploited.”  Designed by artist Hank Willis Thomas and Perkins & Will architectural design firm, the memorial recognizes the African American men, women, and children whose contributions have been ignored previously and how the abolition of slavery in 1865 did not change labor conditions. Dr. Green’s address focuses on two individuals who bridged the 1865 divide. Hiram Potts’ and John Baxter Williamson’s institutional connections began in slavery and ended with their deaths in the early years of Jim Crow segregation. By understanding these men’s lives and early campus remembrances of faithful college servants, she contends that the memorial serves as an appropriate commemorative form and forces the current campus community to reckon with not only the enslaved and exploited but the individuals who bridged the 1865 divide.
• Rob Christensen, former journalist with the the Raleigh News and Observer, discussing his new book, Southern News, Southern Politics (UNC Press, 2025).
  • Christensen retired in 2018 after writing about North Carolina politics as a reporter and a columnist for nearly five decades. He has appeared on countless television and radio programs where his skills as a political analyst have come into play. He has made many contributions to various books and publications dealing with our state’s political heritage. This first solo work, The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics (UNC Press) was awarded as the best work of non-fiction by a North Carolinian by the state Literary and Historical Association in 2008. A decade later came his The Rise and Fall of the Branchhead Boys (UNC Press, 2019) in which he chronicled the rise of the Scott Family Political Dynasty and its impact on the state. His latest work  covers the rise and decline of the Daniels family and the Raleigh News and Observer which they guarded, groomed and guided for the better part of a century.

6:00 pm Business Meeting and Dinner

Following these presentations, we will have a business session in which we will have reports, elections for officers for the next year (a slate forthcoming), and the presentation of the year’s recipients of the Outstanding Teacher of North Carolina History Award, the Edmonds-Gavins Award (formerly the Connor Award) for the best article in the North Carolina Historical Review, and the Hugh T. Lefler Undergraduate Award for best research paper. Details will be forthcoming in future communications.

7:00 pm Presidential Address, Dr. Cecelia Moore

Cost for the evening meal: $20.  Payment forms accepted are cash or check (made payable to “Historical Society of NC”).  Payment by PayPal also accepted at Fall 2025 Meeting.  RSVP to jasont@unc.edu