Hello NC
Hello NC celebrates the people, culture, and stories of rural North Carolina through local voices and rich media. This multi-faceted initiative will showcase stories about the diversity, traditions and richness of small towns and rural life.
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As the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, we are the state’s storytellers. With libraries, history, archives, preservation, arts, culture and our gorgeous state parks and natural areas under our stewardship, we have a lot of stories to share from a variety of perspectives. Initially, the initiative is spotlighting four counties, but we want to hear the stories from all rural communities and from the people that live and visit there.
Featured Stories
Joe Penland
Joe Penland was born and raised in rural Madison County in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. He is the proud steward of 12 generations and more than 350 years of the rich oral tradition of his Scotch and English ancestors.
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Mars Hill Rosenwald School Reclaimed
The Rosenwald school in the then black Long Ridge section of Mars Hill was one of the more than 5300 state of the art school buildings and teachers’ buildings constructed throughout the south with around 813 built in North Carolina.
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Halifax Underground Railroad
Halifax, North Carolina, was an important part of the Underground Railroad in North Carolina. With the largest free black population of any county in the state in the antebellum period, the community provided a network to help freedom seekers.
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