OBX History Weekend celebrates questers, inventors, dreamers, pioneers

Published 8:18 am Monday, March 21, 2022

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The First Colony Foundation, Elizabeth R & Company and the National Park Service – Outer Banks Group, announced the official dates of OBX History Weekend Symposium & Entertainments 2022.

“The theme for this year’s free, interactive, public-oriented symposium is Searchers of New Horizons. The weekend celebrates the questers, inventors, dreamers, and pioneers whose paths included the Outer Banks,” said lebame houston, artistic director of Elizabeth R & Company.

The four-day Outer Banks History Weekend, Searchers of New Horizons, will host 23 presentations, specialized site tours, exhibits, living history episodes and other entertainments happening from Wednesday, March 30, 2022 to Saturday, April 2, 2022.

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“Those attending OBX History Weekend 2022 this March and April are offered unparalleled opportunities to learn from the world’s foremost scholars and researchers, the latest and best information on the archaeology of the Roanoke colonists, the world of the Algonquian-speaking natives they encountered, and exciting aviation history,” said Phil Evans, First Colony Foundation president.

“The invited speakers are eager to interact with the attendees in the beautiful environs where these fascinating parts of our history actually happened. There will also be great exhibitions and lively period music. I know I am looking forward to learning all I can,” Evans continued.

Presentations include new information about Roanoke colonist Thomas Harriot, English and Native American views of the Carolina Algonquians, new discoveries about the fate of the fabled Lost Colony and a new view on Sir Walter Raleigh. Sessions also include information on groundbreaking aviators including the Wright Brothers and their sister Katharine; General Billy Mitchell; Amelia Earhart; Chuck Yeager; Francis Rogalloand more.
Events and entertainments include:

Specialized Site Tours – Living history presenters and National Park Service ranger-guided tours at the archaeological grounds at Fort Raleigh, Billy Mitchell Airstrip in Frisco and the Wright Brothers National Memorial featuring:

Willie Balderson as Anas Todkill, the Jamestown colonist sent to search for survivors of the “lost colony;” Nancy Avalon, the ever-popular Elizabethan lady, will perform interactive songs and instrumentals of the time period.

Symposium Sessions – Three days of different presentations and group discussions led by internationally acclaimed historians, archaeologists and anthropologists. Symposium sessions will be held at the Gazebo Theatre at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Thursday, March 30; Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2. Visit OBXHistoryWeekend.com for the full schedule.

Searchers of New Horizons Exhibition – Internationally recognized curator Alexandra Klingelhofer will bring the paintings by John White, engravings of Theodor Debry with text by Thomas Harriot on 16th-century English and Native American viewpoints and artifacts and displays on each of the individuals spotlighted in the symposium to the top floor of the Dare County Arts Council.

The event opens with a wine and cheese reception on Thursday, March 31, 2022 from 6-8 p.m.

The exhibition is open to the public and runs until Saturday, April 9, 2022 with costumed docents.

Questers Rendezvous – A dinner and show that will salute searchers like Louis Armstrong, who came to the Outer Banks’ Nags Head Casino in search of a new musical sound that they called jazz. The event will feature OBX queen of jazz Laura Martier and Manteo’s favorite opera singer Tshombe Selby with a live jazz band. The Questers Rendezvous will be held Friday evening, April 1 from 6-10 p.m. Seating is currently full, but a waitlist sign-up is available at obxhistoryweekend.com.

Aircraft Fly-Over – Saturday, April 2 (weather permitting).

Outer Banks History Weekend brings together some of the world’s top scholars on North American colonization and aviation to chronicle the establishment of Roanoke Island and the Outer Banks as a site for innovation. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with experts as multiple interactive discussions and presentations are held in the most authoritative accounts of history.

“Since 1993, the Outer Banks Group has supported academic symposia that advance the state of knowledge on topics relevant to our three parks and we are excited to continue this tradition,” said Jami Lanier, cultural resource manager and historian of the Outer Banks Group. “The National Park Service – Outer Banks Group is pleased to serve as a principal partner for the 2022 Searchers of New Horizons symposium. As stewards of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Wright Brothers National Memorial, the National Park Service supports research and scholarship that contribute to an accurate interpretation of our history.”

Outer Banks History Weekend is sponsored by Ye Olde Pioneer Theater, The Percy W. & Elizabeth G. Meekins Charitable Trust, Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, Bryan Cultural Series, Outer Banks Community Foundation, Stan White Rentals and Construction, North Carolina Humanities Council and Derek and Sharon Hatchell.

Symposium historians, archaeologists and anthropologists making presentations at the Symposium include: Karen Kupperman, Robert Fox, Steven Clucas, Alan Gallay, Karin Amundsen, Robyn Arianrhod, Carter Hudgins, Phil Evans, Margaret B. Pritchard, Robert Anthony Jr., Christian Feest, Duncan James, Eric Klingelhofer, Helen Rountree, Clay Swindell, Nick Luccketti, Eric Deetz, Brent Lane, Douglas Lantry, Thomas Crouch, Kim Sloan, Billy Vaughn, Ann C. Honious, Paul Carr and Darrell Collins.

To register for the free OBX History Weekend: International Symposium Searchers of New Horizons, complete the form on First Colony Foundation’s website at https://obxhistoryweekend.com.

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