Learn about Tuscarora of eastern NC with A&T prof Smallwood at Asheboro library

Dr. Arwin Smallwood

ASHEBORO – So compelling are the North Carolina history talks by Dr. Arwin Smallwood of N.C. A&T State University that the Asheboro Public Library keeps inviting him back for more.

Smallwood will return with “The Tuscarora of North Carolina” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, at the library. The in-person program is free and the public is invited.

The talk will follow the lives of the Tuscarora and other native people in the state up to the mid-1800s. A group welcoming of all people (they absorbed the Lost Colony), the Tuscarora experienced a diaspora following the Tuscarora War that spread them around North Carolina, the eastern United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

An expert on the history and development of Native American, African American and European cultures in the eastern part of the state, Smallwood is professor and chair of the Department of History and Political Science at N.C. A&T. He is a native of Bertie County.

Last month, he received the Gov. James E. Holshouser Jr. Award for Excellence in Public Service from The University of North Carolina Board of Governors, one of the top two annual faculty awards in the UNC system. Smallwood is the first N.C. A&T staff member chosen for the award.

The Asheboro library is located at 201 Worth Street.

Actress Diane Faison to bring ‘The Spirit of Harriet Tubman’ to life in Asheboro show

Diane Faison as Harriet Tubman

ASHEBORO – Experience history through “The Spirit of Harriet Tubman” as actress Diane Faison brings the famed abolitionist to life in a performance at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at the George Washington Carver Community Enrichment Center (GWCCEC), 950 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Asheboro

The one-woman show is sponsored by the Friends of the Randolph County Public Libraries and the GWCCEC. The performance is free and the public is invited.

Tubman, born in 1822, escaped a brutal existence as an enslaved person to found the Underground Railroad and advocate tirelessly for abolition. She led troops in the United States Army during the Civil War, and afterwards became an advocate for women’s suffrage.

Faison, an art teacher in North Carolina and Virginia for 25 years, wanted students to feel history, rather than just researching it. She studied Tubman’s life and developed her one-woman play, which her husband, a history teacher, asked her to perform for his students.

Since then, she has performed multiple times each month for close to 30 years in schools, colleges, libraries, churches and retirement homes.

Faison, who resides in Winston-Salem, holds a bachelors of arts in art appreciation from North Carolina Central University. She has received grants from the Winston-Salem and Alamance arts councils, and the Puffin Foundation.

Learn Google Docs, Excel in Asheboro library classes

ASHEBORO – Learn how to use Google Docs to create documents, and Microsoft Excel to make lists and manipulate data, in free classes at the Asheboro Public Library in April.

The Google Docs class will take place at 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 4. It will cover the Google Docs interface, sharing documents with others, printing and downloading documents, and how to access Docs on any device with an Internet connection.

The Microsoft Excel class will be offered at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, and will cover using the ribbon tools to format text and organize data; identifying active cells and applying formatting; analyzing and displaying data using tools such as autosum, formulas and charts; and creating readable reports.

The Google Docs class will be repeated at 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 25. The Excel class will be repeated at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 27.

The classes are free and the public is invited; call 336-318-6803 to sign up or for further information. 

Get backyard vegetable gardening tips in Asheboro library class

Annie Mills

ASHEBORO – Ensure that your fruits and vegetables thrive with the help of “Backyard Vegetable Gardening,” a class at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 4, at the Asheboro Public Library.

 Annie Mills, horticultural agent with Randolph County Cooperative Extension, will guide participants through site development, selecting appropriate varieties, and cultivational practices to keep plants healthy.

The class is free and the public is invited.

As horticultural agent, Mills provides support and programs for consumers and horticulture businesses. She works with farmers markets and community gardens, and assists with the county’s needs related to production of and access to local foods.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street. For more information, call 336-318-6803.