WFU prof to explore slavery during Revolution in Asheboro library talk

Dr. Jake Ruddiman

ASHEBORO – What did slavery look like to combatants in the Revolutionary War — white, Black, American and European — as they traveled between regions?

Join Wake Forest University History professor Dr. Jake Ruddiman for “Is This the Land of Liberty? Soldiers and Slavery in the War of American Independence,” 6:30 p.m. Monday, September 30, at the Asheboro Public Library. 

The talk, supported by the Friends of the Library, is free and the public is invited.

Ruddiman will discuss his research into the travel writing of soldiers during the war. The campaigns of the American Revolution carried troops far from their homes and exposed them to unfamiliar enslaved societies. What did these military outsiders see and what did they record?

The war profoundly disrupted the institution of slavery, spreading charged rhetoric about liberty, levying new demand with mobilization and opening opportunities for freedom-seekers. What did Black Americans encountering soldiers traveling with the armies see? What new relationships could they make?

How did these observations and relationships then shape the course of the war? What were the relationships between wartime experiences and new streams of pro- and anti-slavery arguments in the Revolutionary states?

The answers, Ruddiman contends, connect the War of Independence with the generational transformation of the Revolution.

Ruddiman, who received his Ph.D. from Yale, is an associate professor of History at Wake Forest. His first book, Becoming Men of Some Consequence: Youth and Military Service in the Revolutionary War, explores the lives of young men in the Continental Army.

That project led to research into other aspects of the Revolutionary experience, including “Is This the Land of Liberty.” Across his research, Ruddiman’s work as a historian of Revolutionary America explores how people built their lives, reshaped their communities and constructed meaning for themselves and for posterity.

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

Learn how DNA led Cox family from ‘myth-tery’ to history in Asheboro library talk

 ASHEBORO – After years of thinking they were descended from Native Americans, one Randolph County family found out the truth through recreational DNA testing.

Join Lindsey Cox for “When Family History Turns Out to Be A Family Myth-tery,” 6:30 p.m. Monday, September 23, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Cox’s talk is free and the public is invited.

Cox will discuss about how her family found that the truth was far different than stories that had been passed down for decades: the family in fact was descended from an enslaved man named Frank Lytle.

Lytle was one of six children of Thomas Lytle, a white man who owned a plantation along Caraway Creek, and an enslaved Black woman whose name is not known.

Thomas Lytle acted to emancipate his children. Frank was freed in 1795, but his brothers and sisters had to wait until the death of Thomas Lytle’s wife in 1815.

Even then, the children and grandchildren of the sisters remained enslaved. The families were broken up in 1829 in the largest single sale of enslaved persons in Randolph County history.

As the families of Thomas Lytle’s children grew through the generations, they followed different paths. Some remain in Randolph County, but most migrated north and west. Some came to identify as white, and some as Black. Now, Lytles can be found all over the country.

Cox will share how her family — direct descendants of Frank, uncovered a remarkable family history.

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

WFU prof to explore ‘French Culture Today’ in Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO – With the Paris Olympics coming up, gain insight into contemporary French popular culture with Wake Forest University professor Dr. Amanda Vincent in “French Culture Today,” a talk at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 18, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Vincent’s talk, supported by the Friends of the Library, is free and the public is invited.

Her talk will touch on France’s thriving music, film and comics scenes, as well as traditions that remain popular, such as gastronomy and regional culture. Vincent also will discuss how Paris and its region are being transformed for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Her presentation will be accompanied by visuals and small display items. Typical French refreshments will be served. 

Vincent, who holds a PhD. in French Civilization from Penn State University, is an associate professor of French Studies at Wake Forest, where she teaches language, literature and cultural courses, as well as Business French. 

She travels regularly to France, and her research focuses on contemporary French culture.

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

Historian to examine southerners in French and Indian War during Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO – Learn about the role of native Southerners in the Seven Years War, also known as the French and Indian War, in a talk by UNC-Greensboro History professor Dr. Greg O’Brien at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 11, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Topics covered will include the war between the Cherokees and colonists supported by the British Army, 1759-1761, and efforts of native people throughout the region to forge peace with each other during a time of imperial war.

O’Brien’s talk, supported by the Friends of the Library, is free and the public is invited.

O’Brien is head of the History Department at UNC-Greensboro. His research and teaching focuses on American Indian history, environmental history and early America. He has penned several books including The Native South: New Histories and Enduring Legacies, and The Ultimate Guide to North America’s Indigenous Peoples.

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

Rich Powell

 ASHEBORO – "An Evening with Rich Powell" will feature the nationally-known, Asheboro-based artist and illustrator talking about his work and his new cartoon collection "Ignore this Singing Pig," in a special Friends of the Library Sunset Signature Series event at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 22, in downtown Asheboro’s historic Sunset Theatre.

Music will be provided by local singer-songwriter Jack Gorham.

The event is free and the public is invited. The Sunset Series is sponsored by the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau, the City of Asheboro and the Friends of the Randolph County Public Libraries.

Powell is well-known for his work in Highlights Magazine, MAD Magazine and many other publications. His syndicated cartoon panel "Wide Open!" won the National Cartoonists Society Silver Reuben award in both 2001 and 2002.

His line of humorous wildlife art, Callahan's Quest for Adventure, garnered him another Silver Reuben for Product Illustration in 2013, and the Our State television show that featured him illustrating Andy Griffith's "What It Was, Was Football" won the Emmy for Best Magazine Program at the 31st Midsouth Emmy Awards.

Powell’s talk will feature images of his work. A book signing will follow.

The Sunset Theatre is located at 234 Sunset Avenue. For further information, call 800-626-2672 or visit HeartofNorthCarolina.com.

Go aboard ‘Titanic: Ship of Dreams’ in Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO – The stories of people who boarded the R.M.S. Titanic on April 10, 1912, and sailed off into immortality will come to life in “Titanic: Ship of Dreams,” a talk by Belmont Abbey College professor Dr. Melina Ratchford at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 20, at the Asheboro Public Library.

Ratchford also will show her extensive collection of Titanic memorabilia.

Her talk, supported by the Friends of the Randolph County Public Libraries, is free and the public is invited.

Ratchford’s presentation offers a glimpse into the world of 1912 and the amazing people who traveled on Titanic, the largest and most luxurious ship in the world. Meet the young Robert Spedden and his Stief Teddy bear named Polar; the world’s richest man and his beautiful wife new wife who had to leave New York society under a cloud of shame; and the elderly man and wife who tested the vow “till death do we part,” and many others among the 2,228 souls on board. Experience the world of courage, fear, love and cowardice that is still alive over 100 years after the ship’s sinking.

Study of Titanic has been a 60-year avocation for Ratchford, who has visited all the sites that have Titanic connections, including Belfast, where the ship was built; Southampton, from where it sailed; and Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the bodies were interred. In 1996, she spent a week at the site of the sinking in the North Atlantic.

Ratchford worked in the North Carolina public schools for 31 years. She is currently an associate professor in the Sister Christine Beck Department of Education at Belmont Abbey College, where in 2002 she received the Adrian Faculty Excellence Award.

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

Panel of service members to mark Women Veterans Day in Asheboro library talk

Rita Honeycutt

ASHEBORO – Join three local women veterans at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at the Asheboro Public Library to learn about their experiences in the military, in recognition of Women Veterans Day observed on June 12.

Speaking about their service:

Rita Honeycutt served in the U.S. Air Force from 2005-2008 before being medically discharged. She was stationed at Port Hueneme in California and McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey with the 108th Refueling Wing. She now serves as a Veterans Services Officer with Randolph County Veterans Services.

Lisa
Mckinney

Lisa McKinney served as a Personnel Specialist in the U.S Air Force from 2005-2013 and in the Air Force Reserves from 2013-2019. She was stationed in the United Kingdom, Arizona and North Carolina, and served one tour at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan in the Casualty Office. She is currently a Veterans Services Officer with Randolph County Veterans Services.

Merideth Porter served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2009-2013 and was stationed at the Navy and Marine Intelligence Training Center in Virginia Beach. She is an advocate for veterans, striving to empower veterans and their families with knowledge about health care, housing, career assistance and other needs.

Women Veterans Day marks the anniversary of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act. The day honors America’s military women past and present.

Merideth
Porter

Currently, there are more than 2 million women veterans who make up 13 percent of the country’s military population.

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