November 2010

The 45th Infantry Division Museum is the nation's largest museum depicting the military history of Oklahoma, and features personal items collected from Hitler's apartment.

The museum includes a fascinating display of memorabilia collected from Hitler's apartment when it was captured by the 45th. A collection of over 200 original "Willie and Joe" cartoons, displays from 1541 through WWII, the Korean War and Desert Storm, original uniforms, firearms, dioramas, and an outdoor military park with over 60 military vehicles, aircraft and artillery.

Edenton, North Carolina, is a storybook place. The view across Edenton Bay and the Albemarle Sound from the foot of Broad Street, the lovely waterfront parks, the tree-lined streets flanked by fine eighteenth- and nineteenth-century homes, the magnificent 1767 Chowan County Courthouse with its green running to the water, together yield an unsurpassed feeling of romance, charm, and warmth. (The Chowan County Courthouse is a National Historic Landmark).

Beyond its historic significance, Edenton offers visitors a fascinating look at contemporary life in a small and thriving Southern town. Its three-block-long business district is lined with shops and businesses that cater to both residents and visitors. The waterfront has been given over to parks with vistas across Edenton Bay and the Albemarle Sound. It is not uncommon for residents of the gracious old homes that line the shaded streets to invite visitors to come in for tea . . . just one sign that life continues as it should in Edenton.

In 1865 the Confederate General Johnston and Union General Sherman met at the Bennett Place, where they signed surrender papers for southern armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida.

In 1846 at age 40, James Bennett, his wife Nancy, and their three children settled on a 325-acre farm in Orange County. The family grew corn, wheat, oats, and potatoes, and raised hogs. Bennitt was also a tailor, cobbler, and sold horse feed, tobacco plugs, and distilled liquor. Bennitt's sons and son-in-law died during the war years. Age and the loss of available labor compelled Bennett to enter into a sharecropping agreement with his in-laws. He stopped farming in 1875 and died in 1878; his wife passed on six years later.

The Oklahoma Sports Museum recognizes professional and Olympic athletes who have Oklahoma ties and use their influence through varied activities to encourage youth to be "Drug Free" and live a positive lifestyle.

The Wakefield Heritage Organization, a non-profit organization, was organized in 2000 and designated a future museum to be located in the City of Wakefield in 2002 with the purpose of educating and instructing the public about the history and heritage of Wakefield, Nebraska and the surrounding area. The Wakefield Heritage Organization's mission shall be to collect, preserve, and display objects relating to Wakefield history; and to encourage participation in maintaining the history of Wakefield

The Museum is currently home to nearly 100 ornately decorated banjos from both the 1920s and 30s as well as contemporary luthiers who continue the traditions of Jazz Age banjo design and manufacture.

The patriarch of Duke Homestead was Washington Duke, an Orange County farmer whose chance discovery that Union troops were eagerly sampling local Bright Leaf tobacco led him to the canny decision to market this "golden weed." His vision--along with the soldiers' fond memories--helped Duke and others create a market for Durham-area tobacco products that eventually would transform North Carolina into the heart of a world-wide tobacco empire.

Step back into yesteryear as you walk through the doors of this nostalgic trip through time: a fully restored turn of the century pharmacy. Apothecary gardens feature native medical plants.

The museum's mission is to collect and preserve artifacts that illuminate regional history, and to interpret them to current and future generations through exhibits, publications, and educational programs; to encourage appreciation of visual art through the collection and exhibition of fine examples of artistic endeavor, to promote and encourage historic preservation and renovation; and to promote the understanding of heritage and history.