Sept. 22: Lincoln Takes Initial Step to Free the Slaves

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, stating his intention to free slaves in states that were rebelling against the Federal government.

Although he had conceived the idea earlier that year, Lincoln heeded the advice of his cabinet and waited for a Union battlefield victory to introduce the proclamation so it would not be viewed as an act of desperation. The Union victory at Antietam provided Lincoln with the opportunity, and he seized the moment.

The Federal military governor of North Carolina, Edward Stanly, disapproved of the proclamation. He understood his duty was to return the state to the Union as it was prior to the crises—a Union where slavery was included. Lincoln offered exclusions and exemptions in the proclamation, including the exclusion of any area that had a representative in the Federal legislature.

Stanly seized upon this as a possible avenue to forestall the implementation of the proclamation in North Carolina, calling for and holding elections for the statewide office of U.S. Senator. Congress refused to seat the person who won the election, and Stanly resigned rather than implement Lincoln’s proclamation.

The final Emancipation Proclamation became active on January 1, 1863, freeing slaves in occupied eastern North Carolina.

SEPT. 22: Scholar/Activist John Hope Franklin’s Pathbreaking Textbook

On September 22, 1947, John Hope Franklin published From Slavery to Freedom. The definitive history of African Americans traces origins in Africa, years of slavery, and struggles for freedom.

Still in print with more than 3 million copies sold, the book has been translated into many languages. It is widely considered the definitive survey text for courses in African American history.

Franklin held teaching appointments at Saint Augustine’s and North Carolina Central before capping off his academic career at Duke, where an interdisciplinary and international studies center continues his pioneering work.

During his storied career, Franklin served as president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association and the Southern Historical Association. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 1995.

Aside from his role as historian, scholar, civil rights activist and adviser to presidents, Franklin was known for nurturing more than 300 orchids in his Durham greenhouse and helping to establish the Durham Literacy Center.

SEPT. 23: Inglis Fletcher and the ‘Carolina Series’

On September 23, 1940, Inglis Clark Fletcher published Raleigh’s Eden, the first in her 12-part series of historical novels chronicling life in colonial and revolutionary North Carolina. Although not native to North Carolina, Fletcher, through meticulous research and attention to historical detail, introduced millions of readers to the early history of our state. Her books were popular internationally and were translated into eight languages.

A mining engineer’s wife, Fletcher traveled extensively with her husband and was first enticed to write on 1928 stay in Africa. She began researching her genealogy, and was led her to the Colonial Records of North Carolina from which she drew inspiration for Raleigh’s Eden. She fell in love with the history of the Old North State, and through the next two decades wrote 11 more volumes of historical fiction.

Fletcher published her second novel, Men of Albemarle, in 1942, but did not begin to seriously churn out work until 1944, when she and her husband purchased Banden Plantation on the Chowan River in Edenton. There she developed the routine of devoting one year to research followed by one year of writing, publishing 10 more books.

SEPT. 23: James Kenan and the Family Legacy

On September 23, 1740, civic, military and political leader James Kenan was born.

Kenan began his long career in public service at age 22 when he was elected sheriff of Duplin County. After leading local opposition to the British Stamp Act, he served in the colonial assembly and the provincial congress. As a member of the militia in Duplin County, he helped lead a group of volunteers against Scottish Loyalists at the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in 1776.

Kenan continued his involvement in politics after the Revolutionary War, serving in the state Senate for more than 10 terms and as a delegate to the State Constitutional Conventions.

Outside of the political arena, Kenan was a member of the original board of trustees for the University of North Carolina, where several buildings are now named for the Kenan family. He was also the first Master of the original Masonic lodge in Duplin County.

Kenan died in 1810 and is buried in Kenansville. His descendants have continued his legacy of philanthropy and public service, making significant contributions to the arts and education in North Carolina.

Liberty Hall, his father’s plantation and the site of his grave, is now open to the public as a museum.

SEPT. 23: C. M. Stedman of Fayetteville, Confederate Veteran

On September 23, 1930, Charles M. Stedman, the last Civil War veteran (Union or Confederate) to serve in the U.S. Congress, died

A native North Carolinian, Stedman was born in Pittsboro in 1841. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1861 and enlisted as a private in the 1st North Carolina “Bethel Regiment.” Stedman was promoted to major of the 44th North Carolina Infantry. Afterwards, he returned to Chatham County to teach. While in Chatham County he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1865.

His interest in politics began with the 1880 Democratic Convention. He was elected lieutenant governor in 1884, but failed in his bid for the governor’s office in 1888.

Stedman was a University of North Carolina trustee from 1899 to 1915, the president of the North Carolina Bar Association in 1900 and had a second unsuccessful run for governor in 1904.

First elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1910 and was reelected nine times, serving until his death in 1930. He was buried in Cross Creek Cemetery in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

SEPT. 23: UNC Charlotte’s Modest Beginnings

On September 23, 1946, the Charlotte Center opened to offer evening classes to recent World War II veterans.

Established as part of the

post-World War II GI Bill, the Charlotte Center got its start in the basement of Central High School. It was the largest of a network of 14 temporary institutions that officials created across the state to help curb the overcrowding that was anticipated at traditional colleges and universities.

The state slated the center to close in 1949 as the demand generated by returned soldiers began to dissipate, but local residents led by the Charlotte Center director Bonnie Cone fought to keep the center open as two-year institution called Charlotte College supported exclusively by local funds and operated by the local school board.

In 1958, the college was accepted into the North Carolina Community College System. It moved to its current location in 1961 and became a four-year institution in 1964.

Charlotte College became the fourth institution to join the consolidated UNC System the following year, changing its name to UNC Charlotte. It continued a steady pace of growth throughout the rest of the 20th century, adding its first graduate degree programs in 1969 and its first doctoral program in 1993.

Today, UNC Charlotte is the fourth-largest institution in the UNC system with an enrollment of more than 26,000.

SEPT. 24: Medal of Honor Recipient Edwin Anderson of Wilmington

On September 23, 1933, distinguished Rear Admiral Edwin Anderson died in Wilmington

Born in 1860 near Wilmington, Anderson was educated at the U.S. Naval Academy. His first 15 years in the Navy included tours of duty in Haiti, Alaska and the Galapagos Islands; a promotion to lieutenant; and a varied range of duties from protecting the Bering Sea seal trade to a aiding a scientific expedition.

During the Spanish-American War, Anderson volunteered to lead two small boats in an attempt to locate and cut the Spanish undersea cables and completed the mission under a barrage of Spanish artillery and small arms fire that killed several men.

Cited for extreme gallantry, Anderson received an unprecedented five-grade promotion to commander in 1901. After a variety of domestic postings and several foreign tours, Anderson took charge of the battleship USS New Hampshire in 1913. His vessel took part in the United States intervention in Vera Cruz, Mexico, and his courage under fire there earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Anderson ended his naval career in charge of the entire Eastern Fleet serving in Asia. He was such a help in delivering emergency medical supplies and food when Japan was devastated by a series of earthquakes in 1923 that the Japanese government sent Anderson gifts each Christmas until his death.

Anderson retired from the Navy in March 1924, returned to Wilmington and remained there until his death.

SEPT. 24: Charlotte’s Thomas Polk Saved the Liberty Bell, 1777

On September 24, 1777, Mecklenburg County resident Thomas Polk arrived safely in Allentown, Pa., after escorting the Liberty Bell there from Philadelphia.

Born in Pennsylvania, Polk and his family moved to Anson County, before becoming one of the first settlers of Mecklenburg County, and promoting the establishment of Charlotte. He became a prosperous planter and was active in the local and state political scenes. As the American Revolution began to come into full swing, Polk was appointed colonel of a regiment of North Carolina militia. He fought at Brandywine and spent a harsh winter at Valley Forge.

As invading British forces approached Philadelphia in 1777, Polk was tasked with escorting some important items out of the city to avoid capture. The city’s bells—including what was then called the State House Bell and is now known as the Liberty Bell—were included among Polk’s precious cargo so they wouldn’t be melted down by the British to make cannon balls.

After saving what is now one of our nation’s most precious artifacts, Polk continued a successful military career, served on the Council of State and hosted George Washington during his southern tour. He died at his Charlotte home in 1794.

SEPT. 24: First Deed, First House Were Batts’s

On September 24, 1660, King Kiscutanewh sold Nathaniel Batts a tract of land in what is now Pasquotank County. The deed, recorded in a Chesapeake, Va., deed book, included all land southwest of the Pasquotank River from its mount to the head of Begin Creek. Batts was the earliest-known white settler and owner of the earliest-known house within what is now North Carolina. His house, built in 1654 or 1655, is shown on the 1657 Nicholas Comberford map.

Nathaniel Batts was a large property owner in southeastern Virginia and divided his time between his holdings there and the property in what is now northeastern North Carolina. A witness to the deed was another early North Carolina European-settler, George Durant. Batts would also acquire a small island in the nearby Yeopim River that eventually came to be named for him. The northeastern region of the state still has place names that honor Batts and Durant.

The discovery of the 1660 deed in 1966 made newspaper headlines.

SEPT. 25: Greensboro-Born Doctor Pioneers “Tommy John Surgery,” Saves Baseball Careers

On September 25, 1974, Greensboro native Frank Jobe, an orthopedist for the Los Angeles Dodgers, replaced pitcher Tommy John’s torn medial collateral ligament in his pitching arm with a tendon from his wrist.

The injury had ended pitching careers since the beginning of baseball but, thanks to Jobe’s efforts, John resumed his career after a successful rehabilitation, playing for another 14 years and amassing 164 victories. The procedure, which has come to be known as the “Tommy John Surgery,” has saved the careers of countless pitchers and position players in all levels of baseball ever since.

Jobe, born in 1925, joined the Army at 18 and served as a supply sergeant in a medical unit with the 101st Airborne during World War II. He was inspired to become a surgeon after witnessing the bravery of army doctors on the battlefield, later recalling, “These guys would be operating in tents with bullets and shrapnel flying around. […] These guys became my real heroes.”

Jobe was honored for his pioneering contributions to baseball during the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame awards ceremony, seven months before his death. Dodger’s president Stan Kasten remembered Jobe as a “medical giant and pioneer” who helped “athletes around the world.”

SEPT. 25: Astrochimp Ham’s Retirement Years in Asheboro

On September 25, 1980, Ham, the “astrochimp,” arrived at the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro.

Ham, an acronym for Holloman Aero Med, was born in July 1957 in the French Cameroons in West Africa. He was taken to Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico when he was about 2-years-old. Space researchers at Holloman began using animals, initially monkeys and mice, in the late 1940s to test whether they could send a living creature into space and return it to Earth alive.

In January 1961, Ham became the first chimpanzee in space aboard the Mercury Redstone rocket on a sub-orbital flight.

Following his mission Ham was found to be slightly fatigued and dehydrated, but otherwise, in good health. His flight heralded the launch of America’s first human astronaut, Alan B. Shepard Jr., later that year.

Ham spent many years alone on display at the Washington Zoo, but was moved to North Carolina where he could live among other chimpanzees.

After his death in 1983 his skeleton was removed for further study and his other remains were buried at the International Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Visit: One of the largest “natural habitat” zoos in county, the North Carolina Zoo attracts more than 700,000 visitors annually.

SEPT. 25: The Route to Kings Mountain

September 25, 1780, the “Over Mountain Men” met along the Watauga River before heading along the Yellow Mountain Road over the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Yellow Mountain Road, today part of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, stretches through what is present-day Avery County. In the fall of 1780 an army of backcountry men marched on the road toward the Battle of Kings Mountain. The Appalachian men were called “Over Mountain Men,” having crossed through the backcountry regions of Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina on their way to Kings Mountain.

The road begins on the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Sycamore Flats where groups of militiamen gathered. Taking the Yellow Mountain Road, which was then the only road that led east, they went through Gap Creek Mountain to the Toe River before heading south to the top of the ridge at Roan High Knob and Big Yellow Mountain. The troops then were paraded on a 100-acre tract of flat land to determine how they were fairing on the journey.

The militiamen went on to form a coalition of approximately 1,000 troops that fought and defeated the British Army on October 7 at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Sepr. 25: Graham Barden, Congressional Education and Labor Chair

On September 25, 1896, long-time eastern North Carolina congressman Graham Barden was born in Sampson County.

After a stint in the Navy and studies at UNC, Barden set up a law practice in New Bern where he also taught school and coached football. Known for his pleasant disposition, he was often called “Happy” or “Hap.” It was that sunny outlook that led him to politics, and he served as a local judge and state legislator before being first elected to Congress in 1935.

While in Congress, Barden had a special interest in education and labor-related issues, chairing the House Committee on Education and Labor from 1949 to 1961 and being key to the passage of Barden-La Follette, Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffith Acts, all of which concerned vocational training and labor unions.

Though he hardly campaigned during his 12 reelection bids to Congress, Barden fought hard for federal projects in his district, securing a temporary base during World War II and three of North Carolina’s four current major military installations.

When he announced his 1961 retirement from Congress, more than 100 of his colleagues met to try to talk him out of it. He enjoyed a quiet retirement in New Bern and died in 1967.

Sept. 26: The Battle of Charlotte

On September 26, 1780, British troops under the command of Lord Charles Cornwallis clashed with Patriot militia led by William R. Davie in Charlotte. The battle was part of Cornwallis’ pursuit of the retreating American forces that he had defeated the previous month at Camden, S.C.

Attempting to defend what was then only a small hamlet, Davie ordered his men to arrange themselves along a stone wall in front of Charlotte’s courthouse, and along the flanks of the roads behind several hedges and homes. He intended to ambush the British if they advanced directly into the town center, which they did. The Americans repelled two attacks before being forced to withdraw as British light infantry units turned their flank. Five Americans were killed, six were wounded and an unknown number were taken prisoner as part of action. The British suffered 44 casualties resulted from the skirmish.

Though the battle itself was not decisive, the resistance of the outnumbered Americans symbolized the resolve of the people of the region.