Events

Learn about the rich history of Orange County by attending one of our educational workshops and programs

February

Talks for the 250th Anniversary of our Country

Join the Orange County Historical Museum to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with a year-long series of talks discussing the founding of our country.

The series of talks will begin by discussing the foundational documents that shaped America, starting with the Declaration of Independence and the theory and context behind it and ending with the Constitution.

These first four talks will be held at the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church at 102 W. Tryon Street. All talks are free to attend and no registration is required.

About the Speakers

Courtney Smith began her professional career teaching US Government and World Geography in the Richmond, VA metro area. She then created and managed a specialty toy store in Lewisburg, WV. There, she served on numerous nonprofit boards and assisted with many community programs and initiatives. This service led to her becoming the Executive Director of the Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation, an organization dedicated to ensuring that every local nonprofit had the financial and educational resources they needed. After returning to school for a Master's in Public History, she moved to Hillsborough in February 2020 and became the Exhibits and Programs Coordinator for the Orange County Historical Museum and gives talks around the state to civic groups and historical societies. Smith is also a writer of historical fiction. Nine of her plays have been produced and her three novels have all received excellent reviews by Kirkus Reviews.

Charles Plambeck was a Managing Director of Deutsche Bank and Citigroup in London and New York before turning to legal scholarship and teaching. Prior to his banking career, he was an official in the U.S. Treasury Department and worked in private law practice in Washington DC. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of International Taxation at the UNC School of Law, and researches North Carolina constitutional history. His most recent publication focuses on the 750-year pedigree of the right to free elections in North Carolina. He is a graduate of UNC with both a BA in Economics and International Relations and a JD in from the School of Law.

March 14

Behind every great man...

Hillsborough is extremely proud to be the site of the grave of North Carolina’s greatest patriot, William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, the town has been so proud of this site that when Guilford Courthouse arranged to have Mr. Hooper’s body exhumed and re-interred in their battlefield park, town leaders supposedly negotiated a compromise where some of his body and the original marker would be returned to Hillsborough.

However, another famous Hooper lived on Tryon Street and is buried in the Old Town Cemetery: Anne Hooper, William’s wife. Anne was as involved in Revolutionary politics as a woman of her time could be. Not only did she support her husband by maintaining their farm and caring for their children so he could go to Philadelphia for the Continental Congresses, she also wrote letters to the governor and other political figures in attempts to influence policies.

At the time of her death, Anne was living in the house (two doors down from the Museum) known today as the Nash-Hooper House. Accordingly, she was most certainly buried either with her husband or beside him. This placement was – and still is – the standard. This site in the Old Town Cemetery is also the resting spot of their grandson. Orange County historian Mary Claire Engstrom maintained that the property belonged to the Hoopers and not the town in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Yet, no marker or monument exists in the OTC to commemorate her life.

We will remedy this oversight on March 14.

Representatives from the national Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Sheryll Albert, a local descendant of the Hoopers, and local historians will make presentations. Refreshments will be provided by local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution. And a wreath will be laid at the burial site.

If you have a question about an event, please use our contact form.

You may also call 919-732-2201.