United We Stand,
Divided We Fall
Unity and Division in Orange County History
This exhibit explores the ways that these threads have bound county residents together as well as the times that the strings have become tangled or unraveled.
•Environment •Commerce •Service •Health •Learning •The Arts
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which officially created the United States of America, this exhibit explores the country’s first motto as it has applied to the history of Orange County, NC.
It examines the direct and indirect ways that people in Orange County have been connected and have created communities. It also acknowledges the ways that fear and the pursuit of personal interest created conflict and division.
The motto “United We Stand” first became associated with the United States in 1768 when John Dickinson wrote and published “The Liberty Song” containing the lyric: “Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!”
Since that time, US leaders including Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King Jr. have invoked the phrase during times of conflict to remind Americans that this nation’s strength lies in unity.
Orange County leaders have done the same. In 1828, when the US was being torn apart by the issue of protective tariffs, editor Dennis Heartt changed the masthead of the Hillsborough Recorder, the county’s primary newspaper, to include the phrase “United We Stand; Divided We Fall.”
Quilt squares made by Ludie Carr from scraps of fabric produced by the Bellevue Textile Mill around 1921. Carr was a cloth inspector. Her husband Mack worked on a cloth folding machine. They lived in the Bellevue mill village.
The conceptual motif for the exhibit is a patchwork quilt. Quilts are not only functional items that provide warmth, they also create community through quilting circles; preserve traditions by allowing elders to pass down techniques, patterns, and stories; transmit messages and cultural values through their imagery; celebrate milestone events such as births, weddings or mourning.
The contemporary people showcased in this exhibit were selected because they are connected to at least one of the six themes being celebrated and are distinguished in that area. The artifacts they loaned to the Museum for display are special to them. These items represent connections to transformative events and significant people in their lives.
Objects serve as tangible links to the past. They are reminders which provide comfort and joy. The loss of important keepsakes can feel like a death – a separation from a cherished time, place or person. In displaying these objects, we hope to create tangible connections to these people as well as to the history of Orange County.
