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On July 12, 2017, the North Carolina Museum of History was pleased to welcome visitors from Rutherford County, including Tom Byers, Charles Deviney, and Burwell Byers, accompanied by Jim Jenkins of Raleigh, to the exhibit North Carolina and World War I.
Jenkins, deputy editorial page editor of the Raleigh News & Observer, has called the museum, "[our] spectacular downtown monument to all that is North Carolina."
The N.C. Museum of History has welcomed more than 100,000 visitors to its North Carolina and World War I exhibit since it opened in April. The museum welcomed more than 415,000 visitors last year from all 100 counties in North Carolina, all 50 states, and more than 50 countries. Admission is FREE.
Planned, produced and built entirely in-house, the exhibit is believed to be the largest of its kind among state history museums. Visitors are immersed in a life-size trench environment, with weapons and uniforms, interactive videos, a re-created field hospital, a detailed diorama, battlefield relics and heart-pounding battlefield sounds and sights.
As a special honor, the N.C. Museum of History, a Smithsonian Affiliate, has received a uniform worn by North Carolina aviator Kiffin Rockwell from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. It will be on display for the duration of the exhibit. Rockwell grew up in Asheville, and was the first American pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft in WWI.
The N.C. Museum of History is located at 5 E. Edenton Street in downtown Raleigh. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9am-5pm, and Sunday, noon to 5pm. The museum collects and preserves artifacts of North Carolina history and educates the public about the history of the state and the nation through exhibits and educational programs. Each year more than 400,000 people visit the museum to see some of the 150,000 artifacts in the museum collection. The N.C. Museum of History, within the Division of State History Museums, is part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
