2025 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Bennett Place School Day
Bennett Place hosts several historic sites and museums for a history-packed School Day program. Students rotate through several stations focusing not just on Bennett Place and the Civil War, but many aspects of North Carolina’s long, rich history.
Stations include hands-on activities, with most suited best for elementary school children.
Advanced registration required – space limited.
FREE for public school students. $1 per child for private schools
The Promise of Peace: Slavery’s End in North Carolina
– 9
The close of the American Civil War with military surrenders at sites like Bennett Place assured the end of legal slavery in America. On the evening before the 160th anniversary of the Bennett Place surrender, join us as we commemorate and recognize the lives of over 330,000 North Carolinians enslaved during the Civil War.
This program highlights experiences of enslaved and newly freed people through storytelling, music, and luminaries.
FREE
160th Annual Surrender Anniversary Event
On April 26, 1865, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to U.S. Army Major General William T. Sherman from the parlor of James and Nancy Bennett’s farmhouse in what is now Durham, North Carolina. This marked the largest surrender of the American Civil War, with over 89,000 Confederates surrendered. The terms of Johnston and Sherman’s negotiations reflected a broader and future national debate over how to remake the United States without slavery and reunite the nation.
During our 160th Anniversary Program, Bennett Place State Historic Site explores the surrender and its impact on all North Carolinians. Join us to learn more about how veterans, civilians, and freed people alike experienced and thought about the end of the American Civil War and what would come next.
The program features several costumed interpretation displays and performances.
Program details, including a schedule of events, to be published by March 1, 2025. Please note that participation in living history demonstrations or community tabling is by invitation only.
Memorial Day Themed Guided Tours
– 3Themed tours available
Guided tours last approximately 1 hour. Please contact us in advance for accessibility concerns.
Advanced registration encouraged, but not required. Space is limited on the tours. Please contact us to pre-register. Fees will be collected day-of the tour on site.
Following the end of the American Civil War, grieving families and friends across the nation mourned their loved ones by decorating their graves in remembrance. The tradition took root and became Memorial Day. This May, join us on Saturdays for a guided tour of Bennett Place grounds to learn more about the history of the holiday and several Americans who died in military service. The grounds tour includes a guided walk along our Memorial Line, a temporary rope installation designed to visualize and commemorate the human cost of war.
Visitors are welcome to contribute to the Memorial Line by adding notes, artwork, or names of loved ones who died in military service.
COST
$2 per adult. $1 per child, senior, or military servicemember/veteran
Shapinga Shared Past: History Through Art
– 3
In 1923, a committee of influential local leaders commissioned the Unity Monument at Bennett Place to inform visitors about the history and significance of the Civil War surrender that occurred here. These committee members joined a long tradition of telling stories about the past and its meaning through artwork. In this new program, you can explore how different people understand, express and share their interpretations of the past through various art forms. Take in new and old artwork alike rooted in Civil War and Reconstruction Era history and experience new perspectives on our shared past.
COST
FREE
Thanksgiving: History & Legacy Tours
– 3
The modern Thanksgiving holiday stems from a mid-19th century campaign by Sara Josepha Hale for the adoption of a national Thanksgiving Day holiday. President Abraham Lincoln created the federal holiday in 1863 during the American Civil War. Of course, its roots trace back to the Colonial Era with thanksgiving feasts shared between settlers and American Indians. Each Saturday in November 2025, Bennett Place staff lead 60-minute guided tours that explore the history & legacy of the Civil War era federal holiday.
COST
$2 per adult. $1 per child and senior.
