The Roanoke Canal Museum and Trail will host North Carolina African-American Heritage Commission Director Michelle Lanier Thursday as part of the Friends of the Roanoke Canal Museum and Trail Lecture Series.
Established in 2008 by the N.C. General Assembly, the commission assists the secretary of cultural resources in the preservation, interpretation and promotion of the state’s African-American history, arts and culture for all people.
Lanier, who since 2000 has been an instructor with Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies, also oversees the Traditions and Heritage programs of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources in the division of the state Arts Council. “Ms. Lanier is very much entrenched in our state’s African-American history,” Museum Leader Rodney Pierce said. “She brings a wealth of knowledge to the table.”
Lanier performed research alongside staff at Historic Halifax that led to the development of the Halifax Maritime Underground Railroad Wayside Exhibit Trail at the historic site.
She visited the site in December 2013 to talk about the Freedom Roads Project and the commission will host training for museum professionals and K-12 teachers this summer at Historic Halifax.
“She’s no stranger to Halifax County,” Pierce said of Lanier. “She helped get Historic Halifax and the town of Halifax on the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. I learned about the Underground Railroad growing up in Halifax County, but I had no idea that it ran through here.”
Pierce added that Lanier’s lecture fits perfectly with items that are discussed during tours of the museum. “The canal museum is all about the Roanoke River, which was also a part of the Underground Railroad,” he said. “The majority of the labor on the canal was done by slaves, and the majority of the drivers of the bateaux, the boats used on the canal, were driven by slaves, so it’s all connected. The only thing we don’t have is something, whether through word of mouth or tangible, that actually connects the Roanoke Canal to the Underground Railroad, but we’re working on it, and Ms. Lanier’s lecture is a step in the right direction.”
The lecture is scheduled from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and admission is $5.
Seating is limited so please contact Pierce at 252-537-2769 or email
