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Faculty Member Serves on Historical Marker Committee

Meredith Associate Professor of History Dan Fountain serves on the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Advisory Committee.  The committee’s work has recently gained media coverage in statewide newspapers, including The News & Observer, when it approved a marker to signify the 1898 overthrow of Wilmington’s Republican-led, biracial government.

“The Committee is charged with commemorating all subjects of statewide significance. The Wilmington coup d’etat of 1898, one of the darkest hours in North Carolina history, needs to be remembered because of its pivotal role in triggering the rapid onset of African American disfranchisement and Jim Crow governance in the state. The painful past can teach many valuable lessons and the Committee’s mandate ensures that we shine a light on the positive as well as the regrettable aspects of our state’s history.”

Read more on The News & Observer’s site, newsobserver.com

Fountain is one of ten faculty members from North Carolina colleges and universities to serve on the committee, which is responsible for oversight of the state’s historical markers. Members are appointed by the N.C. secretary for cultural resources to serve a five-year term.

Learn more at ncmarkers.com

Melyssa Allen

News Director
316 Johnson Hall
(919) 760-8087
Fax: (919) 760-8330

allenme@meredith.edu