Heritage Center Newsletter - Summer 2022

10 Johnston County Heritage Center Summer 2022 Vol 20 , No 1 Update Johnston County Museum Opens October 8 Our new county history museum and gift shop will open Saturday , October 8 Located in the former Rose’s department store at 329 E Market Street in Smithfield , it will include over 4,500 square feet of displays telling Johnston County’s unique story The lobby will feature rotating exhibits , the first of which will showcase Hollywood film star Ava Gardner’s early life and local connections “ We are excited to collaborate with the Ava Gardner Museum to celebrate Ms Gardner’s 100 th birthday , ” says Heritage Center Director To dd Johnson The Ava Gardner Festival , which runs October 7 - 9 , will kick - off a year - long centennial commemoration and is expected to draw visitors to Smithfield from across the globe Docent Jimmy Parker helps to set up displays in the new museum with artifacts from two important local occupations A brief opening ceremony in the Johnston County Museum will take place a t 11 am , following the dedication of an Ava Gardner mural and rose garden next door at 10 am While admission to the county museum is free , tickets are required to tour the Ava Gardner Museum Video Receives National Recognition A Johnston County Heritage Center promotional video produced by the county’s Public Information Department earlier this year received a Silver Circle Award from t he City - County Communications and Marketing Association in a recent competition Mark Your Calendar Thursday , September 29 , 7 pm , Johnston County Heritage Center BOOK TALK , featuring historian Virginia Summey , who will discuss her new biography of Elreta Melton Alexander , a Smithfield native who was NC’s first African American woman to practice law and to serve as a District Court judge Saturday , October 8 , 11 am , Johnston County Museum MUSEUM OPENING CEREMONY Thursday , October 27 , 6 - 9 pm , Riverside Cemetery GHOST W ALK “ T his is definitely the Public Information Offices biggest award to date , ” stated Public Information Director Adam Carroll , “ due to the national recognition and going against over 600 other counties and municipalities across the country ” One of the judges commented , “ This beautifully shot video made me want to take a trip to Johnston County ” The five - minute documentary is available for viewing on the Heritage Center’s YouTube channel JohnstonNC Heritage PageFrom the Director Preserving and Sharing Johnston County’s Unique Story The Johnston County Heritage Center is located at 241 E Market Street in Downtown Smithfield Our phone number 919 - 934 - 2836 Our mailing address PO Box 2709 , Smithfield , NC 27577 Our web address wwwjohnstonnccom heritage Like us on Facebook wwwfacebookcom jocoheritage YouTube channel wwwyoutubecom JohnstonNC Heritage Hours of operation Monday - Friday , 9 am to 5 pm Saturday , 9 - 5 Exhibits , 9 - 1 Reading Room Johnston County Heritage Commission Pam Baumgartner Mary Stephens Lettie Best Vicky Temple Rains Pearl Blackmon Ashley Webster John Booker Suzanne Cook Charles Creech Emer iti Matt Dean Belle Allen Carolyn Ennis Elsie Collins Mary Nell Ferguson Ossie Fields Warren Grimes Wingate Lassiter Cathy Gutierrez Julia McCullers Frank Knott Becky Renfrow Royce Lambert Rich Nixon Heritage Center Director K Todd Johnson toddjohnson @ johnstonnccom Margaret Lee told the Board of County Commissioners in 1997 , “ My baby the Public Library’s Johnston County Room has outgrown its crib ” When we moved to the First Citizens building in the spring of 2000 , little did we know that two decades later we would need two King size beds for that b aby A handful of artifacts has grown to become a full - fledged museum An acclaimed special collections library has spread from three rooms to three floors In rece nt years , we sometimes asked prospective donors of collections to hold onto their treasures a little while longer because our space was filled I am grateful to announce that we now have growing room , thanks to n ew shelving on the third floor of the Heritage Center shown in the photo below Our new museum space is allowing us to take many artifacts out of storage and display them all at once — some for the first time Our reading room is on the ground floor and easy to reach for those who wish to do r esearch in person We invite those who have collections of Johnston Countiana to consider the Heritage Center as a permanent home for such materials Here they can be preserved in a climate controlled environment and accessible six days a week As alwa ys , we are grateful to all the generous individuals who have made this marvelous resource a reality Historically yours , Todd Johnson Top left , third floor ’ s expanded archival storage and work space Bottom left , the newly relocated Mar garet McLemore Lee Reading Room Bottom right , A rchivist Ben Chapman using recently acquired Zeutschel overhead scanner for oversize materialsPageGhost Walk The 18 th annual Historical Ghost Walk will be held in Smithfield’s Riverside Cemetery Thursday , October 27 , beginning at 6 00 The following personalities w ill be resurrected John O’Neal , colonial insurrectionist ; Phereby Thomson , widow of a prominent minister , politician and businessman ; William A Smith , pro - Union planter and US Congressman during Reconstrcution ; Martin Luther Wilson , longtime African American school principal in Selma ; Elreta Melton Alexander Ralston , pioneering African American woman lawyer and judge born in Smithfield ; William Ragsdale , early promoter of Flower Hill Nature Preser ve Admission cost for this event will be 5 for adults , 3 for students , and free for children under 5 Tickets will not be sold in advance , and tours through the cemetery will be given on a first - come , first - served basis Newest Staff Member Archivist Mark Valsame joined the Heritage Center staff in July A native of Garner , Mark was educated at UNC - Chapel Hill and NC State University , earning a master’s degree in public history He recently retired after a 3 2 - year career with the North Caroli na State Archives , where he worked with iconographic collections , county records , and governors ’ papers He is a seasoned genealogist with family roots in western Johnston County and has completed a multi - volume genealogical study of Stephensons , Johnsons , and related families Mark is in charge of the Heritage Center’s Reading Room Wednesday through Friday Historical Markers Two new county historical markers were unveiled near the site of Three Creeks Meeting House circa 1756 in the Cleveland communi ty and at Princeton Graded School The Three Creeks marker , unveiled April 30 , is located in front of C3 Church on Highway 1010 Cleveland Road about a mile from the colonial church site Land records indicate the meeting house stood near the mouth of Wood’s Branch on Swift Creek , but the exact location has yet to be identified Dawn Reid with the Clayton - based firm Archaeological Consultants of the Carolinas conducted a preliminary dig at a possible site on the south side of Swift Creek but was unable to unearth evidence that a building stood there The search for this elusive colonial site continues The Princeton Graded School marker , unveiled June 19 , is one of J ohnston County’s two rem aining schools built with assistance from the Rosenwald Fund B uilt in 1925 , it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and soon will be undergoing a complete restoration One of its most unique features is the auditorium , where original seat ing has been p reserved Top , DAR officers Jane Hogan and Barbara Kirby pull the cloth from the Three Creeks marker Bottom , Princeton Graded School alumni pose with the newly unveiled marker at their alma mater PageNONPROFIT US POSTAGE PAID SMITHFIELD , NC PERMIT No 98 PO Box 2709 241 E Market Street Smithfield , NC 27577 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Highlights from the 2022 Heritage Center Patrons ’ Gala , Tart Great Hall , Johnston Community College , April 5 , 2022 Below , the family of Stanton Massengill were present as Stanton was honored posthumously for his service on the Heritage Commission Right , Pianist Ella Ann Holding , who wowed an audience of over 200 , is pictured with Heritage Center Director Todd Johnson Page