This Month

New Bern to Miami: The Howard Sisters’ Cold Case of 1933 NBHS Historian/Claudia Houston Ellis Howard, a Russian Jewish immigrant, arrived in New Bern in 1892 and lived with his wife, Dora, on Hancock Street with several of his children, including their youngest, Esther and Lillian. Their married son, Philip, also lived on Hancock Street […]

New Bern, the Newtons, and the Underground Railroad NBHS Historian/Claudia Houston New Bern has long stood as a crossroad of risk and resilience and a waterway toward liberty for many. From the meeting of the Neuse and Trent Rivers to the broad Atlantic the waterfront was a place where Black watermen, ship captains, abolitionists, and

From Academy Green to Independence Hall-New Bern and the French Connection NBHS Historian/Claudia Houston As July 4th approaches, interest in the Revolutionary War and New Bern’s role in it grows. What part did this coastal town play in the struggle for independence? New Bern was home to Loyalists and Patriots alike. In the wake of

Unearthed Honor: Major Allen G. Oden NBHS Historian/Claudia Houston Greenwood Cemetery on Cypress Street is a historic Black burial ground whose years are shown by sunken stones, letters worn by weather and memorials broken. A few years ago, volunteers with brushes and trowels cleaned headstones to better reveal the identities of the soldiers buried there.

Let the Horse Decide: Fuller’s Music Story NBHS Historian/Claudia Houston At a fork on a sandy road outside Bridgeton, a wagon creaked to a halt. George Reid Fuller Sr., with a pump organ in tow and a horse out front, loosened the reins and let fate—or rather, the horse—choose the way. Left meant Vanceboro; right

The Night New Bern “Switched-On” Christmas! NBHS Historian/Claudia Houston Have you ever wondered how we celebrated the holidays in the past compared to how we do so now?  How did some of these traditions start in New Bern?  Every year, a public tree is put up downtown, and a celebratory tree lighting takes place to

A Pulitzer, a Love Story, and New Bern’s Link to the Wall Street Journal NBHS Historian/Claudia Houston New Bern has a knack for attracting fascinating people. Some are born here, some pass through, and others find themselves drawn back later in life. Two of those people lead us straight from East Front Street to the