All Lunch & Learn events start at 11:30 a.m. at the Chelsea Restaurant at 335 Middle Street in New Bern. The cost is $17 for Historical Society members and $22 for non-members, which includes a delicious Chelsea entree, bread, dessert, iced tea, and coffee. Reservations and meals must be paid in advance, either online from the Tickets page or by calling the New Bern Historical Society at 252-638-8558. Please select your menu option when ordering.
Encore presentation!*
“New Tales of Espionage in Civil War Craven County”
August 16 at 6:30 pm at NC History Center
Presented by author & historian Eddie Ellis
*The August 15 Lunch & Learn program sold out early but our guest speaker has graciously offered to give a second presentation on August 16 at 6:30 pm at NC History Center. Cost is $10 per person. No meal is included.
SPIES, SECRETS & SHENANIGANS . . . In eastern North Carolina during the Civil War, Union occupiers existed alongside Southern civilians. Military leaders struggled to capture territory, railroads, waterways. One of the most sought-after commodities was information. The Burnside-created enclave of coastal forts strung from New Bern to Fort Macon was the focus of intense intelligence gathering and clandestine shenanigans from 1862 till the end of the struggle between North and South. Spies are, by their very nature, nameless. Fresh analysis of the war’s voluminous records, however, now allows us to name names. This exciting new program will reveal previously unknown tales of the dark network of secret agents, both men and women, who operated here.
Edward Barnes Ellis, Jr. has worked as a journalist, a lobbyist and a laborer. A native of Craven County, Eddie is the descendant of a family that recorded the first land deed in North Carolina. Among his ancestors are settlers at Jamestown, Va., and veterans of the American Revolution and the War Between the States. He’s been hooked on history since elementary school. He served in the N.C. General Assembly for four years as a legislative representative. For most of his career, he was engaged in the newspaper business as a reporter, photographer, columnist, editor and publisher. Eddie has been the official historian of the City of Havelock since 1984. He has written three histories based on his years of personal research. His 2005 book In This Small Place: Amazing Tales of the First 300 Years of Havelock and Craven County, North Carolina, is the first volume of history ever written about the Havelock-Cherry Point area. His second book, New Bern History 101, a compelling portrait of the city of his birth, received the 2010 Book Award of the North Carolina Society of Historians. His third, a photo book entitled Historic Images of Havelock & Cherry Point, offers more than 170 rare images and detailed descriptions of the community collected over four decades.
Cost is $10 per person. No meal is included. Pre-paid reservations recommended.
Wednesday, September 12th
“Riverside: New Bern's First Suburb"
Presented by Tim Thompson
Our September Lunch & Learn will hig
hlight one of New Bern’s oldest and most interesting historic neighborhoods. Join Riverside resident and history enthusiast Tim Thompson as he presents images and stories ranging from the Civil War to Roper Mill to Maola Ice Cream. All in Riverside, New Bern’s first suburb and a locally designated historic district.
Thompson is a native of North Carolina growing up in Salisbury. Upon moving to New Bern in 2005, he spent four years restoring a circa-1906 house in Riverside. Tim has been deeply involved in preservation efforts in New Bern, serving as the president of the Historic Riverside Neighborhood Association, on the board of the New Bern Preservation Foundation, and on the New Bern Historic Preservation Commission for 6 years, serving as chairman for four of those years. Since moving to New Bern, his passion has been collecting stories and photos of the Riverside area. You will delight in hearing Thompson reminisce with stories, photos, and architectural explanations about this charming neighborhood.
Lunch & Learn starts at 11:30 a.m. at The Chelsea Restaurant. The cost is $17 for Historical Society members and $22 for non-members; lunch is included. Advance reservations must be made by calling the New Bern Historical Society at 252-638-8558, or can be ordered below. Lunch choices are Pork Tenderloin with blueberry ginger glaze, garlic smashed potatoes and sautéed green beans; or Shrimp & Grits. Both are served with rolls, dessert, tea and coffee. Wine and beer available for purchase.
Wednesday, October 10th
"Admiral Farragut: The New Bern and Spanish Connections"
Presented by RADM Jay DeLoach, USN (ret)
DAMN THE TORPEDOES! Did you know that Admiral David Farragut is connected to Eastern North Carolina? And that his father was a Spanish immigrant who fought in the American Revolution? At this Lunch & Learn, Rear Admiral Jay DeLoach will illuminate the lesser-known but fascinating history of this famous Civil War Naval hero.
David Glasglow Farragut was born 15 miles outside the frontier town of Knoxville, Tennessee. At the tender age of nine, he would join the Navy to start his 60-year career in this demanding sea service. Despite his southern roots and southern wife, he remained loyal to the Union in the Civil War. He would later become the US Navy's first admiral after the capture of New Orleans in 1862. This presentation will not, however, explore Admiral Farragut's spectacular Naval career but will dive into his family background with a mother with local eastern NC roots and a father who hailed from a foreign shore across the Atlantic Ocean and came to this country to fight the British during the Revolutionary War.
Rear Admiral Jay DeLoach graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1978 and served on submarines as well as several assignments with Naval Intelligence, 7th Fleet, and Joint Staff. He earned three Masters’ degrees, in Management, Nuclear Engineering, and National Security & Strategic Studies. He also served as an adjunct professor for the Naval War College and taught Joint Maritime Operations. After retirement from the military, he became a member of the Senior Executive Service in the Department of the Navy and led the transformation of the Naval History & Heritage Command as its 12th Director from 2008-2012. He is currently the Vice President of the New Bern Chapter of the NC Sons of the American Revolution. He is also an active participant on the Historian Committee and the Journal Committee for the New Bern Historical Society.
Lunch & Learn begins promptly at 11:30 am at The Chelsea Restaurant. The cost is $17 for Historical Society members and $22 for non-members; a delicious Chelsea lunch is included. Prepaid reservations must be made online or by calling the New Bern Historical Society at 252-638-8558. Lunch choices are brown butter Barbeque Chicken or Beef Tenderloin with cabernet demi-glace. both served with potatoes au gratin and mixed vegetable medley, rolls, dessert, coffee and tea. Wine and beer are available for purchase.