Preservation Durham, North Carolina

For more information about Preservation Durham

please contact our office at (919)-682-3036 or by email

Brighter Leaves Benefits Preservation Durham

All proceeds from sales of Brighter Leaves benefit Preservation Durham! Brighter Leaves: Celebrating the Arts in Durham, North Carolina is made up of essays about the arts in Durham from the first artistic stirrings to its flowering in the late 20th century.

Filled with photographs and essays by some of our finest local writers, including Jean Anderson, Jim Wise, Pepper Fluke, Jill Salinger Winter, Linda Belans, Nonna Skumanich, Randolph Umberger, and Kate Dobbs Ariail, Brighter Leaves describes Durham’s earliest artistic efforts, interwoven with industrial and social history. Using oral histories and first person interviews, Brighter Leaves highlights numerous artists including African Dance Ensemble founder Chuck Davis, potter Robert Black, and gospel singer Shirley Caesar. It provides features on many of Durham’s arts institutions including the Durham Arts Council, the Carolina Theatre, and the Hayti Heritage Center. The “Profiles” chapter at the end of the book provides in-depth entries on hundreds of artists and groups who were important to the development of the arts in Durham. Inspired by the late Dr. Patrick Kenan, Brighter Leaves was published under the guidance of Preservation Durham and supported by local foundations and private donors.

For more information or to order your advance copy of Brighter Leaves, contact Preservation Durham at (919)-682-3036 or by email.

ORDER BRIGHTER LEAVES NOW ONLINE AT DCVB

All proceeds of sales of Brighter Leaves, which costs $50, benefit Preservation Durham.

Historic Map of Durham

Preservation Durham's exclusive reproduction of a Bird's Eye View of the City of Durham, North Carolina in 1891. Landmarks including the American Tobacco Historic District are easy to pick out. Many buildings and locations are listed under the image. 15x25 inches. $11.00, delivered in a cardboard tube.

Publications Available from Preservation Durham

To order the Historic Map of Durham, the Durham Notecards, or the Books listed below, Pleae call Preservation Durham at (919)-682-3036 or email.

The Way We Were: Remembering Durham, Mena Webb, 2003. $26.00.

Durham: A Bull City Story, Jim Wise, Arcadia Publishing, 2002. $27.00.

Piedmont Plantation: The Bennehan-Cameron Family and Lands in North Carolina, Jean B. Anderson, 1985. $17.00

The Durham Record, Jean B. Anderson and J. B. Flowers, eds., vol. 1, 1983. $7.00

A Pictorial History, Joel and Frank Kostu. $27.00.

Durham, North Carolina, Stephen Massengill. $21.00.

Field Guide to American Houses, Virginia McAlester. $27.00.

Bull Durham Business Bonanza, Ben and Snow Roberts. $27.00.

Many Missions: Research Triangle Institute's First 31 Years, 1959-1990, Charles X. Larrabee. $10.00.

Out of Print:

The East Durham Pattern Book, HPSD, 2004.

The Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory, Claudia Roberts, et al., 1982.

Durham County, North Carolina, Church and Family Cemetery Data to 1985, Gordon Ruckart, 1992.

Bull Durham and Beyond: a Touring Guide to City and County, John Braxton Flowers, III and Marguerite Schumann, 1976.

East Durham Pattern Book

Based on Preservation Durham's survey of East Durham, the East Durham Pattern Book offers many ideas for restoring and renovating vernacular American homes of the early 20th century. Featuring floor plans and dozens of photographs of architectural details of bungalows, cottages, and other popular styles of the time, the book is an invaluable resource for renovators. The National Register acknowledged the authenticity of the architecture of East Durham when they accepted a 50-square-bock area as a National Register Historic District in 2004.

The East Durham Pattern Book is 76 pages, 8-1/2 x 11. The Pattern Book is currently out of print, but is available for review at the North Carolina Collection at the Durham County Public Library.

Preservation Durham Publishes Mena Webb
Mena Webb's book The Way We Were, a compilation of Mrs. Webb's columns that appeared in the Durham Sun and the Durham Morning Herald between 1989 and 1992, has been published by HPSD. The Way We Were includes a wide range of topics from Durham's history including the story of the Bull City's namesake Dr. Bartlett Durham; Dr. A.M. Moore, C.C. Spaulding, and John Merrick, progenitors of N.C.'s first "black aristocracy;" the Dukes, particularly Washington and Benjamin; and Julian Shakespeare Carr, of whom Mrs. Webb had previously written the definitive biography. Other entertaining topics Mrs. Webb explores include Tom Thumb Weddings and how radio's Amos 'n' Andy met in Durham.
Preservation Durham Benefits from Sale of Books
Jim Wise's book Durham: A Bull City Story is available from HPSD. $3.00 of each sale will go directly to HPSD. Part of Arcadia Publishing's series "Making of America," the book costs $27.00 including tax. To save Preservation Durham shipping costs, stop by the office when you are downtown to get your copy of Durham: A Bull City Story.
Preservation Durham Helps Republish Stagville Book
Preservation Durham co-sponsored with the Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies the 2001 publication of the second edition of Jean Anderson's Piedmont Plantation. The book details the history of Stagville, once one of the largest plantations in North Carolina and today one of the best preserved ante-bellum sites. Not only has the Bennehan family home been saved, but also an overseer's house and slave houses at Horton Grove and the Great Barn. Stagville is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been recognized by Preservation Durham as one of the most significant architectural sites in Durham County with a Historic Marker Plaque and two Pyne Preservation Awards.