Annual event at NC Museum of History celebrates African American culture

There is so much to know about the African American experience in our state. A lot of it was shared at the 19th annual African American Cultural Celebration in Raleigh on Saturday.

"We are looking back, we are moving forward and we are thinking about what it means to claim our identity," said Angela Thorpe, NC African American Heritage Commission Director.

The African American story was told in music, dance, art and even food at the African American Cultural Celebration at the North Carolina Museum of History.

"That is literally being realized with this celebration," said Earl Ijames, Curator of African American & Agricultural History at the NC Museum of History.

Sometimes, history requires you to go looking.

An original portrait of Rev. Abraham Wooten was painted around 1885, when Princeville became the first town in the country founded by African Americans. The portrait was in a historic church in the town that Wooten himself started. As Hurricane Floyd was flooding Princeville back in 1999, a church member saved the painting.

"They were literally rescued from the church before Hurricane Floyd hit and flooded them," Ijames said.

It was rediscovered only last year.

"We finally got it into the collection at the North Carolina Museum of History," Ijames said.

"There is a sense of pride," said Felton Wooten, who is a descendent of Rev. Abraham Wooten and remembers the search for the painting. "Started calling people to find out where we could find artifacts and then she found out there was actually a picture and a painting."

Preserving these things helps to tell the story that brings all people closer together.

"We want to keep working toward that more perfect union," Ijames said. "So this is part of that path toward our more true democracy."

This African American Cultural Celebration has been named a top 20 event by the Southeast Tourism Society since 2015.