As a curator at the North Carolina State Capitol, Anna Freeman Moore ’23 MA leads the process of creating and maintaining its public exhibitions.
She takes the mission of serving the public seriously. “We have to appeal to visitors from all 100 counties and beyond,” Moore says. “The museum should not only inform our understanding of what it means to be North Carolinian but also reflect North Carolinians both in the past and today. We’re serving everybody who comes in to give them a deeper understanding of their history.”
North Carolina history is fascinating, she says. “The commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, the semiquincentennial, is an opportunity to look at what makes North Carolina so special and to investigate aspects of our statehood.” That means the history of industries that are familiar like motorsports, agriculture, and tobacco as well as those that are not as well documented.
The spirit of North Carolina’s Revolutionary-era history is still relevant today. “We are inheritors of a revolutionary tapestry. There are people who fought for their rights from the Regulators before the American Revolution to the Civil Rights movement who were strong forces for societal change.”
First and foremost, Moore sees herself as a steward of history. “When people come into the Capitol, these are their chairs. These are their artifacts. This is their building. We are just here to preserve it for future generations and to take care of what really does belong to the people.”
by Mercer Bufter ’11 MA
Photography courtesy of Anna Freeman Moore ’23 MA