East

Through September. Museum of the Albemarle, Elizabeth City. Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence! The story of women’s suffrage is a story of voting rights, of inclusion in and exclusion from the franchise, and of our civic development as a nation. Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence, a poster exhibition from the Smithsonian, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment and explores the complexity of the women’s suffrage movement and the relevance of this history to Americans’ lives today. More information about the initiative is available at womenshistory.si.edu.

March 16, 11 a.m. N.C. Maritime Museum at Beaufort. By Hook or By Crook examines the lives of two female pirates whose lives are well-documented because of their exploits. Join Associate Museum Curator Christine Brin March for a free, informal lecture that shares the at times scandalous stories of Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Ranked among the fiercest pirates who sailed during the Golden Age of Piracy, Bonny’s and Read’s stories remain well-documented, often reflecting the double standard women of their time faced and their limited options. The program will be held in the museum auditorium and livestreamed via Zoom. Registration is not required for the in-person program. Sign up at ncmaritimemuseumbeaufort.com for the Zoom link.

March 18, 2-3 p.m. N.C. Maritime Museum at Beaufort. Join Susan Schmidt, Ph.D., in the museum auditorium for the launch of her newest book, “Drought, Drought, Torrential.” The program will feature Schmidt reading some of the poems from her latest work, as well as a discussion of the poetry from this publication and her previous works. Following the presentation, attendees will have the chance to meet with the author and have their books signed. Book will be available for purchase at the program. https://ncmaritimemuseumbeaufort.com/event/book-launch-drought-drought-torrential/

March 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. N.C. Maritime Museum at Southport. Deep Dives into History: The Women Airforce Service Pilots examines the role women in North Carolina played in World War II. Many women joined the military as US Army WACs, US Navy WAVES, or Coast Guard SPARs. But one of the most interesting was the WASP, or Women Airforce Service Pilots. Interpreter II Kaitlin O’Connor, of Fort Fisher State Historic Site, will discuss the 52 women who came to Southeastern North Carolina to fly war-weary aircraft, pulling cloth targets behind their airplanes to help the anti-aircraft gunners learn how to do their jobs. Registration is not required.

March 18, 10 a.m. Somerset Place State Historic Site, Creswell. Women of Somerset Place Tour. Learn about some of the remarkable women who lived and worked at Somerset Place. This 60-minute guided tour will focus on the contributions that enslaved and free women made to the development, maintenance, and infrastructure of the plantation. There is a tour fee of $3 per person, and you can register and pay at the Visitor Center. Reservations are required for groups of 15 or more.

Piedmont

March 11, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, Gibsonville. Telling HERstory: The Women Who Shaped Palmer. Join our tours the first two Saturdays in March as we tell the stories of Dr. Brown, Wilhelmina Crosson, Mary McLeod Bethune, Lois Mailou Jones and other women who helped shape Palmer Memorial Institute. This one-hour tour of Canary Cottage will highlight these important educators and their influence on student life at Palmer. Cost is $2 for adults and $1 for children and seniors.

March 11, 1:30-3 p.m. N.C. Museum of Art, Raleigh. Live from the Studio: Becky Joye. Join Becky Joye virtually in her studio as she demonstrates how to create a quilted architectural collage using the interaction of color and pattern. Drawing from her architectural training, Joye uses tape, rulers, and templates to create clean lines and meticulous details in her mixed-media paintings and collages. Free with registration at https://visit.ncartmuseum.org/5677/7752.

March 15, noon. N.C. Museum of History, Raleigh. History @ High Noon: NC and First Ladies. Take a walk through North Carolina history with the nation’s first ladies with author and historian Annette B. Dunlap. Our country has had 43 official first ladies, and at least 10 of them have some tie to our state. This is an online program. An email containing the Zoom link will be sent to all registrants an hour and a half before the program begins. Register at https://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/news/events/history-high-noon-nc-and-first-ladies.

March 16, 7-8:30 p.m. Cullman Performance Hall in the N.C. History Center at Tryon Palace, New Bern. Dr. Erroll L. Royal will highlight and explore the significant roles of African American women within the New Bern community from the 1700s through the 1900s. A graduate of New Bern Senior High School, Dr. Royal is a retired educator with 40 years of professional experience as a school administrator in the elementary, middle and high school levels. He is the author of two books: “Pembroke: The Road Less Traveled” and “Traces of Places and Faces of African Americans from the New Bern Community.” This event is free.

March 25, 2 p.m. N.C. Museum of Art, Raleigh. NCMA Cinema: Writing with Fire. In a male-dominated media landscape, the women journalists of India’s all-female Khabar Lahariya (News Wave) newspaper risk it all, including their own safety, to cover the country’s political, social, and local news from women’s perspectives. From underground network to independent media empire — now with 10 million views on their YouTube site — they defy the odds to redefine power. Tickets are $5 for members, youth 7-18, college students with ID (plus taxes and fees); $7 for nonmembers (plus taxes and fees) and can purchased at https://ncartmuseum.org/events/ncma-cinema-writing-with-fire-womens-history-month-special-event/?occurrence=2023-03-25.

Through March 26. Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem. “Beverly McIver: Full Circle,” a survey of more than 50 works that demonstrate the diversity of the artist’s thematic approach to painting over 25 years. From early self-portraits in clown makeup to more recent works featuring portraits of others and her own reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic, Full Circle illuminates the arc of McIver’s artistic career while also touching on her personal journey. Her self-portraits explore expressions of individuality, stereotypes, and ways of masking identity, while portraits of family members provide glimpses of intimate moments, in good times as well as in illness and death.