DATE: Friday, October 10, 1997              TAG: 9710100864

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND                    LENGTH:   35 lines

FREEDOM CELEBRATION TO MARK THE HISTORY OF ROANOKE ISLAND

The second annual Freedom Celebration will be held tonight and Saturday on Roanoke Island.

The event celebrates two things - the existence of the Freedmen's Colony during the Civil War period, and the courage of the African-American crew of the U.S. Lifesaving Service's Pea Island Station.

Historians, along with descendants of the free African-Americans who settled on Roanoke Island in the mid-19th century, will share their insights into the past, emphasizing racial reconciliation.

``A Time For Healing'' is this year's theme.

Highlighting the two-day observance will be the dedication of a plaque near the spot where the Freedman's Colony was believed to have been located.

Featured historians will be Patricia Click of the University of Virginia, the nation's leading authority on the Freedman's Colony, and David Wright, who teamed with David Zoby to write a history of the African-American lifesavers of Pea Island.

Audrey Johnson, professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's School of Social Work, will be Saturday's keynote speaker.

Arvilla Bowser, one of the event's organizers, said the theme has historic and contemporary meaning.

``It seeemed appropriate,'' Bowser said. ``It has been since 1865 a time for healing. And it still applies today.''

Festivities begin with a reception at the Dare County Library on Roanoke Island at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Saturday ceremonies at 1 p.m. mark the dedication of three plaques commemorating The Freedman's Colony near the Manns Harbor Bridge.

The public is invited to both events.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu