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F O R T F I S H E R
S T A T E
H I S T O R I C S I T E
S U M M E R 2 0 1 8 V O L U M E 1 0 , I S S U E 1
S P E C I A L P O I N T S
O F
I N T E R E S T
Fort Fisher to host
WW II program
(page 1)
From the site
manager (page 2)
A true friends
retires (page 3)
Meet Fort Fisher’s
2018 Mary
Holloway Seasonal
Interpreter (page
8)
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
Meet the Fort
Fisher cannon
crew 4
Col. Lamb returns
to Fort Fisher and
other news of
1893
7
Join the Friends of Fort Fisher
9
Did you know Fort Fisher
has the dubious distinction of
playing an important role in
two major military conflicts?
One only needs to consider
the vast array of books written
on the subject to realize that
Fort Fisher played a pivotal
part in America’s Civil War.
But the story doesn’t end
there. More than 75 years after
the end of the Civil War, Fort
Fisher saw another infiltration
of soldiers, this time as an ac-
tive antiaircraft artillery training
post for Camp Davis during
World War II.
Sure, the antiaircraft train-
ing sessions took place on the
coast, but make no mistake, it
wasn’t always a particularly
pleasant place to work for Un-
cle Sam. Asked of his recollec-
tion of time spent at Fort Fish-
er, Samuel Macintyre of the
557th AA, Battery C said quite
simply, “Sand, Sand, Sand.” In his
history of the 558th AAA (AW),
Bill Drobinch stated “If nothing
else hardened the men, at least
the mosquitoes did. In the
morning, the insects gathered in
humming waves in the crowded
latrines.”
It was a daily challenge to see
who would outlast the other--
the men shaving or the mosqui-
toes sucking them dry.
Irritants aside, at its height,
Fort Fisher could handle three
battalions on a six-day training
rotation.
Between the post’s opening
in 1941 and its closing in 1944,
some 43 AA Battalions trained at
Fort Fisher, despite the seeming-
ly endless cache of sand and
mosquitoes.
In observance of 77th an-
niversary of the opening of
the training post, Fort Fisher
State Historic Site will host a
two-day World War II pro-
gram September 1-2, 2018,
commemorating the fort’s
unique second-generation war
history.
Military and civilian re-
enactors will set up displays
on the old Fort Fisher airstrip
and will be available to talk
with visitors about the life of
the World War II soldier and
life on the home front and the
roles women played in the
march towards victory.
Visitors can learn about
military uniforms, weapons,
and communications equip-
ment.
Program is free and open to the public
Fort Fisher State Historic Site to host World War II program Sept. 1-2, 2018
The Powder Magazine
Continued on page 10
P A G E 2
T H E P O W D E R M A G A Z I N E
From the site manager, Jim Steele... Dear Friends:
Summertime is here at Fort Fisher! It has been hot and humid, but that has not slowed down the constant flow of visitors into the historic site, and that is the way we like it. Each and every one of our guests is important and can ex-pect a rewarding experience when they visit the Gibraltar of the South. This summer we have some great seasonal
help too. Joe, Isaac, Emily, and Ashley are terrific young people who are doing a fine job here, giving guided tours of the fort, performing historic weapons demonstrations, running the gift shop, and giving all around good visitor service. We are happy to have them here, so look for them when you visit and you’ll be glad you did. In other news, you will recall that the historic site and the Friends of Fort Fisher have been working through the
process of advance planning for a new interpretive center and reconstructed earthworks. Well that is complete. In March 2018, the architectural firm ClarkNexsen released the “Fort Fisher Visitor Center Advanced Planning Final Re-port,” and we are now ready for the next steps. Soon we will sign a contract for detailed design of the new facilities
including schematics and construction documents. The NC General Assembly has appropriated Fort Fisher some
funds for building the new interpretive center and earthworks, but we need to raise significantly more before we can break ground.
The Friends of Fort Fisher will be launching a capital campaign in the near future and will lobby for more state funds to ensure this project can be completed. This is where you can help us. The Friends need a large and strong organization of supporters to be successful. If you wish to see Fort Fisher be all it can be, to enjoy an exhibit gallery three times the size of the current one, to walk the ramparts of reconstructed gun chambers and traverses, please
join the Friends of Fort Fisher today. It is a great way to be involved and support our efforts to better serve you and our visiting public. We look forward to seeing you here soon! Thank you,
Jim Steele
Brunswicktown-Fort Anderson State Historic Site manager Jim McKee addresses members of the NCDOT Board of Transportation during a recent visit the Board made to Fort Fisher in late June. Fort Fisher site manager Jim Steele greeted DOT officials and gave a brief overview of the site’s impact on local tourism, followed by McKee’s presentation on the Reef Maker system currently being used to restore the riverbank and preserve a historic wharf at Brunswicktown-Fort Anderson.
T H E P O W D E R M A G A Z I N E
P A G E 3
Mr. Paul Laird, executive director
of the Friends of Fort Fisher, retired
on June 1, 2018. Paul’s affiliation with
Fort Fisher began in the 1970s when
he was a student at UNCW and par-
ticipated in field schools with Fort
Fisher’s Underwater Archaeology
Branch. Since then, Fort Fisher has
been a core part of his personal and
professional life.
In the mid-1990s, Paul was instru-
mental in saving the remnants of Fort
Fisher from ongoing oceanfront ero-
sion. Primarily because of his efforts,
the US Army Corps of Engineers in-
stalled a massive stone revetment
along the adjacent coastline. Running
over 1,000 yards in length, the struc-
ture ensures that Fort Fisher is pre-
served for future generations.
For many years, Paul was a direc-
tor of the Fort Fisher Restoration
Committee, the predecessor of the
Friends of Fort Fisher. In 2008, the
newly-named Friends determined that
the support group needed a full-time
executive director to restructure the
organization, and to help make Fort
Fisher the premier Civil War site in
the country. Paul accepted the job and
since then has turned the Friends into
a dynamic, membership-based non-
profit and one of the most effective
support groups working with the NC
Department of Natural and Cultural
Resources.
Paul’s accomplishments on behalf of
Fort Fisher are so many it is impossible
to recount them all. Noteworthy was
his work to make Fort Fisher’s 150th
anniversary commemoration the great-
est event in the site’s history with rec-
ord-setting attendance. But most im-
portantly, Paul led Fort Fisher’s charge
to build a new interpretive center and
rebuild earthworks destroyed by
World War II-era construction. Begin-
ning in 2009, Paul spearheaded strate-
gic and master planning for the site.
These plans were the groundwork for
the recently-completed Advanced
Planning Report, which lays out a new
vision for Fort Fisher and conceptual-
izes new facilities for the site. And Paul
has ensured the NC General Assembly
appropriated funds for the anticipated
structures. Detailed design and construc-
tion documents are in the works, and we
expect Paul will soon be breaking ground
here with a gold shovel.
Over the years Paul has been steadfast
in his advocacy for Fort Fisher and the
Friends. Everything he did furthered the
interests of the historic site and its con-
stituents. And Paul has been a good friend
to all the staff and volunteers at Fort Fish-
er. Working with him has been a genuine
pleasure, and his enthusiasm for Fort Fish-
er much appreciated. Paul’s leadership of
the Friends will be missed, and his succes-
sor (currently being sought) will have big
shoes to fill. But Paul will remain a part of
the Fort Fisher family. In a different capac-
ity, he will help achieve our vision for Fort
Fisher, to bring about its full potential to
educate and inspire our visitors. All staff
at Fort Fisher will miss him, and we thank
him and wish him well.
Paul Laird—a true Friend of Fort Fisher—retires
At a casual, oversimplified
glance, firing a field cannon seems
simple. Some even think you simply
light a fuse, cover your ears, and
run away. After all, that’s the way
it’s often depicted on sitcoms and
Saturday cartoons.
In the real world, it requires
several highly-trained crew mem-
bers, each with their own set of
unique responsibilities, to safely
prep, load, aim, and fire a period
cannon. Because in the end, the
safety of visitors and crew members
is paramount. Here’s how it works:
Person #1 holds a wooden staff
with a woolen sponge on one end
and a wooden block call the ram-
mer on the other. On the com-
mand “Search the Piece,” he wets
the sponge and inserts it into the
cannon to extinguish any possible
sparks that could be in the bore.
On the command “Load,” he repeats
the sponging, notifies the #2 man he is
ready for the charge to be loaded by
tapping the muzzle of the cannon.
Once the charge is placed in the muz-
zle, he uses the rammer to push the
charge to the breech (or back) of the
cannon, to “set the load.”
Person #2 holds a staff with an iron
corkscrew-like device called the worm.
On the command “Search the Piece,”
he inserts the worm into the bore to
draw out any material that might hin-
der the insertion of the next round. If
the piece has been fired, there might
be left over material from the previous
charge; if the piece has been sitting idle
there could be any number of things
found in the bore (including birds’
nests!) At the command “Load,“ Per-
son #2 takes the charge from Person
#5 (the powder monkey) and, after
being notified by Person #1 he is
ready, places the charge in the muzzle,
loading the piece.
Person #3 uses a leather thumbstall
and a brass wire known as a vent pick.
The thumbstall is like a leather glove pro-
tecting the left thumb used this to “tend
vent.” Person #3 must keep his thumb
over the vent whenever Person #1 and
Person #2 are in front of the muzzle.
Having the vent closed when using the
sponge also creates a vacuum that helps
to extinguish any spark that might be in
the barrel.
After the round is seated in the
breech, Person #3 assists the Gunner in
moving the cannon carriage left or right
to adjust for windage.
Finally, Person #3, at the command of
“Ready,” inserts the brass pick into the
vent to puncture the powder bag and
ensure the powder is exposed to the
friction primer. Now we’re getting close
to the anticipated moment!!
P A G E 4
annoneer’s
C orner
T H E P O W D E R M A G A Z I N E
Photos by Michael A. Brown
Person #2 who will grab the black
powder charge from his haversack.
Then there’s the Gunner. The gun-
ner is the person responsible for issu-
ing all commands, “Search the piece,”
“Load,” “Ready,” “Fire,” and “Secure
the piece” following the firing. The
gunner also has the responsibility of
aiming the piece. He will instruct Per-
son #3 which direction to move the
carriage. The Gunner will use a remov-
able pendulum sight at the rear of the
cannon and a fixed post at the muzzle,
to aim the piece by sight. To increase
or decrease the distance of the shot, he
will adjust the muzzle by raising or low-
ering the tube using a screw-like device
beneath the breech of the cannon. Given
this huge responsibility, the Gunner
must utilize mathematics, science, and
experience to precisely aim the field
piece and get the round
on target.
An interesting thing
to note here is that
ANYONE on the gun
crew can (and should)
yell, “Cease Fire!” if
they see something
wrong—or even per-
ceive something to be
wrong—before the
command to “Fire” is
issued. In short, any-
thing that qualifies as a threat to the
safety of the gun crew and those wit-
nessing the firing warrants a cease fire.
And that includes monitoring where
the visiting public stands to take photo-
graphs!
T H E P O W D E R M A G A Z I N E
Person #4 holds the lanyard used for
firing the piece. The other end of the
lanyard is attached a friction primer. The
friction primer is a small brass tube filled
with fine grade powder and a brass ring.
At the command “Ready,” he nserts the
friction primer when Person #3 is ready.
At the command “Fire,”
he pulls on the lanyard
yanking out the brass ring
from the friction prim-
mer. The resulting friction
causes the powder to
ignite, sending the flame
down the vent and igniting
the main powder charge
in the cannon.
Person #5, considered
the “powder monkey,”
stands behind the limber
chest and is the person responsible for
getting the charge from the limber chest
to the cannon. To do this, he has a leath-
er bag, or haversack, to carry the round
safely forward. After leaving the limber
chest, he first takes the round to the
Gunner for inspection, then proceeds to
P A G E 5
P A G E 6
T H E P O W D E R M A G A Z I N E
2018 Mary Holloway Seasonal Interpreter
Joe Donohoe 1. Where are you originally from
and what brought you to the Cape
Fear area? I am originally from Mystic,
Connecticut. When I was 12 years old,
my family moved to Salisbury, North
Carolina to be closer with my maternal
grandparents. While attending high
school at Salisbury High, I was accepted
into the University of North Carolina at
Wilmington. I have lived in the Lower
Cape Fear Region for four years now
and have enjoyed every minute.
2. Briefly tell us about your educa-
tion. I enrolled at the University of
North Carolina Wilmington in the Fall
semester of 2014 where I pursued de-
grees in political science and history. I
focused my studies on public admin-
istration, political theory, American
Civil War History and Russian History.
I graduated from UNCW this past May.
3. What's your first memory of
Fort Fisher and what was your
first impression of the site? The
first time I visited Fort Fisher was the
Summer of 2016 for one of Dr. (Chris)
Fonvielle’s history classes. I was hooked
on the history of the place after learn-
ing the importance of the fort and the
role it played in protecting Wilmington
and Confederate Blockade Runners.
4. Briefly tell us who Mary Hol-
loway was and why you’ve as-
sumed her name. Mary Holloway was
a former interpreter at Fort Fisher. She
had a passion for local history and shared
that passion through living history and
performing guided tours in period cloth-
ing. It is my hope that I can carry on her
legacy this summer by sparking an inter-
est in our visitor’s minds.
5. When people, friends, or ac-
quaintances find out you’re an in-
terpreter at Fisher, what do they
say or ask you? The most common
questions friends ask are, “Are you
the guy that dresses up in funny
clothes?” “Do you get to shoot the
musket?” “Aren’t you hot in that uni-
form?” “Do you get to work with the
fish?” (mistakenly thinking I work for
the aquarium).
6. What has surprised you the
most about being the Mary Hol-
loway Seasonal Interpreter? I am
surprised by how many people think
the phone number for Fort Fisher
State Historic Site is the universal
number for every facility that bears
Fort Fisher’s name.
7. Tell us about someone who
influenced your interest in histo-
ry. The person that has most influ-
enced my interest in history is proba-
bly my mother. She, too, loves history
and bought me numerous books about
the American Revolution and the Civil
War when I was a child. She further
strengthened my history interests by
taking me to battlefield sites like Lexing-
ton and Concord as well as Gettysburg.
My imagination soared when I thought
about all the fighting that occurred on
those battlefields.
8. What do you like to do in your
spare time? In my spare time I enjoy
exploring the outdoors. I like going on
backpacking and camping trips with close
friends and family. I prefer to relax in the
evening by cooking dinner and watching
crime shows on Netflix.
9. Who are two of your favorite
authors (one historical and one
contemporary), and what are you
presently reading (other than this
questionnaire)? My favorite historical
author would have to be John Steinbeck.
The first book I read written by Stein-
beck was Of Mice and Men. I enjoy read-
ing about the migrant “Okie” farmers,
who are often the subjects of his novels.
I would say my favorite Steinbeck book
is The Grapes of Wrath. My favorite con-
temporary author is Susan Collins (who
wrote the Hunger Games trilogy). I am
currently reading From Cape Charles to
Cape Fear: The North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron during the Civil War by Robert
M. Browning.
10. What’s your tour/work sched-
ule? I work every week from Wednes-
day to Sunday and can be seen giving
tours and musket demonstrations
throughout the day.
11. What’s one word that describes
you well? Traditional
12. What’s the last thing you
Googled? David Dixon Porter
Joe Donohoe
T H E P O W D E R M A G A Z I N E
.
P A G E 7
In June of 1893, Colonel William Lamb
of Norfolk, Virginia, the former Confeder-
ate commander of Fort Fisher, returned
to Wilmington, North Carolina at the
behest of the United Confederate Veter-
ans. It was the initial public meeting of the
newly formed Camp 254 and only the
second time that the fifty-seven-year-old
colonel had returned to Wilmington since
the war. He’d been summoned to deliver
a paper on the definitive account of, “The
Defense and Capture of Fort Fisher”.
Both the Wilmington Messenger and the
Wilmington Morning Star covered Lamb’s
visit and address and there were several
notices, articles and follow-ups through-
out the week. The speech was well publi-
cized, patronized and highly praised and
while that may very well be true, a perusal
of the newspapers for that week, Sunday
the 11th through Saturday the 17th,
showed there were numerous newswor-
thy events (both far and wide) competing
for reader’s interest. Three of the stories
were huge, with daily updates, yet some
of the lesser happenings were nearly as
compelling.
First off, in New Bedford Massachu-
setts, there was considerable publicity
surrounding the thirty-two-year-old spin-
ster, Lizzie Borden, who was on trial, sus-
pected of hacking her father and step-
mother to death with a hatchet. Following
her acquittal, it would be conjectured that
the sing-song rhyme, “Lizzie Borden took
an axe /And gave her mother forty
whacks. / When she saw what she had
done, / She gave her father forty-one,” was
composed and announced on the streets
by solicitous paper boys to entice their
audience while precociously hawking their
wares.
In the nation’s capital, there was anoth-
er big story - an ongoing investigation into
the June 9th collapse of Ford’s Theatre. At
the time, the building was serving as a gov-
ernment warehouse and twenty-two War
Department clerks had been killed and
over three score injured when the front of
the structure gave way. It did not come as
a complete surprise as the integrity of the
building had been scrutinized earlier and as
a precaution, important files and arti-
facts had been removed; unfortunate-
ly, the personnel were apparently
considered expendable (ironically).
Edwin Booth, the celebrated thes-
pian and older brother of the notori-
ous assassin John Wilkes Booth, (who
had murdered the sixteenth president
in this same playhouse in 1865), had
passed just days before. It was ru-
mored that he had cursed the struc-
ture and that the accident had oc-
curred at the very hour that his body
was being interred in faraway Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts.
[Aside: “One night in 1879 when
Edwin Booth was playing in Chicago
he was shot at twice by a crank
named Mark Gray. Booth saved one
of the bullets, had it mounted on a
gold cartridge and inscribed, “From
Mark Gray to Edwin Booth April 23,
1879.” If Mark had been a better
marksman the world might then have
lost its grandest actor.”]
Last, but not least, Chicago was
playing host to the World’s Fair or
the World’s Columbian Exposition as
it was being hailed, a commemoration
of the 400th anniversary of Christo-
pher Columbus’s New World discov-
ery.
Col. William Lamb Dr. Henry Howard Holmes
Lizzie Borden
June, 1893: White, black, and read all over, part 1 By Ray Flowers, Curator of History
Continued on page 8
P A G E 8
T H E P O W D E R M A G A Z I N E
We are delighted to introduce a pair of new summer interns for 2018— Emily Fournier and Isaac Tuttle, both of whom are extremely friendly, well-qualified history majors here to help enhance the visitor’s experience at Fort
Fisher. We invite you to stop by and get to know both of them soon.
Emily Fournier Isaac Tuttle
More new faces at Fort Fisher State Historic Site
For six-months, from the first of
May through the end of October, the
“White City” comprised of 200
ephemeral buildings sprawled across
600 acres, where crowds were intro-
duced to Cream of Wheat, Juicy Fruit
chewing gum, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer,
dish washers, florescent light bulbs and
George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. ‘s
264-foot-tall Ferris Wheel. In all, forty-
six countries participated while an
astounding twenty-seven million visi-
tors would attend. The world was
astonished as Chicago rose Phoenix-
like from the ashes of the “Great Fire
of 1871.”
Simultaneously, just three miles
west of the fair, Dr. Henry Howard
Holmes’ block-long hotel was also in the
ascension. With a recent third-floor ad-
dition, H. H. Holmes’ “Murder Castle”
would soon become the setting and resi-
dence for what was possibly America’s
most prolific serial killer.
Colonel Lamb arrived in Wilmington
at 6 p.m. on Tuesday the 13th where he
and his twenty-year-old daughter Madge
and seventeen-year-old son Harry were
received at the Front street depot by
the committee of arrangements of the
Cape Fear Camp Confederate Veterans,
where they were escorted by carriage to
the Orton, Wilmington’s finest hotel.
Later in the evening, Lamb and his chil-
dren paid a call on Mrs. Whiting, the
widow of Major General W.H.C. Whit-
ing whom Harry was named after. “She
seemed pleased to see us…”
Earlier that morning, near the A.C.L.
freight depot, a team of horses pulling a
wagon had suddenly bolted. “They ran
down Nutt and Water to Chestnut, up
Chestnut to Second, and down that street
to Perry’s stables, on the corner of Prin-
cess, where they were secured.” The driv-
er was unhurt but, “the wagon was
smashed to pieces.”
The Wilmington Morning Star was run-
ning a promotion: For ten cents and four
“Star” coupons, readers could select any
three of thirty-two titles – postage paid.
First on the list was none other than Haw-
thorne’s The Scarlet Letter.
Interestingly, at West Point in the grad-
uating class of fifty-one, the two cadets
who placed second and fourth were both
from North Carolina.
June, 1893: White, black, and read all over, part 1
Continued from page 7
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this story in the Fall 2018 edition of The Powder Magazine
P A G E 9
T H E P O W D E R M A G A Z I N E
MEMBERSHIP ENROLLMENT FORM
Name__________________________________________
Address_________________________________________
________________________________________
City___________________________________________
State________________ Zip________________________
Telephone_______________________________________
Email___________________________________________
□ New □ Renewal
All society memberships are based on a calendar year (Jan-
Dec). Contributions are tax deductible, less the fair market
value of goods and services received.
If you choose to waive your membership benefits, your contri-
bution is fully tax-deductible.
□ I wish to waive my society membership benefits
□ I will be an Annual Society Member
Mail to: Friends of Fort Fisher
1610 Fort Fisher Blvd., Kure Beach, N.C. 28449
Membership Categories
Palisade Society $40 ____________
Mounds Society $100 ____________
Blockade Runner Society $250 ____________
Gibraltar of the South Society $500 ____________
Col. Charles F. Fisher Society $1000 ____________
Payment □ Cash □ Check □ Credit Card Make checks payable to Friends of Fort Fisher
□ VISA □ MasterCard □ Discover
Name on Card____________________________________
Account #_______________________________________
Expiration Date_____________3-digit security code_______
Signature___________________________Date_________
Join the Friends of Fort Fisher
Payments or donations may be made securely on our website www.friendsoffortfisher.com
MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES
Palisade Society $40
Mounds Society $100
Blockade Runner Society $250
Gibraltar of the South Society $500
Col. Charles F. Fisher Society $1000
BENEFITS
Palisade Society – basic level of annual support includes attractive
decal and member card, listing in The Powder Magazine quarterly
newsletter, 10% discount on all purchases from our Fort Fisher
Museum Shop and invitations to member only events
Mounds Society - level of annual support includes all of the above
benefits plus one complimentary honorarium or memorial in
one issue of The Powder Magazine newsletter
Blockade Runner Society - level of annual support includes all of
the above benefits plus a 6”x 9” engraved brick paver on Fort
Fisher’s Walk of Honor
Gibraltar of the South Society - level of annual support which
includes all of the above benefits except a larger 9” x 9”
engraved brick paver, and a specially selected book annually
from the Museum Shop
Col. Charles F. Fisher Society - level of annual support which
includes all of the benefits of the Gibraltar level except the
engraved brick paver is a permanent beautiful blue/gray 12” x
12” stone and may include an engraved emblem or logo
Other ways to contribute:
Memorial and Honor Gifts, Artifact Donations, In-Kind Gifts,
Volunteers, Named Gift Opportunities, Bequests – Contact the
Friends Executive Director for information
T H E P O W D E R M A G A Z I N E
Fort Fisher State Historic Site 1610 Fort Fisher Blvd. South Kure Beach, NC 28449 Phone: (910) 251-7340 E-mail: [email protected] www.nchistoricsites.org/fisher
Fort Fisher Staff
James C. Steele, Site Manager John Moseley, Assistant Site Manager Becky Sawyer, Collections Mng./Interpreter III Ray Flowers, Historic Interpreter II Si Lawrence, Public Info & Special Events William S. Register, Chief of Police David Sheaffer, Maintenance Manager Jesse Hoskins, Site Assistant
P A G E 1 0
This newsletter was proudly produced with
support from the Friends of Fort Fisher
Friends of Fort Fisher Board of Directors:
John M. Coble, Chairman
Dennis St. Andrew, Vice Chairman Harry Parham, Treasurer
M. Tyrone Rowell , Secretary Brig. Gen. (Ret) James Carper, Past Chair
Kyle Berzina Ed Halloran
James Johnson Geoffrey Losee Mike McCarley Mark McLamb Norm Melton
Brian Nunnally, Ph.D. David Rice
Don Saunders Richard Wallace
Denis White James Steele, III {ex officio}
Paul Laird, {ex officio}
Web: www.friendsoffortfisher.com
Continued from page 1
For a modest donation, visitors can also take a chauffeured
ride in an authentic World War II jeep. In addition, special
guests have been invited to speak in the site’s auditorium that
day, although program components are subject to change. Ex-
plore the little known history and role of Fort Fisher during
World War II in the lower Cape Fear area. The program runs
from 10 am to 4:00 pm Saturday and 12 to 4 pm Sunday and is
free to the public, thanks to the generous support of the
Friends of Fort Fisher, New Hanover County, the town of
Carolina Beach, and the town of Kure Beach. For more infor-
mation on the program, please call the site at 910-251-7340.
Fort Fisher to host free World War II program Sept 1-2, 2018