Object Project

UNCW graduate student Tess examines the meanings and processes behind a daguerreotype cartes de visite of Alexander Manly, the editor of the Daily Record, Wilmington's only Black newspaper at the time of the 1898 massacre. Manly's anti-racist editorials provoked white supremacist anger, and some went so far as to blame Manly for the violence. Manly and his family escaped just before the violence ensued, never to return to Wilmington, and his printing press was burned to the ground. 

In this episode of Object Project, UNCW student Lena offers an inside look at the meaning and value of Alfred Waddell's gavel, held in the North Carolina History Museum. Including a scathing but sometimes humorous biography of one of the chief perpetrators of the violence in 1898 Wilmington, this episode delves deep into what a single object can symbolize about power and control across generations. 

In the first episode of Object Project's season discussing the material culture of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre, UNCW grad student Aeris introduces Valentine Howe's Fire Horn. This artifact, housed at the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science in Wilmington, frames a story about how the status and value of fire departments (both Black and white) played a intricate part in white supremacist campaign to upend the power and resilience of Wilmington's Black community. 

Join us, through a nineteenth-century door in Wilmington, North Carolina's Bellamy Mansion. Upon this door, an enslaved man wrote his name several times, leading Andrew Craig and Rebecca Mullins on an exploration of enslaved lives, literacy, and the ideals of freedom.

In 1868, supporters of U.S. presidential candidates Horatio Seymour could purchase a small snuffbox with Seymour's likeness on it. Join us to discover what exactly a snuffbox is and why they were used in Victorian political campaigns. 

Did you know the inventor of the Morse code brought one of the first modern cameras to America? Tune in to learn about Samuel Morse's 1839 Daguerreotype and its cultural implications. 

The fifth minisode in our series looks at the social, cultural, and economic importance gleaned from a 1950s Apron Pattern. While little is know about the owner of the actual pattern, from an examination of the material itself and research into the role of the apron in culture and contemporary economies, Alex, Ian, and Elisa show how much we can learn about history through some brittle scraps of decades-old pattern paper. 

Object Project Minisode number 4 looks at an 1820s canary-yellow tea set. Listen to learn about the material and cultural difference between ceramic and earthenware tea sets, and how saucers were really used.

Object Project's third minisode looks at the story behind a 1875 Voigtlander Camera, housed at the Cape Fear Museum. Join Jackie, Anthony, Nicole, and David to hear the picturesque tale. 

Our second minisodes continues with the material culture of Wilmington's film history. Specifically, Alex B. and Alexander W use a sinister costume mask from 1993's Super Mario Brother's Movie to explore the history of Nintendo games and the film itself.