Duke Energy expands access to local history and civic learning across North Carolina through America250 grants

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the final round of grants through the Duke Energy Foundation's America250 initiative, $186,100 is being distributed to 16 nonprofit organizations across North Carolina that are bringing the nation's 250th anniversary to life through local stories, public art, oral histories and community programming.

Why it matters: The grants back hometown projects across more than 20 North Carolina counties – bringing history to life through museum exhibits, public art, oral histories and student field trips.

Dig in: From immersive exhibits and student access programs in Charlotte and Winston-Salem to a statewide rural storytelling tour led by PBS North Carolina and community-driven projects along the coast, these efforts help more North Carolinians connect with the people, places and stories that shaped the country.

Our view – Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy's North Carolina president: "North Carolina's story is woven into America's story – from the pivotal moments at Kings Mountain and the Battle of Guilford Courthouse to the bold declarations of independence in Halifax and Mecklenburg, and the small-town main streets that built this state. These grants give communities the chance to tell their own piece of that 250-year story in ways that bring people together, spark curiosity in the next generation and remind us that history doesn't just live in textbooks – it lives right here, in our towns and neighborhoods."

Where the funding is going:

Western N.C.

• Friends of Lake James State Park: Expanding the free Overmountain Victory Trail Annual March Celebration with Native American stories, traditional music, living-history demonstrations and a StoryWalk^® for families across seven mountain counties.
• Transylvania Heritage Museum: Mounting Let Freedom Ring, a six-month exhibit and program series exploring Revolutionary-era Appalachia through Patriot soldiers, an Enslaved African Provision Garden and a Cherokee Medicine Wheel. 
• Tryon Arts & Crafts School: Digitizing 200+ Foothills heritage artifacts, hosting the Hearth & Anvil culinary challenge and curating two museum-grade exhibitions celebrating multigenerational mountain craft.

Piedmont & Charlotte region

• Charlotte Museum of History: Hosting American Revolution, Augmented – the East Coast's first major semiquincentennial exhibition, with 23 interactive 3D and VR experiences expected to reach 150,000 visitors from five states.
• Lincoln County Historical Association: Building a 1,200-square-foot multimedia museum display tracing Lincoln County from the Catawba people and 1779 through the formation of Lake Norman, with portable mini-exhibits for schools.
• Stanly County Arts Council: Producing a traveling 8'-by-20' mosaic mural – 950 hand-painted tiles by Stanly County residents – that will tour all 10 municipalities before its permanent installation.
• Soil Conservation Society of America, N.C. Chapter: Revitalizing the Anson County homeplace of Hugh Hammond Bennett – the "Father of Soil Conservation" – with interpretive signage, historical markers and a native pollinator demonstration garden.
• Old Salem Inc.: Underwriting admission and bus transportation so 1,175 Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Title I students can experience pre-Revolutionary life inside a National Historic Landmark district.

Triangle & Central N.C.

• Alliance for Historic Hillsborough: Completing Phase II of Telling the Full Story, an interactive digital map paired with oral histories that surface the Black and Indigenous voices that helped shape one of N.C.'s oldest towns.
• Friends of the City of Raleigh Museum: Launching Patterns of Belonging, a year-long exhibit featuring journals, murals and recorded reflections from Raleigh Parks' English Language Learners on what America means to them.
• Durham Center for Senior Life: Producing Preserving Memories, a 10-panel oral history exhibit with QR-linked audio that elevates Durham's older adults as the community's memory-keepers.
• Clayton Historical Association: Hosting Clayton Area History Day with reenactors, blacksmiths, period musicians and Colonial-era demonstrations that connect Johnston and Wake counties to the Revolutionary story.
• Heritage Quilters Giving Circle: Creating Stitching the People's History, a series of portrait quilts and essays honoring change leaders in Warren and Vance counties – from Congresswoman Eva Clayton to civil rights organizer Ella Baker.

Coast & Eastern N.C.

• Tryon Palace Foundation: Transforming a New Bern lot into Wilson Park, a landscaped green space anchored by a 16-foot sculpture by N.C. artists telling the stories of New Bern's free and enslaved African American artisan class.
• WWII Wilmington Home Front Heritage Coalition: Delivering public history programs in America's first WWII Heritage City – honoring shipyard workers, Coast Guard history, women's wartime contributions and local Medal of Honor recipients.

Statewide

• NC Public Television Foundation: Bringing PBS NC's Homegrown History series into two rural communities for free documentary screenings, moderated dialogue and a story-submission portal that adds local voices to the national archive.

Big picture: These grants represent the second round of funding under the Duke Energy Foundation's America250 initiative, a more than $1 million investment in community‑driven projects across the company's six states to recognize America's 250th anniversary.

Duke Energy Foundation
Duke Energy Foundation provides nearly $30 million annually in philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The Foundation is funded by Duke Energy shareholders.  

Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 55,700 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy is executing an energy modernization strategy, keeping customer value at the forefront as it invests in electric grid upgrades and efficient generation resources to strengthen the system and serve growing energy needs.

More information is available at duke-energy.com. Follow Duke Energy on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook for stories about the people and innovations powering its communities. 

Contact: Madison McDonald
24-Hour: 800.559.3853

SOURCE Duke Energy