The center is dedicated to commemorate the life and legacy of Pauli Murray as well as continuing her work to advance democracy, justice, non-violence, and equity for all. It welcomes everyone to learn through history, education, arts, and activism programming. By connecting history to contemporary human rights issues, the Pauli Murray Center inspires visitors of all ages to be like Pauli, by standing up and speaking out for their principles. Murray was a 20th-century African-American human rights activist, legal scholar, feminist, poet, Episcopal priest, and LGBTQ community member. Her life and work are exceptionally significant as she served as a bridge figure between American social movements through her advocacy for women’s and civil rights. The center is located in her childhood home. It was built by her grandparents in 1898, and she lived there since her parents’ death until she left for college. It is currently in the process of rehabilitating to reflect its early-twentieth-century appearance through the retention and recreation of architectural elements that date stylistically to the 1898-1906 time period. The missing features will be replicated based on historic photographs. The center has created a self-guided tour in Southwest Central Durham following key locations in Pauli Murray’s life in her neighborhood. Some of the stops have beautiful Murals of her. Click here for more details. Read more...

The Ava Gardner Museum commemorates the life and achievements of the legendary actress of the classic Hollywood cinema, Ava Gardner. Gardner (1922-1990) was born and raised on a farm in rural North Carolina. She loved watching movies in the local cinema but never had she thought she would become a worldwide famous movie star. After attending secretarial classes for a year, she visited her sister in New York City. An MGM talent scout spotted Gardner’s photo outside her brother-in-law’s photography studio. Despite her North Carolina accent and no previous acting experience, Gardner was offered a contract and moved to Hollywood, starting a 5-decade acting career. When Gardner was a secretarial student in Wilson, NC, she was friendly to a local 12-year-old boy named Tommy Banks. When he discovered her life took a turn and she started a career in Hollywood, he became her fan, and they stayed in touch. Tommy grew up to become Thomas, and his wife, Lorraine, collected items about Gardner over the years. When they visited Gardner in 1978 in London, she expressed her wish that the collection would become a museum in her honor in North Carolina. That same year, a community journalist named Doris Rollins Cannon wrote a newspaper column entitled: “Isn’t It Time That Smithfield Saluted Ava?” The Banks and Doris got in touch, which led to a temporary exhibition of part of the collection in downtown Smithfield. With Doris’ help, they operated the museum every summer between 1981 and 1989 at the old Brogden School Teacherage building, where Ava lived from ages 2 to 13. Since 1991, the museum has been open in the historic downtown of Smithfield, a small North Carolina town close to where Ava’s childhood home once stood. A visit to the museum starts with a 20-minute movie about Gardner’s life. Exhibits are arranged chronologically, from her humble childhood in North Carolina to Hollywood glamorous life. There is a nice collection of personal items, such as artifacts, photos, jewelry, china, and clothing, as well as souvenirs of her professional experience of awards, costumes, scripts, movie posters, and fine art, including portraits by Bert Pfeiffer. Read more...