What's Happening?

Recent Past Event:

Moth Night at the Cowan Museum

Saturday, July 27, 2024

8:30 PM - 11:00 PM

The 2024 NC Moth Week is part of National Moth Week and will take place Saturday, July 20 through Sunday, July 28. 

At the Cowan Museum, we will hold a special FREE Moth Night event in the botanical garden and grounds, which will include:

• Moth observation stations with staff to assist with identification.

• A movie in the schoolhouse, 

Mothra vs. Godzilla.

• Moth Week stickers and ecoEXPLORE 

bookmark giveaways.

• Lemonade and cookies in the 

General Store for participants.

• Pollinator coloring pages activity in the 

Kelly-Farrior House.

Pollinator-friendly plant giveaways (Mountain Mint). 

For more information about Moth Week, please check out: MOTHS , as well as ecoEXPLORE (it's Entomology Field Season). 

RESCHEDULED FROM 09/27/2024

Community Chat and Exhibit Opening Reception

Friday, October 4, 2024

5 PM - 7:30 PM

Join us for a catered opening reception of Choosing to Participate, a poster exhibit developed by Facing History and Ourselves and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES). The exhibit is sponsored by Duke Energy.

The reception will be a casual, floating event which will also include a “community chat,” where you are invited to tell us what you would like to see the Cowan Museum offer the community in the future, such as new programs, exhibits, events, and how to better serve and represent the community. We want your input to make the Museum the best it can be!

Included in the evening’s celebrations:

• Food catered in the general store by Master Blend Family Farms.

• A slide show with photographs of people and events in Duplin County, including Kenansville's outdoor dramas.

• Material on display from Duplin County Home Demonstration Clubs and the Stanford School.

• A voting booth provided by the Duplin County Board of Elections for you to cast your vote on what you’d like from the Museum.

• Voter registration!

• Artifacts donated by community members on display for the first time.

• See the galleries and outbuildings lit up at night! 

• Listen to vinyl recordings of some of the most influential speeches in history.

• Staff and volunteers available to do oral histories.

Halloween at the Museum

Thursday, October 31, 2024

6 PM - 8 PM

The museum will be open after-hours for trick-or-treaters and others who would like to see the historical park buildings and the Kelly-Farrior House at their scariest.

Candy will be handed out to our Halloween guests.

A Journey Through Deep Time: 

Dinosaur Bones, Rocks, and Fossils 

(Ongoing)

In our renovated "Rock Room" gallery, see some of the fossils in the museum's collection and loaned specimens, such as an Allosaurus bone, Triceratops frill, and an American mastodon tusk.

The Duplin County Beekeepers Association has put up an apiary with two beehives located near our tobacco barn. The hives are not close to the main outbuildings and botanical garden. 

However, the bees are certainly busy with all the flowers we have on the grounds, so please be(e) aware of their presence and that they are doing important work as pollinators.

The North Carolina Science Trail (NCST) is a STEM collection of about 60 partners across the state of North Carolina. The mission of the NC Science Trail is to inspire exploration of NC’s varied science landscape all year long. NCST aims to build awareness of science processes, cultivate appreciation for the role of science in our everyday lives, and encourage care for the natural world. 

NCST's primary goals are:

• to connect and highlight their science education partners.
• to provide awareness of exploration opportunities for NC residents and visitors across the state.
• to bridge the gap between educators and lifelong learners.

https://ncsciencetrail.org/

The Joann Cowan Brown Botanical Garden is a HotSpot in the ecoEXPLORE program! 

(Ongoing)

ecoEXPLORE (Experiences Promoting Learning Outdoors for Research and Education) is an incentive-based citizen science program for children in grades K-8. Developed by The North Carolina Arboretum, this innovative program combines science exploration with kid-friendly technology to foster a fun learning environment for children while encouraging them to explore the outdoors and participate in citizen science. 

* It's currently 

Ichthyology Season! (September 1 - October 31)

Ichthyology is the study of fish.

Complete challenges to earn a badge and share observations of wildlife belonging to this season for a bonus point! 

 Fun Fact:

 There are as many species of fish as there are mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians combined! In North Carolina alone, we have 234 different species of fish. 

*Note: Other than a birdbath, or two, the museum's grounds doesn't have water where  one would be able to find fish.

Source: https://www.ecoexplore.net/