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Film Screening of American Coup: Wilmington 1898

Film Screening of American Coup: Wilmington 1898

Date:
Saturday, July 19, 2025
Time:
3:00pm - 5:00pm
Location:
Main Auditorium
Location:
Main Library (300 N. Roxboro St)
Audience:
  Adult     Emerging Adult: 18-24 Year Olds     High School  
Categories:
  Business     Community Engagement     Movie  

Registration is required. There are 230 seats available.

Join Durham County Library, PBS North Carolina, and Working Films for a screening of American Coup: Wilmington 1898, a documentary that tells the little-known story of a deadly race massacre and carefully orchestrated insurrection in North Carolina’s largest city in 1898 — the only coup d’état in the history of the US.

American Coup: Wilmington 1898 shares the story of how self-described white supremacists used intimidation and violence to destroy Black political and economic power and overthrow Wilmington’s democratically-elected, multi-racial government. Black residents were murdered and thousands were banished. The story of what happened in Wilmington was suppressed for decades until descendants and scholars began to investigate. Today, many of those descendants — Black and white — seek the truth about this intentionally buried history.

 

A discussion & Q&A will follow the films shortly afterwards.

Event Organizer

Ciera Williams