There were so many news moments in the last week of May 2024 to remember – or ignore.
I like how Jenni Carlson, a nationally known sports columnist from Oklahoma, recently used the phrase “momentum moment,” which is an astute and alliterative way to describe unintended turning points.
Here are three I hope the Triangle remembers:
She spells with a smile
Ananya Rao Prassanna undoubtedly had one momentum moment when she charmed a national TV audience by finishing in a tie for third place at the National Spelling Bee.
The News & Observer’s T. Keung Hui’s story about Ananya, a seventh-grader from Cary, had this sweet headline: “Amazing: NC Teen Spells Her Way to the Final Three of the National Spelling Bee.”
When Ananya moved to North Carolina, her family chose Davis Drive Middle in part because of the school’s strong support for the Spelling Bee program, according to Keung’s story. Her strong placing was also a moment for Michael Hokenberg, the principal of Davis Drive Middle in Cary, who drove to Maryland when he couldn’t book a flight. THAT is one proud director.
And Ananya will be eligible to make the Triangle proud next year.
Students who find education important.
Teachers who care about the students.
Families who care. That is JOY.
Triangle, tobacco and tourism
I wonder if Triangle’s newcomers understand the potential momentum moment that follows a $2.5 million donation to the Duke Homestead State Historic Site and Tobacco Museum.
Mary Helen Moore reported on the reasons behind the donation, specifically the opportunity to “gain a fuller picture of North Carolina’s relationship with tobacco, illuminating stories of enslaved people and Native Americans that would otherwise be lost to history to go.” Mary Helen’s story can be seen on NC Inside Look, The N&O’s ongoing initiative to take readers behind the scenes to highlight the people and places in our community.
Signs along Durham’s highways direct you to the Duke Homestead State Historic Site and Tobacco Museum at 2828 Duke Homestead Road. Ultimately you will take a winding journey past modest houses on large plots of land shaded by beautiful trees. This isn’t a Biltmore greeting: you can park near the modest building that greets visitors. (Another tip: the place is closed on Sundays and Mondays.)
We spent a hot summer Saturday at the site and were impressed by the substantive story of the Washington Duke family and the evolution of tobacco into a livelihood and political struggle that divided our country.
North Carolina – and the Triangle – can do more to tap into the cross-generational curiosity of heritage tourism. The gift from the Duke family foundation could be a connecting point.
Not far from the homestead is the Bennett Place Historic Site, another unpretentious piece of history in a quiet, semi-rural area. Many historians make a valid argument that the Civil War in Durham ended after Union General William Sherman and Confederate General Joseph Johnston met on the family farm of James and Nancy Bennett.
Add to that Sherman’s March on Raleigh, how tobacco changed the state…and here’s how a generous donation of $2.5 million can change the way we view history, race relations, and our own sense of place.
‘We had no anger whatsoever’
There was no better timing than late May to highlight another news moment that could be a turning point for how Rocky Mount recognizes a local legend – how Walter “Buck” Leonard will now be remembered beyond his beloved hometown .
On Wednesday, Major League Baseball updated its all-time records to include players from the Negro Leagues. Josh Shaffer’s unique NC story, titled “North Carolina’s ‘The Black Lou Gehrig’ Finally Recognized in the MLB Record Books,” tells how Leonard now ranks eighth all-time with a .345 batting average.
Here is this beautiful passage from the story and the N&O archives: “We didn’t think much about playing in the big leagues,” Leonard told The N&O in 1997, not long before he died. “The majors were for the white boys. But we weren’t mad at them. We didn’t even think about them. We had our own league, just like in another world, and we played as if no other world existed.”
Buck has to smile at us. Now the baseball worlds are coming together.
Bill Church is editor-in-chief of The News & Observer. He once reached the semi-finals of his class spelling bee.
