Dr. Ronnie W. Faulkner, director of Library Services and associate professor of history at Campbell University, has been recruited to assist the John Locke Foundation with its North Carolina History Project. “The ongoing project and its new Web site NorthCarolinahistory.org feature an edited, evolving, and comprehensive encyclopedia of the Tar Heel state,” Faulkner said. “It has been produced for educational and research purposes.” Dr. Faulkner, a widely published author in the fields of southern history, political science and librarianship, currently has nine articles appearing on the Web site treating such varied subjects as Populist leader Marion Butler (1863-1938), the NC Constitutions of 1835 and 1868, Secession, Jesse Helms (1921- ) and Justice Susie Sharp (1907-1996). Dr. Faulkner notes in his entries such interesting facts as Marion Butler’s amazing completion of a law degree at UNC while serving as a United States Senator; A. W. Venable’s failed prediction of 1861 that he would “wipe up every drop of blood shed in the war with [a] handkerchief;” Senator Jesse Helms’ role as a latter-day “Jeremiah” constantly warning of doom; and Justice Susie Sharp’s disappointment with feminists by opposing the Equal Rights Amendment and stating that “trouble comes when a woman tries to be too many things at one time: a wife, a mother, a career woman, a femme fatale.” “The John Locke Foundation is to be commended for taking an interest in the field of Tar Heel history and giving the public a retrospective that will help them understand and appreciate current North Carolina social and political developments,” said Faulkner. “Teachers especially should visit NorthCarolinahistory.org, which has an ‘Educator’s Corner’ with rotating lesson plans on various aspects of N.C. history.”
Faulkner assists North Carolina History Project