North Carolina’s Museum of the Cape Fear has been hosting a “Civil War Quiz Bowl” for seventeen years, but last year it was renamed the “Civil War and Reconstruction Quiz Bowl.” Not an earth shattering change, but this museum is one of many such institutions that have realized that ignoring Reconstruction is no longer an option. Last year we saw the Constitution Center in Philly, for example, offer its first major exhibit on Reconstruction. One of the most popular museums in Washington is the Smithsonian’s African American museum, which devotes a lot of space to Reconstruction. Smaller local efforts like that at Cape Fear may pale in comparison, but as part of a national trend in museum interpretation and programming they are significant. The change of name of the contest was preceded by the museum revamping its Reconstruction Gallery in 2016.
Now for the details on this Quiz contest, according to local reports:
Thursday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m., in the Pate Room of Headquarters Library. The quiz bowl is a game show type of competition where contestants are asked questions about the Civil War and Reconstruction. As in Jeopardy!, contestants choose a category. Each contestant gets three strikes, or incorrect answers, before they are eliminated from play, until there is an adult and youth (16 and under) winner.
Prizes are awarded to both winners. Like most of the museum’s events, it is free and open to the public.
