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DocuSign Envelope ID: C5C11FD4- 56CD- 48FD- BBD1- 95F2AFF7112B
<br />EXHIBIT A: PROVIDER'S OUTSIDE AGENCY APPLICATION
<br />Program Description (3 pages OR LESS): Ensuring visitor safety and services at the Burwell
<br />School Historic Site with a focus on the Elizabeth Keckly 2918 Bicentennial Year
<br />The Burwell School Historic Site is the only historic house museum in Orange County that (1) is
<br />open to the public free of charge on a regular basis, and (2) offers a range of educational
<br />experiences designed specifically for school groups and young people. The Burwell School has
<br />served as an educational and historical resource for Orange County since it was opened to the
<br />public in the 1970's and maintains its focus on preserving and interpreting the site's story in a way
<br />that is inspiring and enlightening for all generations and backgrounds. The site welcomes visitors
<br />from across the County, State, and nation, as well as visitors from foreign countries. In the past
<br />year these included Scotland, Germany, Norway, England, Canada, Italy, and France.
<br />The site, circa 1821, is comprised of two acres and three buildings which were purchased by the
<br />Historic Hillsborough Commission in the 1960's from the heirs of the last family to live there, With
<br />funding raised primarily locally, the property was restored and furnished with donated period
<br />antique items. Members of the Commission carried out groundbreaking research to document the
<br />history of the site and the antebellum girls' school operated there from 1837 — 1857 by the Rev.
<br />Robert Burwell and his wife, Anna Burwell, and which served as the model for as many as seven
<br />subsequent schools operated by former students. From 1835 - 1842 the site was also the home
<br />and workplace of an enslaved young woman, Elizabeth Hobbs, (later Keckly) and her story has
<br />become an added focus of the research and programming at the Burwell School. She was born
<br />into slavery, was subjected to incidents of harsh treatment during her time in Hillsborough, but later
<br />achieved liberty and independence as a dressmaker, leading to a close friendship with Mary Lincoln
<br />in the White House during the Civil War.
<br />Research into the people of the site is a major focus of the Commission and has led to the
<br />publication of The Book of Burwell Students and the creation of a free, online database on the
<br />students of the School and their families; on Elizabeth Keckly, and on the Burwell family. This
<br />database continues to grow and is available to the ,public through the Burwell School web site,
<br />www.burwe.11school orq.
<br />The main residence is a two - story frame structure started in 1821 and expanded in 1848 by local
<br />builder John Berry. It is comprised of four downstairs rooms and four upstairs rooms, six fireplaces
<br />and two massive chimneys. Behind the house stands a small brick schoolhouse comprised of two
<br />rooms, each bracketing a fireplace, circa 1840. Additionally, a brick "necessary house" (outhouse)
<br />stands at the back of a small southern heritage garden. The two acres of grounds are comprised of
<br />the garden (named for the last resident to garden there, Carrie Waitt Spurgeon) and an expanse of
<br />lawn, meadow, and tall native I heritage trees and shrubs -- linden, oak,. walnut; dogwood, camellia,
<br />gardenia, old roses, cedars and a "state champion" Osage orange. In 2017 the exterior of the
<br />residence building was thoroughly restored -- the 42 large, old shutters were repaired or rebuilt, and
<br />the entire exterior scraped and repainted. This project cost almost $15,000, raised entirely through
<br />donations and fundraising events over 2016 and 2017, and is a milestone accomplishment toward
<br />preserving the site into its third century.
<br />The house contains antique furniture and furnishings in keeping with its period, all of it donated
<br />since the 1960's, primarily by local residents, and much of it Orange County pieces. There are at
<br />least four pieces of furniture made by the noted African - American freedman, Thomas Day, whose
<br />furniture business thrived in Milton, NC during the 1800's. Additionally the Historic Hillsborough
<br />Commission maintains a collection of items belonging to the Burwell family, women who attended
<br />school here, and other residents of the property, as well as an extensive and well - maintained
<br />research collection of reference materials on the site, the region, and the history of 19`h century
<br />Orange Co.
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