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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: October 19, 2021 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-k <br /> SUBJECT: Proclamation Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Burwell School <br /> DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Proclamation Renee A. Price, Chair <br /> Laura Jensen, Clerk to the Board, 919- <br /> 245-2130 <br /> PURPOSE: To approve a proclamation commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Burwell <br /> School. <br /> BACKGROUND: The Burwell School Historic Site in Hillsborough, North Carolina was built <br /> around 1821 and expanded in 1848. The site became the home of Reverend Robert and <br /> Margaret Anna Burwell and their family beginning in 1835. Anna Burwell founded and operated <br /> the Burwell School for Girls, an academy for privileged white girls, from 1837 to 1857. African <br /> Americans, both enslaved and free, provided much of the labor for the maintenance of the <br /> school and grounds, and provided personal services to family members and students. <br /> The Historic Hillsborough Commission obtained the Burwell School property in 1965 and then <br /> restored and opened the existing buildings to the public. The mission of the Commission is to <br /> maintain and preserve the Burwell School Historic Site, to interpret the history of 19th and 20th <br /> century Hillsborough, and to celebrate and promote the culture and heritage of Hillsborough <br /> and Orange County. Members of the Historic Hillsborough Commission are appointed by the <br /> North Carolina Governor, and they, along with community volunteers, donate time and effort <br /> to the operation and upkeep of the site. The bicentennial of the site will be celebrated on <br /> October 24, 2021 , and the proclamation designates that day as "Burwell School Historic Site <br /> Day" in Orange County. <br /> FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with this item. <br /> SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: There is no Orange County Social Justice Goal impact associated <br /> with this item. <br /> ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: There is no Orange County Environmental Responsibility Goal <br /> impact associated with this item. <br /> RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board approve and authorize the Chair <br /> to sign the proclamation commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Burwell School. <br />