Scottish heritage focus of ECU symposium

Published Aug 12, 1993 by
Filed under:

The city of Fayetteville is the site for the award-winning Scottish Heritage Symposium, Sept. 24 – 26.

Sponsored by the East Carolina University Division of Continuing Education and Summer School and the Museum of the Cape Fear, the event is for people interested in Scottish history and culture. Sessions will be held at the Holiday Inn I-95. The symposium will focus on the cultural and historical contributions of the Scots people in North Carolina. The first large group of Highland Scots, the Argyll Colony, migrated to the upper Cape Fear region in 1739.

Successive waves of Highlanders and Scotch-Irish emigrants left “distinctive cultural attributes” on several regions of North Carolina, according to the conference organizers. Visiting experts on Scottish history will discuss the Scots-Irish migration to the Carolina back country, Presbyterianism, the loyalists, Flora MacDonald, Scottish castle design and Scottish Culture in the South. Some of the guest speakers include: Michael R. G. Fry of England, the co-founder of the David Hume Institute and a Scottish political columnist for the Sunday Times; Jo White Linn, the former president and founding member of the N.C. Genealogical Society; and the Reverend Dr. John D. MacLeod, Jr., president of the N.C. Scottish Heritage Society. Others on the program are: Mary K. S. Brown of Meredith College, an expert on architectural history; John J. Toffey of the Berkshire School in Massachusetts who has done extensive research on Flora MacDonald; and Dr. Curtis W. Wood of Western Carolina University, the author of a book about Scotch-Irish migration to North Carolina.

The Scottish Heritage Center, St. Andrews Presbyterian College and Highland Presbyterian Church are co-sponsors for the conference. The symposium is the recipient of the National University Continuing Education Association Exemplary Program Award. For additional information and to register for the program call the ECU Division of Continuing Education and Summer School at 919-757-6143 or1-800-767-9111.