Otway Burns Exhibition

A new exhibition entitled “Captain Otway Burns: Privateer, Shipbuilder, and Legislator” will be on display in the North Carolina Collection on the 3rd floor from April-August 2019. Burns became renowned in North Carolina as a War of 1812 hero. As the Captain of the privateer ship, Snap Dragon, Burns did millions of dollars of damage to British shipping and had a bounty of $50,000 put on his head by the British government. After the war, Burns was the most famous man in North Carolina for many years. As a popular legislator, he did much for the progress of eastern North Carolina; until a fateful decision led him to die in obscurity.

Roger Kammerer, local historian and Reference Assistant in the NC Collection, will give a talk about Otway Burns on April 23rd @ 3:00pm on the 4th floor of the Joyner Library.