Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
2025-08-05 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Join National Park Service Ranger Ann-Marie to learn about the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The program is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. These programs are scheduled at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays from May 20 through Aug. 26 in the museum, located at 59200 Museum Drive in Hatteras. The series is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

“Shipwreck Rescues of the Outer Banks”
2025-08-19 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Join historian James Charlet for the final program of a three-part presentation on his new book, “Shipwreck Rescues of the Outer Banks,” which chronicles the United States Life-Saving Service’s missions and rescues off the North Carolina coast.
The program is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. These programs are scheduled at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays from May 20 through Aug. 26 in the museum, located at 59200 Museum Drive in Hatteras. The series is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

Holidays on Hatteras
2025-12-13 12:00 - 17:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
One of Hatteras Island’s most beloved holiday traditions is returning this year.
The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, part of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, invites the community and visitors to enjoy the magic of the season at Holidays on Hatteras. This free, family-friendly celebration, sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum and the Hatteras Village Civic Association, will be held Dec. 13 from noon to 5 p.m. within the museum and in the surrounding community.
Activities include:

Live music to set the holiday mood
Children’s craft station: make-and-take seashell ornaments
Letters to Santa writing station
Raffle drawings with fun prizes
Electric train model and miniature Victorian dollhouse displays
Refreshments
Gift shop discount: 20% off all purchases
Museum gallery open for touring
Holiday Parade through Hatteras Village with the awards presentation following at the museum

Holidays on Hatteras is free and open to the public. For more information, call 252-986-0720.

"Otway Burns: North Carolina’s Homegrown Privateer"
2026-05-26 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Before the War of 1812, Otway Burns Jr. was a sailing master and commanded a merchant ship sailing between New Bern and Portland, Maine. When the war broke out, Burns became interested in privateering, the practice of government-authorized maritime warfare by privately-owned ships. With Letters of Marque from the U.S. government, Burns captured 42 English vessels and their cargo and captured more than 300 British sailors as prisoners. Join us as we welcome John Miles and learn more about the privateering career of North Carolina’s Otway Burns.
The presentation is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

US Life-Saving Service
2026-06-02 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Join historian James Charlet a presentation on the United States Life-Saving Service.
The program is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

Maritime Crafts for Kids
2026-06-05 10:30 - 12:00, 2026-06-26 10:30 - 12:00, 2026-07-03 10:30 - 12:00, 2026-07-31 10:30 - 12:00, 2026-08-07 10:30 - 12:00, 2026-08-28 10:30 - 12:00
Join staff and volunteers for maritime crafts in the museum library/education space located off of the lobby. The program is free and open to the public. All supplies are furnished. Registration is not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Sea Shanties
2026-06-09 11:00 - 12:00, 2026-08-11 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Join JR Shanty Co for a performance of original and classic sea shanties. The duo is made up of married and retired music teachers Julianne Laird and Richard Laird. Julianne has had a life-long interest in and fascination with the history and legends of the Outer Banks. Richard is an avid sailor, so it was a natural fit to combine their love of music, sailing, and the Outer Banks into J.R. Shanty Co.
The performance is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

Make and Take Crafts: Sailor’s Valentines
2026-06-11 10:30 - 12:00, 2026-07-09 10:30 - 12:00, 2026-08-13 10:30 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Join the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum for your chance to make your own version of a sailor’s valentine. Sailors’ valentines were originally created in the 1800s from seashells and eight-sided cases enclosed in glass. Many sailors’ valentines were purchased in the Caribbean, where sailors commonly sought supplies and ship repairs. After spending months at sea, they bought these souvenirs to bring to their loved ones at home.
This craft is intended for children in elementary school and older. The program is free and open to the public. All supplies are furnished. Registration is not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Make and Take Crafts: Morse Code Bracelets
2026-06-17 10:30 - 12:00, 2026-07-15 10:30 - 12:00, 2026-08-19 10:30 - 12:00
Developed in the mid-1800s, Morse code became a standard form of communication that is still in use today. The code features dots and dashes to convey letters of the alphabet and can be used to hide messages from people who don’t know the code. At this Make and Take session, kids will be able to make a bracelet with a Morse code message on it to take with them.
This craft is best suited for children ages 7 and up. The program is free and open to the public. All supplies are furnished. Registration is not required. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Lost Colony Museum
2026-06-23 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Join Scott Dawson, museum owner & curator of the Lost Colony Museum, author, and amateur archaeologist, for a presentation on the new discoveries being found at his ongoing archaeological site in Buxton, NC.
The presentation is part of the museum’s Salty Dawg Speaker Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

"Hope on Hatterask"
2026-06-30 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Join author Gray Parsons for readings from his book Hope on Hatterask, which deals with a shipwreck off Hatteras, the maritime underground railroad, and the early intermarriage of people from Indigenous, African, and European ancestries. A book signing will follow.
Gray Michael Parsons is a graduate of East Carolina University (1972) with a degree in parks, outdoor recreation and conservation. Although he lives as a Traditionally Adherent Indigenous American, he also descends from Scotch-Irish and West African peoples. After a sales and marketing career, he retired to his favorite ancestral homeland on Hatterask Island, N.C., in 2019. He currently serves as president and founder of the Secotan Alliance; vice-president of Epsilon Chi Nu-Pitt GAP Chapter (the first Native American fraternity in the U.S.); a board member of the Friends of the Outer Banks History Center; a 25-year volunteer and program contributor for the Frisco Native American Museum; and is past president of the Baltimore Native American Lifelines. He has addressed numerous gatherings as an advocate for indigenous rights and protection of our Mother Earth from the steps of the U.S. Capitol and beyond. He has been a pow-wow dancer, drummer, and singer in all the Mid-Atlantic states from Tennessee and South Carolina to Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He is a proud double cancer survivor and considers all cancer patients, survivors, and their caregivers members of his personal “Tribe.” Gray published Hope on Hatterask in 2014 and Pampico Blue in 2025.
The presentation is part of the museum’s Salty Dawg Speaker Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

"My Daily Bounded Realm: A Journal of Daily Life in the Outer Banks in 1900"
2026-07-07 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Join local history buff, genealogy researcher, and keeper of lost things Robin Holt for a reading from her book “My Daily Bounded Realm: A Journal of Daily Life in the Outer Banks in 1900” and a discussion about life on the Outer Banks at the turn of the 20th century. A book signing in the lobby will conclude the talk.
Robin Daniels Holt has deep roots as the ninth generation of the Daniels family of Wanchese on Roanoke Island. She is also the 12th generation in the Midgett family from Hatteras Island whose history with the US Life-Saving Service and the US Coast Guard is legendary.
The program is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

Little Bannister Midgett
2026-07-14 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Join Mel Poole to explore the history of the US Lifesaving Service, Keeper Little Bannister Midgett IV of Chicamacomico Station, and the 1881 rescue of the schooner Thomas J Lancaster.
The presentation is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

"The Untold Story of North Carolina’s Coastal Patrol"
2026-07-21 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Few realize how close the World War II “Battle of the Atlantic” came to North Carolina’s coast or the efforts civilian aviators with the Coastal Patrol of the Civil Air Patrol went to protect the coastline. Join Christine Brin, associate education curator from the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, to bring to light some of the contributions that the men and women of the Coastal Air Patrol made in North Carolina.
The presentation is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

20th NY Turner Rifles
2026-07-28 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Rev. Bart Muller is a descendent of First Lieutenant Rudolph, First Sergeant Theodore, and Private Wilhelm Beutler, who, as members of the 20th New York United Turner Rifles, participated in the landing and battles of Forts Hatteras and Clark. The 20th was one of a large number of foreign-speaking regiments raised in New York and throughout the Union. Originally from the lower East Side of New York City, these regiments reflected the struggle and pushback, and desire to fit into the life of America. Rev. Muller will discuss the origins of the Turner movement, German nationalism, immigration and this hard luck regiment and its history after Hatteras.
The presentation is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

Jockeys Ridge State Park
2026-08-04 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Join N.C. Park Ranger Austin Paul to learn about Jockeys Ridge State Park, home to the tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic coast.
The program is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.

Changing Sands and Rising Seas: The Future of Maritime Heritage
2026-08-18 11:00 - 12:00 | Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, 59200 Museum Drive, Hatteras, NC, 27943
Located in a highly dynamic environment, maritime heritage resources offer insight into past coastlines and communities. Join Maddie Roth, a PhD Candidate in East Carolina University’s Integrated Coastal Sciences Program, to learn about opportunities to better understand and preserve shipwreck sites, aids to navigation, and the maritime traditions of the North Carolina coast.
The program is part of the museum’s Salty Dawgs Lecture Series, which features presentations on North Carolina maritime history and culture. The series, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. Call 252-986-0723 for more information.
