BootyBlackbeard’s PAM CREECH 24 The legacy of Blackbeard has fascinated people for nearly three centu-ries. The English pirate, whose given name was Edward Teach, plundered ships throughout the West Indies and along the East Coast of the American colonies for two years, until his death in 1718. In 1996, his flagship — the Queen Anne’s Revenge — was located a mile offshore from Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, and is currently being excavated by the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. Thousands of artifacts have been removed from the ship; and a collection of these items is traveling to North Carolina historic sites this year. Last month, adults and children visited the North Carolina History Center at Tryon Palace in New Bern, the first stop on the exhibit’s tour. A life-sized pirate statue stands inside the door of the center’s Duffy Gallery. Six-pound cannon balls, nails and gold flakes are on display in glass cases, along with a pewter plate that has miraculously survived centuries of hur-ricanes on the ocean floor. An early 18th-century portrait of Queen Anne, after whom Blackbeard’s ship was named, is on the right wall; at more than eight feet high, it’s almost as tall as the room. artifacts from the Queen Anne’s Revenge are on exhibit at TRYON PALACE in New Bern Through February 15 B Y P A M C R E E C H Above and at left: A pewter plate and 6-pound cannonballs remain intact after nearly 300 years on the ocean floor. Below: A replica of an 18th-century compass is one of the exhibit’s hands-on activities for children. PAM CREECH PAM CREECH WBM february 2014
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