THIRD PERSON PROJECT is a non-profit (501c3) documentary research group founded by a loose-knit band of Cape Fear-area scholars and history obsessives, including John Jeremiah Sullivan (Guggenheim fellow and New York Times Magazine writer), Joel Finsel (Franz Kline in Coal Country), and Trey Morehouse (MoB Theatre Co.), with support from UNCW's Office of Community Engagement.
THIRD PERSON's innovative research initiatives include the Daily Record Project, an attempt, by digital means, to undo an act of historical erasure. By recruiting students from multiple schools to work as research assistants, the class uses modern technology to uncover and preserve lost and forgotten primary sources, including copies of the Record, the African-American newspaper once thought to have been wiped out during the Wilmington Massacre of 1898.
THIRD PERSON PROJECT also produces a series of arts and cultural events, including the original musical productions When the Battle’s Over and Lost Love Song, featuring the talents of Grammy Award-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens.
Third Person
Great grandchildren of 1898 victim react to discovery of Joshua Halsey’s gravesite - WECT, October 13, 2021
Grave of 1898 victim discovered, funeral planned 123 years later – WECT, October 12, 2021
Searching for the Descendants of Racial Terrorism - The New Yorker, October 11, 2021
Lumina Festival's "Lost Love Song" unearth's forgotten tune with Wilmington ties — Star News, July 12, 2019
NY Times Magazine writer teaches youth about Wilmington's racial background — WECT News, February 22, 2019
Rhiannon Giddens, Tar Heel of the Year finalist, uses music to enlighten and preserve past — News & Observer, December 26, 2018
Cucalorus Festival illuminates shadows of history — Star News, November 15, 2018
Newly Accessible Issues of Alex Manly's The Daily Record — WHQR, November 8, 2018
CoastLine: The 120th Anniversary of Wilmington's 1898 Coup — WHQR, November 7, 2018
Rhiannon Giddens unearths "Songs of 1898" at Cucalorus Festival — Star News, November 2, 2018
Middle Schoolers Help Transcribe, Digitize Rare Historical Newspapers — Library Journal, September 23, 2017
Students help preserve copies of the Wilmington Record, burned by whites in 1898 — Star News, July 21, 2017
in the Press