The Chatham County Historical Museum invites you to join NC History Between the Lines, a monthly book club exploring our local area’s rich past through engaging reads that connect with historical themes.

We’ll meet on the third Saturday of each month at 9:30 am at the Historic Chatham County Courthouse (in the traffic circle in Pittsboro) for lively discussion and conversation.

Each month’s selection will reflect our rotating historical focus. Here are our first three selections:

January 17, 2026: THE BATTLE OF ALAMANCE

Farming Dissenters: The Regulator Movement in Piedmont North Carolina by Carole Troxler (2017)

Chatham County was established in 1771 by the colonial government, largely in an effort to better control the populace following the Battle of Alamance. This history explores the Regulator Movement in Piedmont NC in the years leading up to the battle, offering a fresh look at a pivotal but often misunderstood chapter of local history and highlights how ordinary people helped lay groundwork for revolutionary ideas.

January BOOK CLUB ~ Farming Dissenters

February 21, 2026: BLACK HISTORY

Soul City: Race, Equality, and the Lost Dream of an American Utopia by Thomas Healy (2021)

This book tells the little-known story of an ambitious 1970s project to build a majority black economically self-sustaining city in rural Warren County, NC. Backed initially by the federal government, “Soul City” was envisioned as a place where black Americans could thrive free from discrimination and economic exclusion. The hopeful beginning, political and racial backlash, and economic challenges are explored with the larger lessons about race, opportunity, and the limits of reform in America.

February BOOK CLUB ~ Soul City

March 21, 2026: WOMEN'S HISTORY

Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family by Pauli Murray (1956)

In this classic family memoir, Durham born civil rights leader Pauli Murray explores her maternal grandparents’ lives: from slavery, war service, and Reconstruction into the Jim Crow era, revealing a personal history deeply rooted locally into Chatham, Orange, and Durham counties. Proud Shoes is a particularly meaningful read for anyone interested in our region’s complex past.

March BOOK CLUB ~ Proud Shoes

Participation is free and you are welcome to bring friends.   

Please sign up using the links above for the sessions that interest you so we'll have a head-count. We look forward to getting together!  Start reading!

Questions: Volunteers@chathamhistory.org