Explore the legacies of the women who shaped the museum and 100 years of connecting with the community with GHM’s former assistant director, Gayle Hicks Fripp. She will be joined by former Greensboro History Museum curators Linda Evans and Susan Joyce Webster.

Free program. No reservation needed. Guests for this free event are invited to bring a lunch or order delivery to the museum from Jimmy Johns at www.jimmyjohns.com/menu

Greensboro History Museum’s Flashback family fun series highlights decades past for our city and beyond. Recent Flashbacks have explored the history, music, culture, and curiosities of the 1920s, 1940s, and 1950s. This year we’re crossing centuries by looking back at the decades of the 1770s and 1970s as our nation celebrates major milestones.

Check back to learn more!

A century in the making, and you get the first look! Join us for a members-only sneak peek of the landmark exhibition, GHM100: Treasures. Legacies. Remix. You’ll walk through the doors
exactly 100 years after our museum’s first day, before the public is invited to experience it on November 11th. Don’t miss this historic first glimpse!

Please RSVP to Carol Hart: 336-373-2306 or carol.hart@greensboro-nc.gov

Get a new perspective on the museum’s history with rarely seen items from our amazing collections.

Learn More about the Exhibition

Discover the riveting hidden history of Claire McCardell, the most influential fashion designer you’ve never heard of.

Join us for an evening with award-winning writer Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson. She will share how fashion innovator Claire McCardell popularized comfort and practicality in women’s wear with zippers, pockets, ballet flats, and more. McCardell’s work reinvented American sportswear and set women free from the severe, hyper-feminized silhouette championed by male designers after World War II.

Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson’s work has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper’s, The Washington Post Magazine, and many other publications. She has recently talked about McCardell at New York’s Jewish Museum, the Maryland Center for History and Culture, and The New York Historical. Her new book, Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free, is getting rave reviews from all around:

Claire McCardell revolutionized the way we dress; everything was intentional, nothing was frivolous, and comfort was as vital as glamour. This book captures her remarkable ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit, and it offers a new, intimate glimpse into the experiences, people, and places that shaped her perspective.

—Tory Burch

In the hands of Dickinson, this is more than just the biography of a fashion revolutionary: It is a story of the fight for women’s identity and, incidentally, the birth of an American industry.

—The New York Times

Signing to follow with copies available to purchase from Scuppernong Books.

Free. This program has reached capacity, and we are no longer taking reservations.

This program is in partnership with UNC Greensboro Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies

About the Endowment

Ruth Perkins Wicker created the John Floy Wicker Endowment Fund in memory of her husband in 1995. Architect John Wicker helped design and build many of Greensboro’s most memorable structures, from Friendly Shopping Center to Page High School. He also had a lifelong interest in history, and the endowment in his name has supported nearly 20 free public programs at the museum, including talks by distinguished scholars including Malinda Maynor Lowery, John Shelton Reed, Lynn Dumenil, and Charles Reagan Wilson.

Join us for an elegant dinner at the O.Henry Hotel and a fascinating talk from guest speaker Richard Kurin, curator and author of The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects. Plus we will present the 2025 Voices of a City Awards.

Tickets are $150 per person for GHM Members (guest tickets $175). Click here to buy yours now

Annual Dinner sponsorships are still available. Learn more here

About the Speaker: Dr. Richard Kurin is the Smithsonian’s Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large, having previously served for more than a decade as Under Secretary overseeing all the Smithsonian’s national museums, scientific research centers and educational programs. Kurin helped formulate the 2003 UNESCO Convention on Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage now ratified by 180 nations. He also founded the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative after Haiti’s 2010 earthquake and has worked to save cultural heritage endangered by natural disasters and human conflict in the U.S. and around the world. He has worked closely with U.S. government agencies and with local partners in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and currently Ukraine to safeguard heritage, identify looted art, and monitor cultural war crimes. An anthropologist with a PhD from the University of Chicago, Kurin has authored seven books including the best-selling The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects, taught at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Arsht-Rockefeller Resilience Center.

Presenting Sponsors

Margaret & Bill Benjamin

Into the Future Visionary

Bibey Machine & Fabrication Co. Gayle & Terry Fripp

Century of Stories Keeper

Lisa Anderson, Financial Advisor/Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Theresa & Tim Byrd

Cone Health Foundation Barbara Morgenstern

Voices of a City Supporter

Julie & Brooks Copeland Florence Gatten

Susanne Hall Carol Ghiorsi Hart Al & Ginni Lineberry

Jim & Tamara Slaughter J.T. Thomas, Managing Partner Stearns Financial Group

Dress up to party like it’s the Roaring Twenties

Speakeasy Night at the Greensboro History Museum throws it back to when the museum first opened in 1925.

Dance to the sounds of Durham’s Mint Julep Jazz Band.

Enjoy signature cocktails and tasty bites from GIA.

Play a Prohibition sleuth in our Gate City Mystery game.

Plus photo booth, games den, and more.

Come early for dance lessons from the Cat’s Pajamas.

Limited Tickets will be sold at the Door for $40.

Presenting Sponsors:

Greensboro History Museum’s Flashback family fun series highlights decades past for our city and beyond. Recent Flashbacks have explored the history, music, culture, and curiosities of the 1920s, 1940s, and 1950s. This year we’re diving into the decade of disco, punk, and funk with a wild ride through the 1970s.

We’ll have vintage autos and vintage fashions on view, summer camp game antics, and expert flash talks on 1970s history on local campuses and around the area.

Visitors can enter a Celebs & Sci-Fi costume contest (see below for categories and guidelines) or submit your bakes to our judges’ scrutiny for the 70s Bake Off (recipes below).

Plus get down to the tunes of the era, and grab a tasty bite at Hot Dog Central or Scoop Zone food trucks.

Flashback Activities

: Own a 1970s vehicle you want to show off?

We’re welcoming 1970s vintage vehicle owners to show of your hot wheels outside the museum during the event. If you are interested in participating in our 1970s Vintage Vehicle Showcase, please fill out this form by Tuesday, July 8 at 12 pm and the GHM Education & Engagement Team will reach out to you shortly.
: Dressed up in your best 1970s looks and boogie on down to the museum to compete in pop culture and historic categories. Register the Day of the Event!

Categories

Dress up as a 1970s celebrity or movie, television, cartoon, or comic, or video game characters.

Prizes for Adult Non-Fictional Persons (Movie Stars, Political Figures, etc.), Adult Fictional Characters (Movie characters, TV characters, Comic Characters, Literature Characters, etc.), 15 Years Old and Under Non-Fictional Persons (Movie Stars, Political Figures, etc.), 15 Years Old and Under Fictional Characters (Movie characters, TV characters, Comic Characters, Literature Characters, etc.).

Schedule

Costume showcases for judging and prizes are at 12:00 pm for 15 years and under and 2 pm for 16 years and older.

Arrive at least 2 hours early before judging and the disco dance off.  The disco dance off is just to showcase your costume, the dancing is not part of the contest evaluation.

When Contestants arrive they will check in at the “Icons of the 70s” Sign Up Table. This Table will be located in the Lobby of the Greensboro History Museum on the Ground Floor level.

Contestants must arrive in costumes and are responsible for their own belongings. We do not have a dressing area.  

Guidelines

Costumes should be appropriate for a family friendly event. Organizers will disqualify costumes they judge to be obscene, offensive, overly revealing, or displaying hate associations.

All props will be subject to inspection. No functioning weapons are permitted, including guns, projectile weapons, knives, blunt objects, etc. 

Bullying is not allowed. Anyone making negative comments or bullying will be disqualified and asked to leave. 
: Test your 1970s baking skills with one of three recipes linked here:

Chocolate Chess Pie

Heavenly Orange Fluff

Hummingbird Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting

Please do not alter or substitute ingredients, and try to follow the recipe as closely as possible. Bring your desserts to the Front Desk of the Greensboro History Museum between 11:00 am and 12:30 pm. Then be in the auditorium by 1:00 pm for the judging and awards!

Sign up to participate.
: Flash talks are small 5 to 10 minute presentations from local historians, community members, and archivists. They take place throughout the day in our auditorium. Check back to see the full flash talk schedule.
: Check back for more information.

Become a Flashback Sponsor

Help us keep Flashback free and fun for all! Your gift of $70 to $1,975 can support the soulful sounds, fashion show, campy games, classic cars, flash talks, and more. Click Here to Support or Download the 2025 Sponsorship Packet

Photo: 1976 Kirkwood neighborhood July 4^th parade (GHM Archives)

Fri. 10/25 7 pm-10 pm

Speakeasy Night at the Museum kicks off GHM’s 100th anniversary as a vital community organization. Be part of a swell evening of jazz, cocktails, heavy hors d’oeuvres and razzmatazz. Explore the museum as we evoke the spirit of the Roaring Twenties with dancing, scavenger hunt and prizes.

Tickets $50/person ($45/GHM Inc. members) + taxes & fees. Includes admission and drink ticket.

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For more information email info@greensborohistory.org or call 336-373-2043.

Sponsorship opportunities available now!

Be part of the festivities by supporting this event and our GHM 100 celebrations. Your contribution will help fund:

A permanent display about the history of the Museum and its site.
Engaging educational programs across 2025.
A special exhibition arriving on the anniversary of the day the Museum’s doors first opened, November 11, 1925.

Click below to learn more.

[button link=”http://weblink.donorperfect.com/Speakeasy24″ color=”red”]See Opportunities Online[/button] or [button link=”https://greensborohistory.org/wp-content/uploads/manuscripts/Speakeasy-Sponsorship-Package.pdf” color=”red”]Download Sponsorship Packet[/button]