Widows and Wakes: A Victorian House in Mourning
Duke Homestead is going into mourning. During the evening of October the 25th visitors may come for a special candlelight tour of the historic house. As visitors move through the house they will encounter the dying, the dead and their mourners, and those attempting to reach out to the great beyond.
On this guided tour, visitors will experience first person interpretation of how doctors attended a dying patient and prepared family members to say goodbye, widows grieving their loss at a wake held in the parlor, and the reenactment of a period seance in the dining room.
Guests who are in the Visitors' Center waiting for their tour to begin or returning from their tour will be able to view the documentary film, Death and the Civil War. Directed by Ric Burns, this film explores how the staggering casualties of the Civil War made death a part of the experience of the American people as it had never been before. The film is open to all visitors, whether or not they have purchased admission for the candlelight tour.
On this guided tour, visitors will experience first person interpretation of how doctors attended a dying patient and prepared family members to say goodbye, widows grieving their loss at a wake held in the parlor, and the reenactment of a period seance in the dining room.
Guests who are in the Visitors' Center waiting for their tour to begin or returning from their tour will be able to view the documentary film, Death and the Civil War. Directed by Ric Burns, this film explores how the staggering casualties of the Civil War made death a part of the experience of the American people as it had never been before. The film is open to all visitors, whether or not they have purchased admission for the candlelight tour.

Tour Times:
7:00 pm 8:00 pm
7:15 pm 8:15 pm
7:30 pm 8:30 pm
7:45 pm 8:45 pm
9:00 pm 9:15pm
Duke Homestead State Historic Site
2828 Duke Homestead Rd.
Durham, North Carolina 27705
(919) 477 - 5498
duke@ncdcr.gov
