Bethany Mace brings passion for history to Burke Museum

Bethany Mace was a student at George Hildebrand Elementary School when she first read a book about the sinking of the luxury liner Titanic in the spring of 1912.

Suddenly, in her mind, history was no longer a cold and sterile subject, confined to dusty old books and yellowing newspaper pages.

Instead, history was people, history was action, history was human drama. And perhaps most importantly, history was not confined to the past. History is instead the living, breathing, always unfolding story of humanity.

“I was hooked,” she said of the awakening caused by reading first a fictional account of the Titanic’s doomed voyage and then a true history of the tragic sinking and the lives it touched.

“I couldn’t stop talking about it,” she recalls. “I wanted to share everything I had read and everything I knew with my family.”

Now, Mace can share her love of history with a much wider audience. As of late May she is the education director and assistant curator of the History Museum of Burke County.

BURKE COUNTY HERITAGE

Mace grew up on Miller Bridge Road near its intersection with Hwy. 18 South in the George Hildebrand community. Her upbringing was most definitely a rural one, her home surrounded by fields, woods, and the nearby shadow of the South Mountains.

She began her public education at George Hildebrand School, and she remembers being thrilled by her fifth-grade study of North Carolina history.

Also sharp in her memory is a visit to the Outer Banks and getting to tour the towering old lighthouses standing watch on the state’s northern coast.

“I would love to live in a lighthouse for a year,” she said, “just to experience the beauty and the isolation.”

Mace continued her schooling at East Burke Middle and at East Burke High, but her senior year was darkened in the early spring of 2020 by the unexpected arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“No prom, no senior awards night, no real classes after March 13, no real graduation,” she said. “It was a very disappointing end to my high school career.”

Although her senior year did not end well, Mace thrived in her social studies classes at East Burke, reinforcing her idea that she either wanted to be a history teacher or work as a museum curator.

FURTHER PREPARATION

Although she considered other schools, Mace, who is quick to admit she is a homebody, chose to attend Gardner-Webb University, less than an hour’s drive from her home.

She also appreciated the Christian principles upon which the school, long affiliated with the Baptist Church, are based.

“I was comfortable that faith was talked about in the classroom and that professors shared honestly their faith experiences,” Mac said.

As her years at Gardner-Webb progressed, Mace became more sure that her calling was toward museum work rather than public school teaching. She graduated in May of 2024 with a major in secondary history education and a minor in American Sign Language.

She then entered the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, graduating on May 9 with a master’s degree in history.

Before she ever walked across the stage, however, she had already been hired by the History Museum of Burke County.

AN EXCITING CHALLENGE

“I’m really excited about getting more people, and especially young people, into this museum,” said Mace. “I feel many people in this county don’t know just what a wonderful museum this is and I want to help spread the word.”

Mace noted the leadership provided to the museum over the past quarter-century by its founder and executive director, retired Superior Court Judge Claude Sitton.

“Judge Sitton and the host of volunteers who have worked with him have done a tremendous job into building this museum into a first-rate museum with remarkable exhibits,” she said. “It truly is a treasure.”

Reflecting on her first few days on the job, she said, “I am so excited. I am just so passionate about this county’s history. And if I can get even one person to share that excitement, I’ll be happy.”

Asked about her goals for the future, Mace responded, “Just to make the museum more accessible and to give people great reasons to come here. That may mean monthly programs for adults, summer camps for children. I’ll be looking at anything which will awaken our residents to what a fascinating history Burke County has.”