In partnership with the UNC Wilmington History Department, the Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design Arts has awarded the first Boney-Bellamy Scholarship and internship to Sarah Skrobialowski, a graduate student in Public History at UNCW. The scholarship was named for Lillian Bellamy Boney, granddaughter of the original owner, and her late husband, architect Leslie N. Boney. Lillian and her sister were the last private owners of the site, and the family was instrumental in its preservation.

(L-R) Beau Cummings of UNCW Advancement, Bellamy Mansion Exec. Dir. Gareth Evans, Sarah Skrobialowski, Lillian Boney, UNCW Public History Chair Dr. Will Moore, Bellamy Mansion Board Chair Sharon Stone, and UNCW History Chair Dr. Paul Townend

Sarah’s duties as an intern at the mansion range from creating tours for children’s groups to marketing for special events. However, her main focus during this internship is to research and document the Union forces occupation of Bellamy Mansion after the fall of Fort Fisher during the Civil War. According to Gareth Evans, Executive Director of the museum, the idea is that “Sarah’s research will result in an exhibit piece at Bellamy Mansion and also help create both an NC Civil War Trail marker and an NC Cultural Resources historic marker.”

When asked about how the internship relates to her knowledge and education, she replied, “I definitely think this internship is a useful addition to my education and knowledge of public history. While I have previous experience working in an historic house museum, working here has given me greater insight into what it takes to run a house museum.” Sarah has also found it interesting how much effort goes into preserving the structures at the museum site. “What seems like simple maintenance issues are actually decisions made to properly preserve and interpret the buildings for their designated time periods.”

Although Sarah is unsure of her plans after graduate school, she had been exploring her options in both historic preservation and exhibit development. “Hopefully I can find a rewarding job in one of those areas.” Of the internship, she hopes that although it is for a semester she may be able to work with the mansion until graduation. Sarah has found the internship and her research to be rewarding and the people she works with to be “friendly and willing to share their knowledge of the house in order to further my work.”

Anonymous donors are currently funding the Boney-Bellamy Scholarship; however, Evans says, “we will either find a grant source or donors in coming years because we believe in the importance of training new preservationists.” UNCW’s History Department hopes to use this scholarship opportunity to attract talented students and also provide real-world experience in preservation and house museum management at this spectacular example of antebellum architecture.

Bellamy Mansion Museum is a stewardship property of Preservation NC. Learn more about it, and plan your visit, at BellamyMansion.org. 

Megan Klem, a student in the master's program in Historic Preservation at UNCG's Department of Interior Architecture, is a graduate assistant for Preservation NC.