Celebrate Independence Day and America’s 250th anniversary with Thalian Association Community Theatre at a special July 4 Open House at the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center. The public is invited to visit from 12:00–4:00 p.m. for an afternoon of history, music, dancing, and family-friendly activities honoring Wilmington’s rich World War II heritage.
Guests will be welcomed by staff dressed in 1940s-era attire and treated to free coffee and Krispy Kreme doughnuts, with soft drinks available at the WWII-era price of just 5 cents.
Visitors can step back in time as they explore the lobby museum, restored to its 1943 appearance and furnished with historically accurate reproductions and exhibits. Displays include memorials honoring Medal of Honor recipients Charles Murray and Billy Halyburton, a portrait of building namesake Hannah Block, WWII memorabilia, a tribute to the 9th & Nixon USO, a Liberty Bell salvaged from the Brunswick River Reserve Fleet, and a restored WWII-era telephone booth complete with a vintage phone and Bell Telephone System posters.
Local performer and vocalist Kathy Enlow will lead a sing-along featuring beloved songs from the 1940s. Enlow spent many years performing professionally, including twelve years with the Harry Hershey Big Band Orchestra. Most recently, she appeared as Dolly Levi in Thalian Association’s production of Hello, Dolly! on the Main Stage of Historic Thalian Hall.
The Cape Fear Swing Dance Society (CFSDS) will present demonstrations of popular swing dances from the 1940s and offer a free introductory lesson at 2:00 p.m. Founded to preserve and promote Lindy Hop and other historic swing dance forms, CFSDS teaches weekly classes and hosts monthly dances at the Hannah Block Historic USO Building.
Throughout the afternoon, visitors may also enjoy screenings of Home Away From Home – The USO at 2nd and Orange, a five-minute documentary produced in 2016 by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Rob Hill. Created in honor of the building’s 75th anniversary, the film explores the facility’s wartime origins, its transition into a community arts center, and its continuing role in serving Wilmington residents.
The USO Club at Second and Orange Streets was constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers at a cost of $80,000 and opened in December 1941. During World War II, the facility operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, welcoming thousands of servicemen. Weekend evenings often saw more than 600 men occupying the basement dormitory. The building hosted dances, theatrical productions, concerts, art exhibits, hobby shows, lectures, wedding receptions, and weekly radio broadcasts.
Following the war, the City of Wilmington purchased the building for use by the Department of Recreation. It was renamed the Community Arts Center in 1973 and added to the National Register of Historic Places the following year. In 2006, the facility was rededicated in honor of Hannah Block, one of Wilmington’s most distinguished civic leaders and a World War II veteran. The building later received the James D. & Rosalie Carr Memorial Plaque from the Historic Wilmington Foundation in recognition of its preservation and historical significance.
Today, the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center is one of only three remaining Type A USO buildings in the nation and serves as a vital cultural resource for the Cape Fear region. Managed by Thalian Association for the City of Wilmington since 1994, the center hosts classes in visual and performing arts and serves as home to numerous community programs and events, including the Orange Street Potters, Orange Street ArtsFest, the Wilmington Art Association Juried Art Show & Sale, Creative Arts Camp, and Thalian Association Youth Theatre.
On September 2, 2020, Wilmington became the first city in the United States to be designated a World War II Heritage City by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. The designation recognizes Wilmington’s significant contributions to the wartime home front and ongoing efforts to preserve that legacy. The Battleship North Carolina Memorial and the restoration of the Historic USO Building stand as lasting reminders of those contributions.
Admission is free. For more information, visit the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center or call Thalian Association Community Theatre at (910) 251-1788
