Fayetteville is a town steeped in history, and wars have always been a major part of that history. For years, the Museum of the Cape Fear has been interacting with the public on the matters of history, one of the ways that they manage this is with the Arsenal Round Table program.

Leisa Greathouse, the associate curator of education, describes the growth of the program from just an idea to a success.

“It started out trying to do things interactively with the public and history. We’ve done things like the popular Civil War Quiz Bowl, which started out as like the Arsenal Round Table, as a simple competition. Asking trivia questions to contestants. That program grew so big it’s now its own program,”

The museum offers a variety of programs, but the programs usually focus on the Civil War.

On Aug. 25 at the Museum of the Cape Fear complex, located at 801 Arsenal Ave., Fayetteville residents will once again have the opportunity to celebrate its wartime history, but oddly enough it will not be about the Civil War. In preparation for the bicentennial, the museum will be focusing on the North Carolina Naval War of 1812.

“The bicentennial of the war of 1812 begins next year with 2012. So it’s a good way to come and start and get familiar with the War of 1812,” Greathouse explains.

The War of 1812 is never really thought of as a turning point in American history, but Greathouse explains that it does in fact have a major impact on our history.

“It is pretty much a war people forget about but it’s actually Americas second fi ght for independence. Even though we won the Revolution, we weren’t being taken very seriously as a new nation. So our actions in the war showed the mother country that we were serious about governing ourselves. It’s the war where we got our National Anthem. We sing it all the time hear it all the time, but we never think about ‘Oh yeah, that came about in the War of 1812’,” she said.

“We hope to provide a lot insight and ‘Oh wow! This is kind of neat information’ kind of experiences,” Greathouse said when talking about the goals of the program. “We really try to get the people involved. It’s a particular venue for Civil War buffs that may not have a venue of forum for talking to others and getting into discussions of things and increasing their knowledge. I’m sure a lot of Civil War history buffs visit sights and museums and read a lot on their own, but this forum is an outlet to express what they know about things.”

The Arsenal Round Table will take place at 7 p.m. For more information, contact 486-1330.