GREENSBORO - Our State magazine is creating an online Civil War story collection at OurState.com. Individuals are invited to submit their family stories to the collection.

The arrival of the Civil War in the spring of 1861 altered North Carolina’s history forever. This is reflected in the stories of her people - soldiers, slaves, and families - as lives were forever changed by the war and its aftermath.

Now, Our State magazine is inviting North Carolinians to share their personal family stories from the Civil War by submitting those to “North Carolina Stories of the Civil War: An Online Collection.” Our State’s popular series, “The Civil War in North Carolina,” continues to tell those everyday stories in the pages of the magazine, and this collection of reader-submitted family stories will live online at OurState.com.

Passed down through the generations either in written form or oral histories, your family stories can shed additional light on how this time in our nation’s history affected North Carolinians and the nation.

Information and submission instructions may be found online at www.ourstate.com/civil-war-story-collection.

Story ideas:

• Did a member of your family serve in a particular battle?
• Did your family have to relocate as a result of the war?
• Are there artifacts that you have from that era that have been passed down through the generations?
• Was your family split between allegiance to the North and allegiance to the South.
• How did the war change your family’s story?

Stories will be collected through May 31, and displayed at OurState.com in the history section. The collection is proudly presented by Visit Kinston.