A view inside the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Edgecombe County
A new batch of over 50 photographs from the M.S. Brown Collection is now available on DigitalNC, courtesy of our partner, the Edgecombe County Memorial Library. Click here to view the photos.
People posing in front of the booth for WCPS, the radio station still running in Tarboro. M.S. Brown is 2nd from the right
Many of these photos reflect on daily life in Tarboro or in Edgecombe County in the 1930s and 1940s. There are many photographs and portraits of local citizens included. Some other photos are of businesses and public common areas in Tarboro, while there are several of local figures, including a photo of the Carolina Power and Light Director’s Meeting and a few photos of the Edgecombe 4-H Clubs meeting in Tarboro.
To learn more about M.S. Brown, check out all of his photos available on his DigitalNC exhibit page. To see all of the items contributed by the Edgecombe County Memorial Library, visit their partner page or their website.
M.S. Brown: Miscellaneous Baseball Photos, Image 87
Regular followers of DigitalNC are likely familiar with M.S. Brown and the growing collection of photographs he took around Edgecombe County available on the site. Another batch is now available online, courtesy of our partner, Edgecombe County Memorial Library.
This batch features additions to the pageants, boy scouts, and basketball objects and several new objects including auto wrecks, baseball, and children. One object that some might find interesting contains photos published in the “Home Front News.” Members of the Oxford community published this local newspaper during WWII and shipped it local men serving around the country and abroad. It often featured single women in the area that were interested in writing letters to
soldiers. The set includes many of the proofs that M.S. Brown shot for the paper.
Also completed in this batch are several documents and publications relating to the “Tobacco Perspectives” project. The project consisted of an exhibition of tobacco memorabilia and a series of public forums examining the role of tobacco in Edgecombe County’s economy. Organizers hoped to inspire community discussion about the crop’s harmful effects and the county’s dependency on its growth. DigitalNC is also host to several videos of the discussions.
Tobacco Perspectives Brochure
You can view the new materials relating to “Tobacco Perspectives” at the links below:
Items in this blog post come from the Images of North Carolina Collection and the North Carolina Memory Collection. Check them out for more items like these. To learn more about the Edgecombe County Memorial Library, please visit the contributor page or the website.
Over 300 new photos from the M.S. Brown Collection are now on DigitalNC courtesy of the Edgecombe County Memorial Library. M.S. Brown was an avid amateur photographer, and these new additions document a wide variety of aspects of daily life in Tarboro and Edgecombe County. Included are new photographs of Tarboro High School, the Tarboro town clock, businesses in Tarboro, portraits of Tarboro citizens, additions to Edgecombe County Officials, and much more.
Students showing of projects in a woodworking class
The Tarboro tobacco drive-in
A folder of M.S. Brown memorabilia is also now available, which includes “The M.S.B. March”, an original piece of music composed by Roy L. Russel and dedicated to M.S. Brown in light of all of his important contributions to the Tarboro community.
The M.S.B. March
To learn more about the MS Brown collection, view previous posts about materials digitized from it here. To learn more about Edgecombe County Memorial Library, visit their partner page here.
Above photos: 1939 Fair and Helldrivers, Image 37, 38, 39
The Hell Drivers (pictured above) were a prominent feature at the 1939 State Fair in Raleigh, N.C. They were also a prominent feature of amateur photographer, M.S. Brown’s, documentation of the fair. Fires, stunt drivers, flipped vehicles, and crashes were all part of this exciting show!
In addition to these photographs of the State Fair, more than 200 other new photos are now available on DigitalNC, added to the M.S. Brown Collection. Thanks to the Edgecombe County Memorial Library, this collection continues to grow.
Boy Scout Camporie – Tarboro, Image 15
Milton Steele Brown, now well known to DigitalNC, owned a Coca-Cola bottling plant and Tarboro and was an active amateur photographer. With hundreds of individual and groups of photos already available online, this latest batch adds to the depth of the collection. Branching across many of Brown’s different subject interests, the batch includes additions to his Majorettes, Coca-Cola Bottling Plant and Horse Show objects. Some of the new subjects include Boy Scouts, Easter Egg Hunts, the Tarboro Milk Plant and trains.
To learn more about M.S. Brown and see all his photos available on DigitalNC, please visit the exhibit page or check out the DigitalNC Blog. To see all of the items contributed by the Edgecombe County Memorial Library, visit the contributor page or see their homepage.
DigitalNC has added more photographs to the M.S. Brown Collection, provided by the Edgecombe County Memorial Library. Milton Steele Brown, perhaps best known for opening a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Tarboro, was also an amateur photographer. This latest batch of photographs is the last of the collection that is housed by the Edgecombe County Memorial Library. Mr. Brown photographed a large variety of events and subjects, providing a glimpse into the lives of Tarboro and Edgecombe County citizens.
High School Dance
Tarboro High School Majorettes
United Daughters of the Confederacy Arch at Old Town Cemetery
Tarboro Open Air Market
More photographs of some of Mr. Brown’s more common subjects are included in this batch, including the Tarboro High School Band and Majorettes, many events where Coca-Cola was served or promoted, homes and businesses around the county, and much more.
Man standing by an iced cart of Coca-Cola
Girls at pool sitting on the Coca-Cola truck
For more information about what is included in the M.S. Brown Collection, visit the exhibit page or see these previous blog posts.
M.S. Brown on the far left presenting an award at WCPS Radio Station.
The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center has recently scanned and made available online a new batch of photographs from Tarboro photographer M.S. “Coca-Cola” Brown. Brown managed the local Coca-Cola plant, hence the nickname. For more information on him and the photos that are in his collection, view the M.S. Brown exhibit page.
Beard-growing for the Tarboro Celebration
The latest batch of digitized photographs from Mr. Brown depict a wide variety of activities surrounding the lives of Tarboro citizens, including more photographs of swimmers, a man growing a beard for a Tarboro celebration (seen above), a local chicken farm, and two local radio stations. Many of the pictures feature individuals drinking Coca-Cola from the classic glass bottles.
Swim Team Awards
The photographs in this exhibit are part of an ongoing project with the Edgecombe County Memorial Library. For more information and a look at other batches of photos from this collection, there are two previous blog posts about the M.S. Brown exhibit which can be found on our website, “New M.S. Brown Photos Online: Tarboro Community Pool, Bathing Beauties and More,” and “Photographs from the M.S. Brown Collection Now Available.”
Self-portrait of M.S. Brown
Photos from the M.S. Brown Collection are now available on DigitalNC. The collection includes hundreds of photographs taken by Milton Steele Brown throughout the early to mid 1900s, and prominently features citizens, organizations, and events taking place in Tarboro, N.C., Rocky Mount, N.C., and surrounding Edgecombe County areas.
Grand Stands in the baseball field
Known locally as “Coca Cola” Brown, M.S. Brown opened a Coca-Cola plant in Tarboro in the early 1900s and served as a town commissioner. He was active in community organizations and local government, regularly attending and assisting with various events. As an avid photographer, Brown documented Coca-Cola sponsored events, town social gatherings — such as baseball games, 4-H Club meetings, and the Gallopade Parade — and historical sites such as the Tarboro Town Common and the Barracks.
Annual Meeting for Edgecombe County Bureau at the baseball field. August 24, 1946. People at the baseball field during a 4-H Club Event, surrounding the Coca-Cola crates.
Additionally, Brown photographed active community members, including the Tarboro Merchants Association secretary Mary Godfrey and Congressman L.H. Fountain.
This extensive collection covers over 40 years of Tarboro and Edgecombe County history. It is an ongoing project with the Edgecombe County Memorial Library, with more images expected in the future.
M.S. Brown (center) sitting with community pool-goers.
Over 200 new photos from Edgecombe County Memorial Library’s M.S. Brown Collection have just been added online! Included in this batch of photos are shots from the Tarboro Community Pool featuring a swim meet, a Bathing Beauty Contest, and the activities of regular pool-goers around the time of the mid 1900s.
M.S. Brown, locally known as “Coca-Cola Brown,” was an enthusiastic amateur photographer, as can be seen by the number and variety of his photographs. To learn more about Brown, see a previous blog post about his collection. To browse more photographs, visit the M.S. Brown Collection digital exhibit, made available on DigitalNC.
Members of the Tarboro High School Band
Over 160 additional photos from Edgecombe County Memorial Library’s M. S. Brown Collection have just been added. This batch features many photos of the Tarboro High School band and majorettes, along with photos of local social functions, Tarboro homes and businesses, and, of course, the community pool.
M. S. Brown owned a Coca-Cola bottling plant and was an avid photographer of Tarboro and the surrounding areas. This latest group of photos joins several hundred already on our site. You can learn more about M. S. Brown in a previous blog post. Yearbooks and other Edgecombe County Memorial Library items on DigitalNC can be seen via their contributors page.
The cover of the Agriculture in Edgecombe County event program
New materials from Edgecombe County Memorial Library are now online and include additions to the M.S. Brown Photography Collection as well as sound clips, transcripts, and photographs from the Oral History of Agriculture in Edgecombe County project.
The Oral History of Agriculture in Edgecombe County project was completed in 1987 and is comprised of interviews from farmers and those who worked in farm-related industries in Edgecombe County. This project culminated in a live event held at the Edgecombe Community College Auditorium on October 11, 1987 that included a lecture and discussion about topics covered in the oral history interviews. The event program reads, “the interviews vividly tell the story of how the country’s farmers, farm women, merchants, manufacturers, and extension agents helped shape farm life during a period of time characterized by involvement of the federal government, mechanization, the growth in size of farms, the decline of tenancy, and the loss of farm-related jobs.” The original cassette tapes containing the interviews have been digitized and transcripts are available for many of the interviews. These oral histories give a wonderful glimpse into the daily life of farmers in Edgecombe County, and speak to how farm life changed from the Depression-era through the late 1980’s.
Additions to the M.S. Brown Collection include more images of school life, events and parades, and houses and businesses in Edgecombe County, all taken by Tarboro citizen M.S. Brown.
To view these materials visit the links below:
To see more materials from Edgecombe County Memorial Library, visit their partner page or take a look at their website.
A photograph from the M.S. Brown collection showing people at the Tarboro tobacco market.
