The Children’s Friend, January 6, 1875

Over 100 new issues of The Children’s Friend and The Orphan’s Friend are now available on DigitalNC, thanks to our partners at the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina. Both published for an orphanage in Oxford, North Carolina, The Children’s Friend was in print from January to May 1975, and The Orphan’s Friend succeeded it until May 1895. DigitalNC already hosted The Orphan’s Friend from 1876 and 1877, and this addition expands that range to include issues from 1875 and 1883. This batch also includes all known issues of The Children’s Friend from 1875.

Despite being written for an audience of children, the issues are text-heavy. However, their contents definitely relate to news and issues of interest to children or teens, such as stories, lessons, and updates about local or national happenings. The following are clippings which illustrate the variety of materials included in these newspapers:

“The Origin of Newspapers,” The Children’s Friend, May 5, 1875

“Miscellaneous,” The Orphan’s Friend, March 7, 1883

Click here to browse all issues of The Children’s Friend, and here for all issues of The Orphan’s Friend. DigitalNC is grateful to the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina for their partnership in making these papers accessible. To learn more about the Grand Lodge, visit their partner page here, or their website here.