May 13, 1993.

Clipping from September 22, 1934.

Just under 50 issues of The Charlotte Post have recently been added to the DigitalNC newspaper collection, rounding out the rest of  2006 and ending on October 11, 2007. If you have been following us closely, you may have noticed that over the past two years we have routinely been scanning and uploading issues of The Charlotte Post. In fact, we now have a grand total of 1,041 issues available to view online! We think this is a cause to celebrate. In this blog, we’ll go through a brief look back at our entire Post collection. Many thanks go out to our long time partners at Johnson C. Smith University for supplying all the issues in this collection.

While a majority of our Post issues are from the mid 1970s to the mid 2000s, the earliest issues come from the 1930s. Since its debut in 1878, the Post has provided an African American perspective on news local to Charlotte, North Carolina and beyond. While we only have three issues from the 30s, they contribute Black voices to our primary source material of that period.

Clipping from March 17, 1977.

Weekly issues from the 70s through 90s continue to highlight the African American community in and around Charlotte. While the tagline for the Post in the 30s was “The Paper with a Heart and Soul”, in the early 70s it changed to “Charlotte’s Fastest Growing Community Weekly” and then finally landed on “The Voice of the Black Community”. Weekly features become frequent in this era of the Post, such as “Beauty of the Week” and The B.E.E. (Black Entertainment Events) Line.

Once we arrive in the new millennium, issues become longer and have strict sections. These sections cover a wide range of topics typical of modern newspapers: editorials, weather, life, religion, sports, real estate, business, A&E (arts and entertainment), and classifieds. Special editions were also intermittently added to issues, such as the CIAA Basketball Tournament edition and Top Seniors.

Clipping from April 26, 2007.

The Post continues to be printed to this day and we hope to add many more issues of it for future digital viewing. To start your own Post collection exploration, click here to browse by year. If you would like to look at all African American newspapers on DigitalNC, click here. And to learn more about JCSU, click here.

The Charlotte Post, September 28, 2006.

A small but meaningful addition of 33 issues of The Charlotte Post have been added to DigitalNC’s online collection, further expanding the digital access of this contemporary (and ongoing) newspaper. All 33 issues are from 2006, ranging from March 16 to November 2. Thanks to our longstanding partners at Johnson C. Smith University for allowing us to share these images.

Goldie Phillips started her own company, Island Flavors, to raise money for graduate school, April 20, 2006.

Known as “The Voice of the Black Community,” The Charlotte Post not only delivers relevant national and global news, but focuses on Black topics in and around the Charlotte, N.C. area. Creating space to vocalize achievements from the community, such as printing an entire supplement showcasing the Black high school graduates of Mecklenburg County, as well as navigating issues normally left untold by U.S. news outlets, such as mental illness in the Black community and the racial income gap, The Charlotte Post fills in an inequality information gap for all to benefit from.

The 2006 issues of The Charlotte Post sectioned off the newspaper by topic, including Religion, Sports, Arts and Entertainment, Business, Real Estate, and Classifieds. Covering a variety of subjects, The Charlotte Post maintained consistent features in each section, such as “Sounds,” by Winfred Cross. In Arts and Entertainment, Cross reviewed new music releases, like India.Arie’s Testimony, Vol. 1.

For a look at all of the issues DigitalNC has online from The Charlotte Post, click here. To view all materials from Johnson C. Smith University, click here, and to visit their website, click here.

Front page articles, April 20, 2006.

The Charlotte Post, June 18, 1998

Nearly sixty additional issues of The Charlotte Post have been added to DigitalNC. These new issues, from 1998 to 2006, were added to existing issues from 1930 to 1934 and 1971 to 1997. In total, DigitalNC is proud to host nearly 1000 issues of The Charlotte Post, showcasing Charlotte’s strong legacy of journalism in its African American communities. We are thankful to Johnson C. Smith University for their partnership in providing these papers.

This latest batch includes more of the same great content from The Charlotte Post, documenting Charlotte’s communities as well as issues from across the state, country, and world.

Some digital “clippings” are shared below:

CIAA Special Edition, February 23, 2006

“World War wasn’t only battle women fought,” May 25, 2000

“Nouveau soul food,” January 8, 2004

DigitalNC is thankful to our partner Johnson C. Smith University for  working with us to provide digital access to The Charlotte Post. To view all digitized issues of this paper, click here. For more information about Johnson C. Smith University, visit their partner page here or their website here.

The Charlotte Post, August 7, 1997

If you’ve been following our announcements of additional issues of The Charlotte Post being made available online, then you’ll be glad to know that issues from the remainder of 1997 and one from March 1998 are now up as well! Our digital holdings for this title currently span 1930-1934 and 1971-1998. These recent additions continue with the same great content, focused particularly for Charlotte’s African American community.

Advertisement for The Charlotte Post, November 13, 1997

Each issue contains news about local activities, including business, religion, entertainment, sports, and others. Tips for buying real estate and cars are often included, as well as celebrations of African American history and culture. For example, a special inclusion was added to the May 15th issue commending “1997’s best and brightest” from the graduating senior class.

“Top Seniors” from the May 15, 1997 issue

DigitalNC is thankful to our partner Johnson C. Smith University for  working with us to provide digital access to The Charlotte Post. To view all digitized issues of this paper, click here. For more information about Johnson C. Smith University, visit their partner page here or their website here. Stay tuned because more issues are coming soon!

Cover page from December 5, 1996

Even more issues of The Charlotte Post are available on DigitalNC now, these ones dating from 1996 and 1997. They add to an already sizable collection extending from 1930 to 1996. These 25 latest issues continue the themes of the previous decades, sharing news from the African American communities in and around Charlotte, North Carolina.

This latest batch of The Charlotte Post continues with great coverage of local, national, and even international news. Issues share news about businesses, celebrities, politics, sports, cars, entertainment, and many more.

“Black church’s history at Afro Center,” September 12, 1996

“Jordan pitching cologne,” October 3, 1996

“And justice for all,” April 17, 1997

These issues are available thanks to our partners at Johnson C. Smith University. You can view these and other issues of The Charlotte Post here. To learn more about Johnson C. Smith University, click here, or visit their partner page here.

Charlotte Post, June 24, 1993

More than two dozen additional issues of The Charlotte Post have recently been added to Digital NC. Thanks to our partnership with Johnson C. Smith University, our digital holdings for The Charlotte Post now mostly range in date from 1971 to 1996, and feature newly uncovered early issues from the 1930s. This most recent batch includes those special issues as well as additions from 1991 to 1996.

The three partial issues are from 1930, 1931, and 1934, and serve as important resources for African American history in Charlotte at that time. The issues cover acts of celebration, violence, and everything between. “The paper with a heart and a soul” and “the voice of the people” shares news of local communities, as well as some national and international news. Though there are only three issues, they share a snapshot of the time, depicting the thoughts and concerns of their audience.

Headlines from the 1930s issues of the Charlotte Post

Charlotte Post sports advertisement, January 18, 1996

Issues of The Charlotte Post from the 1990s show regular coverage of topics such as religion, arts and entertainment, lifestyles, business, and sports. Several issues include inserts on various subjects, including grocery sales, but also on automobiles and beauty products.

African Americans on Wheels, Winter 1996

The Beauty of Feeling and Looking Good, Spring 1996

To view all digitized issues of The Charlotte Post, click here. For more information about Johnson C. Smith University, visit their website or their DigitalNC partner page.

The front page for the Charlotte Post in April 1984, with a huge variety of topics on display

More issues of the Charlotte Post, from January 1980 to December 1987, are now online at DigitalNC, courtesy of Johnson C. Smith University. This new batch of over 420 issues joins an additional 400 issues of the Charlotte Post that stretches from 1971 into 1996. Founded in 1878 as a weekly publication, it is still published today and services the residents of Charlotte as “The Voice of the Black Community.”

Looking through these papers, it is easy to see why the Charlotte Post has become such an enduring institution. In nearly every paper, the Post covers local politics, national news, local events of note and more. For example, on the front page of the April 1984 paper shown above, there are articles on a new City-County Government Center to be constructed, travel records for highway patrol officials, holiday plans for local churches, an interview with the 1984 Delta Sigma Theta sorority debutante, and more.

An article in July 1987 highlighting the number of Black candidates running for office that fall.

This new batch gives us a more complete picture of the important issues that the Charlotte Post has covered in the past as an important fixture for Charlotte’s minority community. To learn more about Johnson C. Smith University, visit their partner page or their website.

Front page of the February 18, 1993 issue of the Charlotte Post, with a focus on Black History Month

Issues of the Charlotte Post, an African American newspaper out of Charlotte, are now online, thanks to partner Johnson C. Smith University.  The Charlotte Post was founded in 1878 and is a weekly publication.  It still is published today, with the tagline, “The Voice of the Black Community.”  

The first issues that we are making available online on DigitalNC cover 1988-1990, 1993, and 1996.  Issues affecting the Black community in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the wider nation are all discussed in the 30 plus pages of each issue of the paper, from politics, including the runs of several Black politicians in local and state government, as well as Jesse Jackson’s run for president in 1988, issues with the Charlotte Mecklenburg school district, especially for Black students, and a multitude of other topics, many of which will seem not so different from the topics of today.

To view more materials from Johnson C. Smith University, go here.  To view more of our newspapers, visit here.