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Forty-five additional issues of The AC Phoenix are now available thanks to our partner, N.C. A&T University. These additions, from 1990 to 2006, share more news from North Carolina’s Triad region and beyond for readers. Based in Winston-Salem, The AC Phoenix provides an invaluable resource for Triad African American communities and has been an institution in the region since Rodney Sumler founded the paper in 1983.
These issues feature local, regional, and national content with an undercurrent of local priority. They feature photo spreads from local events, news about local schools, churches, and groups, and share information about the state of the community.
Some issues include special features, or additions in honor of a specific holiday or occasion. For example, the December 2004 issue was published with a special holiday songbook, shown below:
“National Black History Museum Approved,” from the January 2004 issue
Despite The AC Phoenix‘s local emphasis, the paper covers a significant amount of national news as well. When Congress approved the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, The AC Phoenix announced the plans to its readers.
DigitalNC is glad to provide increased access to The AC Phoenix. To view these issues of the paper and more, visit its DigitalNC page here. To learn more about N.C. A&T University, visit their website here or their partner page here. To view The AC Phoenix‘s website, go here.
The AC Phoenix serves the African American communities in and around North Carolina’s Triad region. Based in Winston-Salem, this paper has decades of experience sharing local and national news with its readers. There’s more to come, but this first batch includes issues from 1987 to 1989, and from 2007 to 2015.
Rodney Sumler started The AC Phoenix in 1983, and intended to use it to support African American individuals and businesses in the Triad. The paper bloomed in the following years, becoming a staple in the Triad region.
Most issues include local and national news, emphasizing the local. They include articles about individuals and groups including churches, businesses, schools, and others. Editors encourage their readers to contribute, opening their advertisement space to congratulatory notes and including their version of a “Dear Abby” column. Many include a photo spread at the center of the issue, featuring photos from a recent community event or to fit with a certain theme.
The AC Phoenix has been a great resource for the Triad community for decades, and DigitalNC is proud to increase access to the paper through our website, thanks to our partners at N.C. A&T University. Check out these new issues on DigitalNC here, and visit N.C. A&T here for more information. To view The AC Phoenix’s website, go here.
The following microfilmed newspapers were selected for digitization in 2017-2018. Thanks to supplemental funding from the State Library of North Carolina, we were able to complete more reels than in previous years. Reels were chosen from nominations according to our Criteria for Selecting Newspapers to Digitize from Microfilm.
| Title |
Years |
Nominating Institution |
| Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.) |
1927-1947 |
Alamance County Public Libraries |
| Carolina Indian Voice (Pembroke, N.C.) |
1977-1995 |
UNC Chapel Hill |
| Carteret County News-Times (Morehead City, N.C.) |
1948-1960 |
Carteret County Public Library |
| Charlotte Post |
1971-1987 |
Johnson C. Smith University |
| The Cherokee Scout (Murphy, N.C.) |
1944-1988 |
Murphy Public Library |
| Duplin Times (Warsaw, N.C.) |
1962-1985 |
Duplin County Library |
| Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) |
1934-1942 |
Martin Memorial Library |
| Farmville Enterprise |
1942-1947 |
Farmville Public Library |
| Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.) |
1943-1960 |
Fontana Regional Library |
| The Franklin Times (Louisburg, N.C.) |
1925-1944; 1963-1969 |
Louisburg College |
| Hertford County Herald (Ahoskie, N.C.) |
1914-1923 |
Chowan University |
| Journal-Patriot (North Wilkesboro, N.C.) |
1947-1950 |
Wilkes County Public Library |
| Mount Airy News |
1917-1929 |
Surry Community College |
| News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) |
1976-1988 |
Madison County Public Library |
| Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.) |
1944-1989 |
Perquimans County Library |
| Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.) |
1948-1965 |
Southern Pines Public Library |
| The Roxboro Courier (Roxboro, N.C.) |
1927-1935 |
Person County Public Library |
| Smithfield Herald |
1901-1911 |
Johnston County Heritage Center |
| Transylvania Times (Brevard, N.C.) |
1933-1940 |
Transylvania County Library |
| Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) |
1950-1963 |
Watauga County Public Library |
| Waynesville Mountaineer |
1952-1956 |
Haywood County Public Library |
| Winston-Salem Chronicle |
1997-2016 |
Forsyth County Public Library |
Flower Power! NC Essay Masthead, March 9, 1970.
Agnes de Mille, 1973.
The N.C. Essay from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C. is now available on DigitalNC. The newspaper provides the students’ record of the school’s history in the first decade of its operation, from 1965 to 1976. Many NCSA alumni graced the pages of the N.C. Essay long before stardom…including Raleigh native Randy Jones (the cowboy from The Village People) who wrote several articles for the N.C. Essay in 1973.
One of the articles Jones composed was regarding the school’s collaboration with the famous dancer and choreographer Agnes de Mille, who frequently worked with the school’s dance students. De Mille was most widely known as the choreographer for the 1943 Broadway musical Oklahoma!, though she continued her musical theater work in Carousel (1945), Brigadoon (1947), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949), and 110 in the Shade (1963), among other works.
Unnamed dancer, 1972.
De Mille’s legacy lives on in the numerous N.C. Essay articles that mention her. The school even dedicated a performing arts theater to her in 1975; the theater is still in use. For photos and an article from its opening performance series, click here.
The N.C. Essay also provides a history of the North Carolina Dance Theatre (now the Charlotte Ballet), the oldest professional dance company in the state. The company was originally formed in 1971 by Robert Lindgren, dean of the school of dance, with a grant from the Rockefeller foundation.
In the eleven years of newspapers that are now available, the following professional dancers are mentioned: Margaret Anders, Charles Devlin, Kathleen Fitzgerald, Georgiana Holmes, Kenneth Hughes, Rick McCullough, Janie Parker, Anne Patton, Gerald Tibbs, and Nolan T’Sani. Robert Ward, former North Carolina School of the Arts chancellor and musician, is also mentioned. Finally, actors Gary Beach, Tom Hulce, and Ira David Wood III also appear.
To explore these newly available resources, please click here.
