Thanks to our partners at the New Hanover County Public Library, DigitalNC is pleased to announce that fourteen brand new issues of the Wilmington Journal (Wilmington, N.C.) are now available online! Founded in 1927, the Wilmington Journal is one of North Carolina’s oldest African-American newspaper and has published stories on local, state, and national events for nearly a century. These new issues contain almost two hundred new pages full of journalism, spanning from 1953 to 1977. They join sixteen issues already hosted online at DigitalNC, doubling the site’s holdings of the journal.
The standout issue of this collection is by far the 50th anniversary paper, published on March 12th, 1977. This stunning issue contains a whopping FIFTY-NINE pages full of current events, community stories about the paper, and letters from local businesses and readers congratulating the paper on its golden jubilee. This issue far and away outpaces previous issues of the journal, which average around 12 pages an issue. It’s a breathtaking record of the commitment and dedication the Wilmington Journal’s journalists and editors have to the paper, and the issues’ letters and advertisements are a testament to the special place the paper holds in its readers hearts.
You can find the 50th anniversary issue of the Wilmington Journal online now at DigitalNC here. Interested in reading more issues of the Wilmington Journal? You can find over two decades of the paper’s issues online at DigitalNC here. Thanks again to our amazing partners at the New Hanover County Public Library for making these issues available online. You can learn more about New Hanover County Public Library’s holdings by visiting their partner page at DigitalNC here, or by visiting the library’s website online here.
