Today we are highlighting new partner, Andrews Public Library, who has partnered with the NCDHC to digitize notes and documents related to board meetings and annual reports. The library is a Carnegie Library and much of the materials relate to the library being built and it’s earliest days serving the community. Among the collection is a Minutes of the Board of Trustees, notebook that covers 1916- 1924. Inside the notebook is a newspaper clipping related to the significance of what a Carnegie Library is in regards to origin and design.
Minutes of the Board of Trustees 1916-1924
Newspaper clipping on Andrews’ Carnegie Library
There is also another notebook that covers more than thirty years of Board of Trustees meetings.
One of the delights of the bicentennial edition of The Pilot is that it is full of little tidbits of Moore County history. One blurb celebrates the legacy of Flora Macdonald, the folk hero who helped Charles escape from Scotland after the Jacobite Rebellion. After she was imprisoned in the Tower of London and pardoned, she immigrated with her family to North Carolina (hence Flora Macdonald College, now St. Andrews University, in Laurinburg). According to this article, some residents of Moore County can claim her as an ancestor.
From The Pilot, June 27, 1984
Another legendary figure who makes a guest appearance in The Pilot (joke unintentional) is Amelia Earhart. Earhart visited the Moore County airport in 1931 in an autogyro, a precursor to the helicopter. Her visit was part of a long history of aviation in the area, which apparently tended to conflict with another hallmark activity: golf. One resident, hoping to get flights over the course banned, wrote, “I have long felt that the airoplane flying over the golf courses is a nuisance to the players. Today I was scared out of my wits, as well as others with me, when the plane shut off its engine and swooped down to a height of about 25 feet over our heads on the 16th hole, course 3… and coasted to the field amid laughter in the plane at our discomfort.”
Featured among these documents are the magazines published alongside both the Henredon Classic and the Planters Pat Bradley International golf tournaments. These golf tournaments were hosted annually at the Willow Creek Golf Club at High Point, and attracted world famous golfers from across the country. Each magazine featured notable competitors in each tournament, alongside columns by sports journalists analyzing the game of golf at large. Some issues even include profiles on the golfers and detailed maps of the courses they would play on. Of course, each magazine is a wonderful resource for advertisement from the eighties: local businesses and furniture manufacturers hold a key presence amongst the pages.
The latest batch also included large number of church bulletins from congregations within High Point. Churches included are Wesley Memorial Methodist, Oakview United Methodist, and Washington Street Methodist. Many of the church bulletins describe the construction and design of Wesley Memorial’s new chapel, allegedly one of the last gothic churches constructed in North America. One bulletin conducts a thorough art historical analysis of the symbolic decorations of the church, detailing the allusions carved into the walls of the church: a splendid resource for anyone interested in art history or planning to visit the historic site!
Four yearbooks from T. Wingate Andrews High School and High Point Central High School were also included in the batch, with all books covering the early 1970s at the schools.
If we’ve piqued your interest, you can investigate all of our brand new documents here. Interested in learning more about High Point history? View more documents on our website here, or visit High Point Museum’s website here.
Known as the furniture capital of the world for its many furniture companies, High Point has made a name for itself when it comes to buying and selling furniture. Included in this collection are catalogs from several different companies such as the Union Furniture Company, The Sign of Distinction in Your Home catalog from Globe Furniture Company, and many more. You can also find toy catalogs from the Fil – Back Sales Corporation in the collection as well. Along with the furniture catalogs, annual reports from the town of High Point are also available. Reports such as “Hi – Lites” and “Focal Point” provide details on what is happening within the High Point Community.
Also included in the materials are yearbooks from T. Wingate Andrews High School, “Reverie”. The yearbooks cover the years 1969 – 1971 and explore student life at Andrews High School such as clubs, faculty, and homecoming festivities.
Finally, Digital NC has also made available 3 issues of The High Point Enterprise from July 1969. The issues cover Neil Armstrong’s historic landing on the moon in 1969 and discussion about the importance of his travels.
Special thanks to our partner Heritage Research Center at High Point Public Library and the High Point Museum for these wonderful materials! To view more from the HR Center, visit them here and here from High Point Museum.
Donald Ross in Pinehurst, 1935 [Tufts Archives (Pinehurst, N.C.)]
As the sporting world descends on Pinehurst for the U.S. Open this week, I thought it would be a good time to look at some of the terrific resources available on DigitalNC.
At the center of all research on Pinehurst history is the Tufts Archives. Located in the Givens Memorial Library in the village of Pinehurst, the Tufts Archives is home to photographs, manuscripts, and artifacts related to the history of the town of Pinehurst. It is especially strong in the establishment of golf in the region, with papers of the legendary course designer Donald Ross. Yesterday’s New York Times had a feature on the renovation of the famed Pinehurst No. 2 golf course and talked about the importance of the Tufts Archives in determining the original condition of the course.
The Digital Heritage Center has worked with the Tufts Archives to digitize and share online a small selection of historic photos from the collection. These include images of prominent golfers in Pinehurst, including Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, and a young Jack Nicklaus.
The Center has also digitized early issues of The Pinehurst Outlook, a weekly paper that started publication in 1897, just as the town was being developed as a resort community. One of the earliest mentions I found of golf in the paper was an article from February 18, 1898, announcing the completion of the first golf course in Pinehurst, a nine-hole course modeled after the famed St. Andrews course in Scotland. The course included “a thick growth of rye” which was kept short by a flock of sheep.
These early issues of the Outlook also include many mentions of Donald Ross, who was at the time not known as a designer but simply as an accomplished golfer available for lessons. The paper reported on Ross’s ongoing improvements to the courses and the steadily growing interest in golf in Pinehurst.
Also available on DigitalNC are more than 20 years of issues of The Pilot, from the neighboring community of Southern Pines. The Pilot has always done a terrific job covering the local community and these early issues include many articles about golf in the region.
Keep up with the Digital Heritage Center on Twitter where we’ll share more highlights from Pinehurst history this week and next.
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This blog is maintained by the staff of the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center and features the latest news and highlights from the collections at DigitalNC, an online library of primary sources from organizations across North Carolina.
he Center has also digitized early issues of 