Photo in the 14th Street School scrapbook showing classes in front of the school.
Practicing trumpet for the school band in the 14th Street School Scrapbook.
A batch of new materials from Forsyth County Public Library are now available on DigitalNC. Included are two scrapbooks, one from the 14th Street School in Winston-Salem and one from the Society for the Study of Afro-American History in Winston-Salem. Also included are materials from the Malloy/Jordan East Winston Heritage Center and the East Winston Branch Library, and yearbooks from St. Anne’s Academy and Atkins High School.
The 14th Street School educated African-American students in Forsyth County from its founding in 1924 through the 1970s. This scrapbook collects photographs of student activities and events. Included are photographs of sports teams, the school band, dance performances, and class portraits. The 14th Street School acted as a community hub and created lasting bonds within its student body which remain strong to this day. Despite its closure, alumni continue to hold reunions and advocate for the school as an important part of Winston-Salem history.
Additionally a scrapbook from the Society for the Study of Afro-American History in Winston-Salem (now called the Society for the Study of African American History in Winston Salem) collects calendars created from 1989 through 1997. These calendars include images and write-ups of Winston-Salem history and events as well as photographs and information about Society events.
A page of the 1989 calendar by the Society for the Study of Afro-American History showing a reunion of the 14th Street School classes of 1931-1939.
The Maroon and Gold 1948-1949 yearbook from Atkins High School and The Annette 1952 yearbook from St. Anne’s Academy are also now available. Atkins High School was founded in 1930 for African-American students in Winston-Salem. The school was named for Dr. Simon Green Atkins, the founder and first president of Winston-Salem University. Dr. Atkins was born into slavery in 1863 on a farm in North Carolina but was able to receive a public education after the end of the Civil War. He went on to attend St. Augustine College and subsequently dedicated his life to improving education for African Americans.
To see these and the other items from this batch of materials, visit the links below.
Since there are so many yearbooks in this batch, there is a wide assortment of creative yearbook titles—some of which are stronger than others. As an alumna of R.J. Reynolds High School, I’ll admit that I have some bias toward the Black and Gold, but even I have to acknowledge that it’s a pretty generic name (in this batch alone, we’ve also got The Maroon and Gold from Atkins, the Blue and White from Old Town High School, and the Blue and Gold from Griffith High School).
Rather than opt for the usual school colors-based title, here are the top five yearbooks that aimed for something a little different.
I like that this team of young yearbook editors took a philosophical approach to their title. Like looking through a keyhole, a yearbook can only give a limited picture of what the culture and experience of Rural Hall High School was like. They continue this slice-of-life theme on the inside of the yearbook as well with this comical drawing featuring some of their classmates.
There’s something so quintessentially high school about being assigned The Iliad, possibly reading it, and then using it as a metaphor for the obstacles you face (a move perhaps only topped by a comparison of your personal journey to The Odyssey). This literary homage is made even better by the fact that the mascot for Southwest was the Trojan, meaning that this yearbook likely describes the siege and fall of the school by means of wooden horse.
Third place on this not-at-all subjective list was initially selected because of its overlap with the editorial column of James Mackintosh Qwilleran, a fictional detective and journalist who writes “The Qwill Pen” in the mystery series The Cat Who… by Lilian Jackson Braun. However, based on the uniforms required for yearbook photos, it does also seem possible that the students of Salem Academy really were writing with quills.
As someone with no military experience, when I initially picked this title, I had a different mental image of what the “dress parade” might include. However, given the fact that students at Oak Ridge did have to wear their uniforms on display for the yearbook, it still seems like a really fitting title. Plus, this edition has some cool woodblock prints and this one inexplicably tiny photo of a gazebo.
I don’t even know where to begin with this absolute chef’s kiss of a yearbook title. I love the old-timey spelling. I love the idea that a yearbook is the modern equivalent of a person who yells out the town news. I love the font choice and the inclusion of “Ye.”
Old Town High School experimented with a couple of names before this (see Blue and White and The Log), suggesting that it might take a few tries before you can land on the perfect name. The icing on the cake is that every time I read it, I can hear the opening notes of Lil Nas X’s 2019 hit “Old Town Road” in my mind. (Sadly, Old Town High School was not located on Old Town Road, though such a road does exist in Winston-Salem).
Thanks to our partner, the Forsyth County Public Library, a new batch of yearbooks is now available on our website. The yearbooks are from the years 1969-1971 from North Forsyth High School in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The cover of the 1969 issue of the North Forsyth High School yearbook.
For more information about the Forsyth County Public Library, please visit their website. To view previous blog posts on yearbooks from Forsyth County, visit here.
James McGuire Junior’s journals take the form of Gude’s Pepto-Mangan Physician’s Memorandum books. Each page corresponds to a day of the year, and includes a short medical fact, often related to Gude’s Pepto-Mangan medicine, along with a space to write. James McGuire Jr., a prominent business man in Mocksville, North Carolina, wrote many short entries recounting topics such as the weather, travel, social engagements, shopping lists, and finances. The memorandum books themselves most likely originated from James’ father, Dr. James McGuire, a physician.
Mary Jane Heitman’s scrapbook tells the story of her life in photographs, news articles, postcards, handwritten musings, and illustrations from 1891-1927. Mary Jane Heitman was a teacher and historian from Mocksville, North Carolina, and her scrapbook recounts with fondness both her time as a student and a teacher. Each page is poetically constructed, and photographs and descriptions of friends and relatives are distributed throughout. The last page of the scrapbook includes a written tribute by one of her students from Salem Academy that was added after her death in 1962.
To see more materials from Davie County Public Library, visit their partner page, or take a look at their website.
James McGuire Junior’s entry from February 20, 1902 that describes the weather as cloudy with sleet at night.
“New Farmers of America,” from the Carver High School yearbook, Hi-Lite, 1949.
Eleven new yearbooks provided by Forsyth County Public Library have been digitized and added to DigitalNC. All eleven are from Carver High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, dating from 1949 to 1969. The yearbook was titled “Hi-Lite” until 1949, then “Yellow Jacket” from 1950 onward. Carver High School is a historically Black school founded in 1936 and still open today; the yearbooks include photographs of students, staff, class activities, athletics, clubs, and superlatives.
Early high school yearbooks from several Winston-Salem schools are now available in the North Carolina High School Yearbooks collection on DigitalNC. There are 48 volumes online, ranging in date from 1911 to 1963. The schools represented are:
Thanks to our partner, Forsyth County Public Library, a batch containing five Sanborn insurance maps of Winston-Salem, N.C. from 1907 to 1928 are now available on our website. These beautifully colored and meticulously marked maps are a fantastic resource for those looking to research the urban development of Winston-Salem.
Special Coverage of the Special Olympics Spring Games in 2017 in the Winston – Salem Chronicle.
Digital NC is happy to announce the new additions of the Winston – Salem Chronicle for the years 2017 and 2018. With help from our partner, Forsyth County Public Library, the new additions join previous editions from 1974 – 2016.
Founded in 1974, the Winston-Salem Chronicle bills itself as the oldest African American newspaper in the city. The newspaper is published every Thursday and discusses local stories that focus on Winston-Salem and surrounding areas.
One story within the Winston-Salem Chronicle discusses the Special Olympics spring games, which were held at Walkertown High. Over 900 athletes from ages 3 and up, gathered to compete in special events at the high school’s football stadium. The story made the front page of the sports section.
To learn more about the Winston-Salem Chronicle, visit them here.
Special thanks to our partner, Forsyth County Public Library. To view more materials from them, visit here.
To view the rest of our NC Newspaper Collection, visit here.
The front page of the Winston-Salem Chronicle, June 23, 1988. The article title reads “Community Upset over NAACP Plan” and provides a photo of the Winston-Salem chapter NAACP President Walter Marshall.
In an effort to fill in gaps of the Winston-Salem Chronicle, DigitalNC has added the year 1988 to our digital collection. This brings us to a near completion of digitized issues running from 1974 to 2016, with only the year 2000 missing. We would like to thank our partners at Forsyth County Public Library for making these additions available.
Founded in 1974, The Chronicle serves the community of Winston-Salem, N.C. by focusing their attention on local news. Common topics covered in 1988 include People, Sports, Religion, Forum Q&As, and Letters to the Editor. Part of the African-American press, The Chronicle directs its reporting towards issues and events in and of the Black community, such as addressing company closures and job loss in terms of Black demographics as well as following NAACP disputes. Additionally, Black College Sports Review inserts can be found throughout the year.
As 1988 was an election year, there is also an issue highlighting the local effects of the election aftermath.
Front page of the Winston-Salem Chronicle, November 10, 1988. Headlines include “Republicans Take Lion’s Share; Local Black Contenders Lose”, “Results of National Elections: Who Else Won and Where”, and “Candidates Say Straight Voting Hurt”.
If you would like to browse all of the digitized editions of the Winston-Salem Chronicle available on DigitalNC, click here. To learn more about Forsyth County Public Library, click here, and to see all digitized content we have from them, you can visit their contributor page by clicking here.
Back in December, we announced our annual call for microfilmed newspaper digitization. We asked institutions throughout North Carolina to nominate papers they’d like to see added to DigitalNC. As it is every year, it was an incredibly tough choice – we are typically able to choose between 40-60 reels out of over 500+ nominated. This year we’ve chosen the following titles and years.
For our selection criteria, we prioritize newspapers that document underrepresented communities, new titles, papers that come from a county that currently has little representation on DigitalNC, and papers nominated by new partners. After selection, we ask the partners to secure permission for digitization and, if that’s successful, they make it into the final list above.
We hope to have these titles coming online in the first half of 2021. If your title didn’t make it this year don’t despair! We welcome repeat submissions, and plan on sending out another call in Fall 2021.
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.
Early high school yearbooks from several Winston-Salem schools are 
