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Mayor William Bencini Scrapbooks Document Travel in the 70’s

Two new scrapbooks have been added to Digital NC thanks to our partner, the Heritage Research Center at High Point Public Library. William Bencini served as the mayor of High Point, North Carolina in Guilford County from 1971-1973. In 1971 and 1972, Mayor Bencini and his wife were invited by Eastern Airlines and the City of Atlanta, Georgia to join their inaugural flights to Mexico and Jamaica out of Atlanta.

Three adults looking at the camera in a row on an airplane

These scrapbooks depict these voyages through photographs, guest lists, itineraries, menus, and more. They provide interesting insight into air travel in the 1970s, document the activities of Mayor Bencini, and represent the history of the now-defunct Eastern Airlines. Additionally, the guest lists show some of the prominent figures in Atlanta and surrounding areas at the time. Through these images, researchers can witness the beaches, people, food, and tourist attractions that Mayor Bencini enjoyed on these trips. Perusing these scrapbooks, one feels transported to a bygone era as well as foreign countries. Access the scrapbooks here, and see more documents from the Heritage Research Center at High Point Public Library here.

Overhead view of cabanas on a beach

Yearbooks, Newspapers, Furniture Catalogs, and more from High Point Now Online

DigitalNC is happy to announce several batches of materials from High Point, NC are now available to view online. These materials include 6 yearbooks, 4 individual newspaper issues, and 19 miscellaneous items. These batches were made available thanks to our two partners; the yearbooks are from the Heritage Research Center at High Point Public Library while the newspapers and miscellaneous items are from the High Point Museum.

The 6 yearbooks, the Pemican, all come from High Point Central High School, spanning the years 1966-1971.

The 4 newspapers are comprised of half school publications, half company publications. The four newspapers are:

Tomlinson News was published by the Tomlinson Manufacturing Company, a furniture manufacturer. Amco News was published by the Adams-Millis Corporation, a textile company.

The batch of miscellaneous items contains interesting memorabilia, such as a 1941 alumni record from Baptist Orphanage of North Carolina, an early 1900s reed organ instruction book, a booklet on the history of the Springfield Monthly Meeting of Friends, a Quaker group, and a pamphlet titled But Everybody’s Doing It!: High Point’s Joint Code of Social Behavior for Parents and Young People. Notably, there are many early to mid 1900s furniture catalogs from Burton, Dalton, The Continental Furniture Company, and High Point Furniture Company. From the late 1880s, High Point has been known for its furniture industry. After World War II, about 60% of all furniture made in the United States was produced within a 150-mile radius of High Point (High Point Museum, paragraph 2).

To view all the digitized materials from our two High Point partners, click here and here. For all the High Point newspapers, click here. For more information on our partners, click here to visit the Heritage Research Center at High Point Public Library’s website and click here to visit the High Point Museum’s website.

References:

High Point Museum. Furniture History: High Point & Furniture. https://www.highpointnc.gov/841/Furniture-History


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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.

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