Historically, Hertford County is home to people with Indigenous and African American backgrounds. The community has always been fairly small and like a lot of small farming communities in the South, Hertford County has seen lots of people move out of town and not return. However, there is still a community that is proud to live in Hertford County due to the natural beauty and rich history of the area.
Residents like Marvin Tupper Jones, are passionate about unearthing and preserving the legacies of former members in the surrounding tri-cities area of Hertford County. The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center had the privilege to partner with the Chowan Discovery Group and gain insight about the entrepreneurship of the Newsom and Hall families in Ahoskie. Willian David Newsom (1822-1916) is described as being a born-free North Carolinian who would later become a teacher, farmer and storekeeper. He was also once the largest landowner of the Winton Triangle community (Winton-Cofield-Ahoskie).After the passing of Newsom, his son-in-law, James Hall (1877-1932), took over the family store and also co-founded the Atlantic District Fairgrounds in Ahoskie. Physical remnants of the Newsom and Hall families are seen throughout these materials.
This batch also gives a look inside recordkeeping in the early 1900’s through invoices, checks and ledgers associated with the family general store family store. In spite of the family store’s current condition, at one point in time, people were shopping and congregating here; we have lots of receipts.
An advertisement for Ahoskie Department Store in the March 9, 1923 issue.
The Hertford County Herald, courtesy of Chowan University, is the newest paper available on DigitalNC, with issues up that span the years 1914-1923. The Hertford County Herald was established in 1910, and was published in the town of Ahoskie, North Carolina. The paper, which came out every Friday, was comprised of 8 dense pages to keep residents of Hertford County informed.
The Hertford County Herald covered news primarily in Ahokie and surrounding towns in Hertford County, such as Winton, Murfreesboro, and Como. Included were stories about the economy, agricultural conditions, politics, social events and meetings, fashion trends, and more. The paper also had a section called “State News in Digest” that covered a wide range of news from across North Carolina, and advertisements from local and regional businesses.
To see more materials from Chowan University, visit their DigitalNC partner page, or take a look at their website.
We’ve worked with a new partner, Perquimans County Library (part of the Pettigrew Regional Library), to share over 40 years’ worth of The Perquimans Weekly newspaper online. Published out of Hertford, N.C., The Perquimans Weekly includes news from Hertford, Belvidere, New Hope, Winfall and other local towns. Issues from 1934-1977 are now DigitalNC.
Interesting issues that caught our eye include the August 26, 1938 issue, which describes the opening of a bridge spanning Albemarle Sound. There was a huge parade and celebration of “new activity, new life, new contacts” brought by the bridge.
Headline from August 26, 1938 issue of The Perquimans Weekly
We also saw a few articles recognizing Perquimans native and Major League baseball player Jim “Catfish” Hunter, like one from October 26, 1972 covering Jimmy Hunter Day.
The ongoing restoration of the Newbold-White House, which dates from 1730 and is one of the oldest historic houses in North Carolina still standing, was a multi-year project that involved fundraising and promotion. In the Weekly, we found articles describing the house’s nomination for the National Register, the local Restoration Association’s successful drive to fund its restoration, and ongoing coverage of the restoration work, including the making of the shingles.
Excerpt from the November 28, 1974 issue of The Perquimans Weekly
This is the first community paper nominated from the far northeast corner of the state and we hope to hear from more institutions in that area. You can search The Perquimans Weekly together with many other titles on our Newspapers collection page.
Zoning Map for Roanoke – Chowan Community College in October 1973.
Digital NC is excited to add new materials from our partner Roanoke – Chowan Community College to our collection. Founded in 1967, Roanoke – Chowan Community College is a two-year community college located in Hertford County, North Carolina. The new items added to our collection include status reports from 1969 and 1975, handbooks related to the goals and objectives of the community college from 1978 – 1979, and long-range plans from the 1990s.
Most interesting in the collection are the expansion plans for R-CCC, including the October 1973 Master Plan. The Master Plan details the new projected additions, such as new classrooms and buildings that would benefit the community college and the community of Hertford County as a whole.
Currently, the community college offers associate degrees in numerous fields and transfer options to different colleges across the state of North Carolina. Visit their website here to learn more about Roanoke – Chowan Community College. You can also find other materials in our R-CCC collection on our website.
Special thanks again to Roanoke – Chowan Community College for their partnership!
Nine Ahoskie High School yearbooks and three commemorative issues of Ahoskie based newspapers have been digitized and added to DigitalNC thanks to our partner, Ahoskie Woman’s Club.
The newly added yearbooks from Ahoskie High School, known as The Chief after the school’s mascot, span the years 1952-1969, giving a glimpse of mid-century teen life.
Each commemorative issue gives extensive historical background on Hertford County, North Carolina. The Historical Edition and Ahoskie Centennial focus on the town of Ahoskie, covering the time before it’s incorporation in 1893 and all major local and national events leading to it’s centennial year. The Milestone Edition delves into 200 years of Hertford County history, including cultural, societal, and economic shifts in the towns of eastern North Carolina.
Part of the Ahoskie High School Senior Class of 1958 on a trip to Washington D.C.
DigitalNC is proud to welcome our new partner, the Ahoskie Woman’s Club. Located in Hertford County, having them as a contributor adds to our growing list of those who represent the Inner Banks region of the state. Their first contribution is a new batch of scrapbooks and materials, mostly containing newspaper clippings about Ahoskie High School, primarily dating from 1953 to 1961. This marks their first contribution to the collections on DigitalNC outside of yearbooks.
Newspaper clipping celebrating the championship victories of the Ahoskie sports teams
Most of these scrapbooks are arranged chronologically, including information about Ahoskie High School in the 1950s. Most articles are about the school football team, the Ahoskie Indians, and how they did those years. A few of the articles also relate to school clubs, other school sports teams, or school events themselves. On one page, newspaper clippings mention faculty positions being filled at Ahoskie High School, a speaker from East Carolina University coming to speak to Hertford County teachers, and the Ahoskia PTA holding film viewings.
These scrapbooks give us a glimpse of what the high school experience was like for Ahoskie High School students at the time. To see more from the Ahoskie Woman’s Club, please visit their partner page or check out their website.
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.
Faculty portraits in the 1963 Longhorn by Woodington High School.
More than 60 high school yearbooks provided by Eastern Carolina University are now up on DigitalNC. The schools represented are located across central and eastern North Carolina and include schools from Pitt County, Franklin County, Stokes County, Washington County, Hertford County, Lenoir County, Martin County, Halifax County, Wilson County, and Johnston County. The dates of these yearbooks range from 1927-1970. Together, they give an overview of secondary education across the state, with many of the editions covering the time surrounding desegregation efforts. These yearbooks include individual and class portraits as well photographs documenting activities, clubs, sports, and academics.
Senior portraits from the Kay Aitch Ess 1927 yearbook by Grainger High School
Follow the links below to browse yearbooks from the schools included in this batch:
Commemorating the migration of Quakers from Perquimans County to the Northwest Territories during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, individuals donned their best Quaker costumes and hopped on their horses or into their horse-drawn buggies and wagons to participate in the Friends to Freedom Wagon Train that traveled through Perquimans County from March 17th to 20th in 2011.
The first two days of the event were set aside for riding the planned 25 mile trail. They started their journey at the Newbold-White House campsite, making stops in Beech Springs, Belvidere, Bagley Swamp, and Winfall. In Belvidere, around 400 people came out to celebrate the train with vendors, live entertainment, wagon rides, food, and promotion of the area’s historical homes and buildings.
On the last leg of the journey, the Train took the Causeway and historic S bridge to parade through Hertford before finally coming back to the Newbold-White House. The final day of the event ended with breakfast, a church service, and a driving course competition at the Newbold-White House site.
To view more issues of The Perquimans Weekly, please click here.
To learn more about the Perquimans Public Library, visit their website here.
To view more newspapers from across North Carolina, please click here.
Thanks to our partners at Perquimans County Library and our staff at our Elizabeth City State University location, a brand new batch of the Perquimans Weekly issues have now been uploaded! The Perquimans Weekly has served Hertford and the surrounding area since 1934, posting every Wednesday for almost a hundred years. This batch spans from 2004 to 2009, and is the newest in a series of uploads that stretches back to the paper’s first year.
As a weekly local paper, Perquimans Weekly contained a strong focus on local events, people, and stories. These papers are full of reports on local school sports, editorials and opinion pieces on county politics, and advertisements for annual festivals. There’s also a focus on stories occurring on a state and even national level: reporters pay special mind to the 2008 election cycle, and the effects of the 2008 financial crisis can be felt throughout the period.
Still, these issues of Perquimans Weekly reflect the joy of life in Hertford. Reporters describe children going on ghost tours during Halloween, the Lady Tigers’ vollyball victories, and the meetings of the Chrome Pony Mustang Club. These articles reflect the many facets of life in the area, providing context for how Hertford has changed (yet stayed the same) throughout the decades.
This upload brings NC Digital one step closer to having a comprehensive database of the Perquimans Weekly’s entire record. You can read through NC Digital’s collection here, get up to date issues at the Perquimans Weekly website here, or visit the Perquimans Public Library website here.
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.