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Newspapers, Church Minutes, and So Much More from High Point Museum!

With special thanks to our partner, High Point Museum,  Digital NC is now added to our collections. The latest items include school newspapers from William Penn High School and Griffin Junior High School in High Points, Church Minutes from the Primitive Baptist Association, The Advocate and Messenger newsletter published in Virginia, and a host of items from the Myrtle Desk Company and the Alama Furniture Company.  

Most unique in this collection is the 1910 High Point Buggy Company catalog. The catalog features a wide variety of High-Grade Buggies for customers to purchase. In addition to the Buggy catalog, High Point, known for being the Furniture Capital of the World, has produced numerous furniture catalogs, from desks to home furnishings.

Picture of High Point High Grade Buggy

Catalog images from the 1910 High Point Buggy Company Designers and Builders of High-Grade Buggers.

The newspapers in this added collection represent William Penn High School and Griffin Junior High School, both local Black high schools in High Point. From newsletters celebrating the 1953 Class Reunion to newspapers discussing the events at the local high school, The Students’ Pen and the Griffin Junior Citizen were staples in the community.  

To see more of our partner, High Point Museum, visit here 

Be sure to check out our wonderful collection of NC Newspapers and memorabilia 


High Point Museum Scrapbooks and Ephemera Now Online!

Thanks to our partner, High Point Museum, scrapbooks and other memorabilia from the High Point area are now on our website. This batch includes audio files, scrapbooks, a city planning document, local histories, and business reports.

The cover of the Junior Order United American Mechanics History of the Western Section in North Carolina from 1929.

The audio files in this batch are from a 1965 tobacco auction in High Point. There are also histories and reports from businesses such as Slane Hosiery Mills, Stehli Silks Corporation, Burlington Mills, and Thomasville Furniture Industries. This batch also includes a history of the Western section of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics from 1929. Also included is a 1958 city plan from the Department of Planning for the City of High Point. The three scrapbooks in this batch include two from High Point High School related to school news and extracurriculars, and a 1987-1988 scrapbook from the Furniture City Women’s Club.

The cover of a 1946 history of industrial production in Burlington Mills, North Carolina.

This batch also includes several editions of The Messenger, a newsletter published by Harriss and Covington Hosiery Mills, Inc. in High Point, and the Amco News, which is published by the Adams-Millis Corporation.

The cover page of the April 1977 edition of the Amco News.

For more information about the High Point Museum, visit their website.


More High Point Museum Women’s Club Scrapbooks

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Mrs. Lloyd Thayer and Mrs. J. Boone Peace working at the Evergreen Nursing Home, High Point Women’s Club Scrapbook [1979], page 99

The High Point Women’s Club is connected to the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, which is an international organization dedicated to community development and volunteer service. These scrapbooks from the High Point Museum demonstrate this chapter’s commitment to that ideal. Each scrapbook documents local women’s annual service events like dinners, garden projects, and charity fashion shows (which gives a great depiction of 90’s attire and a group of dedicated women having a great time). They also document local High Point women in state and national leadership positions.

You can view all of the newest High Point Museum scrapbooks at the links below:

To learn more about the High Point Museum, please visit their contributor page or the website.

To learn more about the General Federation of Women’s Clubs and its connection to clubs in North Carolina, please visit the organization’s homepage.


Scrapbooks and Newspapers from the High Point Museum Added to DigitalNC

Ten new scrapbooks by the High Point Woman’s Club and a number of Point-Crest Newspapers, a periodical published by the High Point Weaving Company and Hillcrest Throwing Company, have been digitized and uploaded to DigitalNC. The scrapbooks give details of the club’s activities throughout the years 1957 to 1958 and 1961 to 1971.

High Point Woman's Club Scrapbook

Cover of the 1970-1971 High Point Woman’s Club Scrapbook

The High Point Woman’s Club took part in a wide variety of activities and made it a point to become involved in a number of local and even international issues that were of great importance at the time. They hosted a number of speakers, including Ralph Nader, who discussed a variety of issues such as homeland security, national affairs, and travel. The group was also involved with the United Nations, and UNICEF in particular.

Club Delegates To Consider Obscenity, Air Pollution, Arts

Newspaper clipping about some of the Club’s various activities

The Point-Crest newspapers cover the years 1945 to 1947 and, as the product of the companies listed above, much of the content is related to the textile industry and the doings of these particular companies. However, the newspaper is not all business and work. The paper notes extracurricular activities in which the companies were involved as well, such as the Hillcrest Girls’ Softball Team, who won their league championship.

Picture from the Point-Crest Newspaper featuring war materials

Picture from the Point-Crest Newspaper featuring war materials

For more information about the High Point Woman’s Club and the other materials that DigitalNC has digitized from them and the High Point Museum, see this previous blog post.


Decades of High Point History Now Available!

Thanks to our partners at High Point Museum and the Heritage Research Center at High Point Public Library, we are pleased to announce the upload of decades of High Point history. Documents in this upload range as far back as 1907, and are as recent as 1989. Together, they highlight two aspects of life in High Point: golf tournaments at the Willow Creek Golf Club and services at United Methodist churches.

The cover of a magazine advertising the Henredon Classic.

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.


Nell Cropsey Case Discussed in Latest Museum of the Albemarle Materials!

Thanks to our partner, the Museum of the Albemarle, several batches of materials are now available on DigitalNC! The first batch adds several new titles and issues of older Elizabeth City, N.C. newspapers spanning from the 1800s to 1900s.

The second batch of materials contains two magazines and several newspaper clippings highlighting notable Elizabeth City news. Two of the newspaper clippings present in this batch, one from 1902 and the other 1941, directly deal with the infamous Ella Maude “Nell” Cropsey murder in Elizabeth City. The details of the case are provided below using newspaper articles from this batch along with others in our newspaper collection.

According to Ollie Cropsey, her sister Nell Cropsey and James “Jim” Wilcox met in June 1898, just two months after the family moved to Elizabeth City. In the early days, James would come over to see Nell every Sunday and eventually started to come over almost every afternoon. During their time together the two would go on walks, rides, sail, and see shows. However, in the fall of 1901 the two started getting into arguments and spats. After a period of silence and the arrival of Ollie and Nell’s cousin Carrie, the two began speaking again. The night Nell went missing from her family’s waterfront home in Elizabeth City, she was socializing with her visiting cousin Carrie, sister Ollie, LeRoy Crawford, and James Wilcox.

That evening, on November 20, 1901, around 11:10PM, Nell escorted Wilcox presumptively out of the house. About 15 minutes later, Crawford left as well. After the departure of Crawford, Ollie closed the door and windows and went to the bedroom she shared with her sister. She was surprised to find that her sister was not yet in their room, but figured she was either still talking with Wilcox outside or in the dining room and either went to sleep or stayed awake until 12:30AM depending on which newspaper issue you read. Whether she went to sleep or stayed awake, a commotion on the property had Mr. Cropsey getting his gun to defend his pigs. At that point, Ollie told her father to not shoot as James and Nell were potentially in the yard. Not finding Nell in the near vicinity, they began to search for her. Still unable to find her, the family enlisted the help of the community the following day. The search came to an end on December 27th when her body was found close to her home on the surface of the Pasquotank River. Wilcox was found guilty of second degree murder in 1902 and sentenced to 30 years.

According to the newspaper clipping from the March 13, 1941 issue of The Daily Advance, Wilcox’s father—former sheriff of Pasquotank County, Thomas Wilcox—tried several times to have him pardoned on petitions. The pardons were denied by governors two separate times supposedly as a result of Wilcox’s attitude during the search for Nell and towards the Cropsey family during the trial. In 1918, however, Wilcox was pardoned by Governor Thomas Bickett after writing the governor a “humble letter […] declaring innocence.”

To learn more about the Nell Cropsey case as it was happening, read the March 21, 1902 issue of the Tar Heel (Elizabeth City, N.C.) that provides details of the trial or by searching our newspaper collection here. For a present day look into the case, view The Daily Advance‘s article from October 9, 2021, “Author: Wilcox wrongly convicted of Cropsey murder,” covering author William Dunstan’s talk on the Cropsey case.

To view more materials from the Museum of the Albemarle, visit their contributor page here.

To browse more newspapers from across the state, visit our North Carolina Newspaper Collection linked here.

To learn more about the Museum of the Albemarle, visit their website here.


Explore the History of North Carolina’s Furniture Industry in New High Point Documents

Drawing of three factory buildings
Drawing of High Point Furniture Co. from High Point Illustrated, published in 1906

North Carolina is renowned for its high-quality furniture production, and the Piedmont city of High Point specifically is known as the “Furniture Capital of the World.” This moniker was earned during the late-nineteenth through mid-twentieth centuries, when the furniture industry was at its “high point.” Thanks to our partners at the High Point Museum, new materials now available on Digital NC give unique insight into this storied history with catalogs, Chamber of Commerce pamphlets, directories, and more. These documents roughly span the first half of the twentieth century, and provide a great deal of information on the prominent figures and companies in North Carolina’s furniture industry. Researchers can also visit High Point Museum’s Online Collections here to see more.

Couches from the Hi-Lite Illustrated catalog featuring Hi-Life of High Point, Inc. couch line in 1964

High Point area newspapers and furniture catalogs now online

Front Page Newspaper

Front Page of The High Point Enterprise on July 21, 1969, after Neil Armstrong lands on the moon.

Report

Front Page of the “Hi – Lites”, a report from the High Point Chamber of Commerce in 1958.

Digital NC is happy to announce new materials from the Heritage Research Center at the High Point Public Library and High Point Museum. The latest items include yearbooks, newspapers, annual reports, furniture catalogs and so much more!  

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.

Be sure to check out our newspapers, yearbooks, and memorabilia collections from partners throughout NC.  


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


Dozens of Maps, Booklets, Brochures and Scrapbooks from High Point Now Available on DigitalNC

An aerial shot of the city of High Point circa 1955.

40 new maps, booklets, and brochures from High Point, North Carolina have been digitized and added to DigitalNC, courtesy of our partners, the High Point Museum and the Heritage Research Center at High Point Public Library. These materials range from the 1930s all the way to 2018, really illustrating all the different ways that the city changed throughout the 20th century.

There is a huge variety of materials in this batch. The scrapbooks contained in this collection date from 1931 to 1944 and focus on municipal issues in High Point and the Piedmont Triad. Over a dozen booklets and programs are also included that are from the Community Leadership Development Program of the High Point Chamber of Commerce. These booklets memorialize the programs designed to inform community members about local issues and businesses, encourage productive discussion and develop future local leadership.

The 1992 class of Challenge: High Point attending a meeting at WGH Piedmont.

A number of other booklets are included as well. Many of them contain statistics about High Point at that date, including its tax rates, municipal features, population sizes, what industries are there, per capita incomes, and more. Many also contain photos of local institutions and colleges, as well as larger maps of High Point. Finally, this collection also contains several maps by themselves, including one map of High Point that highlights city limits, and others that highlight High Point as it is in 2013 and 2018.

To see more from the High Point Museum, take a look at their partner page, or visit their website. To learn more from the Heritage Research Center at High Point Public Library, please check out their partner page, or take a look at their website.


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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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