Hundreds of new photos, documents and artifacts have been newly digitized at DigitalNC, courtesy of our partners, the Kings Mountain Historical Museum and the Mauney Memorial Library. These digitized materials are part of a joint project between the two institutions, DigitalKM.
Vice President Rockefeller speaking at Kings Mountain High School in 1975 in celebration of the bicentennial.
Included in this batch is nearly 600 images and over 50 historical artifacts from Kings Mountain Historical Museum. These photos include blueprints for the U.S. Post Office at Kings Mountain, photos from the Kings Mountain Centennial parade and celebrations, school and class photos, photographs of military personnel, pictures of local clubs, bands, and sports teams, and much, much more.
Some of the artifacts from Kings Mountain Historical Museum include souvenir programs and other memorabilia from the centennial (100 years), sesquicentennial (150 years), and bicentennial (200 years) anniversaries of the Battle of Kings Mountain. This collection also includes a set of different photographs of military personnel, individuals from Kings Mountain, Trinity Episcopal Church in Kings Mountain, sports teams from the Kings Mountain High School, and much, much more.
A Boeing Flying Fortress, purchased with war bonds bought by Kings Mountain residents during WWII.
Also included are over 125 photos from Mauney Memorial Library and over a dozen historical objects. The photos include class pictures from schools around Kings Mountain, photos of churches around Cleveland County, areas and buildings in Kings Mountain, several aerial views of local schools, and much, much more.
Among these artifacts from Mauney Memorial Library are a collection of research binders by Bonnie Mauney Summers, which contain hand-written notes and charts of genealogical research on 3 branches of the Mauney family and others around Kings Mountain. There is also a binder of monthly meeting minutes taken by the secretary of the Kings Mountain House and Garden Club, dating from 1956-1963. Finally, this collection includes a series of different photographs of areas and people around Kings Mountain, as well as a batch of letters to military personnel sent and received during World War II.
Charles E. Neisler Jr, relaxing in the Davidson College Chemistry Lab, circa 1915.
You can learn more about the Kings Mountain Historical Museum by visiting their contributor page or by visiting their website. To learn more about the Mauney Memorial Library, click here to visit their partner page or click here to visit their website. This collection is part of a joint project to digitize materials related to Kings Mountain history. To learn more, visit the DigitalKM website.
A photograph of the World War II Memorial Honor Roll in Kings Mountain, NC. Established by LIONS International.
Over a dozen new documents, photographs, scrapbooks, and artifacts have been digitized and added to DigitalNC, courtesy of our partner, the Kings Mountain Historical Museum.
One scrapbook celebrates the centennial celebration of Kings Mountain in 1974. Including photos of people dressed in vintage costumes, newspaper clippings, event flyers, and other items, this scrapbook serves as a permanent commemoration. There is also a series of scrapbooks about the family of Jacob S. Mauney, one of the pioneers of Kings Mountain. These scrapbooks were compiled between the 1950s and 1990s, with the family bringing together their history through newspaper clippings, papers, photographs, and other ephemera.
A postcard from France in 1919. The photo is of the 1st Division Band playing at the Argonne Cemetery.
One box we received contains photographs from 1917-1943 of all kinds. One collection has a series of photographic postcards from the Argonne Cemetery in France in 1919, while there are other individual photographs, including a photo of the World War II Memorial Honor Roll in Kings Mountain. There are photographs of Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, a photo of the Central Graded School in Kings Mountain, and more.
We also received a number of books and booklets, the majority from the first half of the 20th century. One booklet is a soldier’s account of traveling in battle during World War I throughout France and Germany, while another is his record ledger of soldiers, his meals, and more recorded from 1923-1925. Another booklet is a history of the Battle of Kings Mountain fought in 1780, and there is a booklet celebrating the 50th anniversary of the First National Bank of Kings Mountain.
Six new artifacts and two newspaper titles are now available on DigitalNC from our partner, the Kings Mountain Historical Museum.
The items date from as early as the 1780’s and reflect depth of the collection of this unique partner institution. The Kings Mountain Heritage Museum began as a storage space in the attic of the old city hall and moved to local homes and offices until a new location could be secured. The museum now resides in the former city post office and houses collections that foster a deeper understanding of the material culture of North Carolina’s Piedmont region.
The items that relate to land grants and court appearances in the surrounding area. Some of the locations mentioned in the documents may be familiar to locals and offer interesting stories about the area. These items could be useful for anyone interested in genealogical research or anyone looking for teaching tools about contracts and agreements from the period.
In addition, two newspaper titles have also been added. Several issues from the Kings Mountain Herald are now available, including two from 1914, more two decades earlier than the next issues. Also available is a new title, the Progressive Reformer, with an issue from 1894.
To learn more about the Kings Mountain Historical Museum please visit their contributor page or their homepage.
A sketch of the Battle of Kings Mountain, drawn by Kathryn L. Bolin.
New photographs and sketches of Kings Mountain have now been digitized and uploaded to DigitalNC, courtesy of our partner, the Kings Mountain Historical Museum. These sketches were created by Kathryn L. Bolin, and depict militiamen and soldiers at the Battle of Kings Mountain. These sketches were designed for the Mural of Battle of Kings Mountain in the Kings Mountain City Hall.
These sketches in particular join the collection of materials on the Battle of Kings Mountain we have already digitized on DigitalNC. In our holdings, we have photographs of the bicentennial celebration of the Battle, materials like programs from that celebration, histories of Kings Mountain, and more.
Having these materials in our collection helps complete our understanding of the Battle of Kings Mountain, as well as how we remember it. To see more from the Kings Mountain Historical Museum, check out their contributor page here, or click here to visit their website.
We are one of 29 finalists for the Institute of Museum and Library Services 2018 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. Now through April 13, IMLS is asking the people who have been impacted by the Digital Heritage Center to share their stories. If you have a story you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you! Please contact us or share via social media by tagging us on Facebook (@NC Digital Heritage Center) or on Twitter (@ncdhc).
Today’s story comes from Sharon Stack, Library Director at Mauney Memorial Library in Kings Mountain. We have worked with Mauney to digitize a variety of materials, including an H. Lee Waters film of Kings Mountain in 1942 (shown below). Even more, we have enjoyed partnering with them as they expand their own digitization capacity through an LSTA grant joint project with the Kings Mountain Historical Museum. Sharon shared these thoughts in support of our Medal application and we reshare them today with her permission.
Kings Mountain High School Students from the 1953 yearbook, courtesy Mauney Memorial Library.
For the Mauney Memorial Library and the Kings Mountain Historical Museum, those words describe the archival and museum holdings of our respective collections. The NC Digital Heritage Center has been a lifeboat for these collections. Our partnership is simple. When staff are traveling near Chapel Hill, NC we
take our collections and have the Center digitize and publish them. Now, years later, collectively we have built a body of work that is reaching critical mass. With funding from an LSTA grant, we are working with the Center to host the museum and library’s photography collection. This will give Kings Mountain and North Carolina residents’ unprecedented access to the library and museum’s holdings. These materials are helping us to weave a digital story to entice and engage residents to learn more about their hometown and the fundamentals of its soul and the people and events that created it. It is an honor to write this letter of recommendation for the IMLS National Medal on behalf of NC Digital Heritage Center. Lisa Gregory and her staff take very complex processes and make it easy for the professional working in the field to digitize and publish collections. They are easy to work with, accessible for questions, and technical expertise. They go the extra mile to finding solutions to make materials available electronically. This depth of service is what sets the NC Digital Heritage Center apart. For a small town North Carolina library and museum, the Center helps us to make our collections:
We have worked with Kings Mountain Historical Museum to digitize many large, detailed blueprints as well as other documents regarding the construction of the post office in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. These are now available on DigitalNC. There are 46 blueprints from the 1930s and 1960s, showing features of the floor plans for the post office as well as details such as mechanical and electrical plans, entrances, windows, lettering, lock boxes, and even the locations of plants. Additionally, there are documents about the construction of the post office and maintenance and repair over the years, giving insight into the communications between the federal government and a smaller, local institution in the 1930s and 1960s.
Sixth grade students at West Elementary School in Kings Mountain, 1959-60. Contributor: Kings Mountain Historical Museum
We are very excited to announce that our site has expanded to include four new sets of primary source teaching resources available for any teachers, researchers, or curious explorers to use. Each of these sets focuses on a particular topic in North Carolina history and includes a curated selection of 15-20 primary sources from our 300+ partners around the state. Within each set is a blend of visual materials (photographs, videos), written materials (newspaper articles, speeches, letters), and audio materials (interviews, oral histories) from the DigitalNC collections.
Each set also comes with short context blurbs for each item, as well as general background information, a timeline, a set of discussion questions, and links to genre-specific worksheets (ex. How to Analyze a Newspaper Clipping). While some of these topics are more concentrated in particular regions, our goal is to connect these broad themes in history to local examples that students can recognize. Here’s a look at the four initial primary source sets:
From the 1971 Gohisca yearbook from Goldsboro High School. Contributor: Wayne County Public Library
While you may be familiar with some of the national stories around school integration after Brown v. Board of Education, this teaching set samples North Carolina yearbooks, photographs, newspapers, and oral histories to ground this topic in familiar places. It draws primarily on our collections from historically Black high schools, many of which were closed during this period (though their alumni associations remain strong!). This collection also implements local materials from the Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Supreme Court case over busing.
A cartoon from The Front Page in Raleigh, N.C. (1980). Contributors: Duke University & UNC Charlotte
This set was inspired by the popular NCPedia page, “Analyzing Political Cartoons,” which explains some of the strategies for understanding cartoons in their historical context. Here, we’ve selected examples from over a century of newspapers that include topics such as the 1898 Wilmington Coup, women’s suffrage, economics, and a few contemporary political issues. Each example comes with a bit of historical context and some background on the newspaper itself.
Textile workers marching in Gastonia, N.C. in 1929. Contributor: Gaston County Museum of Art & History
North Carolina’s history of labor is inextricably tied to the legacy of the textile industry. This set uses photographs, memorabilia, speeches, and newspaper clippings of two famous examples—the Loray Mill strike of 1929 and the activism of Crystal Lee Sutton—to weave together an understanding of North Carolina’s economy and culture through one of its major industries of the 20th century.
A postcard from the American Tobacco Company cigarette plant in Reidsville, N.C. Contributor: Rockingham County Public Library
It would be impossible to fully understand the history of North Carolina in the 20th century without talking about the tobacco industry. This set uses photographs, newspapers, videos, and oral histories to explore the lives of tobacco farmers and factory workers as well as the major families who controlled the vast tobacco wealth. Additionally, it includes examples of how the industry affected culture, including a new generation of advertising that attempted to combat public health concerns.
Hazel Herndon, a young woman from Charlotte, North Carolina, joined the Red Cross in 1944 and was assigned overseas during World War II. Throughout her time abroad, Hazel kept a large and detailed scrapbook about her life. It contains diary entries about her work in the Red Cross, travels around Europe (including England, France, and Germany), and personal life, such as her friendships and marriage. The scrapbook is full of photographs, letters, pamphlets, postcards, maps, and many more items that paint a detailed picture of Hazel Herndon’s life working for the Red Cross during World War II.
William Andrew Mauney was a Confederate soldier from North Carolina who kept a diary during the Civil War. The diary, which comes from the Kings Mountain Historical Museum, has been digitized and added to DigitalNC. The Mauney Diary also includes a transcript of the diary, making the text searchable and easier to read.
Mauney was born in Cleveland County, North Carolina, and enlisted at Brevard’s Station on August 6, 1861. He began the diary in December 1861 and continued it through 1865. He wrote about daily life in the army and their movements and battles around North Carolina, Virginia, and up to Pennsylvania. Mauney also lists the names of officers and privates in the Confederate army, writes down finances, rations, and a clothing inventory, and wrote out lyrics of songs that were sung in the soldiers’ camp (below). Along with the Civil War Diary are a letter from William Andrew Mauney to his father and a receipt fragment from the diary.
You can see more from Kings Mountain Historical Museum here and visit their website.
“Songs for Camp.” Mauney writes out lyrics to camp songs in his Civil War diary.
William Andrew Mauney’s letter to his father during the Civil War.
Back in August, 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 300+ 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 2022.
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.
