Typically, yearbooks cover a single academic year but UNC Pembroke published a single yearbook with material from 2021-2022. This yearbook comes in the wake of COVID-19 and gives insight into what the lives were like for members of the UNC Pembroke community. Take some time and flip through the pages, there are some real gems in this yearbook.
The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center is pleased to announce materials from our partners at Saint Augustine’s University [formerly known as Saint Augustine’s College] in Raleigh, NC are now available for viewing and researching purposes. The materials we digitized are a part of the Voices of the Episcopal Church Women project that features women who attended St. Augustine’s University and had a positive impact on their communities. These women participated in the leadership positions at the local Episcopal churches, played roles in activism in Raleigh, had careers in politics, nursing and education to name a few and produced great works of art. There are candid photographs and portraits of the women of Saint Augustine’s University attending classes and church, leading educational instruction, and generally living their lives. Newspaper clippings can be found that detail the work and contributions to their respective communities. There are also audio files where you can hear interviews with some of the women featured in the Voices of the Episcopal Women project. These materials contribute to St. Augustine’s University’s rich history by providing insight into the connections among education, church and community. You can find these materials on the NCDHC website. To see what is happening at St. Augustine’s University these days, visit their website.
DigitalNC is excited to announce that our new partner the Perquimans County Restoration Association has contributed a collection of materials on historic homes located in their communities. The collection of newspaper clippings, correspondence from the PCRA, and brochures that include tour maps cover various years between 1990 and 2010. Featured in documents throughout the collection are pictures and descriptions of the historic homes that communicate the extraordinary stories behind these living spaces.
Historic Homes Brochure, 2006.
Histories of homes built in the 18th and 19th-century.
Tour Map.
This collection is perfect for people interested in architecture dating back to the 18th century and the histories associated with these beautiful North Carolina homes. One may be tempted to take a trip to Perquimans County to explore the area firsthand after viewing this collection. But before you make travel plans, start your journey to the historical homes of Perquimans here. And to learn more about the Perquimans County Restoration Association visit their contributor page.
DigitalNC partner Cleveland County Memorial Library provided us with a rich collection of documents, photographs, and yearbooks related to the history of Black citizens in the area. Much of the collection focuses on Black schools that were established during the era of Jim Crow and segregation. These schools were created out of necessity but did not survive integration, leaving their history vulnerable. Fortunately people like Ezra A. Bridges, a longtime educator and community activist, made it a priority to preserve items related to the Black experience in Cleveland County.
Biographical Information on Ezra A. Bridges.
Ezra A. Bridges at groundbreaking.
A few highlights from the collection are the yearbooks, various histories of schools in the area, and photographs of students and educators. There is a lot more in this important collection of materials that stress and celebrate Black citizens of Cleveland County and their relentless pursuit of education and proper representation. To see more from Cleveland County Memorial Library visit their contributor page.
A third batch of photos provided by the Oliver Nestus Freeman Round House Museum have been digitized and added to DigitalNC. These photographs and newspaper clippings are about the athletes and coaches in Wilson, including teams from Darden High, Speight High School, and Frederick Douglass High School, as well as hall of fame members. The Oliver Nestus Freeman Round House Museum is located in Wilson, North Carolina and has artifacts relating to the contributions of African Americans to Wilson.
Past blog posts about items from the museum can be seen here and here. You can view more from the Oliver Nestus Freeman Round House Museum on their contributor page and learn more about them on their website.
We’re also pleased to present four very fragile scrapbooks from the Museum. The first three are full of portraits and family scenes. Although the photos are labeled with a good number of first names or familial titles, we have very little definitive information about the people inside. (If you know more, contact us.) The fourth scrapbook has a collection of pressed leaves.
Forty-five photographs from the museum are now available online, in addition to a number of other documents and items related to Freeman and others in Wilson. You can view all of the items here.
Yesterday the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center staff visited the Oliver Nestus Freeman Round House Museum in Wilson, N.C. The museum celebrates African American history in Wilson County and honors the memory of Oliver Nestus Freeman, a local stonemason and builder who had a fascinating life and career.
Stone dinosaur created by Oliver Nestus Freeman; Round House Museum in the background. Photo by Kristen Merryman.
Freeman was a Wilson County native, born in 1882. He attended the Tuskegee Normal School where he gained experience in construction and masonry. He returned to Wilson in the 1910s and worked as a mason for decades. He worked on many projects, incorporating a distinctive style using a variety of stones of different shapes and sizes. Many of his projects are still standing in Wilson today.
In addition to his masonry work, Freeman was also known for the animals he kept at his house. The yard was filled with wild birds, rabbits, a goldfish pond, and several small bears. It became a sort of a tourist attraction with residents and visitors stopping by to give peanuts to the bears.
One of Freeman’s most distinctive buildings was the round house he built in the 1940s to rent to veterans returning from World War II. The house had fallen into disrepair by the 1990s when it was chosen by local citizens to serve as a new African American history museum. The house was moved in 2001 to its current location at the intersection of Nash and Hines streets near downtown Wilson. The museum contains photos and documents commemorating African American pioneers and leaders in Wilson and includes a nice display of photos and artifacts from Freeman’s life.
The museum is open for visitors and is well worth a visit next time you’re in or passing through Wilson. There is more information on the their website.
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.
1,691 issues of The Asheville-Gazette Newsare now available on the site, thanks to our partners at Buncombe County Public Libraries. This paper was published daily and is an incredibly rich resource for information on life in early 1900s Asheville. 1904-1909 were years of rapid growth, as Asheville grew from a small mountain town to a major hub for the region. The arrival of railroads in the 1880s transformed Asheville into a popular resort town for travelers seeking the healthful mountain air and beautiful landscapes. Just a few years before these issues were published, George W. Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Estate was completed as the largest private residence in the United States, cementing the city as both a tourist destination and a desirable place to live. While trains and electric cars still reigned as the main method of transportation, these newspapers show the advent of the automobile and its early adoption by some residents.
Making the case.
One of many railway company advertisements.
The city was growing in population, commerce, and technological advancement. Asheville in the early 1900s was maturing into a real urban center, with 14,000 permanent residents in 1901. As such, the issues in these newspapers are concerned with matters ranging from hyper-local to international. Readers could see which of their neighbors was traveling and to where, and on the next page get the latest updates on the 1905 Russian Revolution. Elections, both regional and national, were covered in The Asheville-Gazette News. Advertisements reveal the many businesses operating in town and speak to the needs and interests of residents, including many promoting various elixirs and compounds for healing illness. The content in these newspapers is wide-ranging and reveals a great deal about the history of Western North Carolina and its place in the world.
Local issues of the day.
An early incidence of coal mining and labor conflict.
Researchers can view all of The Asheville-Gazette News issues on DigitalNC here. See all of the materials contributed by Buncombe County Public Libraries here, and visit the digital collections on their site here. Lastly, visitors to our site can see all of our digitized newspapers on the North Carolina Newspapers page.
Six years of the Mount Olive Tribune are now on DigitalNC, thanks to our partner University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries. The new issues are the first from the Tribune to be hosted on our site. The Mount Olive Tribune is based out of Mount Olive, North Carolina, and has served Duplin and Wayne Counties since 1904.
This batch covers 1942 to 1944, as well as from 1954 to 1956. The issues, numbering almost six hundred in total, contain articles covering daily life in the Carolina Piedmont during the second world war and the post-war period. Articles feature stories on how to reach your deployed loved ones, news at the Southern Farm Market, and advertisements for newfangled soda fountains. The papers are both comprehensive and cohesive, covering a myriad aspects of life within Mount Olive during the period.
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.
A second batch of images from the 
