Thanks to our partners at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, DigitalNC is proud to announce that two new scrapbooks are now available online! The scrapbooks commemorate two major administrators of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College: Director C. Merrill Hamilton and Chairperson Harold Kenerly. They are the first of their kind to be added to NC Digital’s repository of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College records, and highlight the college’s vivid history from a brand new light.

C. Merrill Hamilton was the first president and director of the community college from 1962 to 1977, during a period when the school was still known as the Rowan Technical Institute. He presided over a period of growth for the institution, and his scrapbook records newspaper articles announcing scores of new programs hosted by the school. Aerial photography records the sometimes controversial land-acquisitions bought under Hamilton’s tenure, upon which many new buildings were constructed to host the school’s growth.

Chairperson Harold Kenerly’s scrapbook records just a single night of celebration for the administrator and Marine, but holds a wealth of fascinating information on the commemorative banquet. The scrapbook celebrates Kenerly bringing an “esprit-de-corps” to campus, and is decorated in Marine regalia. Highlights of this scrapbook include color photographs of the feast held at Salisbury Country Club, a full six-course menu, written invocations of the grace, and rules written for “proper Marine mess etiquette.”

You can find both scrapbooks online at DigitalNC here. If you’d like to learn more about Rowan-Cabarrus Community College’s history, you can find their partner page at DigitalNC here, or their website here.