Another newspaper title has been added to our Newspapers of North Carolina collection courtesy of our partner, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This batch of The Scottish Chief, presumably named for the part of Maxton, N.C., that lies in Scotland County, contains issues from 1915 to 1956.
One of the ongoing columns in the paper is “This Week in Washington,” which recaps national news from the Capitol. Some of the articles are all business, like the April 5, 1933 column describing President Roosevelt’s efforts to aid farmers. Others are more light-hearted; the one from December 24, 1934 that begins:
“Lest the reader of this column get the impression that nothing but serious matters of weighty moment are talked about in Washington, here are a few paragraphs of casual gossip heard in the corridors of public buildings and on the street corners.”
The gossip edition also has a section called “Interesting Women” that lists some of the jobs women in Washington were doing, such as advocating for uniform labor laws across states, increasing job opportunities for women, and selecting the supply of books sent to sea with the Navy.
To see more of “This Week in Washington” and other news from Maxton, you can look at all digitized issues of The Scottish Chief here. You can also browse our entire Newspapers of North Carolina collection by location, type, and date. To learn more about UNC Chapel Hill and its collections, visit the UNC Libraries website and their partner page.
Washington High School Homecoming Queens, 1945
Two yearbooks from Washington High School in Raleigh, N.C. have been added to our site thanks to our partner, the Olivia Raney Local History Library. One is a standard edition of The Echo from 1943; the other is a special edition, The Echo Nostalgic Reflections, from 1977.
Among the pages of Nostalgic Reflections are a few spreads of Washington High School royalty: homecoming queens throughout the years. Some of the listed winners are Margaret Smith Cooper (1941), Daisy Debnam (Miss Washington High 1946), Ressie Curry (Miss Washington High 1947), Juanita Freeman (1948), Lula Poe (1949), Sarah Frances Sewell (1950), Mary E. Williams (1951), and Mildred McKay (1952).
Miss Margaret Smith Cooper, Queen 1941
Mildred McKay, Queen 1942
Next to the homecoming spreads are photos from the alumni dance (1976), as well as championship game information from the school’s football program.
Curiously, there doesn’t seem to be any information about who succeeded Mildred McKay as homecoming queen in 1943 in The Echo—school events seem to have been a lower priority for the yearbook’s editors than academics, clubs, and favorite poems.
You can see all yearbooks from Washington High School here. To find out more about Olivia Raney Local History Library, visit their partner page or the Wake County website.
Thanks to our new partner, Martin Community College (MCC), a North Carolina audio series focused on the history of Martin County and videos showcasing Martin Community College are now available on our website. The recordings detail the history of Martin County beginning all the way from the Upper Paleolithic (~50,000 to 12,000 years ago) to the 1980s. Included in the chronicling of the county’s history is information on early burial practices in northeastern North Carolina (including humans and dogs), hunting practices, Indigenous culture, colonization of the area, agricultural economy of the region, transportation, and much more.
Videos in this batch feature a look at the MCC campus in the 1990s and provide information about the various programs offered by the college at the time. These programs included basic skills, equine management, and medical assisting. The remaining videos highlight the exciting MCC Stampede in the Park rodeo event. This event, which continues to be held annually, raises money for Martin Community College student scholarships.
Stampede in the Park, Rodeo, 1992
Martin Community College is located in Williamston, North Carolina and was established in 1968 as Martin Technical Institute. On June 26, 1975, the college was granted community college status by North Carolina’s General Assembly. The MCC library serves not only the faculty, staff, and students of the college, but the citizens of Martin, Washington, and Bertie counties. Their local history room features books on the history of Martin as well as other surrounding counties, North Carolina history, narratives and photographs of historic buildings, and the Easter Rogerson Mizell Family Genealogy Collection.
To learn more about Martin Community College, please visit their website.
To listen or view more of North Carolina’s sights and sounds, please click here.
Thanks to our partners, Washington County Library and Pettigrew Regional Library, 760 issues of The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News are now available on our website. This batch covers from January 3, 1930 to December 28, 1944. These issues highlight local and national news stories such as the United States entrance into World World II, a list of residents stationed in Hawaii during the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and birthday party celebrations in the community.
The newspaper was first published in 1889 under the title The Roanoke Beacon. In 1929, the paper consolidated with The Washington County News and the name was changed to The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News. Thirty years later in 1959, the paper reverted back to its original title, The Roanoke Beacon. The paper continues to publish under this name today.
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County Newspaper, June 17, 1932.
To view more issues of The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News, please visit here.
To learn more about the Washington County Library, please visit their website.
To learn more about the Pettigrew Regional Library, please visit their website.
Thanks to our partners at George H. and Laura E. Brown Library, we now have 24 new yearbooks available on our website. They are from Washington High School and span the years 1945-1969, giving substance to what was previously only one yearbook from Washington High.
Located in Washington, N.C., the seat of Beaufort County, Washington High titled their yearbooks Packromak. They replicate many typical features of U.S yearbooks, including photos of students, faculty, dances, and clubs as well as the traditional senior class last will and testament and superlatives.
For a look at all 25 Packromak yearbooks, click here. For more information about the George H. and Laura E. Brown Library, visit their landing page here.
An advertisement from the September 19, 1916 issue.
Two more years of the Washington Daily News from 1915-1916 are now online, joining previously digitized issues from 1909-1914. These issues were provided by our partner, the George H. and Laura E. Brown Library. The Washington Daily News is a newspaper serving Washington, North Carolina, a small city located in Beaufort County, North Carolina. The paper was started in 1909 and exists today under the same name.
An interesting pronouncement in the February 8, 1916 issue.
The newly digitized issues were published six days a week and covered events of both local and national importance. Included are stories about the local and national economy, politics, notable events, businesses advertisements, town gossip, and commentary on farming and industry around Washington, North Carolina. The paper also provided Washingtonians almost daily updates about World War I which was raging abroad.
To browse through all the digitized issues of the Washington Daily News, click here. To see more materials from the George H. and Laura E. Brown Library, visit their DigitalNC partner page, or take a look at their website.
An article updating Washington residents about the war front in the September 26, 1916 issue.
The Hill, Page 1
Partnering with the Hickory Public Library in Catawba County, NC, DigitalNC has published a copy of “The Hill,” a volume documenting the history and people from the Ridgeview Community in Hickory.
The Ridgeview Community, better known as “the Hill,” was once a bustling community full of close-knit families, active churches, and Black-owned businesses. The area was hub of activity in the late 1930’s, with many physicians’ offices, beauty and barber shops, restaurants, and entertainment. Most of the homes and business were demolished between 1950’s and the 1980’s, but the volume documents many of the photographs and memories that some Hickory residents still hold.
Drucella Sudderth Hartose, The Hill, page 8
The volume is comprised of the research and memories of Drucella Sudderth Hartsoe, a community leader in Catawba county who has steadily worked to make Hickory a better place. She was president of the Progressive Club and took the initiative to send her daughter to Hickory High School as the first African American student. Hartsoe moved to the hill in the 1940, a time when the area was thriving with activity and personally been a part of the history. Many of the photos and research come from her family history and direct experiences.
The volume also documents historical moments in the community, like participation in civil rights activities. One example is picture below, in which members of the Ridgeview Community traveled to Washington D.C. to march with Dr. Martin Luther King in August, 1963.
The Hill can also serve as a useful genealogical tool for those interested in families and property from the area. It contains many images, family names, and death dates of community members both old and young. This is especially true for those in the religious community, as the volume draws heavily on church records. It also documents the street addresses and locations of businesses that have long since been demolished. In addition, the volume contains many names and images of those who went to school in the Ridgeview Community, especially those who participated in extra curricular activities, like band and sports.
The Hill, page 81
The Hill, page 58
Information ranges from the community’s founding in 1903 through publication in 2001.
To learn more about the Hickory Public Library and its collection, please visit the contributor page or the homepage.
A front page headline from September 2, 1909 celebrates Frederick A. Cook’s trip to the North Pole and subsequent return to Lervik, Norway.
Issues of the Washington Daily News, contributed by the George H. and Laura E. Brown Library, are now available on DigitalNC. The Washington Daily News is a newspaper published six days a week, that started in 1909. The 1,441 issues now available digitally, span 1909-1914. The paper focuses on news from Washington, a small city located in Beaufort County, North Carolina, but also includes news as from the nation as a whole. While front-page headlines tend to tackle breaking stories from the American South, the United States, and beyond, shorter pieces recount municipal issues, meetings, social gatherings, and more.
A brief update on the repair of a local school in the September 3, 1909 issue.
The Washington Daily News still exists in both print and online form, and in 1990 the paper won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for a series of articles exploring and exposing water contamination in Washington, North Carolina.
To learn more about the George H. and Laura E. Brown Library, visit their partner page, or take a look at their website.
Wilson County World War II Scrapbook, Page 52
The newest addition to the Wilson County’s Greatest Generation: The Memories of the World War II Veterans of Wilson County, N.C. digital exhibit is a scrapbook of newspaper clippings.
The scrapbook is a collection of newspaper clippings from various local newspapers and features citizens from Martin County and the surrounding towns, including Jamesville, Williamson, and Washington. The clippings include marriage announcements, injury and death announcements, new appointments, and overall movements of battles and the war.
Researchers might be interested in the way that smaller, local communities used the press to raise support around members of the community serving and the war effort overall. It is also a great source of genealogical information.
Check out all of the materials from Wilson County Public Library by visiting their contributor page and learn more about them by visiting their website.
Postcard showing The American Tobacco Company cigarette plant in Reidsville, North Carolina.
We’ve recently finished digitizing and publishing online more local history materials from Rockingham County Public Library. This is another batch coordinated as part of a 2014-2015 Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) EZ Digitzation Grant, and we’re excited to share these with you.
Periodicals added with this batch include Insights to Jerusalem, a newsletter published by the Jerusalem United Holy Church of America in Reidsville, NC. These volumes, from 1990-1994, include church news, recipes, short essays, and more. Old Rockingham County Magazine, also published during the 1990s, is a variety magazine with stories, historical anecdotes, household hints, ads, and local lore.
There are also a number of additional volumes of research on a variety of Rockingham County residents and topics by local historian John T. Dallas.
The remaining items include materials about the American Tobacco Company (The Story of Lucky Strike, and a postcard of the plant in Reidsville), two reports on civil rights in Reidsville, and a scrapbook full of newspaper clippings and ephemera documenting Washington Mills.
