From the 1950-1976 scrapbook
The reverse side of the postcard
Our latest batch of materials from the Wayne County Public Library includes some seriously cool scrapbooks that document almost a century of the library’s history. Ranging from 1910 to the 1990s, these seven scrapbooks contain detailed minutes, photographs, newspaper clippings, event paraphernalia and other ephemera.
One of the most exciting sections is the collection of letters from North Carolina authors—who also happen to be mostly women—in the 1950-1976 scrapbook. Several writers seem to have been invited for readings and events at the library, and they wrote letters back to library staff about their experiences.
From the 1950-1976 scrapbook
One of the most famous writers that visited was Betty Smith, who is probably best known for her novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (there are several materials about her already on DigitalNC, including this video interview). Although she was born in New York, Smith adopted Chapel Hill as her home town later in life and is still buried in the Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery. Along with the card that she sent to library staff (pictured above), the scrapbook includes a newspaper clipping with an interview of Smith where she encourages Chapel Hill to resist the push for industry and to preserve its small-town character.
“I hate to see commercialism,” she said. “They come in and tear up trees that took 200 years to grow, and pile them up and burn them to get rid of them. Then they stick out little trees—with wire holding them up. Why couldn’t we have a shortage of bulldozers!”
The second half of a letter from Doris Betts
Another well-known author included here is Doris Betts, who served as an English and creative writing professor at UNC Chapel Hill. Betts was born in Statesville, attended UNC Greensboro and eventually settled in Pittsboro. In her literary career, she produced six novels, three short story collections, a Guggenheim Fellowship, three Sir Walter Raleigh Awards and the N.C. Medal for Literature. Her archive is now part of the UNC Chapel Hill Southern Historical Collection at Wilson Library.
Other authors included in the 1950-1976 scrapbook include Inglis Fletcher, Bernice Kelly Harris, Mebane Holoman Burgwyn, Bernadette Hoyle, and Mertie Lee Powers.
You can see the full collection of scrapbooks here. To see more materials from the Wayne County Public Library, you can visit their partner page and their website.
Thanks to our partners at Wayne County Public Library, we have added 4 1971 yearbooks from 4 different high schools in Wayne County to DigitalNC. These yearbooks are:
Of note, the Goldsboro High School yearbook has several pages commenting on the second year of racial integration. While the yearbook states “…pupils, mingling with greater ease, were known more by name than color” it also noted that “the segregated stands at a basketball game show lingering misconceptions among GHS students” (images 11 and 20).
Additionally, several students from Goldsboro High School flew out to Hollywood, California to surprise Andy Griffith, a former GHS teacher, during a taping of This Is Your Life.
For a look at all 4 yearbooks, click here. To view the entire collection of DigitalNC’s high school yearbooks, click here. And to learn more about Wayne County Public Library, you can visit their home page, here.
DigitalNC is happy to announce that a new batch of 100+ photographs and ephemera from Wayne County plus selections of William T. Dortch’s personal bible are all available to view online. We would like to thank our partners at Wayne County Public Library for making this possible.
Two of the digitized photos are large photographs from around the time of World War I, depicting soldiers in Fort Bragg, N.C. and La Bazoge, France. The other photographs and ephemera in the collection speak to everyday life in mid to late 20th century Wayne County. Much of the material comes from Goldsboro High School, such as photos of cheerleaders and a resolution from the City of Goldsboro congratulating the Cougarettes on winning the state 4-A Girls’ Tennis Championship. Other photos include youth sports teams and many school portraits from New Hope School.
The portions of the personal bible of William T. Dortch contain primary information on the Dortch family tree. The fastidious documentation of marriages, births, and deaths stretches from the 18th century all the way to the turn of the 21st century.
To view all digital content from Wayne County Public Library, click here. And to learn more about the Wayne County Public Library, please visit their contributor page or website.
Thanks to our partner Wayne County Public Library, we have added several items covering Goldsboro and Wayne County history to DigitalNC this past fall. Promotional items encouraging folks to “Come to Goldsboro” published by the Chamber of Commerce and city itself in the 1910s are included, as are a yearbook and history of the First Presbyterian Church, city ordinances from 1885 and speeches given by prominent citizens of the town.
Booklet published by the Goldsboro Chamber of Commerce encouraging business in the city in 1913
We also now have yearbooks online from local Wayne County High Schools spanning the period of 1959-1968. The yearbooks are from Central High School, New Hope High School, Charles B. Aycock High School, and Dillard High School.
The cover of the 1960 issue of Nohosca, the yearbook for New Hope High School in Goldsboro, N.C.
For more information about the Wayne County Public Library, visit their website.
Several scrapbooks from the Wayne County Boy’s Club have been added to our website, courtesy of our partner the Wayne County Public Library. These scrapbooks include histories of the club, photos, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia from or related to the Wayne County Boy’s Club. They roughly span the years of 1946-1980. The scrapbook from 1974-1975 focuses on the integration of the Boys Club in Goldsboro, when the EA House and Paley units of the club combined.
In addition to these scrapbooks, this batch also includes the program from the Eastern North Carolina Drama Festival, which was held at Goldsboro High School on March 27-29, 1947.
For more information on the Wayne County Public Library, please visit their website.
The ripples of the Civil War still resonate throughout the United States, especially in the south. North Carolina seceded from the Union in 1861 and joined the confederacy in its fight to maintain the institution of slavery. North Carolina was host to numerous battles during the war and there has been much historical research of those encounters and how towns and people were affected by those tumultuous events. Primary source materials from the Civil War and Reconstruction era are useful for better understanding our past, present, and improving our future as fellow citizens of North Carolina.
Letter certifying that Hollowell was a prisoner of war
Now on our site you can read, though it may be disconcerting at times, original letters and correspondence from J.M. Hollowell, thanks to our partner Wayne County Public Library. Hollowell was a confederate soldier from North Carolina who was imprisoned by Union troops for a period of time during the Civil War. Included in this collection is a memoir, of sorts, by Hollowell that was published in 1939. Based on a series of articles he wrote in 1909 for the Goldsboro Weekly Record, this memoir published nearly thirty years after his death, gives the reader insight into the life, culture, and prejudices of a North Carolina citizen and confederate soldier. Reflecting the views of his peers at the time who were also fighting to maintain the status quo of slavery in the South during the Civil War, this collection of Holloway’s letters and writings gives insight into the daily thoughts of those fighting for the confederacy and how they reacted to Reconstruction, racial progress, and politics following the war. Explore J.M. Hollowell’s documents here.
War-Time Reminiscences and Other Selections by J.M. Hollowell
A birds eye view of Goldsboro High School, taken in 1968.
A new batch of yearbooks from Wayne County are now available on DigitalNC, courtesy of our partner, Wayne County Public Library. In this collection are over half a dozen yearbooks from the 1950s and 1960s from across Wayne County, including the city of Goldsboro and the towns of Dudley and Pikeville.
These yearbooks include individual portraits, class portraits, and more. They also include photographs of activities, student clubs, and the schools’ sports teams. These yearbooks highlight different parts of the student bodies, including the history clubs, the technical students, the students involved in foreign language classes, honor societies, and more.
A photo of students at Southern Wayne High School in 1968.
Follow the links below to browse the yearbooks from the schools included in this batch:
- The Governor, 1968, Charles B. Aycock High School
- Gohisca, 1968, Goldsboro High School
- Valhalla, 1968, Southern Wayne High School
- The Brohican, 1957, Brogden High School
- Chieftain, 1953, Nahunta High School
- Chieftain Junior, 1962, Nahunta High School
- Nuhosca, 1951, New Hope High School
Senior supplements published in the early 1940s are also now online, which can be seen here.
These yearbooks give us fascinating insights into what life was like for high school students in Wayne County in the mid-20th century. To see more from our partner who provided these yearbooks, visit Wayne County Public Library’s partner page, or take a look at their website.
A few weeks ago, our partner Wayne County Public Library brought three over-sized materials for us to scan here at the NCDHC while they waited. The items were a beautiful map of Goldsboro from 1881, and two posters related the building campaign for a memorial building in honor of those from Wayne County who died in World War I.
While we scanned these items, folks from UNC Communications stopped by to see us in action. You can see the footage they shot of our scanning processes here.
Learn more about our partner Wayne County Public Library on their partner page, or on the Wayne County Public Library website.
A home economics club meeting captured in the 1967 Gohisca
Yearbooks from five high schools in Wayne County are now available on DigitalNC. Included in this batch are five years of The Chieftain by Nahunta High School from 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, and 1960, two years of Gohisca by Golsdboro High School from 1966 and 1967, two years of Valhalla by Southern Wayne High School from 1966 and 1967, the 1966 Nuhosca by New Hope High School, and the 1966 Governor by Charles B. Aycock High School.
A superlative from the 1966 Valhalla
These yearbooks feature student portraits, photographs of classes and clubs, fun senior superlatives, and 1950s and ’60s fashion in full swing.
A superlative from the 1956 Chieftain
To view the most recent additions visit the links below:
To learn more about our partner, Wayne County Public Library, visit their partner page or take a look at their website.
Daredevil [1953], page 57
Daredevil [1953], page 60
DigitalNC is happy to offer two new yearbooks from the Wayne County Public Library. The yearbooks are from Eureka High School, located in Eureka, NC, which had a population of about 200 people at the 2010 census. These yearbooks offer a nice look into the life of a small community school during the 1950’s. Although it is described as a high school, both yearbooks feature 1st-12th grade classes. Yearbooks like these could be excellent resources for genealogy research, especially about this small community.
Eu-Re-Hi-Ke Daze [1952], page 60
You can view both yearbooks at the links below:
You can also view all of the yearbooks from Wayne County Public Library here.
To learn more about the Wayne County Public Library by visiting their contributor page or their website.
