Viewing entries posted in April 2014

1927-1948 Issues of Carolina Magazine Now Online

Illustrations from the October 1928 and February 1929 issues of the Carolina Magazine.

Printer’s ornaments from the October 1928 and February 1929 issues of the Carolina Magazine.

Issues of the Carolina Magazine from 1927-1948 are now available on DigitalNC. The Carolina Magazine was published for over a hundred years, from 1844-1948, and briefly served as a literary supplement for the Daily Tar Heel (1929-1934). The UNC Student Publications in the North Carolina Collection, Alphabetical Listing has some information on this publication:

Though it changed a great deal in the 104 years of its existence, the magazine always contained long well-written articles and essays on history, art, and education, as well as original stories and poems by Carolina students.

The Student Publications in the North Carolina Collection document (linked above) reveals that some prominent literary figures had early work published in the Magazine–figures such as Walker Percy (1935), and Shelby Foote (1935-36). The Magazine also contained reviews of new books by now classic authors such as Hart Crane, Daniel Defoe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, Aldous Huxley, Robinson Jeffers, Margaret Mitchell, and the beloved UNC graduate Thomas Wolfe.

Perhaps most interesting, though, is the several issues in the late 1920s that were dedicated to writings of and by Black authors. Influenced by the sweep of the Harlem Renaissance to the north, UNC students invited prominent writer Lewis Alexander to guest edit the May 1927 publication of the Carolina Magazine, which they called the “Negro Number.” In his acknowledgement as guest editor, Lewis Alexander states that it was “the purpose of the editors to present an issue representative of Negro life and art.” The issue contained contributions from Lewis Alexander himself, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and other well-known Black writers. The tradition of dedicating a spring issue to Black authors continued in May 1928. The following year produced the “Negro Play Number” in April 1929, and a final “Negro Number” in May 1930.

carolinamagazine58univ_0238

The New Negro, a print by Alan R. Freelon from the May 1928 issue.

For more on the “Negro Number” issues of the Carolina Magazine, read Robert K. Poch’s review of Charles J. Holden’s book, The New Southern University: Academic Freedom and Liberalism at UNC in The American Educational History Journal: Volume 40, #1 and 2, 2013; you can also check out the book itself from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill libraries.gremlin


Wayne County Yearbooks Now Online

dillardite195703dill_0018

Additional yearbooks from five high schools in Wayne County are now available on DigitalNC: Seven Springs High School (1952), Fremont High School (1964), Grantham High School (1964), New Hope High School (1958-1959), and Dillard High School (1957-1963), an African-American high school that was integrated into Goldsboro High School in 1969.

The Dillard High School yearbooks in particular are worth a glance. The 1957 Dillardite is full of delightful details, like teachers photographed with props from their classroom, a photo of the City Schools supervisor that carefully mirrors the illustration, and lighthearted cartoons that replaced students who had missed picture day (collaged below).

dillardite1959absent

The yearbooks are available courtesy of Wayne County Public Library.  To view more North Carolina High School Yearbooks, visit here.


Yearbooks from Harnett County now online

LillingtonHS_1957

Yearbooks from three different high schools in Harnett County are now available on DigitalNC.  The schools include Lillington High School, whose Footprints yearbooks cover 1948 through 1963, Angier High School, whose Old Acquaintances yearbooks available are from 1959 and 1960, and a 1963 Seniorogue yearbook from Broadway High School.

BroadwayHigh_1963

The yearbooks are available courtesy of Harnett County Public Library.  To view more North Carolina High School yearbooks, visit here.

AngierHigh_1960


Madison County Bookmobile Scrapbook now available on DigitalNC

Patrons visiting the Madison County Bookmobile

Patrons visiting the Madison County Bookmobile

A scrapbook compiled by Mrs. Peggy Dotterer covering the life of the Madison County Bookmobile through pictures and press clippings is now available on DigitalNC.  A former school teacher, Mrs. Peggy Dotterer started the Madison County Bookmobile in the 1950s and ran it for 15 years until her retirement in 1970.

Three days a week she traveled the mountain roads, serving 2000 regular customers. She drove 1000 miles a month, 12 months a year. The other two days she spent at Madison County Library in Marshall, 20 miles north of Asheville.

Entrance to the Madison County Public Library

Entrance to the Madison County Public Library

Weekly columns in the newspaper kept patrons up-to-date about the comings (or not comings) of the Bookmobile. In the following column Mrs. Dotterer mentions that the radio station WWNC announces her schedule every morning.

Newspaper clipping

These materials and more can be found in the scrapbook, which is available courtesy of Madison County Public Library.

Mrs. Peggy Dotterer

Mrs. Peggy Dotterer

 


The Seven Cleverest North Carolina Yearbook Titles

Here are our picks for the 7 cleverest North Carolina yearbook titles in our collection.

Hickory Log Yearbook, 1962

#7 “Hickory Log” Hickory High School

A clever play on words for this “log” of the year’s activities. View all Hickory High School yearbooks, courtesy the Hickory Public Library.

Si Si Yearbook, 1961

#6 “The Si Si” University of North Carolina at Charlotte

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte was formerly known as Charlotte College. View all University of North Carolina at Charlotte yearbooks.

Gray Matter Yearbook, 1972

#5 “Gray Matter” Wake Forest School of Medicine

There are all kinds of clever covers for this intellectually themed, physiologically fitting title. View all Wake Forest School of Medicine yearbooks.

Hacawa Yearbook, 1921

#4 “Hacawa” Lenoir-Rhyne University

“Hacawa” is a one-word abbreviation of Halls, Campus, Walls. In and around these centers the whole student life here. The Hacawa is an emanation from the work, play, joys, trials, and triumphs of the entire college for the year.” (1909 Hacawa, p. 8) View all Lenoir-Rhyne University yearbooks.

Quips and Cranks Yearbook, 1932

#3 “Quips and Cranks” Davidson College

“Haste thee nymph, and bring with thee
Jest and youthful Jollity,
Quips and cranks, and wanton wiles,
Nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles…” – L’Allegro, by John Milton

View all Davidson College yearbooks

The Wagrub Yearbook, 1959

#2 “Wagrub” Burgaw High School

We like this title because the students capitalized on the school name they were dealt. View all Burgaw High School yearbooks, courtesy the Pender County Public Library.

Ayantee Yearbook, 1970

#1 “Ayantee” North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

You may need to say our the title out loud before it sinks in. This one has stumped staff in the past, making it our #1 pick. View all North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University yearbooks.

Disagree with our picks? Let us know.


Watson Family Materials from Rocky Mount Online

Beth Watson

Beth Watson

The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center recently digitized a number of items related to the Watson family of Rocky Mount. The family is well known for their tobacco and other seeds grown on the Watson Seed Farm in Whitakers, N.C. The materials came to us from the Braswell Memorial Library (Rocky Mount, N.C.).

The items are diverse, ranging from greeting cards and wedding invitations to tobacco industry publications; and span over thirty years. Though the objects cluster around a few key players, most of the Watson family appears in at least one item; to help navigate the extended family a quick look at their family tree is very helpful. Due to the amount of overlap in naming, each family member is referred to by their full name as it appears on the family tree in descriptions of the objects. George Benedict Watson, Sr. is referred to as George Benedict Watson, and his wife Martha Anne Speight Watson is different from her daughter Martha Anne Watson.

Extension Research on Wheels Annual Review, 1977


Photographs from the M.S. Brown Collection Now Available

M.S. Brown

Self-portrait of M.S. Brown

Photos from the M.S. Brown Collection are now available on DigitalNC. The collection includes hundreds of photographs taken by Milton Steele Brown throughout the early to mid 1900s, and prominently features citizens, organizations, and events taking place in Tarboro, N.C., Rocky Mount, N.C., and surrounding Edgecombe County areas.

Grand Stands in the Baseball Field

Grand Stands in the baseball field

Known locally as “Coca Cola” Brown, M.S. Brown opened a Coca-Cola plant in Tarboro in the early 1900s and served as a town commissioner. He was active in community organizations and local government, regularly attending and assisting with various events. As an avid photographer, Brown documented Coca-Cola sponsored events, town social gatherings — such as baseball games, 4-H Club meetings, and the Gallopade Parade — and historical sites such as the Tarboro Town Common and the Barracks.

Annual Meeting for Edgecombe County Bureau at the Baseball Field. August 24, 1946. (left and center). People at the Baseball Field during a 4-H Club Event, surrounding the Coca-Cola crates. (right)

Annual Meeting for Edgecombe County Bureau at the baseball field. August 24, 1946. People at the baseball field during a 4-H Club Event, surrounding the Coca-Cola crates.

Additionally, Brown photographed active community members, including the Tarboro Merchants Association secretary Mary Godfrey and Congressman L.H. Fountain.

Miss Mary Godfrey at her desk and Congressman L.H. Fountain (center) at Belk-Tyler's ribbon cutting.

Miss Mary Godfrey at her desk and Congressman L.H. Fountain (center) at Belk-Tyler’s ribbon cutting.

This extensive collection covers over 40 years of Tarboro and Edgecombe County history. It is an ongoing project with the Edgecombe County Memorial Library, with more images expected in the future.


UNC Library Extension Publications Now Online

Assorted UNC Library Extension Publications

English History through Historical Novels (1957), Thomas Wolfe: Carolina Student (1950), Africa: South of the Sahara (1955), The Southern Garden (1934), and Books as Windows to Your World (1956).

Interested in studying reading, writing, or politics? Check out these newly digitized UNC Library Extension publications from 1934-1958. The Library Extension Publications provided introductory essays and accompanying short study outlines based on library materials. The essays cover a wide range of contemporary literary and academic issues, either addressed in a standalone issue or in a series (e.g. “Adventures in Reading” and “Other People’s Lives”). Particularly interesting are the articles covering the political turbulence in Europe leading up to the second world war. Europe in Transition [1935] takes a brief early look at the contemporaneous rises of Mussolini and Hitler, as well as the political climate of the rest of Europe. For more on the politics of Europe at that time, check out Political Problems in Present-Day Europe 1938 and 1939.

These volumes are shared from the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.



Tarboro’s Home Front News now Available Online

Mothers of Servicemen portraits, May 1945.

Mothers of Servicemen portraits, May 1945.

Twenty-two issues of The Home Front News are now available on DigitalNC! The Home Front News was a World War II newspaper produced by the Tarboro Rotary Club in Edgecombe County, N.C.. Edgecombe County Memorial Library provided us with issues from March 20, 1943 to the last issue on September 20, 1945.

The newspapers are full of jokes, clever rhymes, and drawings of pin-up girls. Not only did the paper provide entertainment for the soldiers overseas, but it also served as a register for births, marriages, and deaths.

There was even a dedicated Mothers of Service Men issue in May 1945 which featured portraits of over a hundred local mothers dressed in their Sunday best (pictured above). These portraits were taken by M.S. Brown, a Tarboro resident and photographer who owned the Coca-Cola factory. Brown almost always contributed at least one photograph per issue, usually a full page toward the back of the newspaper with a portrait of a community resident and caption. For more photos taken by “Coca-Cola Brown”, view the M.S. Brown Digital Exhibit.

"Now the point is, you won't get stuck if you pin me up." From September 20, 1943 issue.

“Now the point is, you won’t get stuck if you pin me up.” From September 20, 1943 issue.


DigitalNC Blog Header Image

About

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.

Social Media Policy

Search the Blog

Archives

Subscribe

Email subscribers can choose to receive a daily, weekly, or monthly email digest of news and features from the blog.

Newsletter Frequency
RSS Feed