Viewing entries posted in June 2014

North Carolina Newspapers Report on the Start of World War I

Notice of Archduke's Assassination from Alamance

The Alamance Gleaner’s News Snapshots of the Week for July 9, 1914 included details of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife.

The notice of the Archduke's assassination published by The Enterprise, The Hickory Democrat, and The Roanoke Beacon.

The notice of the Archduke’s assassination published by The Enterprise, The Hickory Democrat, and The Roanoke Beacon.

One hundred years ago, on June 28, 1914, the Archduke of Austria and his wife were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the nationalist group Mlada Bosna (Young Bosnia). Many historians cite this incident as one of the first of several events which led to World War I. In commemoration of the war’s centennial, the staff at the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center will post occasional blog entries which examine the way in which the conflict was covered by newspapers across the state. Blog posts will focus in particular on how the war affected communities in North Carolina. Of the newspapers made available online by Digital NC, ten were in print during the war, each published once per week:

July 2 notice of the Archduke's assassination from The Courier.

July 2 notice of the Archduke’s assassination from The Courier (Asheboro).

The Archduke’s assassination received mention in several of these papers.  The Enterprise, The Hickory Democrat, and The Roanoke Beacon all printed the same column, shown above.  Since the assassination occurred on a Sunday, the news had time to cross the ocean and reach editors before the weekly editions were published on Thursday and Friday.  However, The Alamance Gleaner did not alert their readers to the event until the following week when it was included in the syndicated News Snapshots of the week (see top of post).

Throughout July, tensions in Europe continued to escalate.  By the end of the month, Austria-Hungary had declared war on Serbia and in early August, Germany declared war on Russia, France, and Belgium.  This led to Britain’s August 4 declaration of war against Germany.

Headline from the July 31 edition of The Carolina Home and Farm and the Eastern Reflector

Headline from the July 31 edition of The Carolina Home and Farm and the Eastern Reflector.

With the beginning of open hostilities, the conflict began to receive more attention in North Carolina newspapers.  In the edition of July 30, The Alamance Gleaner ran a short column headlined “The War Dogs Aloose in Europe,” asserting, “It is now imminent that all Europe will be involved in a bloody conflict.”  On the same day, The Mebane Leader published a column originally printed in The Charlotte Observer in which Serbia is compared to a copperhead snake.  The average American may have been unaware of Europe’s rising tensions only a month ago.  By the first week of August 1914, the tensions had boiled over into full-blown war, making the situation newsworthy to the citizens of North Carolina.


Wake County Yearbooks Now Online

From the 1922 Rattler, Raleigh High School's yearbook. Part of a photo essay of Raleigh.

From the 1922 Rattler, Raleigh High School’s yearbook. Part of a photo essay of Raleigh.

The Digital Heritage Center partnered for the first time with the Olivia Raney Local History Library in Raleigh to digitize nearly a hundred Wake County school yearbooks, catalogs, reunion books, and graduation programs.  The materials, which span 1909-2008, are windows into the daily lives and times of North Carolinians throughout the century.

Some of these yearbooks come from schools no longer in operation. Here, we’ve provided a brief history of each former school (when available), and a link to the volumes from that school (see section “Closed Schools” below). We also digitized yearbooks from schools that still exist today (see “Current Schools” section at end).

Closed Schools

Charles B. Aycock Junior High School (Raleigh, N.C.)

Aycock Junior High School Cheerleaders, 1969.

Aycock Junior High School Cheerleaders, 1969.

History: Junior high school in operation from 1965-1979, when its campus was absorbed by William G. Enloe High School, which was built in 1962. The building was and still is known as the “East Building” on Enloe’s campus. Its original students were from the recently closed Hugh Morson Junior High School (formerly Hugh Morson High School).

Volumes: Aycock [1967]; Charles B. Aycock Junior High School [1974]; six of The Owl’s Nest [1968-1973]; two of Owl’s Nest [1975-1976]

Fuquay Springs High School (Fuquay-Varina, N.C.)

Students of Fuquay Springs High School at work, 1953.

Students of Fuquay Springs High School at work, 1953.

History: Three elementary schools in the area joined together to open Fuquay Springs High School in 1918. The was renamed Fuquay Varina High School in 1963 and operated until fall 1970, when it combined with Fuquay Consolidated High School to form the new Fuquay-Varina High School. That school is still in operation today (history from Fuquay-Varina High School website).

Volumes: three of The Greenbriar [1953-64]

 

Hugh Morson High School (Raleigh, N.C.)

Hugh Morson High School building, 1928.

Hugh Morson High School, 1928.

History: On September 2, 1925 the students of the overcrowded Raleigh High School moved into the brand new school called Hugh Morson. The school spanned the block of Morgan Street bounded by Person, Blount, and Hargett Streets. It was named for the long-time teacher and beloved first principal at Raleigh High School, Mr. Hugh Morson. Today, all that remains is a plaque and two gargoyles. The school newspaper was The Purple and Gold; its colors, purple and gold. These colors live on today as the colors of Needham B. Broughton High School (more details in this Good Night Raleigh post; history summarized from an excellent entry in Historical sketches of the Raleigh Public Schools by Mrs J. M. Barbee, 1943).

Hugh Morson High School was demoted to a junior high school in 1955 and operated until 1965, when it closed. Over winter break in 1965, the students were transferred to the new Charles B. Aycock Junior High School and the school was officially closed and demolished in 1966.

Volumes: 18 of The Oak Leaf [1927-1955]; Morson Memories [1962]; Hugh Morson High School Class of 1955 50th Year Reunion Memorial Directory [2005]

Hugh Morson Junior High School (Raleigh, N.C.)

Volumes: PTA Year Book [1963]; Morson Junior High [1964]

Raleigh High School (Raleigh, N.C.)

Raleigh High School, 1923.

The Raleigh High School building on W. Morgan St, 1923. The school closed in 1929 and was later demolished.

History: Raleigh High School, which preceded both Hugh Morson and Broughton High Schools, was built in 1909 next to “the Raleigh water tower, across the street from fire station #1, on W. Morgan Street” (Good Night Raleigh post). The city of Raleigh decided to build a high school in 1905, reported the News and Observer. The paper also reported that the school’s principal would be Professor Hugh Morson, who ran a successful and well-known boys’ school. The West Morgan Street location was selected for its proximity to both the State and Olivia Raney libraries (the school had no library of its own). The school was built to contain 250-300 students in 1907, but enrollment was soon up to 500. The school built a two-story brick annex during 1921-1922, just east of the city water tower. But schools were soon closed during an influenza pandemic, and the buildings of the high school were used to house patients. In, fact, the school never re-opened. By 1928-1929, the building closed for good, as Hugh Morson and Needham B. Broughton High Schools had both been built. Later the building was used by the Salvation Army, and then divvied up and sold. (Note: history summarized from an excellent entry in Historical sketches of the Raleigh Public Schools by Mrs J. M. Barbee, 1943)

Volumes: seven of The Rattler [1909-1923]; Rattler [1913]; Cylinder [1924]

Rolesville High School (Rolesville, N.C.)

Volumes:Blue Devils [1960]

James E. Shepard High School (Zebulon, N.C.)

Shepard High School boys' basketball seniors, 1970.

Shepard High School boys’ basketball seniors, 1970.

History:  African-American high school from 1933-1970.

Volumes: The Lion [1970]

 

 

 

Wakelon High School (Zebulon, N.C.)

Wakelon High School, side view, 1948.

Wakelon High School, side view, 1948.

History: Wakelon School opened in 1908 in an “eclectic brick building” in Italian/Neoclassical style (National Register of Historic Places; the building was added in 1976). It was designed by C. E. Hartage, a Raleigh architect, and features a prominent center octagonal tower. The school’s construction was a big boon for the town of Zebulon, which was incorporated just a year before the school’s construction. Its construction was a result of the 1907 General Assembly act that also established Cary High School. It operated until it was merged with the integrated Zebulon Elementary. The last of the students graduated in the 1980s, and the building was sold to GlaxoSmithKline. It has since been bought back and is now a town hall.

Volumes: two of The Wak-Igh-An [1941-1948]

Washington High School (Raleigh, N.C.)

Washington High School building, 1945.

Washington High School building, 1945.

History: In 1869, a school for African-American students was built at West South Street in Raleigh by the American Missionary Society of New York. The school was bought in 1875 by the city of Raleigh and organized as a public elementary school. The school grew, but by 1918 Shaw University and St. Augustine’s College had both discontinued their high school programs, leaving Black students nowhere to pursue education beyond the elementary level. In the fall of 1924, Washington Elementary and High School opened (Historical sketches of the Raleigh Public Schools by Mrs J. M. Barbee, 1943). It was designed by C. A. Gadsen Sayre in the Jacobean style, a popular style for school architecture in in the 1920s, and continued as the only public high school for African Americans in Raleigh from its inception until 1953 (Raleigh Historic Development Commission). The building now holds Washington Gifted and Talented Magnet Elementary School.

Volumes: two of The Echo [1945-1950]

Current Schools

Cary High School (Cary, N.C.)

Volumes: three of Catalogue [1925-1927], a course catalog and campus publication with photographs of the classes and details of the curriculum; yearbooks: The Chsite [1920]; Chsite [1924], six of The Yrac [1952-1962]

St. Mary’s School (Raleigh, N.C.)

Volumes: The Muse [1917]; five of The Stage Coach [1927-1945]

North Carolina State School for the Blind and the Deaf (Raleigh, N.C.)

Now the Governor Morehead School for the Blind.

Volumes: four of The Reflector [1954-1960]

Needham B. Broughton High School (Raleigh, N.C.)

Volumes: 21 of The Latipac [1931-1964]; Needham Broughton High School Classes of 1939-1940 Reunion XXXXV [1984]; Perspectives: 50th Reunion, Class of 1958 [2008]; Journeys: NBBHS Class of 1959 50th Reunion [2009]

To view all of the new Wake County materials, click here.  And click here to view all yearbooks from Wake County area high schools.


Jamestown High School Yearbooks Now Available On DigitalNC

Best All-Around in the 1959 Jamestown High senior class

Best All-Around in the 1959 Jamestown High senior class

The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center has added a new partner institution, the Old Jamestown School Association.  Through them, we have added 17 yearbooks from Jamestown High School to DigitalNC, from their first yearbook in 1940 until 1959, when Jamestown High School was renamed Ragsdale High School and moved into a new building across town.  The old Jamestown High School building now serves as the location of the Jamestown Public Library.

Visit the North Carolina Yearbooks collection on DigitalNC for more high school and college yearbooks from around the state.


Marionette photographs and library history materials now online from Montgomery County

Sixth graders create puppets in Helen Poole's class. January 1968

Sixth graders create puppets in Helen Poole’s class. January 1968

Sixth graders performing with puppets they built, November 1973.

Sixth graders performing with puppets they built, November 1973.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center recently completed scanning a set of materials from Montgomery County Public Library.  Included were several photograph albums featuring students at Troy Elementary School building and playing with marionettes.  The albums belonged to Helen Poole, who taught the puppets class to sixth graders at Troy Elementary for many years.  The albums span the 1960s-1970s.

Douglas W. Brooks Library building, before it was converted into a library. Drawn by Jim Reese, 1977.

Douglas W. Brooks Library building, before it was converted into a library. Drawn by Jim Reese, 1977.

Other materials from Montgomery County include several items related to the history of the libraries in the county, including plans for the Biscoe Public Library, the dedication program for Montgomery County Public Library in 1979, and a drawing of the original Douglas W. Brooks Public Library.

To view all materials on DigitalNC from Montgomery County Public Library, visit here.


Central Piedmont Community College yearbooks and catalogs on DigitalNC

The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center has added a new partner, Central Piedmont Community College.

Cover of the 1986-1988 course catalog for Central Piedmont Community College

Cover of the 1986-1988 course catalog for Central Piedmont Community College

Thanks to this partner, we have just added to DigitalNC course catalogs from the college dating from it’s start in 1965 to 2002.  Yearbooks dating from 1962-1964 from Mecklenburg College, an African American college in Charlotte that merged with the Central Industrial Education Center in Charlotte to form Central Piedmont Community College in 1964, are also now online.

Cover of the 1990-1992 course catalog for Central Piedmont Community College.

Cover of the 1990-1992 course catalog for Central Piedmont Community College.

To view more materials from colleges and universities across North Carolina, visit here.


Pinehurst Golf History in Old Newspapers

Much of the coverage of this year’s men’s and women’s U.S. Open golf tournaments in Pinehurst mentions the long history of golf in the community. DigitalNC includes many resources that document and illustrate the history of golf in Pinehurst, including early issues of The Pinehurst Outlook, a weekly newspaper published for the town’s winter residents who had left their homes in the northeast in search of recreation and a more temperate climate.

Here are a small selection of clippings from the paper, including some of the first mentions of golf in the late 1890s, news about course designer Donald Ross, an announcement of the opening of the famous No. 2 course, and news of well-known golfers in Pinehurst.


Summer Newspapers and Highlands High School Materials Now Online

Thanks to a new contributing partner of the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, Highlands Historical Society, the Galax News, a local newspaper published for the summer residents of Highlands, and yearbooks and a student newspaper from Highlands High School are now available on DigitalNC.

The Love Bug played at the Galax Theater in the summer of 1970

The Love Bug played at the Galax Theater in the summer of 1970

The Galax News was published weekly by the Galax Theater in downtown Highlands with news about what was going on in the town for the summer.  Listings of what movies were showing were naturally a regular feature in the paper, as well as information about what events were going on at the local churches, festivals in town, who was renting their house out for the summer to who, who was arriving or leaving town, and even the guest list of the local hotels for the week.  Advertisements for local businesses are also a key component.  The issues available online date from 1952 through 1971.

The title cover of the April 10, 1942 issue of The Mountain Trail, published by Highlands High School

The title cover of the April 10, 1942 issue of The Mountain Trail, published by Highlands High School

Materials from Highlands High School are now online as well.  Yearbooks dating from 1941 to 1964 are available as are issues of  the student newspaper, The Mountain Trail, dating from 1938 to 1974.


Exploring the History of Golf in Pinehurst on DigitalNC

Donald Ross in Pinehurst, 1935

Donald Ross in Pinehurst, 1935 [Tufts Archives (Pinehurst, N.C.)]

As the sporting world descends on Pinehurst for the U.S. Open this week, I thought it would be a good time to look at some of the terrific resources available on DigitalNC.

At the center of all research on Pinehurst history is the Tufts Archives. Located in the Givens Memorial Library in the village of Pinehurst, the Tufts Archives is home to photographs, manuscripts, and artifacts related to the history of the town of Pinehurst. It is especially strong in the establishment of golf in the region, with papers of the legendary course designer Donald Ross. Yesterday’s New York Times had a feature on the renovation of the famed Pinehurst No. 2 golf course and talked about the importance of the Tufts Archives in determining the original condition of the course.

The Digital Heritage Center has worked with the Tufts Archives to digitize and share online a small selection of historic photos from the collection. These include images of prominent golfers in Pinehurst, including Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, and a young Jack Nicklaus.

TScreen Shot 2014-06-10 at 8.49.43 AMhe Center has also digitized early issues of The Pinehurst Outlook, a weekly paper that started publication in 1897, just as the town was being developed as a resort community. One of the earliest mentions I found of golf in the paper was an article from February 18, 1898, announcing the completion of the first golf course in Pinehurst, a nine-hole course modeled after the famed St. Andrews course in Scotland. The course included “a thick growth of rye” which was kept short by a flock of sheep.

These early issues of the Outlook also include many mentions of Donald Ross, who was at the time not known as a designer but simply as an accomplished golfer available for lessons. The paper reported on Ross’s ongoing improvements to the courses and the steadily growing interest in golf in Pinehurst.

Also available on DigitalNC are more than 20 years of issues of The Pilot, from the neighboring community of Southern Pines. The Pilot has always done a terrific job covering the local community and these early issues include many articles about golf in the region.

Keep up with the Digital Heritage Center on Twitter where we’ll share more highlights from Pinehurst history this week and next.


Baseball scrapbooks from Wayne County now online

Four scrapbooks featuring baseball players who went into the big leagues from Wayne County are now online on DigitalNC.

From Sunday Star Sports, a Washington, D.C. paper on April 17, 1949.

From Sunday Star Sports, a Washington, D.C. paper on April 17, 1949. President Harry Truman threw the opening pitch at the game that day.

Two of the scrapbooks feature Ray Scarborough (1917-1982), a pitcher from Mount Olive, NC who played for the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and Washington Senators, and he served as a scout for the Baltimore Orioles.  During his time on the Yankees, they went to the 1952 World Series and Scarborough was a scout with the Orioles when they went to the World Series in 1966.  The scrapbooks have a mix of materials from his baseball career and as a boy growing up in Wayne County and as a student at Wake Forest University.  The materials in the scrapbook are a mix of photographs, letters, and newspaper clippings and cover the 1940s through 1980s.

TimTaltonbattingaverage1960

Tim Talton and his rival for top batting average in the Eastern League Pedro Gonzalez in 1960.

The other two scrapbooks feature Marion (Tim) Talton of Pikeville, N.C., who played as catcher for the minor league teams the St. Cloud Rox in Fargo, ND and the Springfield Giants in Springfield, MA.  Known for his exceptional hitting, Talton had the second highest batting average in the Eastern League in 1960 with a .331.  One scrapbook covers his time on the St. Cloud Rox in 1959 and the other, his time on the Giants in 1960.  Talton moved up to the major leagues in 1966 and played for the Kansas City Athletics.

The scrapbooks were made available through Wayne County Public Library.  To view more baseball materials in DigitalNC, visit here.


Visiting the Oliver Nestus Freeman Round House Museum in Wilson, NC

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.

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.

Learn more about Freeman’s work on the North Carolina Architects & Builders site from the North Carolina State University Libraries.


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