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Moore County Hounds Leap Online!

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A photo of several suited figures on horseback looking at the camera. Behind them, a group of visitors sit on stands.
The winning hunt team of Weymouth’s First Hunter Trials: Dan Boyd, Tiny Whittlesy, and Alex Alexander.

Thanks to our new partners at the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, DigitalNC is proud to announce that a wonderful collection of equestrian history is now available online for the first time. The record? An absolutely stunning photographic portfolio chronicling the early days of the Moore County Hounds, the oldest pack of foxhounds and foxhunters registered in North Carolina. The organization was founded by James and Jack Boyd, longtime residents of Moore County, all the way back in 1914, and the portfolio records the organizations accolades, meets, and activities over the breadth of the twenty first century.

A photo of a gentleman on horseback clearing a jump.
Frank Capot on “Diamont” winning at a Dublin tournament in 1958.

But this monumental portfolio doesn’t just record the oldest foxhunting organization in the state in breathtaking photography, it also contains an amazing collection of vintage horse names! Identifications of both horse and rider are noted next to each image, preserving some truly fantastic equestrian appellations for posterity. Particular gems include “Hush Puppy,” “Moon Glow,” “Bumper Pass,” and “Ten Flags.” Dog lovers need not despair, however, as each hound-dog’s name has also been recorded in the annals of the scrapbook, with virtuous (and perhaps aspirational) titles such as “Vitality,” and “Energy.”

Janet Carter posing with the champion hound-dog "Wilful"
Janet Carter posing with her champion hound-dog, “Wilful”

Thanks again to our new partners at the Weymouth Center for making this collection of history available online. You can find the Moore County Hounds portfolio online now at DigitalNC here. Interested in learning more about the Weymouth Center? You can visit their partner page online at DigitalNC here, or find their website here.

Cowboy Hero Hopalong Cassidy Seen at North Carolina Dairy in Latest Batch

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memorabilia photos

Metal game pieces painted in yellow, green, blue, and red depicting people in cowboy hats riding horses.
Hopalong Cassidy Game Pieces, 1950

Thanks to our partner, Alamance Community College, batches containing over 70 new records featuring Melville Dairy materials, Hopalong Cassidy ephemera, livestock equipment, ritual objects, and more are now available on DigitalNC.

Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional character created by Clarence E. Mulford who was brought to life by actor William Boyd who appeared as the character in 66 movies between 1935 and 1943. When television started to become popular in the late 1940s, Hopalong Cassidy became the first cowboy hero series with Boyd making 106 television shows and 104 radio shows.

Individual wearing a cowboy hat and boots, leather jacket, and a gun holstered at their hip standing in front of a sign with their face and a milk carton. The sign text reads: Hoppy's Favorite. Melville Milk.
Hopalong Cassidy Outside Melville Dairy, circa 1950s

Unlike Mulford’s books, Boyd portrayed the character as a clean living cowboy who didn’t smoke, drink, curse, or gamble. The cowboy’s popularity amongst children’s Western heroes allowed Boyd to become “King of Cowboy Merchandisers.” He endorsed over 2,000 items, several of which can be seen in this batch, including a lunchbox, thermos, shirt, commemorative plates, and even a board game!

3D object. Delivery truck with a person dressed in a delivery outfit holding a tray holding milk bottles.
Melville All Star Dairy Delivery Truck with Delivery Person Toy

To learn more about Alamance Community College, visit their website here.

To view more materials from Alamance Community College, visit their contributor page here.

To view more materials from The Scott Family Collection, view our exhibit here.

Information about Hopalong Cassidy and William Boyd was gathered from the Oklahoma Historical Society’s encyclopedia entry linked here.

Issues of The Blowing Rocket, 1932-1948, Fill in Gaps Thanks to Partnership Project

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newspapers

Portion of color front page of Volume 1, Issue 1 of The Blowing Rocket with masthead, articles, and image of riders on horses with dogs.

Most of the newspaper issues available on DigitalNC are digitized from microfilm. While runs can be very comprehensive, there are often missed issues. We love it when those missed issues get filled in so we were especially excited when staff at Appalachian State University’s library offered to gather and digitize fill-in issues of Blowing Rock’s wonderfully named Blowing Rocket newspaper.

Issues were provided for digitization from App State, Blowing Rock Community Library, Blowing Rock Historical Society, and Watauga County Historical Society. You can easily see the new issues in this search, as they are in full color. The issues include the first issue of the paper, shown above, and scattered issues through 1948. You can view all of the newspapers available on our site at the newspapers home page.

Gibsonville Public Library Project Gathers Black History From Gibsonville Area

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Thanks to our newest partner, Gibsonville Public Library, a batch of materials from their project, “Gathering a Community History” are now available on DigitalNC as part of our latest exhibit Gathering Black History in Gibsonville. The materials in the batch are from the project’s first year and include a plethora of photographs from Black churches in the Gibsonville area, oral history interview videos (with transcripts!) with members of the Gibsonville community, as well as anniversary booklets from Faith Baptist Church and McLeansville First Baptist Church

Two individuals dressed up standing next to one another. Behind them is a green field and brick building off in the distance. To their back left is a white building with brick base. To their back right is a sign with black letters that in-part reads: St. James [?] [?] Church.
Service After Church

In the fall of 2023, the Gibsonville Public Library launched a project entitled “Gathering a Community History.” This project, sparked by a community conversation with members of the Faith Baptist Church (FBC), was conducted in partnership with FBC, the Gibsonville Museum and Historical Society, and the members and leadership of many other Black churches in the Gibsonville area.

Individuals dressed in mint green dresses (and one individual in the very back with a mint green polo) pose for a photograph in front of a white building.
St. James’ Choir

After being awarded a grant from the State Library made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the library purchased the technology needed to safely scan photos and documents as well as recording equipment for collecting oral histories. They also were able to hire a part-time research assistant who worked closely with area churches, individuals, and organizations to record interviews and digitize documents and photos. The first year of the project yielded a collection of 86 photographs, video interviews, transcriptions, and other materials—which can be viewed in our latest batch. This is just a starting point however for a continued community effort to gather and share the history of the Black community in the Gibsonville area.

To learn more about Gibsonville Public Library, visit their website here.

To view more oral histories from across North Carolina, view our Sights and Sounds Collection linked here.

To view more exhibits from across North Carolina, take a look at our exhibits page linked here.

Lower Cape Fear Historical Society Bulletins from 1957-2014 Are Full of Wilmington-Area Genealogical and Historical Information

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memorabilia

Portion of Bulletin front page with article title "Old Town Plantation Archaeological Project" below masthead and two black and white photos of individuals bent over and working in dirt.
Front page of the May 1969 issue of the Bulletin.

The Lower Cape Fear Historical Society, Inc. has shared over 50 years’ worth of their bulletins on DigitalNC. If you are a genealogist or historian interested in Wilmington and the surrounding area, these documents have many in-depth articles of interest. Many focus on particular individuals or families. There are also articles about historical events and the Society’s efforts at historic preservation of properties and houses. These publications are full-text searchable.

You can learn more about the Society on their website or by visiting their location in the Latimer House in Wilmington.

New Methodist University Materials Preserve the History of Carolina College and More

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campuspublications memorabilia newspapers

Our partners at Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. have contributed a large addition to their pre-existing collection on DigitalNC, and we are thrilled to make it available on the site! The first set of materials is related to Carolina College, a Methodist college for women that operated from 1912-1926 in Maxton, N.C. After the closure of the Carolina Military Academy, which operated at the former site of Carolina College, the Carolina College Alumni Association (CCAA) began meeting at Methodist University. Methodist University, which opened in Fayetteville in 1960, also became the home of the Carolina College archives when alumni entrusted their documents to the university’s archives. This most recent batch includes Carolina College’s original bond note, as well as several carefully-preserved scrapbooks containing event programs and photographs like the one below. See all of the Carolina College records on our site here and read more about Methodist University’s Carolina College collection on their website.

Carolina College students, 1912-1913.

Also included in this addition are 417 issues of the Methodist University student newspaper, spanning 1961 to 2015. These pages record nearly the entirety of the institution’s history and provide insight into issues affecting the student body almost up to the present day. Reactions to historical events and national news are also documented in the newspaper, such as in the following excerpted tribute to President John F. Kennedy after his assassination on November 22, 1963, written by religion and philosophy professor Dr. Samuel J. Womack.

Dec. 1, 1963 page 2.

Visitors to the site can peruse the Methodist University student newspaper here. View all of our materials from Methodist University at their contributor page here and read more about the university’s history on their website.

Latest Durham County Library Batch Brings New Blueprints, Maps, and More!

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maps memorabilia

Thanks to our partner, Durham County Library, a batch containing new blueprints, drawings, Festival for the Eno posters, and maps are now available to view on DigitalNC. There are several interesting materials from this batch, including blueprints for the Durham Colored Library and Juvenile Delinquents and Probation, 1950-1968 maps.

Blueprint titled: Durham Colored Library. The drawing shows the front of the library building.
Durham Colored Library Blueprint, 1939.

In 1916, John Merrick and Dr. Aaron M. Moore established the Durham Public Library in a building owned by Merrick at the corner of Fayetteville and Pettigrew streets. While the city of Durham, and later Durham County, provided appropriation for the library, the amounts were meager which meant they relied heavily on community support. In 1925, Hattie B. Wooten–the first librarian–began enacting her plan to increase circulation and promote the library. Her three-point plan was to promote the library as a place of interest for visitors, invite all community groups to host their meetings at the library, have the library placed in the Negro Yearbook.

Successful in her plan, the popularity of the library increased so much that they outgrew their space in Merrick’s building. Unfortunately, it was not until the late 1930s that they were finally able to make headway on relocating. In 1939, the library’s board of trustees passed a resolution to build a new library building that would be located at the corner of Umstead and Fayetteville. While significant sums were donated by several individuals including Dr. Stanford L. Warren who donated $4,000, the new building was financed primarily through a $24,000 loan from the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. In 1939, architect R. R. Markley drew up and revised the blueprints for the Durham Colored Library, which are part of this batch. The new library building, named in honor of Dr. Stanford L. Warren, opened January 17, 1940 and continues to serve patrons today.

Map titled: juvenile delinquency - July 1950-June 1958. There are numbers and circles in red and black pen.
Portion of the Juvenile Delinquency – July 1950-June 1958 Map.

To learn more about Durham County Library, visit their website.

To browse more materials from Durham County Library, visit their contributor page here.

Information about the Stanford L. Warren Library / Durham Colored Library was collected from the Durham County Library’s online exhibit, “The History of the Stanford L. Warren Library.”

X Marks The Spot In New Chapel Hill Maps!

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maps

A white and orange map of the Lake Forest housing development.

Thanks to our partners at the Chapel Hill Historic Society, DigitalNC is pleased to announce nine new maps are now available online! The maps depict Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and the rest of Orange County in stunning detail. As a gestalt, this collection demonstrates the wide variety of purposes different maps can serve. They range in topic from geologic surveys to housing development promotional material, and reflect the county’s growth from the early nineteenth century to Chapel Hill’s bicentennial celebration in 1993!

A great example of the history on display in this collection is the map of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, located on UNC Chapel Hill’s campus. The cemetery was created alongside the nascent university in the late eighteenth century, and has served Orange County’s deceased since it’s creation. The map of the grounds displays how the cemetery was used differently through the centuries, splitting the grounds into distinct phases of interment. You can see how the cemetery’s plots became denser and smaller as years passed and the cemetery’s available real estate became sparser and more exclusive. Eventually, large family plots became tighter packed and more individualized, and the space allotted between plots grew smaller and tighter in order to offer more plots to interested parties. This pattern of interment demonstrates how the cemetery grew from an unfortunate necessity to a place where alumni and faculty were literally (and metaphorically) dying to get into!

A map of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.

You can find this map, along with many other (less macabre) examples of Orange County history online now at DigitalNC here. Interested in learning more about Chapel Hill’s history? Visit our partners at the Chapel Hill Historic Society online at their website here, or explore their collection on DigitalNC online here. Thanks again to our partners at the Chapel Hill Historic Society for making these maps available!

Additional Hyde County Genealogical Materials Now Available on DigitalNC!

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Thanks to our partner, Hyde County Historical and Genealogical Society, table of contents and indices for the spring and fall issues of High Tides from 2018 to 2022 are now available to view on DigitalNC.

Title for journal. Text reads: High Tides.
Header for the High Tides journal. The text reads: Hyde County Historical and Genealogical Society. North Carolina. Volume XXXIX Spring 2018 Number 1.
High Tides [Spring 2018]

The Hyde County History and Genealogical Society was formed in 1963 with the objective to preserve and record the history of the county and its people. Their journal, High Tides, is published twice a year with one issue in the spring and one in the fall. High Tides features various articles which include history of the physical area, historical material highlights, citizen life stories, and more.

Text reading: Hyde County Historical and Genealogical Society.

To learn more about Hyde County Genealogical Society, visit their website here.

To view more materials from Hyde County Genealogical Society, visit their contributor page here.

To view more materials from across North Carolina, visit our website here.

See Chatham County’s Historic Architecture In New Records Now Online!

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memorabilia photos

A black-and-white photo of a house built in a Victorian style. A tree with gnarled branches is in the foreground, casting a shadow on the manor.

Thanks to our partners at Chatham County Historical Association, DigitalNC is pleased to announce a brand new batch of architectural records are now available online! This collection hosts a variety of drawings, clippings, and photos of historical homes nestled within Chatham County’s rolling hillsides. Many of the homes pictured in this collection were demolished in the twentieth century, making these images some of the only surviving records of the homes.

A newspaper clipping featuring a photo of the Scurlock House with the headline "Where Cornwallis Made Headquarters"

Perhaps one of the most interesting historical details included in this collection is the home of Major Mial Scurlock, a famous resident of Pittsboro in the nineteenth century. It’s said that this home was the headquarters of Lord Cornwallis, a British Army Officer, when he and his regiment occupied Chatham County as part of the Revolutionary War effort. It was at this home that he and his soldiers retreated to after their defeat at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Decades later, the home gained yet another military connection when it played host to the family of Mial Scurlock. Born in 1803, Scurlock was the clerk of Chatham County, an officer of the Militia, and a member of the North Carolina General Assembly. He and his family relocated to Texas in 1834, where he soon joined the fighting in the Texas Revolution. He fought in the Battle of the Alamo, where he perished as part of the fortresses’ defenders.

A drawing of the Pittsboro Community House, with attention paid to the pattern of its sandstone walls.

Another interesting home featured in this collection is the Pittsboro Community House. This building was constructed in 1934 as part of a Civil Works Administration Project focused on creating construction jobs in the Piedmont. Unusually, the home was built with walls of sandstone found within Chatham County. The house was used throughout the twentieth century as a library and eventually as a union hall, and still stands today as a historic site. This batch contains a drawing made by a ninth grader at the time of the home’s construction, as well as a digital photo taken recently. Comparing the two, it’s astounding to see how much of the building’s original architecture and character are preserved to this very day.

You can find the Scurlock House, the Pittsboro Community House, and many more beautiful Chatham County homes online now at DigitalNC here. Interested in learning more about the colorful history of Chatham County? You can find the county’s location page online at DigitalNC here. Thanks again to our amazing partners at the Chatham County Historical Association for making this collection available online. You can find the historical association’s DigitalNC’s partner page here, or visit their website online here.

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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.

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