The Latest Call for Nominations – Microfilmed Newspaper Digitization 2025-2026 →
Viewing entries posted in 2025
Remove Filter

Call for Nominations – Microfilmed Newspaper Digitization 2025-2026

Posted on by

news newspapers

Front page of The Raleigh Independent's December 18, 1920 issue.
The Raleigh Independent, December 18, 1920.

It’s time for our annual round of microfilmed newspaper digitization! As in previous years, we’re asking cultural heritage institutions in North Carolina to nominate papers from their communities to be digitized. We’re especially interested in:

  • newspapers covering underrepresented regions or communities, and
  • newspapers that are not currently available in digital form elsewhere online.

If you’re interested in nominating a paper and you work at a cultural heritage institution that qualifies as a partner, here’s what to do:

  • Review the Criteria for Selecting Newspapers to Digitize from Microfilm listed below.
  • Verify that the newspaper you’d like to see digitized exists on microfilm.* Email us (digitalnc@unc.edu) if you’re not sure.
  • Be prepared to talk with the rights holder(s) to gain written permission to digitize the paper and share it online. We can give you advice on this part, if needed.
  • Fill out the nomination form.

Nominations will be taken on an ongoing basis, however don’t wait! We typically get many more requests than we can accommodate. Please contact us at digitalnc@unc.edu with questions. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Criteria for Selecting Newspapers to Digitize from Microfilm

Titles to be digitized will be selected using the following criteria:

A notice to subscribers of The Raleigh Independent featured in the December 18, 1920 issue. The text reads: All subscribers who have not paid their renewals will be discontinued Jan. 1, 1921.
The Raleigh Independent, December 18, 1920, page 1. Subscriber notice.
  • Does the newspaper document traditionally underrepresented regions or communities?
  • Does the newspaper include significant coverage of the local community or largely syndicated content?
  • Does the newspaper come from an area of the state that has little representation on DigitalNC? (For a quick view at our current representation, visit our newspaper collection page and select “View on Map” directly to the right of the “Browse Newspaper Titles” section)
  • Is the institution willing to obtain permission from the current publisher or rights holder(s) to digitize issues and make them freely available online?

* What about print newspapers? These are much more costly to scan – we only work with a very limited number. Information about capacity for print newspapers can be found here.

Family History Materials from Caswell County Public Library

Posted on by

memorabilia

Thanks to our partner Caswell County Public Library, we now have a wealth of family history and genealogy materials accessible online from their collection. The materials which range from large family trees to family history files, to published family histories can be found on DigitalNC here. For anyone doing family genealogy research and have Caswell County relatives or ancestors, the Library’s collection is a fantastic place to start.

One of the more fascinating items we scanned for Caswell County was a set of very very large family trees, one of them over 4 feet long! The family tree is for the Descendants of Captain Robert Blackwell (1742-1813) and wife, Zillah Rice (1746-1818) through their son Carter Blackwell (1775-1835) and wife, Isabella Bracken (1779-1835). Robert Blackwell was a captain in the Revolutionary War and was a member of the NC House of Commons from 1796-1797. He owned 1,394 acres of land which was called “Stony Fork”, on Moon’s Creek in Caswell County.

Family Tree for the Blackwell Family
Closeup of the Blackwell Family Tree

To learn more about Caswell County Public Library’s local history and genealogy collections, visit their website here. To learn more about what they hold on DigitalNC, visit their partner page here.

Newest Partner Kiln It with Batch of NC Pottery and Cherokee Related Materials

Posted on by

memorabilia photos underrepresented

Thanks to our newest partner, the North Carolina Pottery Center, a batch containing photographs, slides, postcards, scrapbooks, and more that highlight the beauty of the Cherokee Indian Reservation and surrounding area along with North Carolina’s rich pottery tradition is now available online.

The first annual Seagrove Pottery Festival program from 1982 lists the Piedmont region of North Carolina’s pottery tradition as being particularly unique in this country because of its continual tradition of pottery making, which dates back to before the American Revolution. Around 3,000 years ago—long before the influx of Europeans settled in the area—Native Americans used the diverse natural clay deposits to create both functional and ceremonial objects.

A child (left) holding pottery in their hands next to a table with more pottery on top. To the child's right is a woman identified as Maude Welch sitting in a rocking chair with an apron on, working on a pottery piece.
Maude Welch Making Cherokee Indian Pottery, circa 1950s.

In the latter half of the 18th century, English and German immigrant farmers began settling in the Seagrove area and quickly realized the value of the area’s clay and abundance of firewood available to fuel their kilns. Farmers first and foremost, settlers were only producing functional wares such as bowls, jugs, roof tiles, etc. to earn extra income or to trade. These early pieces were redware, made from the area’s bright red clay, before eventually shifting to using grey clay from creek beds to produce salt glazed pottery by the mid-19th century.

Older man identified as Foister Cole wearing glasses, jeans, a light plaid shirt, and rainbow suspenders holding a piece of pottery that is all black.
Foister Cole in his iconic rainbow suspenders.

In addition to having talented potters, there were key several elements that were crucial to the survival and continuation of Seagrove’s esteemed pottery tradition while it diminished in other areas. They include: the area’s abundance in clay, an ability to adapt and pivot to changing tastes and utilization, along with proximity to major travel ways (Great Wagon Road, old Plank Road, and eventual railroad system) which increased access to a wider market, and, lastly, strong family networks.

In the early 20th century, the pottery industry was seeing a decline thanks in-part to Prohibition eliminating the demand for jugs. But, in 1917, pottery lovers Juliana and Jacques Busbee brought about a new era. Seeking to bring Seagrove pottery to a wider audience, Jacques began shipping wares to a tearoom operated by Juliana in New York City’s Greenwich Village. They were so successful in their efforts that the demand led Jacques to establish Jugtown Pottery and hire their first potter, James Owen (grandson of one of Seagrove’s earliest potters, Joseph Owen), in 1922. Over time, both Jugtown and Seagrove pottery became known as “fine examples of traditional handcrafted American pottery” that wasn’t just utilitarian, but collectable too. Today, the Seagrove area remains a hot spot for pottery, boasting over 100 potters and 50+ family-operated shops, including well-known potter families such as the Aumans, Coles, Kings, Owens/Owens’, and more.

Various pottery wares sitting on top of a table.
Pottery at A. R. Cole Pottery, Sanford, NC, September 1964.

To learn more about the history of pottery after 1922 and the potter families of Seagrove, browse the North Carolina Pottery scrapbook from this batch here.

To learn more about the North Carolina Pottery Center, visit their website here.

Information about the history of pottery in Seagrove was gathered from Seagrove Pottery Festival programs in the North Carolina Pottery scrapbook from this batch, NC Pottery Center, Discover Seagrove, NCpedia, NCDNCR Jacques and Juliana Busbee Highway Marker page, and Folk Art Society of America.

A Plethora of New Materials Pull Into the DigitalNC Station

Posted on by

memorabilia newspapers photos yearbooks

Thanks to our partner, Railroad House Historical Association and Museum, three batches chock-full of materials are now available for viewing on DigitalNC. These batches include issues from three Sanford area newspapers—The Sanford News Leader, Central Carolinian, and Lee County Senior High School’s student newspaper—twelve yearbooks from Deep River High School, along with over 180 photographs, postcards, and catalogs that feature automobiles and trains.

Otho A. Corriher's sophomore quote printed in the 1928 Catawba College yearbook. Under Otho A. Corriher's name is a quote that reads: "What shall I do to become known?—Cowley."
Otho A. Corriher’s sophomore quote from Catawba College’s 1928 yearbook.

Among these records are photographs of several automobiles, like this 1916 Stutz Bearcat, owned by O. A. [Otho Alexander, or “Ote”] Corriher. Son of Lotan Alpha Corriher—former textile industrialist, Landis Mayor, and notable patron of Catawba College—Ote became well-known in his own right in for his sense of adventure, service as one of 13 pilots in the Civil Air Patrol in Manteo, North Carolina during World War II, interest and work with planes and automobiles, and a world-class classic car collection.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, leveraged his piloting skills to aid in the American war effort after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Ote applied and was accepted into the Army Air Force’s newly created Civil Air Patrol (CAP) organization. The first CAP base in Manteo patrolled the coast off the Outer Banks known as the “Torpedo Junction.” After the start of World War II, but before America’s entry, the Torpedo Junction became an extremely dangerous area for shipping. German U-Boats, unchallenged, were successfully sinking and damaging vital shipping boats. Often using their personal planes, CAP pilots would fly up and down the coast searching for the German submarines and sailors in destress. In addition, they also apparently conducted sea rescues, towed targets for military training, performed courier service, and help fight forest fires. After serving in CAP from July 1942 to March 1942, he spent three years in the Army until the end of the war.

Image of a 1904 Oldsmobile with a sign propped against the front tire that reads: Curved dash model. 10 H. P. - single cyl. Cost new $650. Owner: O. A. Corriher. Landis, N.C.
Image of a 1910 Mercer with a sign propped against the front tire that reads: O. A. Corriher. Landis, N.C.
Image of a 1917 Pierce Arrow Opera Coupe with a sign propped against the front tire that reads: O. A. Corriher. Landis, N.C.

From left to right: 1904 Oldsmobile, 1910 Mercer, 1917 Pierce Arrow Opera Coupe.

Afterwards, he reluctantly went back to his position as the treasurer for his family’s textile mill. But when Ote wasn’t working at the mill, he would build planes in his basement, convert used military planes he bought into crop dusters, and eventually, he began restoring classic cars. In 1951, Ote and five other car enthusiasts in the state founded the Horseless Carriage Club. The Club, according to an article in the August 4, 1955 issue The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.), was for individuals who appreciated and restored classic cars themselves using original, or parts handmade by the restorer. At the time the article was printed, Ote apparently had a collection of 24 classic cars. The six cars attributed to him in this latest batch are likely part of that group.

Image of a 1916 Stutz Bearcat with a sign propped against the front tire that reads: O. A. Corriher. Landis, N.C.
Image of a 1918 Mercer Raceabout with a sign propped against the front tire that reads: O. A. Corriher. Landis, N.C.
Image of a 1921 Rolls Royce with a sign propped against the front tire that reads: O. A. Corriher. Landis, N.C.

From left to right: 1916 Stutz Bearcat, 1918 Mercer Raceabout, 1921 Rolls Royce.

Materials and information about Ote Corriher was gathered from The Salisbury Post‘s December 2017 article linked here, Catawba College’s 1928 yearbook, and August 4, 1955 issue of The Pilot (Vass, N.C.).

To learn more about the Railroad House Historical Association and Museum, visit their website here.

To browse all 400+ materials contributed by the Railroad House Historical Association and Museum on our site, visit their contributor page here.

To view more newspapers or yearbooks from across the state, view our yearbook collection here or newspaper collection here.

New Materials from the Jonesboro Historical Society Available Now!

Posted on by

memorabilia photos scrapbooks

Five adults stand behind a wooden railing. There is a wooden sign attached to the railing that says, "Jonesboro Garden Club 2520 Watson Ave."
Members of the Jonesboro Garden Club and Mayor Winston Hester stand together in celebration of the club’s 55th anniversary

Thanks to our partners at the Jonesboro Historical Society, over 70 new records are now available. These materials mostly pertain to the Jonesboro Garden Club, the oldest active garden club in Lee County. The members of this organization dedicated themselves to philanthropic and educational efforts to beautify the world around them and encourage others to follow their lead. Other notable items include photographs and negatives of scenes and people from Lee County and beyond.

Page taken from the 1967-1968 scrapbook. It is a tan page with two newspaper clippings on the top left and right. There are mini cutouts of fine china across the rest of the page.
Page from the 1967-1968 Jonesboro Garden Club Scrapbook

Among the materials for the Garden Club are five scrapbooks, over twenty programs, and three notebooks containing meeting minutes. The scrapbooks are beautiful, filled with photos of colorful flower arrangements and newspaper clippings about their wildly successful events. The Garden Club was a pillar of community for Lee County; they advocated against littering, planted trees and flowers in beautification projects, and promoted conservation efforts. The members also opened their gardens to the public during home and garden tours, spreading joy through local flora.

The programs and meeting minutes highlight the numerous activities the Garden Club held, as well as providing a record of the club’s officers and attendance. Each program also included the club’s constitution and bylaws, along with a list of current members. These new programs range in dates from 1946 to 1998.

Group of school children and teachers sitting in desks in a classroom
Negative of school children and teachers in a classroom

The photographs and negatives depict images from various locations throughout Lee County and beyond. There are images from classrooms, downtown Jonesboro, as well as various homes and farms. Also included are photos of local businesses and people.

To learn more about life in Jonesboro, North Carolina, browse materials from the Jonesboro Historical Society here.

To see more images from around the state, check out the Images of North Carolina collection.

Lillington’s Tea and Topics Book Club Dazzles in Club Scrapbooks

Posted on by

memorabilia scrapbooks

A group of Tea and Topics Book Club members at the twenty-fifth anniversary of the book club. The black-and-white photograph shows 14 group members standing around a table filled with a floral arrangement and cake.
Members at Twenty-Fifth Birthday Party, The Tea and Topics Book Club [1970-1989]

With the help of our partners at Harnett County Public Library we are excited to announce that 7 yearbooks and over 75 years of records from the Tea and Topics Book Club are now available on DigitalNC. 3 new years of Footprints, Lillington High School’s annual yearbook, are included in this latest batch. Furthermore, with the addition of 4 years of the Sand Spur, Benhaven High School is now represented in DigitalNC’s vast yearbook collection. The Lillington Tea and Topics Book Club was founded by a group of twelve women in December of 1932, and has become a longstanding organization in the community since. Apart from organizing monthly meetings to discuss books, genres, and literary themes, the Tea and Topics Book Club has also played an important role in supporting local public libraries through regular book donations and fundraising efforts. Across five scrapbooks, the history of the Tea and Topics Book Club unfolds through handmade annual yearbooks, correspondence, photographs, bylaws, and newspaper clippings.

Handmade cover for the 1980-1981 Tea and Topics Book Club yearbook. The light green cover features an illustration of a tabletop globe in the center of the page with two butterflies on either side. "Tea and Topics Book Club" is written across the top of the page, while "'Welcome To Our World' 1980-1981" is written across the bottom.
1980-1981 Yearbook Cover, The Tea and Topics Book Club [1970-1989]

The scrapbooks from the Tea and Topics Book Club now available on DigitalNC are:

More information about our partner, Harnett County Public Library, can be found on their website here. 

Materials from the Harnett County Public Library are featured in the Talbott McNeill Stewart Photograph Collection exhibit, which can be found here.

More materials, including yearbooks, newspapers, scrapbooks, and photographs can be found on Harnett County Public Library’s contributor page, which is linked here.

Hundreds of New Photographs Available in Latest Materials from Lee County Libraries’ Sanford Herald Photographic Print Collection

Posted on by

photos

A group of unidentified children fishing from a pier
Children Fishing

We are excited to announce that a new batch of photographs from Lee County Libraries’ The Sanford Herald Photographic Print Collection, along with four pre-1925 issues of newspapers, are now available on DigitalNC.

In November 2023, The Sanford Herald (1930-present) donated thousands of images, spanning from the 1930s to the 2000s, to our partner Lee County Libraries. This latest batch of 346 images joins a growing collection of photographs taken by The Sanford Herald (Sanford, N.C.) that are now accessible online through DigitalNC. The new photographs span from January 1950 to December 1952 and provide a visual history of Lee County during the early 1950s. The entire collection of new photographs can be found here, while select images can be previewed below!

A lake house is shown with the lake in the foreground.
Lake House
Unidentified painter with his dog and several artworks.
Unidentified Painter with His Dog
Two unidentified adults installing a sign for the Upper Cape Fear Soil Conservation District.
Upper Cape Fear Soil Conservation
A group of unidentified costumed children in a classroom.
Lots of Cakes
A group of unidentified costumed children in a classroom.
Costumed Children

The four newspaper issues from this batch are: The Advertiser (Raleigh, N.C.) – July 15, 1893; The Democrat (Rutherfordton, N.C.) – March 6, 1896; The Sanford Express (Sanford, N.C.) – June 23, 1898; The Carolina Banner (Sanford, N.C.) – August 22, 1922.

A group of unidentified costumed children in a classroom.
Billie Colebrook and Peggie Mann

Visitors can browse even more photographs documenting Lee County’s history, here.

More information about our partner, Lee County Libraries, can be found on their website here. 

Information about Lee County Libraries Local History and Genealogy Room can be found here.

More materials, including yearbooks, directories, maps, and a newspaper title, can be found on Lee County Libraries’ contributor page, which is linked here.

Sanford Women Give Back Through Autoshow

Posted on by

memorabilia scrapbooks

Thanks to our partner, the Sanford Woman’s Club, five new scrapbooks from the Sanford Junior Woman’s Club, ranging from 1950 to 1960, are now available to view on our website!

A man and a woman stand in front of two vintage cars in a warehouse with giant stars hung from the roof.
Cars on display at the second annual Sanford Automobile Show.

These editions highlight the club’s involvement within Lee County and greater North Carolina. By joining the club, each woman dedicated herself to bettering her community through acts of service. The Junior Woman’s Club hosted numerous fundraising and volunteer events throughout the year.

Newspaper clipping with pictures of club members displaying a Volkswagon car on one side and a 1911 Empire on the other.
Members of the Sanford Junior Woman’s Club show cars.

One event the club hosted was an auto show. The first event took place in 1957, and the women collaborated with local dealerships to display several 1958 model cars, as well as sports and vintage cars. The event also included local girls from Central High School who sat in and displayed the vehicles. The girls wore outfits sponsored by local Sanford stores, an extra level of community collaboration. The event also featured raffles and exhibits from auto parts stores and tire companies, along with a surprise visit from Santa.

A newspaper clipping with an image of a Sanford Junior Woman's Club member smiling at Santa at the annual Sanford Automobile Show.
Santa chats with a member of the Sanford Junior Woman’s Club before the show.

The event was a roaring success, raising $553.90 with a profit of $385.49. The club decided to hold the event again the following year, this time featuring a parade of 1958 cars and a showcase for the new 1959 models. All the proceeds went to the North Carolina Children’s Home Society in Greensboro and the Caswell Training School in Kinston. The auto show became a staple event for the club, and they successfully held the event again the following year.

To view more materials from the Sanford Woman’s Club, visit their contributor page here.

To view more scrapbooks from across North Carolina on DigitalNC, please click here.

New Issues of Elizabeth City Newspapers Now Available on DigitalNC

Posted on by

newspapers

Thanks to our partner, Museum of the Albemarle, and digitization of materials by Elizabeth City State University, nine issues of The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.) from 1944 and 1945 along with a more complete copy of the May 30, 1877 issue of The Economist (Elizabeth City, N.C.) are now available on DigitalNC.

A microfilmed page of a newspaper. On the right side there are several large chunks missing.
The Economist, May 30, 1877, page 3. Old microfilm copy.

Prior to this batch, we did have a microfilmed copy of the May 30, 1877 issue of The Economist (Elizabeth City, N.C.) available online; however, this copy was a bit blurry, and was missing both large chunks primarily from the sides along with the whole fourth page. Though the Museum of the Albemarle’s physical copy of the nearly 150 year old paper was in much better condition than the microfilm, it also wasn’t complete.

Though it feels odd to say, we were fortune in this instance that the microfilmed copy predominately lacked outer edges, while the physical copy had several holes along the fold lines of the paper which omitted information from the middle or center areas of the pages. While the two copies separately were incomplete, the fact that when compared they were uniquely incomplete provided us the opportunity to piece together a more complete copy of the May 30, 1877 issue.

Scan of a physical newspaper page with microfilmed pieces inserted into spots that were previously holes in an effort to create a more complete version of the newspaper page.
The Economist, May 30, 1877, page 3. New, more complete copy.

To create this (mostly) complete copy, we first had to determine for each individual page whether the microfilm or print copy would be better as the base layer. This was based primarily on the completeness and legibility of the page. Then, we evaluated this selected base layer for missing pieces. Once these were inventoried, we looked at the “other” version of the page (the one not selected to use as the base layer) to see if it had sections that were missing from the base. Unfortunately, we couldn’t just layer both versions on top of one another to easily fill in these missing pieces. If the “other” version had the pieces missing from the base layer, we had to individually crop, resize, and orient each of those filler pieces into the base layer, making sure the text lined up between the versions.

To learn more about the Museum of the Albemarle, visit their website here.

To view more materials contributed by Museum of the Albemarle visit their contributor page here.

To view more newspapers from Elizabeth City, visit our Newspaper Collection here.

New Editions of Pinehurst High School’s Rebel Yearbook are Available Now!

Posted on by

memorabilia yearbooks

Thanks to our partners at Moore County Historical Association, five new yearbooks from Pinehurst High School are now available on our website!

Individuals dressed in basketball uniforms both standing and kneeling for a picture. At the center on the floor are two basketballs that have the numbers 61 and 62 written on them. On the far right and bottom left are three individuals not dressed in basketball uniforms. The one standing on the far right is wearing a suit; bottom right is wearing a sweater and skirt; and bottom left is wearing either a top and skirt or a dress, along with a cardigan.
The 1961-1962 Girls’ Basketball Team

The yearbooks span from 1962 to 1966 and highlight sporting events, club activities, and classroom lessons. The Pinehurst Rebels were an involved group, with a multitude of clubs and sports teams for students to participate in. Both the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams were popular, and home games always drew large crowds. The Monogram Club, an organization for students who earned varsity letters in their sports, was also robust.

The 1963-1964 Future Homemakers of America. There are two rows, with the back row standing and the front row sitting at desks.
The 1963-1964 Future Homemakers of America

The Future Homemakers of America was another popular student activity. These meetings, like Home Economics classes, included lessons on cooking and sewing. The Glee Club also found popularity among Pinehurst High students, with a few students also participating in the Pinettes, a select singing group. In 1966, students at Pinehurst established the first chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America and attended the State Convention in Durham that year.

The 1964-1965 annual staff for the Pinehurst High School Yearbook
The 1964-1965 Annual Staff

Of course, no yearbook would be complete without a feature of those who brought the edition together: the yearbook staff! The team compiled photos, advertisements, and wrote blurbs to make each book better than the last.

For more yearbooks from Moore County, click here.

For more information about our partner, Moore County Historical Association, click here. 

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

Tags

10 for 10 12daysofncdhc audio behind the scenes campuspublications directories howto maps memorabilia moving images NCDHC East NCDHC Impact news newspapers onsite oral histories photos primary source set scrapbooks teacher resources underrepresented use yearbooks

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