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New Issue of The Johisco Now Available!

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underrepresented yearbooks

The blue and gold cover of The Johisco, featuring a drawing of a honeybee.

Thanks to our amazing partners at P. S. Jones Alumni, Incorporated, DigitalNC is pleased to announce that a brand new (but still quite old!) issue of The Johisco is now available online! This issue dates all the way back to 1967 and will be the sixth issue hosted by DigitalNC, joining its 1968 sister-issue. These yearbooks chronicle the experience of students and faculty at P. S. Jones High School.

P. S. Jones High School, formerly located in Washington, N.C., was a historically African-American school that provided education to Washington County throughout much of the twentieth century. The school, which was originally a Rosenwald school, provided an essential educational service until 1969 when desegregation became law. This 1967 issue records some of the last students to attend the school shortly before it’s closure.

You can read the new issue of The Johisco available online now at DigitalNC here. Interested in finding more material from P. S. Jones High School? You can find each digitized issue online here. Thanks again to our fantastic partners at P. S. Jones Alumni, Incorporated for making these records available online. You can find their partner page online at DigitalNC here, or learn more on their website here.

New Issues of Burnsville’s Yancey Journal Now Available on DigitalNC!

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newspapers

Masthead for The Yancey Journal. Text in the photograph from top to bottom, left to right reads: "The Yancey Journal. Vol. 12, No 18. Burnsville, N.C. 28714. Thursday, February 23, 1984. 15c [cents]."

Thanks to our partner, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funding from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), 270 issues of The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, N.C.) have been added to our North Carolina Newspapers collection. This batch not only fills in issue gaps from 1980 to 1982, but expands our holdings to include issues from 1983 to 1986.

Black and white image of blooming flowers. Under the picture is the caption: "Feels Like Spring!"
February 23, 1984, page one.

In the wake of the damage caused by Hurricane Helene to the western part of our state, the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center has made an effort to prioritize partnering with cultural heritage institutions—both new and veteran—and materials related to affected areas. Our latest batch of microfilmed newspapers comes from one of the counties hit hardest by Helene—Yancey.

According to the National Hurricane Center and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with over 200 landslides, the highest observed rainfall total—not just in North Carolina, but out of every state hit by Helene—was found in Yancey County. Measuring in at 30.78 inches total, it beat the state with the second highest total (21.66 inches) by nearly 10 inches. At least 1,400 homes were destroyed and 2,300 badly damaged, and utilities not being restored for up to several months. With major roads in and out of the county swept away, the community could only receive supplies either flown in via helicopter or driven in on four wheel drive vehicles. Today, though roads have since been reopened and utilities restored, residents of Yancey County continue to work on rebuilding their community.

To view more materials from Yancey County on DigitalNC here.

To browse more newspapers from across the state, view our newspaper collection here.

Information about Hurricane Helene in Yancey County was taken from the report “National Hurricane Center Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Helene,” authored by the National Hurricane Center and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) currently hosted on the Come Hell or High Water community archives project website.

Jump for Joy! New Yearbooks Available on DigitalNC

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yearbooks

Cheerleader with long hair dressed in a patterned t-shirt and jean shorts performing a reindeer jump at practice.
Jean Bryant shows a perfect reindeer jump at a practice, Northwood High School [1975]

Thanks to our partners, Chatham County Public Libraries and Chatham County Historical Association, our yearbook collection has increased by two! Both dating from 1975, this batch adds our 15th yearbook from Chatham Central High School (Bear Creek, N.C.) and our first ever from Northwood High School (Pittsboro, N.C.).

To view more materials from and learn more about the Chatham County Public Libraries and Chatham County Historical Association, view their contributor pages linked here and here.

To view more yearbooks from around the state, view our North Carolina Yearbooks collection here.

Scrapbooks and More From Queens Now Available!

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campuspublications memorabilia newspapers scrapbooks

Lined paper with the words FOR WOMEN ONLY written on it in big, black letters.
Page from The Princess [1919]

Thanks to our amazing partners at Queens University of Charlotte, DigitalNC is pleased to announce that over a hundred new literary journals and six new beautiful books are now available online! Four of these new books are scrapbooks created for and by Queens students, while the other two are administrative records. They span from as early as 1919 to as late as 1978; combined, the collection offers a cohesive glimpse into campus life on Queens during the twentieth century. This fantastic collection will join Queens University’s burgeoning presence on DigitalNC, which has added almost three hundred records in the last year!

The highlight of this collection is by far a scrapbook titled “The Princess,” created in 1919. Scrapbooks created by students are often artistic and unconventional, pushing the conventional boundaries of the scrapbooking medium, and this volume is no exception. It chronicles Ms. Effie J. Wall’s first year at Queens, from her arrival at orientation to her departure for summer recess. Ms. Wall’s freshman experience is not unlike many modern college students’ — she quickly forms a tightly knit group of friends, finds a “beau,” makes fun of her professors, and dives in to extracurriculars. Her handwriting fills the margins of each page, providing color commentary on clippings of newspapers and official campus publications. She also includes a variety of unconventional material in her book, including (but not limited to) peanut bags, candy wrappers, locks of her friends’ hair, and scorecards for bridge. The inclusion of these unusual materials hints at that wide-eyed fascination with the wider world many college students experience after moving away from home, even centuries ago. The Princess is an amazing example of humans remaining humans throughout the years (or, rather, teenagers being teenagers!).

Locks of hair in various colors. Written at the top of the page in cursive is: Just to re-member the exact shade. Next to the hair locks are names, from left to right, top to bottom the names written are: Annie, Marie, Sallie, Sarah, Mary, Mary Allan, and Margurite [?].
Locks of hair in The Princess [1919]

Another excellent example of student creativity can be found in the wealth of literary journals included in this collection. Published under a variety of titles during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, these journals embody Queens student’s skills in written and visual art. Each issue contains poems, illustrations, and creative nonfiction created by and for Queens’ faculty and students. The issues span as far back as 1917 to as recently as 2024, meaning DigitalNC now has over a century of published material available online!

We are also pleased to announce that a brand new collection of the Queens University student newspaper has been digitized from microfilm for the very first time! The new issues will join an impressive collection of nearly 500 issues already online, ranging from 1920 to 2005. The papers chronicle campus life at Queens from 1961 to 1985, a period where Queens began accepting male students to its hallowed halls for the very first time. You can find the new issues of the Queens University student newspaper online at DigitalNC here.

You can find The Princess, along with the other scrapbooks and administrative records, online now at DigitalNC here. You can also find the literary journals online now at DigitalNC here. Interested in learning more about Queens University of Charlotte? Try exploring their records online at DigitalNC here, or visiting their website online here. Thanks again to our fantastic partners at Queens University for making this collection, and many other amazing pieces of history, available online at DigitalNC.

Chatham County Cipher Book and More Available Now!

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memorabilia yearbooks

Thanks to the help of our partners at Chatham County Historical Association, we are pleased to announce the addition of exciting new material on DigitalNC. This latest batch includes six editions of Bennett High School’s yearbook Panther and three editions of Chatham Central High School’s Centralia. DigitalNC browsers can view these latest additions, here.

Left-hand page with the title "Of Practice" written in cursive. The page is filled with numbers and arithmetic charts.
Right-hand page with the title "Simple Interest" scrawled in cursive. The page is filled with paragraphs of cursive notes.
Adjacent pages from Thomas S. Dowd’s Cipher Book

Also included is a 19th-century cipher book that belonged to Chatham County resident Thomas Swain Dowd (also known as Swain or even more simply, just T.S.). Dowd was born in Chatham County in 1802 and lived there throughout his life. Cipher books were commonly used as lesson books for students and instructors engaged in the study of mathematics. Although it is uncertain exactly where Dowd studied, the lesson dates in his cipher book range over ten years from January 6, 1823 to September 14, 1833. Modern-day viewers can find lessons on topics like “Inverse Proportion,” “Compound Interest,” and “Reduction of Currencies” alongside elaborately scrawled notes and practice problems. Like any good student, Dowd managed to sneak in some extra curriculum into his lesson book that includes a handwritten speech officiating the marriage of two people named Geo and Esther, pages from the Book of Numbers, and of course – doodles.

An image of an old lesson book page with a cursive heading that says "Reduction of the Currencies". The page is filled with a few paragraphs of notes followed by two drawings of flowers in the lower half of the page.
Doodles found in Thomas S. Dowd’s Cipher Book

More information about Thomas Swain Dowd and his cipher book can be found on a Facebook post, linked here, from our partners at the Chatham County Historical Association.

More information about our partner, Chatham County Historical Association, can be found on their website here. 

Exhibits featuring Chatham County Historical Association include Chatham County Funeral Programs, which can be found here, and, North Carolina African American High Schools, which is linked here.

More materials, including more yearbook titles, maps, scrapbooks, and photographs can be found on Chatham County Historical Association’s contributor page, which is linked here.

Celebrating a Historic North Carolinian With A New Partner

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photos underrepresented

A view of South Main Street in Lexington, N.C. from around 1910. The black-and-white photograph shows dirt roads lined with brick stores and telephone poles. Several horse-drawn wagons can be seen parked and moving along the street.
South Main Street in Lexington, circa 1910

With the help of our new partner, Davidson County Historical Museum, we are ecstatic to announce that prints and negatives from the photographer and filmmaker Herbert Lee Waters, better known as H. Lee Waters (1902-1997), are now available on DigitalNC. These 137 prints and 83 negatives are from the Lexington, North Carolina studio of Herbert Lee Waters and depict life, labor, and community in Davidson County, North Carolina.

H. Lee Waters rose to acclaim for his film series Movies of Local People (1936-1942), which includes hundreds of short films featuring the communities and towns of North Carolina and neighboring states. Shot largely during the Great Depression, his short films are known for their authentic and raw insight into the rich stories of local communities. His work most notably depicts employment and labor, African American communities, children and education, local architecture and infrastructure, community groups, and everyday scenes. His lasting place in American culture was further honored with the inclusion of his film of Kannapolis, North Carolina from the Movies of Local People series in the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2004.

A 1920s delivery car used by Lexington Bakery and shown parked in front of the bakery. The car has the text "Mother's American Beauty Bread," "Lexington Bakery," and "Phone 279" printed on its rectangular body.
Lexington Bakery delivery car
Black and white photograph of the Davidson County Courthouse in Lexington, N.C.
Davidson County Courthouse
A congregation is seen gathered around the entrance of Union Baptist Church.
Congregation at Union Baptist Church
22 men sit in three rows on bleachers in the outdoor area of an industrial factory.
“Firemen” at an industrial factory
Two people stand behind dozens of turkeys in a large field in Davidson County.
Turkey farm

This latest batch of prints and negatives show the people, industries, and social happenings of Lexington, North Carolina, and Davidson County more broadly. Storefronts, congregations, factories, aerial views of downtown Lexington, school students, trains, and public buildings can all be found in this diverse set of images that capture the spirit of the place Waters lived, worked, and found inspiration. These images will be part of an exciting new DigitalNC exhibit called the Herbert Lee Waters Photograph Collection.

A woman at Barbet Mills reaches up to adjust textile spools that are suspended from a large machine.
Woman operating machinery at Barbet Mills in Lexington, N.C.

Visitors can browse all new prints and negatives by visiting the Herbert Lee Waters Photograph Collection exhibit, here.

All items from Davidson County Historical Museum can be found on their contributor page, here.

More information about our partner, Davidson County Historical Museum, can be found on their website here. 

Alongside the newest additions of prints and negatives from H. Lee Waters’ Lexington studio, DigitalNC visitors can also browse a selection of films from the Movies of Local People series here.

The short film of Kannapolis, North Carolina can be found, here.

Alumni, Accessories, and More Arrive in New Hendersonville High School Memorabilia

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memorabilia yearbooks

A red cheerleading outfit with the letters H. H. S. on the chest in white.
H. H. S. Cheerleading Uniform

Thanks to our amazing partners at the Hendersonville High School Alumni Association, DigitalNC is pleased to announce that a brand new collection of memorabilia is now available online! This fantastic batch features an amazing variety of formats, including yearbooks, Hendersonville High School Hall of Fame records, and a stunning wardrobe of vintage Bearcat clothing. The new materials showcase an amazing spectrum of Hendersonville High School life, from freshman yearbook photos to famous alumni in the height of their career.

The Hendersonville High School Hall of Fame binders are an amazing example of alumni engagement. This collection contains six issues of the binders, dating from 1999 to 2006. Each binder includes details on the year’s nominees, including letters of recommendations, newspaper clippings, CVs and resumes, and even full research papers! Hendersonville High School alumni are successful in a wide variety of careers. They are marine archaeologists, entrepreneurs, and even Super Bowl winners. Each nominee’s reflections on their time in high school are included in these binders, attributing their success to the lessons they learned at Hendersonville.

Red and white fleece quarter-zip with a capelet that says BEARCATS.
Bearcats Capelet

The spirit of Hendersonville High School pride is fully visualized in the clothing included in this collection. Bearcat pride is emblazoned on tee shirts, basketball uniforms, sweaters, and fleece pullovers. The clothing dates back as far back as the mid-twentieth century to the 21st; a wide span of time wherein Bearcat pride is a constant. The uniforms and sweaters are gorgeous examples of vintage school fashion, each displaying a level of detail-work and craftsmanship not often seen in modern schools. The basketball shorts, for example, have custom belts with embroidered belt-holes. Not impressed? The fleece pullover has a capelet! A full capelet!! Each piece of clothing exemplifies the attachment Hendersonville High School students, faculty, and alumni have to their school, and their presence online in DigitalNC is a special treat! You can find the new collection of Hall of Fame binders and clothing online now at DigitalNC here.

You can also find an amazing collection of new yearbooks from Hendersonville High School online now at DigitalNC here. Thanks again to our fantastic partners at the Hendersonville High School Alumni Association for making these materials available online. Interested in learning more about Hendersonville High School? You can find the Hendersonville High School Alumni Association partner page online at DigitalNC here, or visit the association’s website online here.

Hear Larkin and Eleanor Pearson in Their Own Words in New Wilkes Records

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audio memorabilia

Thanks to our amazing partners at Wilkes Community College, DigitalNC is pleased to announce that six new songs and poems are now available online! These new (old) recordings were performed on March 25th, 1944 by James Larkin and Eleanor Pearson. They were pressed into vinyl records, before being digitized and uploaded for the very first time on DigitalNC! This collection includes two songs sung by Eleanor, and four poems written and recited by James.

James Larkin Pearson was the second Poet Laureate of North Carolina. He lived much of his life in the mountains of the state, and was a prominent artistic and political voice during the twentieth century. Pearson published several popular issues of both poetry and prose, which were widely received during his life. He was also a prominent newspaper publisher, and used the paper to platform often controversial political views such as socialism and anti-war perspectives.

A black-and-white photograph of James Pearson sitting in a suit.
Pearson’s official portrait, taken December 1963. Photo is courtesy of Iredell County Public Libraries

In these recordings, Pearson’s poems reflect on his life in and around Wilkesboro, North Carolina. His rural perspective includes themes centered around the beauty of nature, self-sustainability, and forming connections within his community. A few poems include his ruminations on the second World War, which had yet to end at the time of the poems’ recording. He includes his wishes for world peace, which he believes will be attained not through the act of heroic sacrifice, but through heroic living. Throughout his poems, Eleanor occasionally provides commentary and her own opinions on James’ poems, occasionally correcting him on the poems’ context (ie., when and where he wrote them).

Eleanor herself performs the songs “At Dawning” and “I Love You Truly.” Both songs are performed without instrumentation, centering Eleanor’s vocal performance within the recording. The songs were popular folk songs performed by parlor and folk singers during the early twentieth century, and include themes of romance, love everlasting, and renewal. Eleanor and James’ creative endeavors intersect and run parallel to each other, reflecting the couple’s own relationship.

You can find these six new recordings online now at DigitalNC here. Interested in learning more about life in Wilkes County, North Carolina? You can find more materials (including many fantastic recordings) from our amazing partners at Wilkes Community College online now at their partner page here. Thanks again to Wilkes Community College for providing access to these beautiful poems and songs.

Explore Technology in the 20th Century with our new Primary Source Set

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primary source set teacher resources

Eight people are standing behind a long work counter, some working on various radio parts distributed across the work counter and others studying an informational poster titled “Dynamic Demonstration.”
Picture from Stephens Lee High School in Buncombe County, contributed to DigitalNC by University of North Carolina at Asheville.

The twentieth century saw a rapid expansion of the wave of technological innovation that had begun in the late 1800’s. As our society is consistently generating new and advanced technologies, looking back to these prior advancements can be both nostalgic and informative of how we got to today’s age of smartphones and AI. North Carolina had its fair share of historical moments with innovation, from the first successful flight of an airplane in Kill Devil Hills to the creation of the home remedy staple Vick’s Vapo-rub in Selma, NC. Below are some highlights from the primary source set to spark your interest in 20th century technology!

Photo of Orville and Wilbur Wright working on their first plane, one squatting and reaching across the cockpit space and the other leaning against the top of the wing on the opposite side. The workshop barn is seen in the background.
Contributed to DigitalNC by Person County Public Library.

Found on license plates across the state, North Carolina was the setting for the first successful flight of an airplane by Wilbur and Orville Wright. The full source from which this photo was pulled covers the journey to this flight and the various struggles the Wright brothers faced in their endeavor to take to the skies.

The 20th century saw a variety of technological advancement across sectors and professions, and this is another example of how transportation changed over time. From Asheville to Alamance County, electric streetcars became a new and exciting method of public transportation before the car was invented and public systems like this fell into decline. During their heyday, people across the state looked forward to riding on these new electric vehicles.

Photo of streetcars with multiple cars connected together. People are filling the cars and there are two individuals wearing sites and hats visible standing off the the side observing the streetcars and passengers while two other individuals also wearing suits and hats are hanging off the side of the first streetcar in the photo.
Contributed to DigitalNC by Alamance County Public Libraries.
Computers are lined up on tables and 4 are visible in the photo with a student at each computer. They are all focused on their computers and some are taking handwritten notes.
Contributed to DigitalNC by Sampson Community College.

Looking further into this era, the late 20th century saw a more widespread adoption of computer use and training. While many people had been contributing to computer technology for many years prior, it was not until the 1990’s that computers were more readily available. It was during this time that schools began incorporating them into education with the knowledge that these machines would define American labor and education moving forward.

Nearly every historical point in the 20th century was impacted in some way by technological developments, from the Cold War and the Space Race to the Civil Rights Movement. This primary source set highlights some of the ways that technological innovations of the 20th century changed daily life in North Carolina. We hope this source set invites you to consider all the ways technology has shaped our history and your life today!

Issues of the Bright Leaf Now Available!

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yearbooks

Thanks to the help of one of our North Carolina Community Contributors, we are excited to announce that four years of Gardners High School’s yearbook, Bright Leaf, are now available to browse on DigitalNC. Gardners High School was located on Route 4 in Wilson, North Carolina before being moved to Route 3 in Elm City, North Carolina at the start of the 1958 school year. This addition of yearbooks marks the first batch of materials related to Gardners High School to be available on DigitalNC.

The new yearbooks include:

The cover of The Brightleaf [1953], featuring an illustration of an oil lamp and flame next to a rolled diploma scroll in the middle of the golden cover.
The cover of the Bright Leaf [1957] that features long fields and gentle hills embossed onto the bottom half of the cover. A white illustration of a large cat with its mouth outstretched is located in the middle right area of the cover, and is diagonal to a large white embossed "57" that takes up much of the top half of the cover. The title "Bright Leaf" is printed in white towards the bottom.
The cover of Bright Leaf [1958]. The red cover features embossed stripe detailing, an illustration of the bust of two graduates embossed in white, and the title "Bright Leaf '58" printed in white.
The cover of Bright Leaf [1959]. The light gold cover features the title "Bright Leaf" written in a navy color across the lower half of the cover. Along with the title, the words "nineteen hundred fifty nine" are written up the left side of the cover in navy. In the upper half of the cover, the busts of two graduates are illustrated in navy.
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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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