Thanks to our fantastic partners at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, DigitalNC is proud to announce the digital debut of a brand new newspaper title— Carolina Lesbian News (Charlotte, N.C.)! Initially based in Charlotte, this bimonthly paper served North Carolina’s queer community interests, with a special focus on the lesbian community. Each issue has an impressive amount of depth and coverage, averaging around twenty full sized pages for each edition. This collection ranges from the initial issue published in 1997 to 1999, and totals a tidy sixteen issues.

The period covered in these issues was one of political and social change. Violence and discrimination against lesbians is often examined in these pages, but are counterbalanced by narratives of hope, activism, and community-building. Carolina Lesbian News was established to connect members of the community, who often felt isolated or alienated. Each issue gave space to a Lesbian Resource Directory, which provided information on local social events, LGBT-friendly businesses, and numbers for hotlines and networking groups. An indefatigable hope runs through the paper: progress and recognition was achieved through activist efforts recorded in the paper, and later issues proudly announce federal recognition of Pride Month in June, 1999.

The collections’ origins in the late nineties also provide a unique glimpse into how community groups communicated and supported each other at the advent of the digital age. At the start of the publication’s run, an editorial claims the paper was established as a reaction to other traditional lesbian spaces and publications diminishing. Access to community resources often relied on information found in the newspaper, such as phone numbers for organizations, an updated and reliable social calendar, and even just the presence of words of other like-minded individuals. While many modes of support have since been replaced by the Internet, there’s something unique and personal about this period of community. Many of the same authors return to the paper with each issue, local businesses become familiar when they continue to voice their support, and a wide range of lesbian life is explored in each issue: from new music releases to poetry to cartoons to spirituality. Each page is both a conversation and a celebration of the lesbian experience, grounded in a moment both distant and familiar.

You can find each new issue of the Carolina Lesbian News online now on DigitalNC here.

Thanks once again to our fantastic partners at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for making this collection available online. If you’d like to see more records contributed by UNC Charlotte, you can visit their partner page on DigitalNC here, or explore the university’s website online here.

Interested in exploring more records related to North Carolina’s LGBT+ community? Try exploring our collection of Community Connections, an LGBT+ newspaper published in Asheville from 1987 to 2003.

Thanks to our partners at the New Hanover County Public Library, DigitalNC is pleased to announce that fourteen brand new issues of the Wilmington Journal (Wilmington, N.C.) are now available online! Founded in 1927, the Wilmington Journal is one of North Carolina’s oldest African-American newspaper and has published stories on local, state, and national events for nearly a century. These new issues contain almost two hundred new pages full of journalism, spanning from 1953 to 1977. They join sixteen issues already hosted online at DigitalNC, doubling the site’s holdings of the journal.

The standout issue of this collection is by far the 50th anniversary paper, published on March 12th, 1977. This stunning issue contains a whopping FIFTY-NINE pages full of current events, community stories about the paper, and letters from local businesses and readers congratulating the paper on its golden jubilee. This issue far and away outpaces previous issues of the journal, which average around 12 pages an issue. It’s a breathtaking record of the commitment and dedication the Wilmington Journal’s journalists and editors have to the paper, and the issues’ letters and advertisements are a testament to the special place the paper holds in its readers hearts.

You can find the 50th anniversary issue of the Wilmington Journal online now at DigitalNC here. Interested in reading more issues of the Wilmington Journal? You can find over two decades of the paper’s issues online at DigitalNC here. Thanks again to our amazing partners at the New Hanover County Public Library for making these issues available online. You can learn more about New Hanover County Public Library’s holdings by visiting their partner page at DigitalNC here, or by visiting the library’s website online here.

Thanks to our partners at the W. B. Wicker Alumni Association, DigitalNC is proud to announce that a brand new title, the Hometown News, is now available online! This is the debut batch for the Hometown News, and what a collection it is! This amazing collection includes thirteen years of monthly issues, from 2007 to 2010 — when you do the math, that adds up to over 140 issues spanning 1,628 pages.

Each issue of Hometown News is an amazing record of events and stories from Lee, Moore, and Chatham counties, areas that encompass the central Sandhills and include major towns such as Pinehurst and Sanford. Over the last thirteen years, the region has seen rapid growth and development, due in part to its proximity to Fort Bragg and the attention gained from hosting events such as the US Open. Despite the region’s growth, the News’ attention to local figures and community events retains a familiar and local quality to the paper, which often feature events such as the annual Jabberwock Pageant.

Hosted by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Jabberwock Pageant is a cultural enrichment event inspired by Lewis Carroll’s poem “The Jabberwock.” Each year, the Hometown News advertised the local pageant hosted by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and every year the winner of the pageant (known as Miss Jabberwock) would be featured by the Hometown News. Many other events often ignored by larger and more conventional publications can be found within the Hometown News, which covers each corner of the Sandhills with a special care and attention.

You can find each issue included in this extraordinary collection online now at DigitalNC here. Thanks again to our fantastic partners at the W. B. Wicker Alumni Association for making this title available on DigitalNC. If you’re interested in learning more about Lee County history, you can find a host of amazing materials at the W. B. Wicker Alumni Association contributor page on DigitalNC here.