With the help of our brand new partner, Mary Potter Alumni Club, we are excited to announce the addition of six yearbooks to DigitalNC. These yearbooks join the company of several other yearbook issues and one periodical from Mary Potter High School (Oxford, N.C.), a historic African American school in Granville County.

Built in 1889, Granville County’s first African American school was established with George Clayton Shaw, an educator and son of formerly enslaved parents who were staunch advocates of education hired as the school’s first principal. Originally referred to as Timothy Darling, the school was renamed Mary Potter Academy shortly after its opening in honor of its primary benefactor, Mary Potter. For decades Mary Potter Academy operated as a private school before becoming public and changing its name to Mary Potter High School in the 1950s. The school was eventually turned into an integrated middle school that served Oxford students well into the 21st century.

DigitalNC vistors can now browse the following years of The Ram:

• The Ram [1948]
• The Ram [1949]
• The Ram [1951]
• The Ram [1952]
• The Ram [1956]
• The Ram [1957]

These yearbooks and more can be viewed in DigitalNC’s exhibit North Carolina African American High Schools, which is linked here.

More information about our partner, Mary Potter Alumni Club, can be found on their Facebook page, linked here. 

Materials from Mary Potter Alumni Club can also be browsed through their contributor page, linked here.

Information about Mary Potter High School is from the NCDNCR’s Mary Pottery Academy highway marker page, linked here.