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Blueprints and Documents for the Kings Mountain Post Office Added to DigitalNC

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memorabilia

Full Scale Details of 5" Letters

Full Scale Details of 5″ Letters

We have worked with Kings Mountain Historical Museum to digitize many large, detailed blueprints as well as other documents regarding the construction of the post office in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. These are now available on DigitalNC. There are 46 blueprints from the 1930s and 1960s, showing features of the floor plans for the post office as well as details such as mechanical and electrical plans, entrances, windows, lettering, lock boxes, and even the locations of plants. Additionally, there are documents about the construction of the post office and maintenance and repair over the years, giving insight into the communications between the federal government and a smaller, local institution in the 1930s and 1960s.

More materials from the Kings Mountain Historical Museum can be found through their contributor page, and you can learn more about them from their website and previous blog posts about a Civil War diary and Red Cross World War II scrapbook.

First Floor Framing for Kings Mountain Post Office

First Floor Framing for Kings Mountain Post Office

New Materials from St. John’s Lodge Added to DigitalNC

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memorabilia

North Carolina Masonic Mutual Life Insurance Co.

North Carolina Masonic Mutual Life Insurance Co.

St. John’s Lodge in New Bern, part of The Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina, has contributed more materials to DigitalNC, including minute books from the 1850s to 1910s, life insurance certificates from the 1860s, an inventory, and rosters. These materials give insight into the life of the Freemasons in the mid to late 19th century. The life insurance certificates from the North Carolina Masonic Mutual Life Insurance Company reveal the names and residences of many members, which can be useful for genealogy research.

Additionally, the Grand Lodge has provided letters written to D.H. Hill, a Confederate General during the Civil War, which are a useful resource for anyone interested in Civil War history. The Southern Historical Collection in Wilson Library at UNC-Chapel Hill contains papers of D. H. Hill, which can be viewed at their site.

You can learn more about The Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina from their contributor page, past blog posts, and their website.

Salem Academy and College Scrapbooks and Newspaper added to DigitalNC

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memorabilia newspapers scrapbooks

College Girls' Record, Compiled and Illustrated by Virginia Woodson Frame

College Girls’ Record, Compiled and Illustrated by Virginia Woodson Frame

Salem Academy and College contributed two scrapbooks and several newspaper issues to DigitalNC. The issues of The Salemite, the Salem College student newspaper, fill in the gaps of previously digitized newspapers, extending from 1920 to 1990. One of the scrapbooks is the Salem College Glee Club scrapbook from the 1974 to 1975 school year. It includes Glee Club related materials such as programs, newspaper clippings, photos, letters, and cards. The other is the College Girls’ Record, Compiled and Illustrated by Virginia Woodson Frame, a scrapbook that a student at Salem Academy and College filled in, wrote in, and added photographs to, showing her experience at Salem in 1906.

You can learn more about Salem Academy and College from their contributor page as well as their website.

New Grand Lodge Materials Added to DigitalNC

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memorabilia newspapers photos

The header of the Grand Lodge Certificate establishing Army Lodge A

The header of the Grand Lodge Certificate establishing Army Lodge A.

New materials from The Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina have been digitized and added to DigitalNC. The materials include minute books, petitions, bylaws, correspondence, ledgers, and memberships of lodges in North Carolina as well as a few in Tennessee. There are also early issues of The Masonic Journal, a Masonic newspaper from Greensboro dating from the late 19th century. Several physical objects have also been digitized, including brass working tools, a pouch they were stored in, a canvas bag, and ballot tokens. You can view the books and papers under memorabilia and the objects and membership album in images. The newspaper is now part of our extensive North Carolina Newspapers collection.

The North Carolina Freemasons come from a long tradition of European stonemasons and construction workers who formed guilds to keep secret their trade practices in areas such as math and construction. After the Renaissance, Freemasons transformed into a fraternal organization. The tools such as the ones we have digitized were used to represent personal growth and enlightenment by the members. It was in this form that Freemasonry came to North Carolina in the mid-eighteenth century and the first lodge was established in Raleigh in 1792.

You can view more from the Grand Lodge through their contributor page. Browse through the collection in images, memorabilia, or newspapers. Additionally, you can learn more about the Grand Lodge through their website and previous blog posts.

Brass working tool from Army Lodge A made from spent German shell casings, circa 1917.

Brass tool from Army Lodge A made from spent German shell casings, circa 1917.

Members of Raleigh Lodge No. 500, circa 1900.

Members of Raleigh Lodge No. 500, circa 1900.

Ocracoke Photographs, Letters, and Manuscripts Added to DigitalNC

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memorabilia photos

Brochure for Ocracoke Island, which continues "Have the time of your life at 'Bermuda of the USA.'"

Brochure for Ocracoke Island, which continues “Have the time of your life at ‘Bermuda of the USA.'”

New materials from Ocracoke Preservation Society have been digitized and added to DigitalNC. The materials include photographs and film negatives, showing the Ocracoke community during the mid to late twentieth century, including schools, athletics, fishing, events, and people. There is also a collection of materials from Franklin Miller Cochran, a pilot and writer of Ocracoke Island. He flew passengers between the island and mainland North Carolina and wrote extensively about his experience as a pilot and citizen of the Outer Banks. His largest manuscript, The Outer Banks — Today and Yesterday, is about the history of the Outer Banks. Additionally, correspondence between Cassius M. Clay and several citizens of Ocracoke has been digitized. Other ephemera, such as brochures, maps, business cards, and post cards are also in the collection.

Learn more from our past blog post about Ocracoke and the scrapbooks we digitized. You can see more from Ocracoke Preservation Society on their contributor page or their website.

The Island Inn, Ocracoke, N.C.

The Island Inn, Ocracoke, N.C.

Yearbooks from C.M Eppes High School Alumni Heritage Society, Inc. Added to DigitalNC

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underrepresented yearbooks

Art at C. M. Eppes High School in 1955.

Art at C.M. Eppes High School in 1955.

Yearbooks contributed by a new partner, the C.M. Eppes High School Alumni Heritage Society, Inc., have been digitized and added to DigitalNC. There are 9 yearbooks titled “Eppesonian,” which run from 1955 to 1970, from C.M. Eppes High School, and one titled “Visa” from Junius H. Rose High School in 1970. During the 1969-1970 school year, C.M. Eppes High School and Junius H. Rose High School were integrated, bringing white and Black students together in Greenville, North Carolina. The 1970 Visa yearbook is an interesting representation of this consolidation. A dedication at the beginning of the yearbook reads:

Junius H. Rose High School

Junius H. Rose High School Junior Princesses, 1970.

The year 1969-1970 was an important one for J. H. Rose High School because it marked the beginning of its consolidation with C.M. Eppes High. There were, naturally, conflicts and compromises, problems, and satisfactory solutions. However, everyone involved knew that the actual success or failure of the merger hinged on the attitudes of the student body.

 

Co-operating individually and collectively, the students strove to prove that Blacks and whites can co-exist in peace and progress. Because of your sincere concern and active deliberation, the 1970 VISA is dedicated to you, the student body of Rose High School.

The C.M Eppes High School Alumni Heritage Society, Inc. is a new contributor to the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center. These ten yearbooks are their first contribution.

Junius H. Rose High School

The Quill and Scroll club at Junius H. Rose High School, 1970.

New Granville County Scrapbooks Now Online

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memorabilia scrapbooks

The Oxford Orphan Asylum in 1911, from Hays Scrapbook Vol. 98: Oxford Orphanage.

The Oxford Orphan Asylum in 1911, from Hays Scrapbook Vol. 98: Oxford Orphanage.

New scrapbooks contributed by Granville County Public Library have been digitized and are now on DigitalNC. Five of these scrapbooks are from the Francis B. Hays Collection, joining the 92 previously digitized scrapbooks made by Hays about Oxford and Granville County, North Carolina. The scrapbooks are focused on topics such as pharmacies in Granville County, the bar and lawyers, medicine and sexuality, mayor and board elections, and the Oxford Orphan Asylum. We have also digitized three new scrapbooks by Johnnie and Floyd Parker, which include cards, newspaper clippings, obituaries, weddings, graduations, World War II news, postcards, diary entries, and photographs. The 1968 scrapbook focuses on UNC basketball in particular, including the Parkers’ trip to Los Angeles for the championship game. Johnnie Parker consistently wrote down scores and updated brackets for basketball games. Following are the links to the newly digitized scrapbooks.

The Parkers' photograph of the UNC vs UCLA championship game, 1968.

The Parkers’ photograph of the UNC vs UCLA championship game, 1968.

The contributor page of Granville County Public Library has more materials from them, including scrapbooks, photographs, yearbooks, and newspapers. There is an exhibit page dedicated to the Francis B. Hays Collection, where you can browse by topics like Oxford and Granville County church histories, families, marriages, obituaries, schools, and businesses. You can learn more about the Granville County Public Library through their website.

Ticket to 1968 National Collegiate Basketball Championships, from Parker Scrapbook.

Ticket to 1968 National Collegiate Basketball Championships, from Parker Scrapbook.

New Yearbooks from Wendell, N.C. added Online

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yearbooks

The Wendell High School Band, 1939.

The Wendell High School Band, 1939.

Nine additional yearbooks from Wendell High School have been added to DigitalNC. Titled “Echoes,” the yearbooks were contributed by the Wendell Historical Society. The Historical Society received many of these donations to their collection after a recent Raleigh News & Observer described their efforts at filling in gaps in their collection. (As of the date of this post, the society is still looking for 1934, 1935, 1938, and 1946.)

These yearbooks include formal student portraits, portraits of administrators and faculty, and group pictures of clubs, sports, and societies. The mottoes are also a great insight into the students, with various versions of the North Carolina state motto, “esse quam videri” — to be rather than to seem, and funny quotes like “If at first you don’t succeed, stop,” “A hot dog a day keeps the hunger away,” “Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow,” and “Don’t get caught.”

You can learn more about the Wendell Historical Society on their contributor page or website.

Scrapbooks from Ocracoke added to DigitalNC

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memorabilia scrapbooks

Illustrations of local plant and animal life in Ocracoke, from "Historic Ocracoke."

Illustrations of local plant and animal life in Ocracoke.

Ocracoke Preservation Society

Ocracoke Lighthouse and plane, 1952.

Park Service plans for project in Outer Banks.

Park Service plans for project in Outer Banks, July 1952.

Nine scrapbooks from Ocracoke, North Carolina have been digitized and added to DigitalNC. From the Ocracoke Preservation Society, these scrapbooks range from the 1940s to 1980s and include photographs, newspaper clippings, brochures, booklets, drawings, letters, maps, short stories, and histories about Ocracoke. The newspaper articles are often about local people and families, events, and news such as park projects and ferries opening. The brochures and booklets are typically informational, about nature, animals, boats, and lighthouses on the Outer Banks and Ocracoke Island . The 1955-1981 scrapbook in particular features information about lighthouses and lighthouse keepers and ships and sailors. The 1956-1980 scrapbook is full of photographs from Ocracoke, including buildings, houses, ships, and the lighthouse. All of the scrapbooks are listed below:

Ocracoke Preservation Society

Ocracoke, 1952.

These materials were contributed by the Ocracoke Preservation Society, which works to preserve the cultural and historical heritage of Ocracoke Island. You can view more from the Ocracoke Preservation Society through their contributor page or on their website.

4th of July pony penning.

4th of July pony penning.

Coast Guard Station, Ocracoke.

Coast Guard Station on Ocracoke Island.

Yearbooks from Campbell University, 1912-2015, now on DigitalNC

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yearbooks

Pine Burr, 2010

Pine Burr, 2010.

Pine Spurr, 2014

Pine Burr, 2015.

 

More yearbooks from Campbell University have been digitized and added to DigitalNC. The yearbooks, titled “Pine Burr,” are from 2010-2015. These join 93 other yearbooks from Campbell University, the earliest from 1912, as well as 27 course catalogs. These yearbooks include student pictures of undergraduates and the Business, Divinity, Education, Law, and Pharmacy schools as well as photos from sports, arts, sciences, and student life.

Campbell University was founded in 1887 in Buies Creek, N.C. You can view more items from Campbell University on their contributor page, or head over to their Digital Collections to see numerous campus publications.

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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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