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Cornhuskin’ Controversy in Latest Meredith College Materials!

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Thanks to our partner, Meredith College, issues of the Meredith Herald from 2020 to 2023 along with four of the college’s most recent yearbooks are now available on DigitalNC!

Student with glasses wears a corn costume with a pink bow on top. Over the corn costume is a purple t-shirt.
Student dressed as corn, The Oak Leaves [2019]

The Cornhuskin’ tradition at Meredith College was introduced in 1945 by Doris Peterson, an associate professor raised in the Midwest, to honor the freshman class. Originally called a Husking-Bee Party, the events at first Cornhuskin’ included chicken-calling, hog-calling, and corn shuckin’. Over time the tradition has transformed and adapted to suit the themes and popular culture of the times, with new events, skits, songs, and timetable, but it has always been a way to showcase class spirit and bond classes together.

In recent years, however, that bond and class spirit appears to be diminishing. Articles in the November 11, 2021 issue of the Meredith Herald include discussions of how poor accessibility accommodations coupled with lack of camaraderie have made student attendance at Cornhuskin’ physically impossible and unappealing.

This and other current issues that Meredith students are discussing are now all available on DigitalNC!

To learn more about Meredith College, visit their website here.

Text from the November 11, 2021 issue of the Meredith Herald. The text reads: She thinks that the fact there are students who are not involved in Cornhuskin' at all "might be more indicative of what Corn actually does for 'unity' or 'camaraderie.'"
Camaraderie in Cornhuskin’, Meredith Herald, November 11, 2021

To view more materials from Meredith College, visit their contributor page linked here.

For explore more yearbooks from across North Carolina, visit our North Carolina Yearbook collection.

To view more newspapers from across North Carolina, please view our North Carolina Newspapers collection linked here.

Family Photographs, 18th Century Land Grants, Goldsboro Newspapers, and Much More Now Available on DigitalNC!

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Thanks to our partner, Wayne County Public Library, a batch containing 18th and 19th century land grants for some of the earliest settlers of Wayne County; photographs of individuals protesting segregation; scrapbooks of materials detailing the history of Goldsboro City Schools; Goldsboro newspapers; family photographs; history of The Cultural Movement African Dance Company; and much more are now available to view on our website.

A portion of the materials in this batch were digitized by staff during a community scan day at the Wayne County Public Library. Using materials brought in by community members during the event, the Wayne County Public Library Community Collections exhibit has been added to DigitalNC.

Among the materials brought to Wayne County Public Library’s community scan day was a collection of family photographs spanning from circa 1880s to circa 1950s. Snippets of boating adventures, pets, children playing, architecture, and more can be found throughout the record. A small selection of these fascinating photographs can be viewed below.

A small child standing in a doorway. The child is wearing a light colored dress.
Two individuals dressed in light colored tops and dark colored skirts standing close to one another posing for the picture. Behind them are large magnolia trees.
Two individuals posing close together with trees and a cleared lawn with adirondack chairs behind them.
Two individuals standing above a pit with sticks and an unknown substance. The person to the right is wearing a hat, shirt, vest, and pants and is holding what appears to be a long handle. The person standing to the left is wearing a light colored shirt and pants.
Individual holding a baby in their arms. Standing next to them is a small child.
An individual holding a baby.
Collection of Family Photographs

To explore the Wayne County Public Library Community Collections, please visit the exhibit page.

To view more materials from Wayne County Public Library, please visit their contributor page here.

To learn more about the Wayne County Public Library, please visit their website linked here.

To view more photographs, please view our Images of North Carolina collection linked here.

Latest Lexington Barbecue Festival Poster Now Available on DigitalNC!

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Thanks to our partner, Lexington Public Library (which is part of the Davidson County Public Library System), we have added a 24th Lexington Barbecue Festival poster to our collection! This poster is for the 38th annual Barbecue Festival held on October 22, 2022.

Image of a pig leaning against the left side of the poster in a red and white hat; jean jacket; and jean pants holding a red guitar. On the right side of the poster is written "38th annual barbecue festival." Below the imagery and title written is "October 22, 2022 - Lexington, NC" along with other information and sponsors for the event.
38th Annual Barbecue Festival, October 22, 2022

The festival was created out of a conversation in 1983 where Joe Sink, Jr., publisher of The Dispatch, discussed his love of festivals with BB&T officials. Together, Sink and BB&T hired Kay Saintsing, a local organization developer and manager, that completed a study of the feasibility of a new community event. After completing her research, Saintsing provided Sink and BB&T with recommendations that led to the creation of a new city festival.

Held in Lexington, North Carolina on October 27, 1984, Saintsing and her Saintsing Management Services staff (now Preferred Events) produced the city’s first Barbecue Festival. Its first year, the festival had approximately 30,000 people in attendance and 3,000 pounds of barbecue cooked. Ten years later, in 1994, the crowd was over three times as large with over 100,000 attendees and 11,000 pounds of barbecue cooked. In 2022, the festival had a record-breaking attendance of over 200,000 people. The festival continues to be produced by Saingsting’s company, which is now run by her daughter Stephanie, and held annually in Uptown Lexington on one of the last two Saturdays in October.

32nd annual barbecue festival poster. Images show a cow in overalls and a red hat playing a fiddle while sitting on top of an outline of North Carolina that has flames behind it.
32nd Annual Barbecue Festival, October 24, 2015

Information on the history of the festival was found on the Festival’s website here at this link.

To view more Lexington Barbecue Festival posters on DigitalNC, please click the link here.

To learn more about the Lexington Library and Davidson County Public Library System, please visit their website here.

To browse more North Carolina memorabilia, please visit the collection on our website here.

Additional Firefighter Materials Reveal History of Women Firefighters in the City of Greensboro

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Thanks to our partner, Greensboro Firefighters History Book Committee, a batch of over 100 records documenting the history of firefighters in Greensboro are now available on our website. The materials in this batch include photographs, scrapbooks, issues of the City of Greensboro’s City Beat, and much more. Utilizing the various materials in this batch specifically, one is able to uncover the history of “firewomen” in the Greensboro Fire Department.

Prior to 1884, fire protection in the City of Greensboro was dismal. Although a fire protection became law in the city in 1833, there was no guaranteed protection from fire. Improvements in fire protection only came after devastating fires such as one in 1849 that nearly ended the business community and in 1872 that destroyed a large portion of the city. After the 1872 fire, a second volunteer fire company was created and equipped with a chemical engine. While they had a chemical engine, the company had not been equipped with horses. This meant that the firefighters had to pull the engine to fires by hand on the City’s unpaved streets.

Two horses attached to a carriage carrying an old fire engine.
One of the City of Greensboro’s first fire engines

The Greensboro Fire Department began as a volunteer organization in 1884 after Harper J. Elam, future founder of the Greensboro Record, noticed the city’s lack of fire protection relative to his former home city, Charlotte. In an effort to upgrade the firefighting capabilities of the city, Elam put out a call of duty for firefighters. A group composed of around 100 white business and younger men answered the call, forming Steam Fire Engine Company No. 1 which was located at what was formerly known as 108 West Gaston Street.

Circa 1889, a Black volunteer fire company known as Excelsior Hose Company No. 2 was formed. Located at the City Market, the company was “well equipped with jumper, uniforms and other equipments” and always gave “good and satisfactory service in conjunction with the other companies for the city’s protection.” While segregated companies may have fought fires alongside each other at times, it was not until 1961 that the city’s fire department was integrated.

Headline about the fire chief being unopposed to female firefighters.
August 23, 1974

The earliest mention of “firewomen” in this batch comes from 1974. In August 1974, Fire Chief G. C. “Buck” Wuchae responds to an article for the paper stating he is not opposed to women joining the fire department nor should they fear being discriminated against by his office. The article’s writer seems to feel differently, asking the chief “But what if a woman meeting the requirements was hired and successfully completed the training—what would the fire department do with her?” Wuchae simple responds, “We would have to make some arrangements.” However, it is not until four years later, in 1978, under Greensboro Fire Chief R. L. Powell that the department actively began to recruit “firewomen.”

Headshots of three white women in fire department uniforms included hat.
September 29, 1978

On October 2, 1978, after 129 years, Dee Ann Clapp, Melanie Trado, and Sandra K. Pearman became the Greensboro Fire Department’s first women firefighters after completing a 13-week training class with other trainees. Fire Chief Powell states his satisfaction with the success of their training stating, “I have no doubt at all that they (the women) are now ready to operate out of our fire stations and do the job well” and that one of the women was one of the top in the class. Clapp, Trado and Pearman were assigned to separate platoons at Station 8. In 1984, six years after joining the Greensboro Fire Department, Dee Ann Clapp makes history again as the first woman to receive the State of North Carolina’s “Outstanding Young Firefighter” award.

Image of a woman in her firefighter formal uniform posed next to a portion of a firetruck that reads "Greensboro Fire Department."
Photo of Dee Ann Clapp from “A City Firefighter Makes History As First Woman to Win State Honor,” The Greensboro Record, February 28, 1984

Information about the early history of the Greensboro Fire Department was compiled from the May 3, 1899 issue of The Greensboro Patriot, The History of the Greensboro Fire Department page, and newspaper clippings from this batch.

To view more materials from the Greensboro Firefighters History Book Committee, please visit their contributor page linked here.

To learn more about the Greensboro Firefighters History Book Committee, please visit their website linked here.

To view more newspapers from across North Carolina, please view our North Carolina Newspapers collection linked here.

New Materials Feature the History of the Durham Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc.

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Group of Black women posing on risers. Two of the women are holding a sign that has the council's logo and says "National Council of Negro Women, Inc. Durham Section" and a quote from "From the Legacy of Mary McLeod Bethune."
Durham Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. Executive Committee Officers, 1993-1994.

Thanks to our newest partner, the Durham Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc., nearly 300 materials that relate to the history of the council are now available on our website. The materials in this batch include scrapbooks, rosters, meeting minutes, programs for a variety of events, awards, photographs, and much more.

The Durham Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. was chartered on December 1, 1965. Since that time, they have been leading, developing, and advocating for African American women, their families, and communities through collaborative efforts of advocacy, volunteerism, service, and leadership. Programs highlighted in this batch include the annual Bethune Recognition Luncheon, Harambee Breakfast, and Mother’s Day program.

Individual wearing a purple head piece that matches the color of their top.
Eleventh Annual Harambee Breakfast Celebration, 2004.

“Harambee,” a Swahili term that originated in Kenya, means a community pulling and working together. But it also signifies determination, togetherness, love, and importance of knowing yourself according to member Dr. Louise J. Gooche. Although the breakfast program was created by Dr. Dorothy Irene Height earlier, it was not until 1994 that Louise Weeks introduced the Harambee Breakfast concept to the Durham Section. To this day, members of the Durham Section along with affiliated members gather together in beautiful African attire to enjoy food, hear stories, and recognize their members.

NCNW logo. Below "NCNW" are images of Black individuals in sepia tone. Below those images are the words "Commitment. Unity. Self Reliance."

To learn more about the Durham Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc., please visit their contributor page or website.

To view more materials from the Durham Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. please click here.

The Coastland Times Issues from 1962 to 1966 Now Available on DigitalNC!

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Header for The Coastland Times newspaper. It reads: The Coastland Times: with which is combined The Pilot and Herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. Published weekly in the interest of the Walter Raleigh Coastland of North Carolina.
The Coastland Times, May 25, 1962.

Thanks to our partner, Dare County Library, new issues of The Coastland Times are now available on our website. These issues range from 1962 to 1966. Popular topics in these issues include environmental protection of the coast, the building of bridges and roads, and the area’s popular theater scene.

Article titled "Della Basnight--Chef for 'Onions in the Stew.'" Image below the title is a woman with an angered expression holding a mop looking at something not pictured.
Della Basnight–Chef for “Onions in the Stew,” April 20, 1962.

In 1955, Betty MacDonald published a humorous memoir titled Onions in the Stew. The book recounts MacDonald’s move to Washington State with her two preteen daughters as a divorced working mother and their adaption to living in Washington State from 1942 to 1954. After meeting and marrying her second husband, the family settles for living on the fringe of the Western wilderness on Vashon Island in Puget Sound after being unable to find a home in Seattle or its suburbs. City folks at heart, the MacDonald family hilariously deals with adapting to life in the country.

In April 1962, the Manteo High School Senior Class performed an adaption of Onions in the Stew to a packed house. The class was under the direction of Mrs. Ida Edwards and Miss Mabel Jean Basnight. Credit for the play’s success was given to Miss Della Basnight (pictured left) for her skill in acting as the mother of two.

To view more issues of The Coastland Times, please visit the newspaper’s title page linked here.

To view more newspapers from across North Carolina, please view our North Carolina Newspapers collection linked here.

To learn more about the Dare County Library, please visit their website linked here.

Issues of UNC’s Asian Student Association Publication “East Wind” Discuss Double Consciousness and Pokémon

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Black background with white writing that reads: East Wind: The Asian American Student Voice.
East Wind: The Asian American Student Voice Header, 2005.

Thanks to our partner, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), additional issues of the university’s Asian Student Association publication East Wind: The Asian American Student Voice are now available on our website. These issues span from 1998 to 2006.

Acting as an umbrella organization for all Asian American groups on campus, the Asian Student Association published East Wind: The Asian American Student Voice. In 1998, the focus of the publication was to share Asian American culture and experience with students at the University and surrounding community through educational, service, and social events. In addition, it sought to invoke change to the University’s cultural diversity course curriculum and faculty demographic to actively reflect and be representative of Asian Americans on campus.

Now named the Asian American Students Association (AASA at UNC-CH), the Association’s mission is to advance the interests and needs of the UNC-CH’s Asian/Asian American student population. To do this they provide members with resources and opportunities to define themselves Asian American’s roles as part of American culture through 1) uniting students interested in Asian/Asian American culture, 2) promoting Asian/Asian American cultural awareness, and 3) encouraging dialogue about the Asian American identity.

Snippet from Melissa Lin's article where she realized that the frustrations she experienced in identity had a lot to do with double consciousness.
Melissa Lin, “The Asian American Experience,” 2001.

A frequent topic discussed in issues of East Wind is the experience of double consciousness as an Asian American. Introduced in 1903 by W.E.B. DuBois (pronounced “Do-Boys”) in The Souls of Black Folk, the concept of double consciousness, in very simplified terms, is a feeling that you have two or more social identities which makes it difficult to develop a sense of self. Melissa Lin writes about her experience and frustration with double consciousness in her article titled “The Asian American Experience” in the Spring 2001 issue of East Wind.

Cartoon of a young girl with black hair and short cut bangs. She has her hands on her hips, a frown, and angry eyebrows.
Angry Little Asian Girl depiction from Melissa Lin’s “The Asian American Experience,” 2001.

In her article, “The Asian American Experience,” Melissa Lin writes about her frustration and experience with double consciousness as an Asian American. A first generation Chinese American, Lin emphasizes the importance of getting to understand oneself with cultural identity being a large part of that. She recounts trying to redefine the Asian heritage that she viewed through her parents as well as her realization that being Asian American made her both different and affected how others treated her in America and Asia. Lin concludes that the Asian American experience in 2001 “can at best be to live in both spheres, continuously adapting,” so that she, along with others, can create a niche for themselves somewhere in the middle.

The same 2001 issue presents a glimpse into anime and Pokémon’s rise in popularity in the United States. Although seen as a ploy created by advertisers and the anime industry by older anime fans at the time, Pokémon reached (and continues to hold) an incredible level of popularity in the early 2000s.

Before the late 1990s/early 2000s, it was difficult to find or watch anime on cable television in the United States. The author, Melissa Loon, credits the early Pokémon explosion with pushing “anime to new heights in North America.” After the explosion, supply began to accommodate the demand with video stores, movie theaters, and basic cable beginning to offer anime as part of their selections. Whether a ploy or not, Pokémon and the anime industry remain incredibly popular in the United States with a market value in the billions.

Image of the 2001 Pikachu.
Pikachu, 2001.

To view more newspapers from across North Carolina, please visit our North Carolina Newspapers Collection by clicking the link here.

To learn more about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, please visit the University’s website by clicking the link here.

To learn more about W.E.B. DuBois’ concept of double consciousness, The Souls of Black Folk (1903) can be read online for free on the Documenting the American South website by using the link here.

Information about the Asian American Students Association was gathered from the Association’s Constitution and Bylaws accessible on their HeelLife page.

Burwell School Historic Site Materials Now Available on DigitalNC!

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Thanks to our newest partner, Burwell School Historic Site / Historic Hillsborough Commission, over 50 new records are now available on our website. These materials focus primarily on Margaret Anna Robertson Burwell; the Burwell family; and The Robert and Margaret Anna Burwell School. These materials, which include diaries and letters, provide a look into 19th century life and education in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Black and white portrait of an older woman with curls. She is looking straight at the camera and is wearing a black top.

Margaret Anna Robertson Burwell

Margaret Anna Robertson Burwell, who went by Anna, is noted as an early pioneer for women’s education in North Carolina. She was born in and raised primarily by her maternal aunt, Susan Catherine Robertson Bott, in Virginia. Leading up to her arrival in the Old North State in the mid-1830s, Anna had received a good education, acquired teaching experience, married Presbyterian minister Robert Armistead Burwell, and had two children (Mary Susan Burwell and John Bott Burwell). While pregnant with their third child in 1835, Anna and her family moved to Hillsborough, North Carolina after her husband was called to be the minister of the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church.

Their first two years in Hillsborough, the Burwell family survived on Robert’s income as a minister. With an additional child and eventually more on the way, however, Anna decided to supplement her husband’s income by teaching after a local doctor asked her to undertake the education of his daughter. You can dig deeper into Anna’s life during this period by reading her digitized diaries on DigitalNC.

The Robert and Margaret Anna Burwell School and Continued Women’s Education

With Anna’s mind set on teaching, the Robert and Margaret Anna Burwell School (also referred to as the Burwell School) was opened in 1837. From its opening to its closure in 1857, Anna taught classes, handled student accounts, managed the school as well as her household. 

During its 20 years of operation over 200 young women from North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, New York, and Florida were taught in accordance with the school’s mission to “qualify young ladies for the cheerful discharge of the duties of subsequent life […] [and] to cultivate in every pupil a sense of her responsibility for time and for eternity.” To complete their mission, The Circular [1848-1851] shows that the students took classes such as Lessons on Astronomy, Watts on the Mind, Parsing Blank Verse, Philosophy of Natural History, and Botany. 

Though the Burwell School closed in 1857, the family was not finished contributing to women’s education in North Carolina. In fact the same year the Burwell School closed, the Burwells assumed leadership of the Charlotte Female Seminary (now Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina). Fourteen years after assuming leadership of the Charlotte Female Seminary, Anna passed away at the age of 61. Possibly due to his wife’s death, Robert and their son John left Charlotte, North Carolina and assumed ownership of a different girls’ school named Peace Institute (now William Peace University in Raleigh, North Carolina). 

Property History After the Burwell Family

Following their departure, the property was rented out by the Burwell family to various individuals until 1862. In November 1862, members of the Collins Family (from Somerset Place near Edenton, North Carolina) bought the property and lived there during the Civil War. Seven years later in 1869, the property was auctioned off as a result of the Collins Family being unable to afford to keep the home. The winning bid was placed by David Parks.

From 1869 to 1895, the home changed hands between the Parks brothers, David and Charles. It is believed that during this 26 year period designer Jules Kerner was hired to raise the first floor ceilings and add the Victorian embellishments found on the interior and exterior of the home.

In 1895, Charles Park sold the property to a local dentist named John Sanford Spurgeon and his wife Carrie Spurgeon. The couple brought in even more exciting updates during their lengthy ownership which included the addition of electricity and plumbing. The home stayed in the Spurgeon family for 70 years until the children of John and Carrie decided to sell it in 1965.

The property was obtained by the Historic Hillsborough Commission, a non-profit organization established by the North Carolina General Assembly, in 1965. After acquiring the site, the Commission began to restore the existing buildings including the Burwell home, brick classroom, and “necessary house.”

Officially opened to the public since 1977, the Burwell School Historic Site continues to follow its mission to “maintain and preserve the Burwell School Historic Site; to interpret the history of 19th century Hillsborough for the enrichment of the public; and to celebrate and promote the culture and heritage of Hillsborough and Orange County.”

 

To learn more about the Burwell School Historic Site, please visit the Burwell School Historic Site website.

To learn more about Burwell family history, please visit the Burwell School’s Our History page.

To view more materials from Hillsborough, North Carolina, please click here to view NCDHC’s Hillsborough related records.

Information from this post was gathered from the materials uploaded in this batch, the Burwell School Historic Site’s website, previous Burwell School Historic Site site coordinator Carrie Currie, and from Ashlie Brewer’s knowledge from her internship at the site in summer 2022.

Boy and Girl Scouts of America Photographs and Scrapbooks Now Available on DigitalNC

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Thanks to our partner, Chapel Hill Historical Society, a batch containing three scrapbooks and over 100 slides featuring trips and experiences of Chapel Hill Boy Scout Troop 835 and Girl Scout Troop 59 are now available on our website.

The scrapbook topics include Troop 835 in the news; the life of Scoutmaster, Paul B. Trembley; and Troop 835’s trip to Europe in 1968. Traveling numerous places from North Carolina to Canada, the slides in this batch show stunning and silly images of the troop’s trips and experiences taken from the late 1950s to early 1990s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                   

To view more materials from the Chapel Hill Historical Society, please visit the DigitalNC Chapel Hill Historical Society material page.

To learn more about the Chapel Hill Historical Society, please visit the Chapel Hill Historical Society website.

To learn more about the history of Troop 835, please visit the Troop 835 website.

Note of Thanks and New Issues of The Norlina Headlight

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The Norlina Headlight header.

On this day of thanks, the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to our partners and site visitors for another phenomenal year. However you decide to observe the fourth Thursday in November, the NCDHC hopes that your day is filled with great food, remembrance, reflection and community.

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Thanks to funding from the State Library of North Carolina’s LSTA Grant and our partner, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for additional issues of The Norlina Headlight which are now available to view on our website. This batch, spanning 1925 to 1927, brings DigitalNC’s total number of issues to 401.

If you’re looking for a new recipe to add to your table this week, the November 18, 1927 Thanksgiving issue of The Norlina Headlight has you covered. Fans of pineapple and ham on pizza should try Nellie Maxwell’s baked pineapple and ham recipe. Simply take a slice of baked pineapple and serve it with a helping of baked ham. If you prefer to have a sauce, however, Maxwell suggests mixing pineapple juice, ham liquor, and a bit of flour together to serve with your baked ham.

To learn more about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, please visit their website.

To view all issues of The Norlina Headlight, please click here.

To view more newspapers from across North Carolina, please click here.

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