Thanks to funding from the Moore County Genealogical Society a variety of Moore County newspapers dating from 1923-1939 have just been added to DigitalNC. The titles include:

• Moore County News (Carthage, N.C.) 1923-1939
• Pinehurst Outlook 1923-1940
• Pinehurst Daily Press 1936-1937 and Sandhills News-Press 1937-1939

The Pinehurst Outlook is more like a magazine. It almost exclusively covers golf and news from other sports. It’s a handsome paper with custom mastheads and covers and a lot of photos, all reflective of the wealth brought to Pinehurst as a renowned golf destination and resort town. The Pinehurst Daily Press (which continues as the Sandhills News-Press) also heavily features sports news. Articles about PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) tournaments, a listing of daily golf tee times, and updates on local golfers’ careers are some of the news items frequently included. The Moore County News is a paper covering broader local topics and a lot of syndicated content. There’s agriculture news like the “Annual Dewberry Special” issue. (A dewberry is similar to a blackberry.) Social and business news from Aberdeen, Carthage, and Cameron can be found as well.

One fun find was an article about a Moore County pastor named Rev. Wade C. Smith who created simple comics to illustrate Christian principles to his pupils. Dubbed “Litte Jetts,” the figures in the comics look a lot like Screen Beans, ubiquitous stick figures found in Microsoft clip art from the mid 1990s to around 2014. This article from the March 12, 1931 issue of The Moore County News talks about Smith’s work and its popularity, and includes the comic below.

Here’s another comic I could locate, from March 19, 1931. I’ve added a Screen Bean to the right for comparison.

To view more Moore County newspapers as well as other materials documenting that area visit the county page.

We have added additional issues to our online run of one of the oldest African American newspapers in North Carolina, the Star of Zion. Started in 1876 by the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church the paper is still published today. These 151 new issues date from 1926-1928.

Published out of Charlotte, the paper includes national and international news about the Church. There are articles of religious instruction and exhortation, and brief snippets of local news related to members of the Church. Those interested in the history of Livingstone College in Salisbury, which was founded by the A.M.E. Zion Church, will find many articles about the College’s growth like the one shown on the front page above.

These issues of The Star of Zion, which are now out of copyright, were selected by NCDHC staff from the collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. To view more North Carolina African American newspapers, visit our exhibit.  You can see the entire run of the Star of Zion available on our site through this link.

Issues of The Sampson Independent newspaper from 1924-1928 are now on DigitalNC. This joins several other earlier titles from Sampson County but these are the first from this time period. The Independent was published in Clinton, N.C.

Issues from early 1925 include a sketch and proposed floor plan for a new county home. County homes were places paid for by the local government. People could or were often forced to live in county homes when they did not have enough money to support themselves, were unable to care for themselves, had severe illnesses, or were otherwise judged to need supervised housing. The floor plan, above, shows a building segregated by race, with separate hospital wards, bathrooms, kitchens, and dining rooms. Not featured in the plan are “tubercular wards” for tuberculosis patients, which the article beneath the sketch said would be built nearby. I couldn’t find an announcement of the opening of the county home but an article on the front page from December 10, 1925 talks about furnishings being purchased and says “it is thought that they [residents] will occupy their new quarters within a few days.”

The Independent issues include a good mix of syndicated and local content. Local and personal pages like this one, found towards the middle and back of the paper, are particularly long. They list families hosting visitors, residents traveling abroad, and even news about found pets like the article at right. There are separate columns for news particular to Autryville, Boykins Bridge, Keener, Lower Johnston, Mary’s Chapel, Mingo, Mt. Vernon, Owen Grove, Roseboro, Rosin Hill, Spell Town, and illiams Mill.

You can view all of the issues we have online for The Sampson Independent here, and find links to all of our Sampson County newspapers on this page.

Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library in Edenton has funded digitization of an additional 12 years of the Chowan Herald. This new content means that you can now search the entire run from the first issue in 1934 through December 2014. 

The new issues cover 2003-2014. The Herald is published in Edenton, one of North Carolina’s oldest historic cities. There are articles that describe moving the 1886 Roanoke River Lighthouse and the renovation and re-opening of the historic Chowan County Courthouse which was originally built in 1767. There’s also an article declaring a home on East Queen Street to be the oldest in the state after dating the wood timbers to 1718.

This area in particular felt the push and pull of development opportunities during this time. The paper covers pushback by residents as retailers like Wal-mart and Lowe’s scope out sites for stores. Many issues cover the potential development of an outlying landing field or OLF by the Navy, which drew criticism for its potential impact on the Pocosin Lake Wildlife Refuge. In the end the Navy withdrew plans for an OLF in North Carolina.

You can search and browse the entire run of The Chowan Herald on its landing page.  Other materials related to Chowan County that are available on our site, including newspapers, city directories, and more, can be searched and browsed on the county landing page.

We have added issues of the Martin County Enterprise & Weekly Herald and the Bertie Ledger-Advance thanks to Martin Community College and the Bertie County Public Library. Coverage includes December 2019-December 2020 issues of the Enterprise & Weekly Herald and January 2022-November 2022 issues plus a special edition issue from March 15, 2000 of the Ledger-Advance.

The majority of newspapers on our site date from the early to mid-19th century, so we’re always interested in adding more recent issues when possible. In the Enterprise & Weekly Herald issues shared today you can read about the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and how a more rural county navigated national, state, and local regulations and concerns.

The issues of the Ledger-Advance cover a later date and talk about the lingering effects of COVID-19. The last issue in this batch mentions Bertie County’s Tricentennial celebrations in November 2022. Bertie County, originally part of Chowan County, was one of the first formed in the state as larger counties were split into smaller portions. Also included in this batch is a special edition from March 15, 2000 that offers reflections on recovery from Hurricane Floyd.

Click on these links to view all issues we have available online of the Martin County Enterprise & Weekly Herald and the Bertie Ledger-Advance.

In honor of Pride Month we’re happy to announce additional issues of The Front Page are now online. These issues date from 1987-1996 and are added to issues already available from 1979-1986.

A Raleigh newspaper by and for the LGBTQ+ community, The Front Page covered national and local news. The paper’s tagline, “Celebrate – Active – Educate!,” reflects reporting on local social gatherings, issues that inspired action, and national and local news. Headlines are alternatively devastating and uplifting with coverage of hate crimes, discrimination, and the AIDS epidemic as well as community support, political victories, and legal triumphs.

Each June the paper covers Pride Month events. Parades, rallies, and festivals all celebrate the community amd commemorate what is broadly considered the seminal Pride Month event – a parade on June 28, 1970 on the 1-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.

The paper has been added with kind permission from the publishers and thanks to efforts by staff at the libraries at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Duke University. Click here to view the entire run of The Front Page.

Recently added to DigitalNC are issues of the Bryson City Times (1895-1938, 1940-1945) and the Smoky Mountain Times (1947-1984, with 1963-1984 being the most complete). Fontana Regional Library and Western Carolina University are the two partners who requested that these papers be added.

Published in Swain County, the Times includes local news items related to urban development, social life, businesses, sports, relgious organizations, crime, and elections. Issues from the late 1960s – 1970s document the election of “lady mayor” Ellen Hyams. Longtime secretary at the local bank, Hyams was unanimously elected mayor by the local Board of Aldermen in September 1967. This happened right after her husband – who was serving as mayor at the time – passed away. Hyams went on to serve a second term when she was elected by a margin of 6 votes in the 1971 election.

Hyams wasn’t the first woman who wasn’t initially elected Bryson City mayor by popular vote. In the mid-1940s, Mary Moody, who was married to Mayor Bill Moody, stepped in to his position when he left to serve during World War II.

You can view all of the issues we have of the Bryson City Times and the Smoky Mountain Times via their newspaper title page.