Orphans’ Friend, April 4, 1877

Over one hundred issues of the Orphans’ Friend newspaper from 1876 and 1877 are available online now. A publication of the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina, Orphans’ Friend was distributed to children at the “Orphan Asylum,” or orphanage, in Oxford, North Carolina. The newspaper was established in 1875 and is still published by the Grand Lodge today. It was initially published to draw attention to childcare needs across North Carolina after the Civil War left many orphaned.

These issues are often mostly comprised of stories, recommendations and lessons, and frequently include news from around North Carolina.

Some issues begin with poems:

“Good Nature and Slander,” February 14, 1877

Some recommend healthy habits:

“About Eating Fruit,” August 8, 1977

Some include simple facts and whimsical ruminations:

On cheese and flowers, July 5, 1876

To browse all issues of Orphans’ Friend on DigitalNC, click here. To learn more about the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina, visit their partner page here or their website here. We are thankful for their partnership in making these newspapers available online.

DigitalNC hosts other materials about the Oxford Orphan Asylum as well, including this scrapbook from 1940 to 1957 and records from the Sallie Mae Ligon Museum & Archives & Masonic Home for Children at Oxford. To browse all of our holdings from Oxford, click here.

The Daily Workman, September 15, 1885

Six issues of The Daily Workman from 1885 to 1887 are now available on DigitalNC, thanks to our partners at the Greensboro History Museum. The Daily Workman documents local activities and shares news that may interest all locals. Business activities, classified advertisements, and all manner of public notices are included in this paper.

The Daily Workman, June 29, 1887

Assorted news, September 27, 1886

To view all issues of The Daily Workman, click here. To learn more about the Greensboro History Museum, visit their partner page here or their website here.

The Shoreline, from the April 2018 issue

Nine new issues of The Shoreline from 2018 are now available online, thanks to our partner, the History Committee of the Town of Pine Knoll Shores. This new addition contributes to a large volume of already digitized papers from 1973 to 2017. The paper documents the activities of the Pine Knoll Shores community by showcasing events, activities, and news. Featured articles include notes from the mayor, biographic pieces about community members, book reviews, public safety reports, and summaries from local outings. A sudoku puzzle and crossword are also often included.

The April issue featured a photo spread from the Women’s Club Fashion Show Fundraiser. Members of the Club modeled Spring fashions and raised funds for their scholarship fund and local charities.

The “Women’s Club Fashion Show Fundraiser,” April 2018

Pine Knoll Shores Garden Club cleanup, November 2018

These issues span 2018 with a notable exception: the community did not publish a paper in October due to the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. The November issue shares information about how the storm affected the community, including flooding throughout the area, the real estate market, the local country club, and others. Mayor Ken Jones also included an uplifting note of thanks to first responders and community members. “We are realizing just how thankful we should be,” he wrote. “We live in the great state of North Carolina, but better than that, we live in Pine Knoll Shores. We have beautiful beaches, peaceful and clean neighborhoods, very nice facilities, and many other things that sometimes we take for granted.”

To view more issues of The Shoreline, from 2018 and preceding years, click here. To learn more about the History Committee of the Town of Pine Knoll Shores, visit their partner page here or their website here.

Goldsboro News-Argus, April 26, 1957

DigitalNC is pleased to announce the addition of a special issue of the newspaper the Goldsboro News-Argus. Thanks to our partner at the Wayne County Public Library, we are glad to provide access to an issue of the paper from April 26, 1957, which honors Lieutenant Seymour Johnson, U.S. Navy.

Lt. Seymour Johnson portrait

A native of Goldsboro, Lt. Johnson died in a plane crash near Norbeck, Maryland, on March 5, 1941. Johnson was “one of the first young men from Goldsboro to adopt aviation in the armed forces as a career.” He had been a test pilot for five years and his “friends in Goldsboro often heard reports that he safely brought to port airplanes which had developed mechanical trouble and it seemed all but impossible to land them.” The Air Force base in Goldsboro was named for Lt. Johnson in 1942.

The remainder of the issue provides news about Goldsboro and the Air Force base, frequently emphasizing how glad the town is to welcome those associated with the base.

To view this issue of the Goldsboro News-Argus, click here. To learn more about the Wayne County Public Library, visit their partner page here or their website here.

Thanks to our partner, the Greensboro History Museum, additional issues of the student newspaper from the former Greensboro High School, High Life, are now available on DigitalNC. Newly available issues cover the years 1923-1926, 1937-1941, 1957, and 1976-1978. The paper features information from the high school, now Grimsley High School, and the surrounding Greensboro community.

As a school newspaper, written by students and for students, High Life focuses on its students’ activities. Seniors are featured each May, and several of these special issues include “Last Will and Testament” sections where those leaving the school “give” things to the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. For example, “Bill Hancock is to receive Ed McDowell’s dramatic trend,” and “R. D. Apple reluctantly relinquishes his long-held position on the mound to Hampton Shuping.”

Greensboro High School Seniors of 1938, May 31, 1938

The students’ comic traditions continue in some of the articles included throughout the paper.

One student published an account of having the measles:

“Home With Measles or How Did I Get in This Fix?,” May 30, 1941

Decades later, an unnamed student announced her addiction to the television network HBO:

“Girl Is HBO Addict,” May 25, 1978

To see more from the Greensboro High School student newspaper, click here. To learn more about the Greensboro History Museum, visit their website or their DigitalNC partner page.