Thanks to our partners at the Chapel Hill Historical Society, DigitalNC is happy to be able to provide access to two groups of materials from their collection online. A new set of drawings that illustrate the civil engineering and planning of Chapel Hill, and more issues of The Lincoln Echo from Chapel Hill’s Lincoln High School.
Only a few dozen issues are known to exist of The Lincoln Echo, published by the pre-integration African American high school of Chapel Hill, making this resource vital for the community. Our digital holdings of the paper now cover 1949 to 1965, and we also have issues of its precursor, The Orange Echo, from 1944 to 1947. The May 1945 issue of The Lincoln Echo is particularly noteworthy as it includes seniors’ reflections on graduating in light of V-E Day, which happened around the same time. One student said, “The outlook for myself is that when this war is over I will have equal opportunities with anyone, and be able to earn an honest dollar regardless of my color.”
The other digital additions in this batch are comprised of engineering drawings for the planning of the town. These drawings include scaled radiuses of fire trucks and garbage trucks, used to calculate the necessary dimensions for streets. Also, there are drawings of various street details, such as bus shelters, sidewalks, curbs, and other elements. The batch also includes plans for several roads around town, including Airport Road (NC86), now known as Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., pictured below.
Click here to view all of the newspapers from the Chapel Hill Historical Society, and here to view all other materials. To learn more about the organization, visit their partner page here or their website here.
