We are excited to announce the availability of 76 new issues of The Carolina Journal, the student newspaper from our partner University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The issues in this batch span September 1969 – July 1972 and offer an insightful glimpse at a tumultuous time in U.S. history.
Like many student newspapers, the issues cover topics like sports, school events, administrative updates. However, there are occasionally artistic, yet simple full-page features that replace the traditional first page of the paper during momentous events that particularly impact students. These pages set the tone for the rest of paper in a striking way.
Volume 5, Issue 27 and Volume 6, Issue 24 each pay homage to the four unarmed college students killed on May 4, 1971 by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University during a mass protest against the bombing of Cambodia — an event now referred to as the Kent State massacre:
The English translation of the Latin “Nos Morituri” is “We are about to die”
Other full-page features make political or social commentary. The 1970 Halloween issue (Volume 6, Issue 6) features a perhaps unflattering depiction of President Ronald Reagan and Vice President Spiro Agnew in costume with a “bag of tricks” [on the left]; the February 1972 paper (Volume 7, Issue 15) celebrates Senator Edward Kennedy’s pro-Civil Rights statement during his January address to the Washington Press Club [on the right]:
Editorial pieces and cartoons likewise make sociopolitical commentary in North Carolina and beyond:
From left to right, these snippets come from [1] Oct. 25, 1971 (Vol. 7, Issue 7), [2] Oct. 25, 1971 (Vol. 7, Issue 7), [3] March 25, 1970 (Vol. 5, Issue 21)
But that doesn’t mean the paper lacks humorous or everyday content, like cartoons about student life and ads for Wrangler jeans:
From left to right, these snippets come from [1] Sept. 17, 1969 (Vol. 5, Issue 1), [2] Sept. 24, 1969 (Vol. 5, Issue 2), [3] March 6, 1972 (Vol. 7, Issue 19)
It’s clear that these newspapers offer a fascinating perspective of what it was like to attend the University of Charlotte in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Please feel free to check out the full collection of the UNC Charlotte student newspaper here at DigitalNC!
