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The Norlina Headlight Illuminates DigitalNC

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memorabilia newspapers

Thanks to our amazing partners at the Granville County Public Library, DigitalNC is proud to announce that a brand new collection of Tar Heel history is now available online! This amazing collection includes over seventy new issues of The Norlina Headlight (Norlina, N.C.), as well as three stunning ledger books from the nineteenth century. Both formats offer unique glimpses into different historical aspects of the Old North State, whether it’s news coverage of the second World War or commerce during the Victorian age.

The headline of The Norlina Headlight on June 1, 1945
This issue of the Headlight featured breaking news on victory in Germany and in the Pacific, as well as an insider look at baseball.

The brand new issues of The Norlina Headlight are at once concentrated and comprehensive. Ranging primarily from 1938 to 1945 (with one issue from 1917!), this collection contains over five hundred pages covering American involvement in World War II, from the advent of appeasement to VE Day and beyond. While The Norlina Headlight operated primarily out of Warren County, the paper’s ambitious scope included syndicated columns and cartoons from across the country, bringing a local touch to popular topics. These issues offer an excellent timeline of popular sentiment in North Carolina during the war, with coverage of both international theaters and domestic spheres. They present a unique glimpse into a single community’s reactions, opinions, and concerns during one of history’s most fraught eras. These new issues will join an existing collection of over four hundred issues already hosted online by DigitalNC, which goes as far back as 1914.

A page with over a dozen signatures in various sizes and styles.
“The Many Signatures of John H. Riggans” (1860). Ink on paper.

Fans of detailed records may also enjoy the three new ledgers included in this new collection. The ledgers range from 1857 to 1860, and record business conducted within Vance County, North Carolina. Two of the ledgers were written by John H. Riggans as part of his local general store, and both issues have a touching amount of detail within their bindings. For instance, at the start of the 1860 ledger, Riggans makes use of the ex libris page to practice his signature. Several attempts of various styles are recorded, potentially with different types of pen. While it’s unclear which signature Riggans settled on, the books are filled with similar personal touches. While some may view financial records as dry and quantitative, these ledgers contain traces of those that crossed through the stores and taverns of centuries past. Habits, relationships, and daily schedules are recorded on each page, for better or worse (some patrons of the Townsville Tavern, for instance, may be a bit bashful of the quantity of peach brandy they imbibed on Sundry Sunday).

You can find the three new old ledgers online now at DigitalNC here. If you’d like to read through the new issues of the Norlina Headlight, you can find them online at DigitalNC here.

Thanks again to our amazing partners at the Granville County Public Library for making these spectacular records available. You can learn more about Granville County Public Library at their DigitalNC contributor page here, or by visiting their website online here.

Interested in finding more traces of humanity in financial documents? Try exploring DigitalNC’s collections of ledgers, receipts, and other financial records.

New Daughters of 1812 Scrapbooks Now Available!

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memorabilia scrapbooks

Thanks to our amazing partners at the North Carolina Society Daughters of 1812, DigitalNC is proud to announce that six new scrapbooks are now available online! These stunning scrapbooks beautifully chronicle six years of society activities, including historic reenactments, fundraising banquets, and historic preservation initiatives. Each chapter across North Carolina is represented in each scrapbook, and every issue is a stunning representation of the history that can be found across the state.

A blue page with the dates and number of the Commissioner Charles Gause Chapter. A blue ribbon and seal decorate the top of the page
Each chapter’s title page is colorful and unique, like this Charles Gause Chapter page from the 2015 scrapbook.

The scrapbooks encompass nearly a decade of recent activities conducted by the state chapter. They join six other scrapbooks currently available on DigitalNC, effectively doubling the society’s digital documentary record. The new scrapbooks cover the following years:

Each book includes content created by chapters located across the state, from Hendersonville to Wilmington. Each state chapter has their own unique method of recording their history, making each year’s scrapbook a colorful collection of contributions. For instance, the Commissioner Charles Gause Chapter of Wilmington consistently includes records of their awards to JROTC units in local high schools, while the Snap Dragon Chapter of Lumberton decorates their pages with paper-craft ships and naval motifs. Certificates awarded to the North Carolina Society also fill the pages of these scrapbooks, recognizing the society’s commitment to supporting students, veterans, and historic preservation.

Thanks again to the North Carolina Daughters of 1812 for making this collaboration possible. You can find these new scrapbooks online now at DigitalNC here. Interested in learning more about the North Carolina Society Daughters of 1812? You can find their partner page on DigitalNC here, or their website online here.

500 photographs of Rocky Mount now on DigitalNC

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photos

Thanks to our partner Braswell Memorial Library in Rocky Mount, NC we now have over 500 photographs of Rocky Mount and the surrounding area on DigitalNC. The photographs date mainly from the 1930s to the 1970s and depict politicians, business people, women’s groups, students, and everyday citizens of Rocky Mount working and playing! A selection of the photographs are below but follow this link to see all 564 at once!

Children playing with toys
Three adults weighing a load of tobacco
Carousel
Crowd watching a little league game
Aerial view of Rocky Mount
Group of adults playing mini golf
Rocky Mount city baseball team posing for a portrait

To view more photograph collections from across North Carolina, visit our North Carolina Images page and to learn more about our partner Braswell Memorial Library, visit their partner page.

The Carolina Lesbian News Arrives on DigitalNC

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newspapers underrepresented

The cover of the Carolina Lesbian News' May/June 1997 issue, featuring a collage of photos. The photos are predominantly of people, with one photo of a car and one photo of two statues.
Each issue has a beautiful title page featuring work by NC artists, like this photo collage from the May 1997 issue.

Thanks to our fantastic partners at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, DigitalNC is proud to announce the digital debut of a brand new newspaper title— Carolina Lesbian News (Charlotte, N.C.)! Initially based in Charlotte, this bimonthly paper served North Carolina’s queer community interests, with a special focus on the lesbian community. Each issue has an impressive amount of depth and coverage, averaging around twenty full sized pages for each edition. This collection ranges from the initial issue published in 1997 to 1999, and totals a tidy sixteen issues.

The period covered in these issues was one of political and social change. Violence and discrimination against lesbians is often examined in these pages, but are counterbalanced by narratives of hope, activism, and community-building. Carolina Lesbian News was established to connect members of the community, who often felt isolated or alienated. Each issue gave space to a Lesbian Resource Directory, which provided information on local social events, LGBT-friendly businesses, and numbers for hotlines and networking groups. An indefatigable hope runs through the paper: progress and recognition was achieved through activist efforts recorded in the paper, and later issues proudly announce federal recognition of Pride Month in June, 1999.

A clipping of a column titled "Lesbian Internet Connection" by Lilian Waisman. Her portrait is included. The article reads "'Get Linked", "Get Online", "Get on the Web", "Get on the Internet", "Get into Cyberspace", get with it! Today's internet technology is the wave of the future and if you are not "Online," you need to be. For best access to the Internet, the following hardware is required: 1 Computer, prefarably a 486 or Pentium 66MH: processor 8 MB of RAM (preferably 16 MB) 14.4 or faster modem
Early Internet columns also provide fun ways of looking back, like this recommendation for a whopping 8 megabytes of RAM!

The collections’ origins in the late nineties also provide a unique glimpse into how community groups communicated and supported each other at the advent of the digital age. At the start of the publication’s run, an editorial claims the paper was established as a reaction to other traditional lesbian spaces and publications diminishing. Access to community resources often relied on information found in the newspaper, such as phone numbers for organizations, an updated and reliable social calendar, and even just the presence of words of other like-minded individuals. While many modes of support have since been replaced by the Internet, there’s something unique and personal about this period of community. Many of the same authors return to the paper with each issue, local businesses become familiar when they continue to voice their support, and a wide range of lesbian life is explored in each issue: from new music releases to poetry to cartoons to spirituality. Each page is both a conversation and a celebration of the lesbian experience, grounded in a moment both distant and familiar.

You can find each new issue of the Carolina Lesbian News online now on DigitalNC here.

Thanks once again to our fantastic partners at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for making this collection available online. If you’d like to see more records contributed by UNC Charlotte, you can visit their partner page on DigitalNC here, or explore the university’s website online here.

Interested in exploring more records related to North Carolina’s LGBT+ community? Try exploring our collection of Community Connections, an LGBT+ newspaper published in Asheville from 1987 to 2003.

The Cows Come Home in New Dairy Records

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memorabilia newspapers

Thanks to our a-MOO-zing partners at the Davidson County Public Library and the Lexington Library, DigitalNC is proud to announce that a brand new collection of directories, newsletters, and student newspapers are now available online! This varied and unique collection includes the student newspapers of Lexington and Thomasville High School, the 1957 directory of First Presbyterian in Lexington, and a MOO-nique newsletter from the Erlanger Dairy Community!

Titled the “Dairy Number,” this exciting newsletter was written by the Erlanger Cotton Mills Company in 1922—over a century ago! The newsletter advertises the unique opportunities that dairy farming provides to a community, from novel access to “milk as a beverage,” to the important nutritional value of calcium. For those reticent or intolerant of dairy as a beverage, this newsletter recommends a variety of vintage solutions: from adding sarsaparilla and raspberry to your milk, to soda fountain drinks such as egg creams (which contain neither eggs nor cream). The recipes, along with other articles on history and nutrition, offer a calf-tivating glimpse at the ways in which an industry can suffuse each part of a community’s life.

A black-and-white photograph of a bull.
Mr. Romeny, champion of the pasture and all-around good boy.

Indeed, the pride of Erlanger’s dairyman suffuses each page of this newsletter: poems are penned to the overseer of the mill, outstanding employees are profiled, and news from across town is communicated in the pages of the newsletter. It’s not just human employees that are honored, either: this newsletter is chockablock with notable bovine. Photos of newborn calves are treated with equal import to the Erlanger Baby Page. Chief dairy cows are photographed, along with their names and record-setting statistics. My personal favorite bovine is Mr. Romeny of Maple Grove, the distinguished senior herd sire of the mill; but other readers may form their own attachments to other charismatic cattle like Victoria and Double Finance.

A cartoon of a tall anthropomorphic bulldog wearing a shirt that says "School Spirit Past." He holds a tape measure to a short anthropomorphic bulldog wearing a shirt that says "School Spirit '56". The cartoon is captioned 'Will He Ever Grow Up?'
The Thomasville Bulldogs may have struggled with school spirit due to their lack of positive bovine role models.

If you’d rather STEER clear of The Erlanger Dairy, you can find a more traditional historic record in the pages of the Thomasville and Lexington student newspapers. The Thomasville Student News (also known as Facts & Fun) make their digital debut in this collection, and range from 1953 to 1956. This paper is especially concerned with the school’s gridiron team, whose Bulldogs frequently found a staunch rival in the Lexington High School Yellow Jackets. In light of the football rivalry, these student papers compliment each other in amusing fashion — when the Yellow Jackets trounce the Bulldogs, you’re sure to find conflicting editorials the following week.

You can find the two new newsletters (moo-sletters?) online now on DigitalNC here.

If you’d like some classic mid-century gridiron instead, you can find the Thomasville High School Student Newspaper here, and the Lexington High School Student Newspaper here.

DigitalNC is dairy excited to have this collection online—thanks once again to our fantastic partners at the Davidson County Public Library and the Lexington Library for making these pieces of history available. You can find more information about the Davidson County Public Library at their DigitalNC contributor page here, and you can discover more records from the Lexington Library here.

BREAKING: New Partner Brings War Time News from Avery County to DigitalNC

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newspapers

Newspaper masthead for The Avery Herald. Below the title is written: This Is Your County Newspaper. Make It Better By Your Support.

In the wake of the damage caused by Hurricane Helene to the western part of our state, the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center has made an effort to prioritize partnering with cultural heritage institutions—both new and veteran—and materials related to affected areas. Over 250 issues of our newest title, The Avery Herald (Newland, Avery County, N.C.) have been digitized thanks to our newest partner, Avery County Historical Museum.

Located in Newland, North Carolina, the Avery County Historical Museum resides in the former Avery County Jail which was built in 1912. They seek to collect, preserve, and display vital information, photographs, and artifacts about people, events, and places that make up the history of the county and the surrounding areas of the Toe River Valley. For those interested in family genealogies or simply curious about the area’s people and history, the museum has a research room where researchers can view the hundreds of books and papers in their collection—such as the amazing issues of The Avery Herald now on our site.

Above the photograph is written: Brass for the Kiss of Death. In the photograph there is a person wearing lipstick comparing a lipstick case and a .303 caliber cartridge. The lipstick case is held up on the left and the cartridge on the right.
The Avery Herald, June 4, 1942, page one.
Above the three photographs is written: "Pistol Shootin' Mamas" Take a Bead on Hitler. The three photographs below the text show various women aiming or using firearms.
The Avery Herald, October 14, 1943, page one.

Ranging from 1940 to 1946, the paper provides a great deal of information about the local community, its residents, and shows how World War II affected their daily lives. There are frequent reminders throughout these issues that stresses the rationing of various materials including paper and metal—like this one (shown above, left) from the June 4, 1942 issue showcasing the direct impact of civilian rationing of brass from decorative lipstick cases to .303 caliber cartridges. Another article (shown above, right), published October 14, 1943, highlights the shift and change in women’s options and opportunities such as joining the armed services, stepping into job positions traditionally seen only as “men’s work” (e.g. factory work), and even fashion. Notably for genealogists and other researchers, the paper published information about the residents in Avery County at the time, as well as the letters, news, and movement of Avery County servicemembers during the war (shown below).

Published letter from a servicemember to The Avery Herald staff. In the letter, the individual mentions the importance of the paper to not only them, but their fellow soldiers.
The Avery Herald, April 27, 1944, page one.
Column in The Avery Herald titled "With the Boys in Service." Below the title is information about Avery County servicemembers such as their names, parents names, where they have been stationed, and their status.
The Avery Herald, May 4, 1944, page one.

To learn more about the Avery County Historical Museum, visit their contributor page here.

To view more materials from Avery County, including photographs and yearbooks, please click here.

To view more newspapers from across North Carolina, visit our North Carolina Newspapers Collection linked here.

New Editions of The Red Springs Citizen are Available Now!

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newspapers

Newspaper masthead with the title: The Red Springs Citizen.

Thanks to funding from a community contributor and nominations from the State Archives of North Carolina and Red Springs Historical Museum we are pleased to announce that nearly 800 new issues of The Red Springs Citizen are now available on our website!

These new papers, ranging from 1950 to 1964, capture life in Robeson County. Red Springs, NC, named for the red pigment in the local mineral springs, became an agricultural hub in the southern part of the state. Farmers planted a variety of fruits and vegetables that were sold both locally and across the United States.

Images from an edition of the Red Springs Citizen showing two images. The first is of a large open shed and the second is of men and woman sorting produce in the shed.
The Red Springs Citizen, March 22, 1962

Several issues of The Red Springs Citizen from the summer of 1960 highlight Red Spring’s Produce Center. Located on Raeford Road, the Center hosted farmers who brought in their produce for grading and packaging before shipment. Most of the produce was cucumbers which sold for $1 a bushel.

Headline from the Red Springs Citizen proclaiming "15,428 bushels of cucumbers sold at Produce Center in June"
The Red Springs Citizen, July 7, 1960

The Produce Center, part of the Farmers Cooperative of Red Springs, sold its cucumbers to a company in Philadelphia, where they were processed into pickles and sold along the eastern seaboard. The co-op sold 15,428 bushes of cucumbers for a total of $14,332.80 in June alone. The Farmers Cooperative was an extremely successful venture, selling a variety of produce to support local farmers.

To learn more about Red Springs, visit the town website here.

To explore more materials from North Carolina Community Contributors, visit their contributor page here.

To view more newspapers from across the state, visit our North Carolina Newspaper Collection linked here.

Students Speak Their Minds in New Wake Forest Scrapbooks

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scrapbooks

Thanks to our partners at Wake Forest University, five new scrapbooks illustrating student life from 1954 to 1957 are now available on our website!

Image of burning effigy of President Dr. Harold Tribble
Page from the November 1955-January 1958 scrapbook showcasing the burning effigy of Dr. Harold Tribble

Wake Forest College, now Wake Forest University, officially moved from Wake Forest to Winston-Salem in the 1950s. These newly digitized scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings related to the construction of the new campus, the move there, and student activities.

Image of a newspaper clipping detailing the jitterbug demonstration Wake Forest students participated in to protest the ban of dancing on campus.
Image of the jitterbug demonstration in protest of the Baptists’ dancing ban

Wake Forest students did not shy away from sharing their opinions regarding the college’s decisions. When students believed that Wake Forest planned to de-emphasize the athletics program after the shocking resignations of Head Football Coach Tom Rogers and Athletic Director Pat Preston, they burned an effigy of President Dr. Harold Tribble in front of his home. Dr. Tribble came out of his house and addressed the crowd of students, promising them that there were no plans to de-emphasize athletics and that the athletics budget was the largest it had ever been.

Students also staged several protests when the Baptist Church decreed that they would not permit dancing on campus. They planned several demonstrations, including a walkout during a required Chapel meeting, a mass burning of an effigy of Baptist State Convention president Dr. J.C. Canipe, and a mass dance rally. These objections proved effective, forcing the Baptist Convention to return to the issue in their next meeting.

To explore these new scrapbook editions, click here.

To view more materials from Wake Forest University, visit their contributor page here.

To learn more about Wake Forest University as it is today, visit their website here. 

New Mid-Century Musings Arrive Online on DigitalNC

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newspapers underrepresented

Thanks to our partners at the New Hanover County Public Library, DigitalNC is pleased to announce that fourteen brand new issues of the Wilmington Journal (Wilmington, N.C.) are now available online! Founded in 1927, the Wilmington Journal is one of North Carolina’s oldest African-American newspaper and has published stories on local, state, and national events for nearly a century. These new issues contain almost two hundred new pages full of journalism, spanning from 1953 to 1977. They join sixteen issues already hosted online at DigitalNC, doubling the site’s holdings of the journal.

The front page of the Wilmington Journal's 50th anniversary issue
Often published in red, white, and black, the Journal’s 50th edition featured special golden inking for their anniversary

The standout issue of this collection is by far the 50th anniversary paper, published on March 12th, 1977. This stunning issue contains a whopping FIFTY-NINE pages full of current events, community stories about the paper, and letters from local businesses and readers congratulating the paper on its golden jubilee. This issue far and away outpaces previous issues of the journal, which average around 12 pages an issue. It’s a breathtaking record of the commitment and dedication the Wilmington Journal’s journalists and editors have to the paper, and the issues’ letters and advertisements are a testament to the special place the paper holds in its readers hearts.

You can find the 50th anniversary issue of the Wilmington Journal online now at DigitalNC here. Interested in reading more issues of the Wilmington Journal? You can find over two decades of the paper’s issues online at DigitalNC here. Thanks again to our amazing partners at the New Hanover County Public Library for making these issues available online. You can learn more about New Hanover County Public Library’s holdings by visiting their partner page at DigitalNC here, or by visiting the library’s website online here.

The Art and Utility of Quilting: New Primary Source Set

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oral histories primary source set teacher resources

Quilt made in the crazy quilt style; it has many small pieces of fabric (most solid colors) sticked together with a large diamond shape white piece of fabric in the middle. Inside the diamond is this stitched initials of the recipient ‘SAE’ and small floral accents added around the initials; throughout the quilt there are the names of contributors stitched into the quilt as well. There are many visible embellished stitches on top of the regular stitches, as well as lace and embroidered/stitched designs like flowers, moon, stars, dove, crane, hearts, music notes, and a butterfly.
Contributed to DigitalNC by North Carolina Humanities Council.

Quilting is the process of creating textile-based materials (e.g. blankets, clothing, etc.) and is distinguished by its use of three layers: a top layer of fabric, some type of internal batting (insulating fibrous material), and a back layer of fabric. Techniques include applique, where fabric designs are stitched onto the top layer of fabric; stitch design, where the three layers are stitched together so that the stitching creates designs on the quilt; and patchwork, where pieces of fabric are stitched together to form the top layer of fabric. 

Quilting is a practice of both art and practical skill. Quilts have been used to warm loved ones, display artful technique, and stitch together stories and memories. What we see as an everyday craft uncovers social conditions and lived experiences of those who invested their time into their quilting. This new primary source set aims to provide insight to the experiences of people living in North Carolina, as well as appreciate the craft of quilting in both its artistry and utility. Some of the topics the source set covers is exploring rural life, Black and African American influence, and storytelling through quilts and materials about quilting.

Rural Life

Excerpts from oral history transcription.
Contributed to DigitalNC by Braswell Memorial Library (Rocky Mount, N.C.).

This set contains many quilts and images to examine, but one of the interesting sources is an oral history given by Agnes L. Scott about growing up in rural North Carolina. She shared stories of how quilting played a role in her life and the connections between her and her neighbors due to the practice of quilting. Other sources in the set on rural living share a similar theme of community through quilting.

Black and African American Influence

Here, a quilt created by a member of the Bond-Speller family from Bertie County shows different patterned squares, as well as the influence that Black and African American quilters have had on the practice of quilting. This source and others point out the African influence in American patchwork, specifically regarding color and long, thin strips of patchwork. North Carolina quilts can give plenty of examples of this influence, amongst others.

Excerpt of exhibition program showing a multicolor patchwork quilt. The quilt is a variation on the log cabin style, with asymmetrical designs and use of colors. It is primarily blue, green, white, and block with pops of yellow and red. Included is the caption detailing the piece.
Contributed to DigitalNC by Historic Hope Plantation.

Storytelling

A portion of the history quilt is displayed in a black and white photo, the top layer of the quilt is made into a checkerboard pattern with large squares of fabric, alternating between fabric with white and light colored stripes and dark fabric with very thin lines and small dots and shapes sticked into the dark fabric. On top of the top layer for the quilts are four photos and captions. (1) Pauli Murray shown smiling wide with short hair, glasses, a long necklace with an ornate cross pendant, and wearing a sweater vest with a color block square pattern over the typical episcopal priest collar and long-sleeved shirt. (2) Maggie Axe Wachacha in a grainy photo with a door partially in the background; her hair is pulled back with soft white wisps of hair loose around her face and wearing a white shirt with a prominent collar and lapel and a black jacket or shirt overtop. (3) Elizabeth Avery Colton is shown in a light washed/blurry photo in a short-sleeved light colored dress, hair pulled back, looking slightly off to the side, and resting her hand on a piece of furniture. (4) Dorris Betts is pictured in front of a shelf of books, staged with a book in hand and turned slightly to look at the camera; her hair is pulled up high, and is wearing lipstick, a light colored blouse and cardigan overtop.
Contributed to Digital NC by the North Carolina Humanities Council.

Many stories are told through quilting, from community connections to what life was like for the quilter who created the piece. Some quilts, however, attempt to share an explicit story through the art of quilting. There are examples in this set, like the portion of a quilt shown on the left, that tell stories about history in North Carolina. For the quilt highlighted here, students created a quilt to share about prominent women and feminists in North Carolina’s history.

There are many aspects about life in North Carolina that can be divulged from the sources found in this set, giving us a glimpse into the everyday of people within the state. This primary source set aims to give information not only about the art and practice of quilting, but the lives and experiences of the quilters themselves. Please enjoy learning more about North Carolina history through quilting, and if you are inspired to join in the long history of quilters in the state, then happy quilting!

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This blog is maintained by the staff of the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center and features the latest news and highlights from the collections at DigitalNC, an online library of primary sources from organizations across North Carolina.

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