Thanks to our partner Cleveland County Memorial Library and support from the North Caroliniana Society, issues of The Shelby Daily Star from 1923 to 1936 and 1945 are now available on our website.
Originally named the Shelby Review, the newspaper has provided Shelby, North Carolina with local and national news since 1894. Since its first issue, the paper has gone through several name changes. In the late 1890s, the name was changed to the Cleveland Star, which it remained until 1936 when it was then changed to The Shelby Daily Star. After nearly 50 years, the paper was renamed to The Shelby Star in 1984. In 1998, the paper was renamed a final time to The Star, which it still goes by today.
New York City’s Time Square VE Day Celebration, May 7, 1945.
Two particularly interesting articles from this paper come from 1945 on Victory in Europe (May 8) and Victory Over Japan (August 15) Day. Instead of just providing information on the celebrations of the end of the war in large cities such as New York City, these articles provide the reader with a unique and interesting look into how small towns such as Shelby celebrated VE and VJ Day.
As the May 8th article mentions, Victory in Europe Day was “celebrated calmly and prayerfully in Shelby,” with no “boisterous noise-making like that which marked the close of World War I.” Many people in the town congregated in churches and auditoriums to sing and pray.
The Victory Over Japan Day article on August 15 presents a different scene in the Town of Shelby. After Japan’s surrender was announced, the courthouse square in Shelby, “was a rootin’ tootin’, yelling, laughing, crying mixture of hilariously happy folk and overloaded automobiles. […] The celebration continued far into the night, and business was at a standstill today with stores, banks, and public buildings closed. Most industrial plants closed down last night soon after the victory signal was received.” Other articles discussing the war and the effects it had on the town can be found in the 1945 issues of the newspaper.
To learn more about the Cleveland County Memorial Library, please visit their website.
To view more newspapers from across North Carolina, please visit our newspapers collection.
