In collaboration with our partners at the Museum of Haywood County, we are pleased to announce that four new scrapbooks from Haywood County are now available on our website! Set in Western North Carolina, these books combine newspaper clippings, photographs, booklets, and other assorted materials into one cohesive work. All of these different materials form a gestalt that allow the reader to glimpse into the author’s lived experience. What could be better than dozens of primary sources wrapped up into one?

Two of these scrapbooks are massive, leather-bound books that collect a comprehensive record of Haywood County’s home management clubs. These societies were formed and managed by local women, and would meet to raise funds for local organizations, provide education for new homeowners, and host dinners and functions for the entire community. Both of these scrapbooks were created in the sixties and reflect the traditional expectations for women during the period, including newspaper columns on attracting potential husbands and raising a family. Near the back of each book are sections on state and national events, including advertisements for polio drives, plans for the North Carolina state fair, and detailed programs on a convention for mental health.

Another scrapbook in the new batch was written by a Haywood local during his time at UNC Chapel Hill. Penned by Mr. Hanna, the book encompasses his time at the university from 1916 to 1919. Hanna, like many freshman college students, focuses his book on the many football games and parties he attends (while including a written report for accruing too many absences). Also found in this book are freshman resources including the Carolina Handbook, a train and class schedule, and a carefully notated map of the campus. Throughout these resources, Hanna writes opinionated notes on his experience in college.

We were also pleased to include a vintage photograph in this collection, taken by Hugh Morton and depicting the Old Well in Chapel Hill. Morton was a prolific photographer, conservationist, and alumni from UNC Chapel Hill. Born and raised in North Carolina, Morton was responsible for the creation of Grandfather Mountain, a state park located in Western North Carolina. You can view this photograph, alongside all of the new scrapbooks, here. If you want more Western North Carolina history, you can visit our partners at their website.

Thanks to our newest partner, McDowell Arts Council Association (MACA), a batch containing booklets of poetry by Howard R. McCurry and Alice Koonts Ostrom; script for Voices in the Wind by Billy Edd Wheeler, MACA scrapbooks spanning 1972 through 1987, and more are now available to view on DigitalNC!

Founded by community members in 1972, MACA provides accessible art experiences to all residents while also promoting and preserving cultural life in McDowell County. The Association is a member of the North Carolina Arts Council (an agency of the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources), which supplies people of the state a network of resources, grants, and county partners. Today, MACA offers events and programs such as classes for various forms of art; plays and musical performances; community band concerts; local artist markets, and more. The materials in this batch, however, give us a glimpse into their 50+ year history of support, art, and work in McDowell County.

Beginning with their inaugural year to 1987, the two MACA scrapbooks offer the most insight into the Association’s history. They feature founding documentation, photographs from different shows, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and—of course—art in various forms! One of these works of art is Will Barnet’s lithograph, Woman and Cats (seen above). The work served as the cover art for an invitation to the NC National Bank’s Graphics and Watercolors traveling exhibition which included several works by North Carolina artists.

Literary art is also heavily featured throughout this batch in the booklets, scrapbooks, and magazine issues. Complimentary to Barnet’s Woman and Cats lithograph, Edward Smith and Archie McPeter’s poem “Cat,” can be found in MACA Musings: McDowell County Poetry Spring Festival [1974]. The booklet is a collection of poems that were selected by the Written Arts Department of the McDowell Arts and Crafts Association (now MACA) as the best efforts of submitted poetry to a contest that was held in May 1974.

Keeping with the cat theme, we felt it important to mention that MACA’s head of security and official greeter is a cat that goes by the name Biscuit (pictured left).

Information about MACA and photograph of Biscuit were taken from MACA’s website, linked here.

To learn more about MACA, visit their website by clicking the link here.

To view more materials from McDowell County, visit our McDowell County page linked here.

Journey through time by looking at our latest batch of materials from Mitchell Community College. Thanks to our partners, Mitchell Community College, you can now view 10 news scrapbooks. The scrapbooks are composed of newspaper clippings containing announcements about the lives and achievements of students as well as events taking place in the community at large during the 1950’s-1970’s. Visit DigtalNC to take a look at the Mitchell Community College newspaper clipping scrapbooks.

To view more materials from The Mitchell Community College, please visit their contributor page linked here.

To learn more about Mitchell Community College, please visit their website linked here.

To explore more scrapbooks and other materials from across the state, please visit our North Carolina Memory Collection linked here.