Postcard showing The American Tobacco Company cigarette plant in Reidsville, North Carolina.

We’ve recently finished digitizing and publishing online more local history materials from Rockingham County Public Library. This is another batch coordinated as part of a 2014-2015 Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) EZ Digitzation Grant, and we’re excited to share these with you.

Periodicals added with this batch include Insights to Jerusalem, a newsletter published by the Jerusalem United Holy Church of America in Reidsville, NC. These volumes, from 1990-1994, include church news, recipes, short essays, and more.  Old Rockingham County Magazine, also published during the 1990s, is a variety magazine with stories, historical anecdotes, household hints, ads, and local lore.

There are also a number of additional volumes of research on a variety of Rockingham County residents and topics by local historian John T. Dallas.

• Confederate Veterans of Rockingham County
• J. Oscar Thomas Letters and Others
• Jabez L. Dallas & Elizabeth Wells Dallas
• James B. Robertson, Caswell County, North Carolina
• Robert Dallis & Nancy Turner of Sandy River
• Roberts of Rockingham County, NC
• The Thomas Family
• Wentworth High School, 1923-1961

The remaining items include materials about the American Tobacco Company (The Story of Lucky Strike, and a postcard of the plant in Reidsville), two reports on civil rights in Reidsville, and a scrapbook full of newspaper clippings and ephemera documenting Washington Mills.

Additional photographs and scrapbooks highlighting Montgomery County’s local history are now available online. Many of these items share subject matter with other materials already on DigitalNC.org.

Page 23 from the Marionette Scrapbook, featuring the January 1967 class.

A new Marionette Scrapbook joins the already published 13 scrapbooks that belonged to Helen Poole, who taught the puppets class to sixth graders at Troy Elementary for several years. This scrapbook features photographs and performance programs from 1955-1974. Other new scrapbooks include Troy Music Club scrapbooks from the mid to late 1960s, Troy Civic Council – the 1971-1972 addition to already available Civic Council scrapbooks, Troop #243 Scrapbook, and a page from the Biscoe Woman’s Club: The Beginnings.

Town of Biscoe Veteran Harvey T. Luquire

Several more Town of Biscoe Veterans photographs are now available, featuring servicemen and women from Biscoe, North Carolina and the surrounding areas. Other Town of Biscoe Photographs were added, which include historical buildings and businesses of Biscoe, North Carolina, and the photograph of Pallie Atkins and Willard Atkins who resided in the Love Joy community.

Programs on American Home: The Woman’s Club Year Book, 1936-1937

Lastly, we have added annual reports, a scrapbook, and some other items to the Montgomery County Public Library digital collection. The Woman’s Club Year Books are annual reports for the woman’s club from years 1935-1936, 1936-1937, and 1948-1949.  There’s also several items related to the Word Magic! workshops. Held at the Montgomery County Public Library, Word Magic! was a summer workshop led by poet Phillip Shabazz about reading and writing poetry to 14 Montgomery County fourth and fifth graders. The scrapbook contains general information about the summer workshop. The Word Magic! Poetry Booklet contains a collection of poetry created by the session’s students, and the newspaper article features a short overview of the program as well as pictures of its participants.

To browse all of the materials from Montgomery County Public Library, please visit here.

“From Horse to Horseless,” pages 32 and 33 in History and program commemorating the centennial of Kings Mountain 1874-1974.

Recently, we digitized the 1974 Centennial history and program for Kings Mountain, North Carolina, from new contributing institution Mauney Memorial Library. The booklet includes numerous photographs and a detailed history of the town, with each page sponsored by a different local business. Contents also include various programs for events relevant to the centennial celebration.

This addition to DigitalNC.org is just one of many digitized objects available online related to the celebration of a town or organization’s centennial celebration.

Page 94 and page 96 from the Albemarle, Stanly County Centennial.

Front Cover of the Duke Ellington Centennial Celebration program

Among these materials is the Albemarle, Stanly County Centennial from 1957. The Bridge from Yesterday–Into Tomorrow is an Albemarle Centennial booklet published by the Albemarle-Stanly County Historic Preservation Commission. The booklet includes poetry, personal accounts from locals, and photographs of Albemarle citizens.

A more recent publication is A Duke Ellington Centennial Celebration from 1999. A Duke Ellington Centennial Celebration is a program generated by “Beyond Category: A Symposium on the Life, Works, and Orchestra of Duke Ellington,” a project made possible via the North Carolina Humanities Council. The symposium occurred on February 22-28, 1999, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It included lectures on Jazz and many concerts performed by local and recognized musicians, including Kevin Mahogany and The Heath Brothers.

Page 50 of the East Bend Centennial Scrapbook

Another selection is the August 1987 East Bend Centennial Scrapbook, which commemorates the 100 year anniversary of the town of East Bend, which was founded March 7, 1887.

Click here to browse a selection of North Carolina Memory centennial materials.

Farmville residents Mark Mozingo and Lottie Mozingo, 1972

In addition to North Carolina Memory, DigitalNC’s Images of North Carolina also contains photographs depicting Centennial Celebrations. The 1972 Farmville Centennial Celebration, for instance, has over 150 photographs documenting the centennial parade and the Farmville residents posing for portraits in period costume. Accompanying the photographs is Farmville’s 100th Anniversary book, which contains a detailed history of the town’s founding as well as accounts of notable residents, organizations, and events.

Child Posing with Clown on Main Street, Farmville 1972 Centennial Celebration

You may browse other images from North Carolina centennial celebrations here.