The front page for the Charlotte Post in April 1984, with a huge variety of topics on display

More issues of the Charlotte Post, from January 1980 to December 1987, are now online at DigitalNC, courtesy of Johnson C. Smith University. This new batch of over 420 issues joins an additional 400 issues of the Charlotte Post that stretches from 1971 into 1996. Founded in 1878 as a weekly publication, it is still published today and services the residents of Charlotte as “The Voice of the Black Community.”

Looking through these papers, it is easy to see why the Charlotte Post has become such an enduring institution. In nearly every paper, the Post covers local politics, national news, local events of note and more. For example, on the front page of the April 1984 paper shown above, there are articles on a new City-County Government Center to be constructed, travel records for highway patrol officials, holiday plans for local churches, an interview with the 1984 Delta Sigma Theta sorority debutante, and more.

An article in July 1987 highlighting the number of Black candidates running for office that fall.

This new batch gives us a more complete picture of the important issues that the Charlotte Post has covered in the past as an important fixture for Charlotte’s minority community. To learn more about Johnson C. Smith University, visit their partner page or their website.

Front page of the February 18, 1993 issue of the Charlotte Post, with a focus on Black History Month

Issues of the Charlotte Post, an African American newspaper out of Charlotte, are now online, thanks to partner Johnson C. Smith University.  The Charlotte Post was founded in 1878 and is a weekly publication.  It still is published today, with the tagline, “The Voice of the Black Community.”  

The first issues that we are making available online on DigitalNC cover 1988-1990, 1993, and 1996.  Issues affecting the Black community in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the wider nation are all discussed in the 30 plus pages of each issue of the paper, from politics, including the runs of several Black politicians in local and state government, as well as Jesse Jackson’s run for president in 1988, issues with the Charlotte Mecklenburg school district, especially for Black students, and a multitude of other topics, many of which will seem not so different from the topics of today.

To view more materials from Johnson C. Smith University, go here.  To view more of our newspapers, visit here.

Ten issues of the student newspaper from the Henderson Institute are now on DigitalNC.  The Henderson Institute was founded in 1891 with the goal of educating the Black community.  It was funded by the United Presbyterian Church.  The school closed in 1970 but maintains an active alumni group and our partner, the Henderson Institute Historical Museum stands on the original grounds of the school in Henderson, NC.   

Editorial in the 1941 Campus Herald discussing the inconsistency of the US policy abroad and at home

The topics covered in the paper include events happening at the school, topics of study in classes at the school, as well as important events in the Black community both locally and nationally.  The issues of the paper span 1937 through 1969, showing the evolution of the school in the middle of the 20th century, including some very interesting papers from the World War II era where there is discussion by the students of the juxtaposition of the United States push for liberty abroad while race relations on the home front remained fraught.  The early papers published in the 1930s were done under the direction of the English department but later issues appear to be have been produced by a specific group of the student body independently at the school.  

The introduction of Student Council at the Henderson Institute in 1969

To learn more about the Henderson Institute Historical Museum visit their partner page or their website.  To see more newspapers from across North Carolina, visit our newspaper page.  

The newest batch of Q-notes, Charlotte’s LGBT newspaper, adds very early issues of Q-notes to DigitalNC. These issues from 1983 and 1984 were published as a monthly newsletter by Queen City Quordinators (QCQ), a non-profit group established in 1981 by gay activist Don King and lesbian activist Billie Stickell. According the the Q-Notes website,

“The newsletter ended its run in 1984, with the close of the non-profit. In 1986, the newsletter was revived, and the publication was reborn as a monthly, print newspaper. The first issue of the revived community news source was published in June 1986, to coincide with National LGBT Pride Month.”

The early Q-Notes QCQ newsletters shed light on issues facing the LGBT community in Charlotte in the early 1980s and show the some of the grassroots resources and organizations pushing for information, safety, and acceptance. Conferences, meetings, and support groups were highlighted as ways of finding and building communities. Another important resource was the Gay/Lesbian Switchboard, a volunteer-run hotline providing information to Charlotte’s LGBT community.

This batch also includes newer issues of Q-notes from the 2000s, completing our run of Q-notes provided by our partner, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. To see more materials from University of North Carolina at Charlotte visit their DigitalNC partner page or take a look at their website.