The first 8 years of The Front Page newspaper, from 1979-1986, are now on DigitalNC. The Front Page was published in Raleigh for twenty-six years covering “news and happenings of interest to gay people.”  The paper covered national and local news impacting and of interest to the LGBTQ+ community. There are ads for local businesses that were safe spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals, and a community calendar listed events. There’s also a Q&A column where letters from readers all over the state wrote in with problems or questions to recieve a broad spectrum of personal advice. 

Q-Notes, a prominent Charlotte area LGBTQ+ newspaper and the one Front Page merged with in 2006, published a retrospective of The Front Page and an interview with the Page‘s publisher Jim Baxter in the July 29, 2006 issue. Baxter penned an article in IndyWeek shortly after the paper’s final issue, and it describes parts of his career and the history of Front Page. 

The paper has been added with kind permission from the publishers and thanks to efforts by staff at the libraries at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Duke University. Digitization of this paper was funded by an IDEA Action Grant from UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries. Archived issues of Q-notes are available from our site, and you can view more current content at their site.

Thanks to our partner, Johnson C. Smith University, a batch of materials including documents from Catawba Presbytery, issues of The Charlotte Post, a book on Johnson C. Smith University’s first female president, and more are now available on our website. 

The book, The Yancy Years 1994-2008: The Age of Infrastructure, Technology and Restoration, is an educational narrative about Johnson C. Smith University’s first female president, Dr. Dorothy Cowser Yancy. The first half of the book is split into three different parts with each part representing a different phase of her time as president. One of the biggest impacts Dr. Yancy had on the university during her time as president was her investment in technology. She switched the campus to using email, expanded wireless capabilities, upgraded campus technology, and acquired laptops for students and faculty. In addition, Dr. Yancy brought Johnson C. Smith University into a new realm of success which placed the school on the national stage.

Dr. Yancy shares a hug with NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson during a talk inside the Sarah Belk Gambrell Auditorium at Biddle Memorial Hall.

The last half of the book features a 14-year financial overview of the university and a look at the 2006-2015 master plan. The book’s final chapter, “A Daughter’s Perspective on Dorothy Cowser Yancy,” is written by Dr. Yancy’s daughter, Yvonne. In it, Yvonne discusses her mother and their close relationship.

Yvonne Cowser Yancy and her mother, Dr. Dorothy Cowser Yancy at the “Diamond President” Gala Celebration in April, 2008.

To learn more about Johnson C. Smith University, please visit their website.

To view issues of The Charlotte Post, please click here.

To view more newspapers from around North Carolina, please visit our North Carolina Newspapers Collection.

Special Coverage of the Special Olympics Spring Games in 2017 in the Winston – Salem Chronicle.

Digital NC is happy to announce the new additions of the Winston – Salem Chronicle for the years 2017 and 2018. With help from our partner, Forsyth County Public Library, the new additions join previous editions from 1974 – 2016.

Founded in 1974, the Winston-Salem Chronicle bills itself as the oldest African American newspaper in the city. The newspaper is published every Thursday and discusses local stories that focus on Winston-Salem and surrounding areas.

One story within the Winston-Salem Chronicle discusses the Special Olympics spring games, which were held at Walkertown High. Over 900 athletes from ages 3 and up, gathered to compete in special events at the high school’s football stadium. The story made the front page of the sports section.

To learn more about the Winston-Salem Chronicle, visit them here.
Special thanks to our partner, Forsyth County Public Library. To view more materials from them, visit here.
To view the rest of our NC Newspaper Collection, visit here.