North Carolina’s thespians will be pleased to know that, thanks to our new partner Temple Theater, DigitalNC is now hosting four massive theater scrapbooks online! These scrapbooks cover the rich history of Sanford’s Temple Theater, a historic venue that was founded in 1925 as a vaudeville theater and soon became a center for all arts and culture in Lee County. The scale of these scrapbooks are monumental, and they hold every possible detail a dramaturge could hope for: from play programs to color photographs of productions, from newspaper clippings to blueprints.

One scrapbook contains original records from the theater’s early days in the 1930s, and includes original video rental invoices from studios such as Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, Universal, and Fox. The rest of the scrapbooks cover the theater’s revitalization efforts, which began in 1981, as well as the early days of the theater’s status as a National Historic Site. Interested readers can see the variety of acts and events that took place during this period: including street carnivals and Dungeons & Dragons tournaments to raise money for theater. Almost every page is suffused with color and includes color photographs of the stage, complete play programs, or even posters advertising the theater’s productions. You’d be hard pressed to find a more comprehensive record of a historic theater’s operation, or more convincing evidence of the love and effort that goes into play production.

You can find these four new scrapbooks online at DigitalNC here. Interested in learning more about Temple Theater? Visit their partner page online at DigitalNC here, or find them online at their website here.