Thanks to our new partner, the Tyrrell County Public Library, several issues of The Tyrrell County Herald are now available on our website. These issues are from the years 1928-1929 and 1944-1945. The papers mostly recount local news in the county, with a few reports on major national and international events.

All of the newspaper issues from the years 1944-1945 are dedicated to “Tyrrell County Men in the Military Service,” as a result of the country’s involvement in World War II. Each paper includes a listing of citizens who were wounded, taken prisoner, or killed in action during their military service. Several issues from this period also include a section called “Service Men Write”, in which citizens serving in the military were encouraged to write to the paper and these letters were then published for the paper’s readers to see. Most of the messages include thanks from the servicemen for the issues of the paper that they are able to read and how they remind them of home.

Front page of the May 1945 issue of The Tyrrell Times.

A few of these issues report on national and international events and issues that might be familiar to those familiar with 1940s history. The May 1945 issue reports on the celebration of V-E (Victory in Europe) Day, marking the end of the World War II conflict in Europe. The August 1944 issue reports that schools were deciding when to open based on the polio epidemic, in an interesting parallel to current events.

The front page of the August 1944 issue of the The Tyrrell Times.

For more information about the Tyrrell County Public Library, visit their website.