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Additional Yearbooks from Wayne County Public Library Now Available

Newly digitized yearbooks from Wayne County Public Library are now available on DigitalNC.org. This batch features yearbooks from six high schools, dated 1955-1965. The high schools are from Wayne, Lenoir, Craven and Pitt counties:

  • New Bern High School (New Bern, N.C.) – 1965
  • New Hope High School (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1964
  • Dillard High School (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1965
  • Goldsboro High School (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1965
  • Bethel High School (Bethel, N.C.) – 1955, 19571958
  • Grainger High School (Kinston, N.C.) – 1956-1959, 1961-164

In addition to this selection of yearbooks is a 1926 senior yearbook and scrapbook from Goldsboro High School called Just Seniors. The yearbook features portraits of the 66 seniors as well as mementos, newspaper clippings, postcards, pressed flowers, personal messages, and programs collected by the copy’s owner Louise Johnston Spoon.

justseniors19261926gold_0016

From left to right, clockwise: Louise Johnston Spoon’s yearbook photo, page 12; 1925 Junior-Senior Banquet Program, p. 47; Postcards, p. 58; pressed flower and personal notes, p. 106.

To browse more yearbooks, click here. To explore more materials from Wayne County Public Library, click here.


Scrapbooks, Yearbooks, and a Grand Achievement for Wayne County Public Library

From Carver High School in Mount Olive, N.C., 1961.

From Carver High School in Mount Olive, N.C., 1961.

The Digital Heritage Center staff just uploaded several items that brought our partner Wayne County Public Library past a milestone: over 1000 items on DigitalNC! This summer we’ve been busy digitizing a range of Wayne County materials, including school yearbooks and all types of scrapbooks. The scrapbooks range from 4-H club records (pigs galore!) to several on the Major-League Baseball player and pickle salesman Ray Scarborough.

Most recently uploaded are the Wayne County War Memorial scrapbooks from 1923-1925. The two scrapbooks cover the Wayne County 1924-1925 Scrapbook pagehistory of the building from inception to completion, and are an excellent record of post-war sentiment in Wayne County. The building, which opened in 1925, was a monument to the Wayne County soldiers who fought in the first world war. For almost 80 years, it functioned as a community center, administrative office building, and recreational facility (an indoor swimming pool was added in 1935). It also served as a monument not only to World War I soldiers but to honor those who served in subsequent wars as well. Sadly, the building burned down in 2004; in its place the Wayne County Veterans Memorial was constructed. For more information on the memorials, visit the Wayne County Veterans Memorial website.

Also digitized are several yearbooks from two Wayne County high schools. The African-American Carver High School in Mount Olive, NC now has six volumes from 1959-1964 available, and Pikeville High School in Pikeville, NC has six new volumes from 1958-1961.

For all items from Wayne County Public Library, click here.


Yearbooks and scrapbooks now online from Wayne County Public Library

The NC Digital Heritage Center has just added more materials online from Wayne County Public Library including scrapbooks covering 4-H activities in Wayne County, Ray Scarborough, a major league baseball player from Mount Olive, and yearbooks from several Wayne County high schools including Goldsboro High School and Nahunta High School.

prizepigs_4HWayne

The 4-H scrapbooks are from the 1950s and show the focus on pigs in Wayne County’s 4-H program at the time. The scrapbooks also show in detail the amount of record keeping that 4-H members had to maintain to participant in the livestock and crop competitions. The scrapbooks include photographs, worksheets, and essays on “What 4-H Means to Me.”

prizesow_4HWayne

To view more materials from Wayne County Public Library on DigitalNC, visit here.


Baseball scrapbooks from Wayne County now online

Four scrapbooks featuring baseball players who went into the big leagues from Wayne County are now online on DigitalNC.

From Sunday Star Sports, a Washington, D.C. paper on April 17, 1949.

From Sunday Star Sports, a Washington, D.C. paper on April 17, 1949. President Harry Truman threw the opening pitch at the game that day.

Two of the scrapbooks feature Ray Scarborough (1917-1982), a pitcher from Mount Olive, NC who played for the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and Washington Senators, and he served as a scout for the Baltimore Orioles.  During his time on the Yankees, they went to the 1952 World Series and Scarborough was a scout with the Orioles when they went to the World Series in 1966.  The scrapbooks have a mix of materials from his baseball career and as a boy growing up in Wayne County and as a student at Wake Forest University.  The materials in the scrapbook are a mix of photographs, letters, and newspaper clippings and cover the 1940s through 1980s.

TimTaltonbattingaverage1960

Tim Talton and his rival for top batting average in the Eastern League Pedro Gonzalez in 1960.

The other two scrapbooks feature Marion (Tim) Talton of Pikeville, N.C., who played as catcher for the minor league teams the St. Cloud Rox in Fargo, ND and the Springfield Giants in Springfield, MA.  Known for his exceptional hitting, Talton had the second highest batting average in the Eastern League in 1960 with a .331.  One scrapbook covers his time on the St. Cloud Rox in 1959 and the other, his time on the Giants in 1960.  Talton moved up to the major leagues in 1966 and played for the Kansas City Athletics.

The scrapbooks were made available through Wayne County Public Library.  To view more baseball materials in DigitalNC, visit here.


Wayne County Yearbooks Now Online

dillardite195703dill_0018

Additional yearbooks from five high schools in Wayne County are now available on DigitalNC: Seven Springs High School (1952), Fremont High School (1964), Grantham High School (1964), New Hope High School (1958-1959), and Dillard High School (1957-1963), an African-American high school that was integrated into Goldsboro High School in 1969.

The Dillard High School yearbooks in particular are worth a glance. The 1957 Dillardite is full of delightful details, like teachers photographed with props from their classroom, a photo of the City Schools supervisor that carefully mirrors the illustration, and lighthearted cartoons that replaced students who had missed picture day (collaged below).

dillardite1959absent

The yearbooks are available courtesy of Wayne County Public Library.  To view more North Carolina High School Yearbooks, visit here.


Yearbooks, Student Newspaper, and Essays from Wayne County now on DigitalNC

Portrait of Richard Sale Leftwich, principal, from the 1924 Goldsboro High School Yearbook

Principal Richard Sale Leftwich from 1924 Goldsboro High School Yearbook, page 12

New materials digitized for the Wayne County Public Library are now available on DigitalNC. A list of the new items is below, and includes yearbooks from Wayne County schools, the Goldsboro High School Newspaper, and more.

Yearbooks
Other Items
  • Goldsboro Hi News: 1925-1941 [some issues missing]
  • Prize Essays presented by the North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1932

You can view all materials digitized for the Wayne County Public Library here.


Introducing Our New Primary Source Teaching Sets

A classroom of white children sitting at desks and looking at the camera. Standing in the back of the room is their teacher/principal in a suit and tie.
Sixth grade students at West Elementary School in Kings Mountain, 1959-60. Contributor: Kings Mountain Historical Museum

We are very excited to announce that our site has expanded to include four new sets of primary source teaching resources available for any teachers, researchers, or curious explorers to use. Each of these sets focuses on a particular topic in North Carolina history and includes a curated selection of 15-20 primary sources from our 300+ partners around the state. Within each set is a blend of visual materials (photographs, videos), written materials (newspaper articles, speeches, letters), and audio materials (interviews, oral histories) from the DigitalNC collections.

Each set also comes with short context blurbs for each item, as well as general background information, a timeline, a set of discussion questions, and links to genre-specific worksheets (ex. How to Analyze a Newspaper Clipping). While some of these topics are more concentrated in particular regions, our goal is to connect these broad themes in history to local examples that students can recognize. Here’s a look at the four initial primary source sets:

A black-and-white photo of a Black teenager on the left facing a white teenager on the right. Both are standing in profile against the hallway of a high school.
From the 1971 Gohisca yearbook from Goldsboro High School. Contributor: Wayne County Public Library

Racial Integration in K-12 Schools

Time period: 1950s-1980s

While you may be familiar with some of the national stories around school integration after Brown v. Board of Education, this teaching set samples North Carolina yearbooks, photographs, newspapers, and oral histories to ground this topic in familiar places. It draws primarily on our collections from historically Black high schools, many of which were closed during this period (though their alumni associations remain strong!). This collection also implements local materials from the Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Supreme Court case over busing.

A cartoon of two adult women sitting on a couch. The caption reads, "Your being gay doesn't shock me, but I can't see how I can break the news to your Aunt Doris and her roommate."
A cartoon from The Front Page in Raleigh, N.C. (1980). Contributors: Duke University & UNC Charlotte

Analyzing Political Cartoons

Time period: 20th century

This set was inspired by the popular NCPedia page, “Analyzing Political Cartoons,” which explains some of the strategies for understanding cartoons in their historical context. Here, we’ve selected examples from over a century of newspapers that include topics such as the 1898 Wilmington Coup, women’s suffrage, economics, and a few contemporary political issues. Each example comes with a bit of historical context and some background on the newspaper itself.

A black-and-white photo of textile workers marching down a public street. Near the front, a group of protestors holds a sign that reads, "United Textile Workers of America, Affiliated with A.F. of L. Local, RANLO 2118."
Textile workers marching in Gastonia, N.C. in 1929. Contributor: Gaston County Museum of Art & History

Textile Workers & Labor Movements

Time period: 1920s-30s and 1970s

North Carolina’s history of labor is inextricably tied to the legacy of the textile industry. This set uses photographs, memorabilia, speeches, and newspaper clippings of two famous examples—the Loray Mill strike of 1929 and the activism of Crystal Lee Sutton—to weave together an understanding of North Carolina’s economy and culture through one of its major industries of the 20th century.

A postcard depicting the American Tobacco Company factory in Reidsville. In the top two corners are enlarged packets of Pall Mall and Lucky Strike cigarettes.
A postcard from the American Tobacco Company cigarette plant in Reidsville, N.C. Contributor: Rockingham County Public Library

Tobacco

Time period: 20th century

It would be impossible to fully understand the history of North Carolina in the 20th century without talking about the tobacco industry. This set uses photographs, newspapers, videos, and oral histories to explore the lives of tobacco farmers and factory workers as well as the major families who controlled the vast tobacco wealth. Additionally, it includes examples of how the industry affected culture, including a new generation of advertising that attempted to combat public health concerns.

You can explore these four teaching sets for yourself here on our teaching and learning resource page. You can also go directly to our item analysis worksheets here, which include levels for both beginning and advanced learners. If you’d like to give us feedback on these teaching resources, you can contact us here.


Family Photographs, 18th Century Land Grants, Goldsboro Newspapers, and Much More Now Available on DigitalNC!

Thanks to our partner, Wayne County Public Library, a batch containing 18th and 19th century land grants for some of the earliest settlers of Wayne County; photographs of individuals protesting segregation; scrapbooks of materials detailing the history of Goldsboro City Schools; Goldsboro newspapers; family photographs; history of The Cultural Movement African Dance Company; and much more are now available to view on our website.

A portion of the materials in this batch were digitized by staff during a community scan day at the Wayne County Public Library. Using materials brought in by community members during the event, the Wayne County Public Library Community Collections exhibit has been added to DigitalNC.

Among the materials brought to Wayne County Public Library’s community scan day was a collection of family photographs spanning from circa 1880s to circa 1950s. Snippets of boating adventures, pets, children playing, architecture, and more can be found throughout the record. A small selection of these fascinating photographs can be viewed below.

A small child standing in a doorway. The child is wearing a light colored dress.
Two individuals dressed in light colored tops and dark colored skirts standing close to one another posing for the picture. Behind them are large magnolia trees.
Two individuals posing close together with trees and a cleared lawn with adirondack chairs behind them.
Two individuals standing above a pit with sticks and an unknown substance. The person to the right is wearing a hat, shirt, vest, and pants and is holding what appears to be a long handle. The person standing to the left is wearing a light colored shirt and pants.
Individual holding a baby in their arms. Standing next to them is a small child.
An individual holding a baby.
Collection of Family Photographs

To explore the Wayne County Public Library Community Collections, please visit the exhibit page.

To view more materials from Wayne County Public Library, please visit their contributor page here.

To learn more about the Wayne County Public Library, please visit their website linked here.

To view more photographs, please view our Images of North Carolina collection linked here.


Business and Professional Women’s Club Scrapbooks Hold Evidence of Mid-Century Advocacy

A black-and-white photo of a group of white women standing side by side

From the 1958 Goldsboro Business and Professional Women’s Club Scrapbook

Thanks to our partner, Wayne County Public Library, we’ve got several additional scrapbooks from the Wayne County Business and Professional Women’s Club. The scrapbooks range from 1948 to 1974-75 and document many of the club’s leaders, events, and impacts in the area.

A black-and-white photo of a group of white women in formal wear

From the 1950 Goldsboro Business and Professional Women’s Club Scrapbook

The Business and Professional Women’s Clubs of North Carolina (BPW/NC) began in 1919 with representatives from Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Salisbury, and Winston-Salem. It grew to encompass several more chapters, including one in Goldsboro. The clubs advocated for women’s interests in the state, like money for a women’s dormitory at UNC-CH and the ratification of the 19th Amendment, and they protested against discrimination, such as that against unaccompanied women in hotels. Today, the BPW/NC still works to “promote the general advancement of working women in North Carolina.”

In addition to photographs, the scrapbooks hold a selection of newspaper clippings, financial records, organizational literature, event programs, and ephemera. You can see the full batch of scrapbooks and club minutes here. To see more materials from the Wayne County Public Library, visit their partner page or their website


Goldsboro Herald Newspaper 1936-1940 Added to DigitalNC

Black and white image of the top half of the April 25 1940 issue of the Goldsboro Herald

The front page of the April 25, 1940 of the Goldsboro Herald, which shows articles about local Black schools, the Goldbugs, and a prelude to war.

Thanks to the Wayne County Public Library, we’re sharing issues of the Goldsboro Herald from 1936-1940 on DigitalNC. Digitization of these issues was funded by the North Caroliniana Society. 

Black and white ad with images of homes, graph, and information about electric rates

This ad is one of many targeting Wayne County residents during the heyday of rural electrification in North Carolina. It’s from the January 12, 1939 issue of the Goldsboro Herald.

The Goldsboro Herald is full of local information with little syndicated content. You’ll see stories related to the tobacco market, crime, and personal news items like births, visits, and deaths. Special columns cover Baker, Eureka, Pikeville, and Patetown – all in Wayne County. Also prominent is sports news, with coverage of the Goldsboro “Goldbugs” baseball team frequently right on the front page. As the paper progresses into 1940 the front page increasingly has news related to world events leading up to the second World War.

It’s unclear how long the Herald ran – if you have more information on this let us know in the comments. You can view more items from Wayne County Public Library on their contributor page, including links to a number of other Goldsboro newspapers. 


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