SLNC Government & Heritage Library

Desegregation in Robeson County Discussed in Newest DigitalNC Newspaper—The Lumbee The Lumbee masthead, April 3, 1969. Thanks to our partner, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP), a batch of materials containing the university's 2024 yearbook, newspaper announcement, and over 100 issues of our newest …

This National Womens Day we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Anna Julia Cooper, a pioneering educator, scholar, and activist. Born in 1858, Cooper dedicated her life to advancing education and civil rights for African Americans and women.

Cooper was the fourth African American woman to earn a doctoral degree, earning her PhD from the University of Paris-Sorbonne in 1924 at the age of 66. Her groundbreaking work, "A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South," remains a seminal text on race, gender, and education. Today, we honor Dr. Anna Julia Cooper for her intellectual courage, advocacy for social justice, and enduring impact on education and equality.

To learn more about Dr. Anna Julia Cooper in the NCpedia K-8 Collection, visit https://www.ncpedia.org/cooper-anna-julia-K-8. This collection includes entries and other resources written specifically for elementary grade education.

Image from C. M. Bell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Alt text: An portrait of a woman (Dr. Anna Julia Cooper) holding a book.

The track and field portion of the 2024 Olympics is underway. Many North Carolinians have represented the U.S. in this competition, and several are on the current squad. Learn more about the history of NC track and field Olympians at https://www.ncpedia.org/track-and-field.

On July 31, 1970, Slow Poke the Possum was granted executive clemency by Governor Bob Scott in a ceremony at the State Capitol. Slow Poke was an ordinary opossum who won a "prettiest possum" competition at the Spivey’s Corner Hollerin' Contest in 1970. The winning possum was to be given to the governor, and on July 16, 1970, Slow Poke, his owner, hollerin' champ H. H. Oliver and beauty contest winner Margaret Ann Wilkes, visited Scott. When Wilkes confided to the governor that she had never eaten possum, Scott immediately invited her to a possum banquet in the Executive Mansion with Slow Poke as the main course.

Hundreds of calls and letters from an indignant public protested the governor's proposed possum feast, leading to Scott granting the possum clemency. Slow Poke was turned over to the North Carolina Wildlife Commission and later was released at the Raven Rock State Park.

Governor Scott, however, was unrepentant. "I shall not be thwarted in my appetite for possum," he said. The governor was true to his word. A few years later, Scott served possum at a black tie affair at the Executive Mansion.

Learn more about this fascinating event in an episode from the last season of our podcast, Connecting the Docs! https://connectingdocs.podbean.com/e/we-beg-your-pardon-the-saga-of-slow-poke-1700681779/

Photo: Slow Poke the Possum, News & Observer Negative Collection. Copyright maintained by the News & Observer.

This Little-Known Civil Rights Activist Refused to Give Up His Bus Seat Four Years Before Rosa Parks Did William "W.R." Saxon filed a lawsuit against the company that forced him to move to the back of the bus, seeking damages for the discrimination and mental anguish he’d faced

July 30th is National Climb a Mountain Day!

Looking for one to climb? They aren't difficult to find in North Carolina, where Mount Mitchell (mountain region), Pilot Mountain (piedmont region), and Occoneechee Mountain Natural Area (piedmont region) are just a few of the state parks that have mountains. Learn more about all the NC state parks with mountains to climb plus those with beaches, lakes, and creeks to swim, fish, and paddle in NCpedia and on the State Parks Website!

NCpedia: https://www.ncpedia.org/exploring-north-carolina-north-0
NC State Parks: https://www.ncparks.gov/

Photo credit: UNC Libraries Commons. 1940-1950. "View from the Radio Tower on Mt. Mitchell, Western N.C." Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/B9S7NC.

Enjoying the Olympics? Dive into a little NC sports history in NCpedia at

Sports | NCpedia Printer-friendly pageSports In North Carolina by Ed Southern, 2010. Executive Director, North Carolina Writers’ Network, and editor, Sports in the Carolinas (2009, Novello Festival Press) In 2011, stock car racing became North Carolina's Official State Sport. To most sports fans, the mention of No...

You can find some interesting stories about NC connections to past Olympics by searching historical newspapers at digitalnc.org. Give it a go and share your favorites in the comments below!

Are you ready for the Summer Olympics?

Did you know North Carolina's first Olympian was Harry Williamson from High Point, NC who competed in the 1936 games. From athletes to coaches North Carolina has had many ties to the Olympic games over the years. You can learn more about North Carolina athletes and Olympians in the Tar Heel Junior Historian Fall 2011 issue now available in the North Carolina Digital Collections! State Publications Collection. State Library of North Carolina.

Link to publication: https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/tar-heel-junior-historian-2011-fall-v.51-no.1/5715019?item=5716937

Image: Tar Heel Junior Historian Fall 2011 Cover

National Moon Day seems like a great time to take a look back at this moon flag mystery from Our State Magazine.

It’s long been believed that the American flag left on the moon in 1969 was woven in a small NC town. Yet as time goes on, a mystery deepens.

Did you know that you can explore issues of Our State Magazine (1933 - 2020) in the NC Digital Collections, an online resource from the SLNC Government & Heritage Library and the State Archives of North Carolina?

“Apollo 11, an American Flag, a Small Town, and a Mystery” by Jeremy Markovich can be found in the July 2016 issue of Our State Magazine. You can read it here: https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/our-state/759381?item=759469

Photo credit: US National Archives

Alt text: Astronaut Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin, Jr. Posing on the Moon Next to the U.S. Flag.

Happy National Ice Cream Day! We never grow tired of this photo of Martha and Fay Brown. Ruiz and Brown Families Paper, circa. 1932.

Learn about the over $2.5 million in grant funds that were awarded to libraries across North Carolina, new historical documents about NC that are now available online, and more in the latest issue of SLNC News.

SLNC News - July 2024 This issue of SLNC News features 2024 LSTA grant awardees, knowledge-sharing at the Best Practices Exchange conference and new additions to the NC Digital Collections.

Hungarian colonists pose for a photograph on the front porch of their home in Artesia, NC, c. 1909.

Artesia, named for its abundance of artesian wells, was one of six planned farm colonies developed in southeastern North Carolina between 1905 and 1912. The dream of Wilmington utilities magnate Hugh MacRae, the colonies were visualized as an experiment in "human engineering" to create a "back to the land" movement as a remedy to the economic ills of the rural South. The six communities (Castle Haynes, Marathon, St. Helena, Van Eeden, New Berlin and Artesia) were anomalies in that they were miniature "melting pots" for the flood of European immigrants who flocked to America in the early 1900s.
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PhC.150.84
From the Hugh MacRae Photograph Collection, State Archives; Raleigh, NC.

Did you know that the North Carolina Digital Collections has a collection of North Carolina General Statutes? We add to the collection often, so check back to see how this variety of sources continues to grow! https://digital.ncdcr.gov/spotlights/state-publications

Pictured is Elijah W. Baum's General Store and Post Office in Kitty Hawk, NC c. 1938.

The Baum name in the Kitty Hawk area has deep roots with many members of the family playing key roles in the history of the Outer Banks.

As many know, Kitty Hawk was chosen by the Wright Brothers for the testing of their Wright Flyer due to the unique landscape and weather conditions. After the location was settled upon, Wilbur Wright corresponded with and befriended a local couple named Bill and Addie Tate who ran the Kitty Hawk post office. Following an arduous journey from Ohio, a hungry and weather-beaten Wilbur arrived in Kitty Hawk 13 September 1900 and a 14-year-old Elijah Baum was the first person he encountered on the island. Baum eagerly directed Wilbur to Bill and Addie's home where he lodged until Orville arrived in October.

Later, in 1907, Elijah Baum succeeded Addie as postmaster and built the general store seen here. Baum and his wife Hettie had a life-long passion for Kitty Hawk's roots in aviation and were heavily involved in the celebrations to commemorate the Wright Brothers' 1903 flight in 1949 and 1953.

Another member of the Baum clan to make history was Carolista Fletcher Baum. In 1973 she placed herself in the path of a bulldozer removing sand from Jockey’s Ridge and refused to move. The driver cut off the engine and talked with Baum, who, after some time, left the dune unscathed. When the operator left, Baum took the distributor cap so the machine would not start.⁣
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As a result of this protest, an organization called The People to Preserve Jockey’s Ridge was formed which led to the dune and surrounding area becoming Jockey's Ridge State park.
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ConDev681
From the Conservation and Development Photo File, State Archives of NC.

Additional newspapers are now freely available on digitalnc.org!

Newspapers, Newsletters, and Bulletins from RCCC’s Early Years to 2009 Now Available! Thanks to our partner, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (RCCC), batches containing RCCC newspapers, newsletters, and bulletins are now available for viewing via our memorabilia collection and newspaper collection. These materials offer insight into the changes on …

Fantastic news!

Great news for North Carolina! The North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission and the State Archives of North Carolina have received a grant from the US National Archives to publish at least 144 oral histories online and to train American Indian youth as oral historians. This initiative will help preserve and share the rich cultural heritage of American Indians in North Carolina. For more details, visit https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2024/nr24-31.

Alt Text: Decorative, white text on dark blue background that says “Grant Announcement” the North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission logo appears under the text.

Fifteen New Burke County Yearbooks Available! Fifteen new yearbooks from Burke County, dating from 1941 to 1974, are now available on DigitalNC. This latest addition includes a variety of Burke County schools: Drexel High School, Valdese High School, Glen Alpine High …

You can sometimes find the most fascinating things in the most unexpected places. A case in point being a “Book of Arithmetick” (sic) in the Archibald S. McMillan Collection, PC.1676. Okay, it’s not every day that a book of arithmetic is described as fascinating, but this one most definitely is! Read about this 200+ year old book and what our Private Manuscripts Archivist was able to discover about its author and owner at the link below!

https://ncarchives.wpcomstaging.com/2024/07/09/archibald-mcmillans-book-of-arithmetick/

Do you know the name Edward Griffin? He was a multiracial landowner and soldier from Edgecombe County during the American Revolution. He was promised freedom for serving during the American Revolution, but his enslaver reneged on the agreement after he returned from service. Griffin successfully petitioned for his freedom, and 2024 marks the 240th anniversary of Griffin obtaining his freedom. Read more about Edward Griffin at https://www.ncpedia.org/griffin-edward-%E2%80%9Cned%E2%80%9D

Image caption: Original manuscript of the petitions and messages of the May 15, 1784 Senate bill to give Ned Griffin his freedom. Image from NC Digital Collections, State Archives.

Looking for something new to read or research? The SLNC Government and Heritage Library now has lists of new materials added to the collection at https://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/search-library/new-acquisitions-government-heritage-library. Just in time for the weekend!

The State Library of North Carolina will be closed on Thursday, July 4, for Independence Day.

Happy First Day of Summer! 📷Cover of the 2012 summer issue of Coastwatch magazine. Coastwatch is the flagship publication of North Carolina Sea Grant. To browse and search issues of Coastwatch, visit the NC Digital Collections, https://slnc.info/CoastWatch.

Take a look at the new Juneteenth Collection! It features items from the North Carolina Digital Collections and online resources NCpedia and ANCHOR that embody the spirit of the Juneteenth holiday, focusing on emancipation and freedom seeking in our state. https://www.ncpedia.org/sites/default/files/juneteenth/

Home, Juneteenth Resources Resources about Juneteenth focusing on emancipation, freedom seeking, and the various ways that this took shape in our state.

Do you know North Carolina's "Juneteenth" story? Watch the NC African American Heritage Commission video of a conversation at Historic Stagville with United States Colored Troops reenactor Bernard George. https://youtu.be/-l7xT9ByDDE.

What is North Carolina's "Juneteenth" story? What is Juneteenth? Why do we recognize it? What does it have to do with the history of North Carolina and the United States Colored Troops? Join us for a...

"Bountiful Red Acres: Two Farms, Two Families, and a Year on the Land," written by Eileen Heyes and illustrated by Dare Coulter, and published by the NC Department of Natural & Cultural Resources and the NC African American Heritage Commission, was selected as the juvenile selection in the Notable Government Documents of 2023 by Library Journal and ALA's Government Documents Round Table (GODORT). Check it out from the SLNC Government & Heritage Library or your local public library.

Read more about "Bountiful Red Acres" and why it made the list of Notable Government Documents of 2023, https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/population-prosperity-and-parks-notable-government-documents-of-2023.

Population, Prosperity, and Parks: Notable Government Documents of 2023 This year’s standout selections from the American Library Association’s Government Documents Roundtable.

Make sure to check out the new North Carolina Freedom Park research guide: https://slnc.info/NCFreedomPark.

This guide contains information about the creation of the North Carolina Freedom Park and its board members, an overview of African American history in North Carolina, and the themes of freedom as they relate to culture, education, and business, and law.

Image: Architectural drawing of the North Carolina Freedom Park.


NC African American Heritage Commission

A cold Pepsi sounds good on a hot NC day! Read more about "Brad's Drink" in the NCpedia at https://ncpedia.org/pepsi-cola.