Web pages created as part of a 2001 National Endowment for the Humanities
grant to arrange and create finding aids for Black Mountain College (BMC) related collections
at the State Archives of North Carolina. Included are an introduction to the history of the college,
finding aids, a photo gallery, and links to further resources.
Black Mountain College was an experimental school located in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
From 1933-1956, the college strived to educate the whole person
with an emphasis on the role of the arts and creative thinking.
Note: the Black Mountain College collections are some of the materials moving to the new Western Regional Archives. A complete list of collections (PDF) moving to the Western Regional Archives is now available online; visit our blog for more information.
Black Mountain College Digital Collection The State Archives of North Carolina and the Western Regional Archives are the primary repository of materials relating to Black Mountain College, including the official college records and over twenty other collections of varying sizes relating to the college. Currently this digital collection only includes materials from one Black Mountain College collection, the Black Mountain College Research Project, but we hope to add more materials from other collections. A finding aid for the BMC Research Project is available on our website.
Read letters to and from soldiers during the course of the war. Examine published regimental histories. Search related state documents and selected governors' correspondence and letter books. A growing number of resources relating to the Civil War are being digitized by the State Archives of North Carolina and the Government & Heritage Library at the State Library of North Carolina and are made available through the North Carolina Digital Collections for historians, researchers, students, genealogists and other interested parties.
A blog created to host information relating to the American Civil War Sesquicentennial commemoration at the State Archives of North Carolina. In 2006, the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, part of the Department of Cultural Resources (DCR), formed an in-house committee to guide and promote agency-sponsored observances of the Sesquicentennial. Organizers, with the counsel of a panel of academic advisers, endorsed a wide range of programs intended to appeal to diverse audiences. The themes of Freedom, Sacrifice, and Memory encompass a wide range of topics and points of view. In 2010, the State Archives of North Carolina formed a committee to plan, coordinate, and encourage participation in the Archives' portion of the larger Office of Archives and History/DCR observance. The members of the Archives Civil War 150 committee created and maintain this blog, which includes news and events, information on staff talks available to groups and events, the online exhibit, "Find Your Civil War Ancestors," and an introduction to the Digital Civil War Collection.
What role has the media played in the American political process? This virtual exhibit examines seven critical periods in the history of politics and the media. Its purpose is to make materials from the State Archives easily accessible to middle and high school students. This is not an extensive survey of the media and its place in politics, but rather an introduction to some of the materials available in the Archives and the North Carolina Newspaper Project. The exhibit was created by Sarah Wittmer, a student intern in the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office's 2007 North Carolina State Internship Program.
The State Archives of North Carolina created this website in hopes of sharing newly developed material with the public - most notably North Carolina's educators and students. The site includes five episodes from North Carolina’s rich history for students to explore and includes companion lesson plans and other resources for teachers. The website was created by Carrie Misenheimer, the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Program intern working in the Information Management Branch during the Summer of 2009.
The GeoMAPP effort aims to address the preservation of "at risk" and temporally significant digital geospatial content. Geospatial data layers containing information about land parcels, zoning, roads, and jurisdictional boundaries change regularly. Existing copies of these data are often at risk of being overwritten when updates or changes are made and these superseded snapshots of data are then lost for future use and analysis. This project is funded by the Library of Congress, National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program
Bill of Rights Returns Home
A brief news announcement about the return of the Bill of Rights.
On Aug. 4, 2005, Gov. Mike Easley accepted North Carolina's original copy of the Bill of Rights
during a ceremony in the old Senate Chamber at the State Capitol. One of the fourteen original
copies of the Bill of Rights commissioned by George Washington for the thirteen colonies and the
federal government, the document was taken from the State Capitol during the Civil War.
2009
Genealogical Research in the State Archives of North Carolina
The information on these web pages was originally created for the 2009 National Genealogical Society Conference held in Raleigh, N.C. from May 13-16, 2009. The purpose was to create a quick guide to doing genealogical research at the State Archives for use by the conference attendees, but it also may be of use to the general public.
2011
May Day 2011
The State Archives of North Carolina, part of the Division of Historical Resources, collects, preserves, and makes available for public use historical and documentary materials relating to North Carolina. Protecting these collections is one of our core functions. This year we are joining in the nationwide effort to draw attention to the importance of protecting historical collections, regardless of where they are kept. This May Day we want to remind private historical societies, individual citizens, and state and local government officials that it is never too late to protect vital records. Start on May Day by selecting one thing you can do to improve the protection of your vital records in the event of an emergency. Our state’s documentary heritage is too valuable to lose. Working together we can protect these resources and ensure they are around for generations to come.
The North Carolina Digital Collection (NCDC) is a joint project of the State Archives and State Library of North Carolina. The goal of the North Carolina Digital Collections is to support instructional and research needs related to the history and culture of North Carolina. As a collaborative effort, this project brings together items held in the physical collections of the State Archives and State Library of North Carolina in order to allow seamless searching across both collections, with a primary focus on documentary and state government information from and about North Carolina.
North Carolina Family Records Online is comprised of North Carolina family history materials from the holdings of the State Archives of North Carolina and State Library of North Carolina. The online collection currently contains a selection of over 200 Bible Records (lists of birth, marriage, and death information written in North Carolina family bibles) from the 2000+ copies of various donated family Bibles held by the State Archives of North Carolina. The State Library's six volume Marriage and Death Notices -- indices of marriage and death announcements appearing in five North Carolina newspapers from 1799 to 1893 -- rounds out this collection. These newspapers include the Raleigh Register, North Carolina State Gazette, Daily Sentinel, Raleigh Observer and News and Observer.
North Carolina Maps is a comprehensive, online collection of historic maps of the Tar Heel State. Featuring maps from three of the state's largest map collections -- the State Archives of North Carolina, the North Carolina Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill, and the Outer Banks History Center -- North Carolina Maps provides an unprecedented level of access to these materials. When complete, North Carolina Maps will contain over 1,500 maps, ranging in date from the late 1500s to the 1960s, and will include detailed maps for each of North Carolina's one hundred counties.
North Carolina Maps is made possible by a Library Services and Technology Act grant distributed through the State Library of North Carolina.
Newspapers are fundamental research tools for all researchers, from elementary school students and casual readers to university faculty and professional genealogists. No other published source covers such a wide range of material and reaches so deeply into the communities in our state. They provide a wealth of data about the civic, political, cultural, and social events of the periods they document. Historic newspapers offer an intimate close-up view of the American past that few other sources can provide.
In 2009, the State Archives of North Carolina completed a project to digitize newspapers from it's collection that were, up until that time, only available on microfilm. These materials are now available online and include papers dating from 1752-1890s from cities like Edenton (1787-1801), Fayetteville (1798-1795), Hillsboro (1786), New Bern (1751-1804), Salisbury (1799-1898), and Wilmington (1765-1816) - a total of 23,483 digital images that are keyword searchable. The project was made possible by a LSTA grant provided by the State Library of North Carolina.
The North Carolina State Government Web Site Archivess allows you to view North Carolina state agency web sites from past dates. The Web Site Archives contains web sites from the Fall of 2005, and from April 2006 forward allowing free and open access to this information long after the sites have changed on the live web. The Web Site Archives is the result of a pilot project with the Internet Archive during the Fall of 2005 to refine a tool called Archive-It which collects, preserves, and provides access to web sites of enduring value. The North Carolina State Government Web Site Archives is a joint project of the State Archives of North Carolina and the State Library of North Carolina.
An introduction to some of the materials available at the State Archives.
Currently featured in the photo gallery are selected images from: Iconographic Materials,
Black Mountain College related collections,
the Herbert Hutchinson Brimley Photograph Collection, Documents, Maps,
the Military Collection, the World War I Poster Collection, and the Charter of 1663.
Exhibit celebrating the North Carolina Centennial of Flight. Includes a timeline, biographical sketches, photographs, News and Observer articles, information about previous celebrations of flight, and links to further resources.
Web site created by the North Carolina Postal History Commission to help researchers locate
postal history resources in the State Archives collections.
The State Archives of North Carolina, the Kentucky Department of Library and Archives, and the Pennsylvania State Archives are working in collaboration to develop and test an e-mail collection and preservation software in real time. Funding for this effort is a grant provided by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission. For this grant, we will work with identified high level offices that produce archival correspondence and have high public interest within each participating state e.g. a constitutional office such as the Governor or the Secretary of State within each state. This partnership involves working with content producers, information technology support staff, records analysts, and employees in the agencies.
For information about social media best practices guidelines for North Carolina state and local government, visit the Electronic Records page on the Government Records Branch website.
History For All the People is the main State Archives of North Carolina' blog - a space for discussing new projects, upcoming events and other interesting news from 109 E. Jones St., Raleigh, N.C. Note: all posts and comments on this website are public records.
The "G.S. 132 Files: North Carolina Public Records Blog" is our newest form of communicating and interacting with the custodians of North Carolina’s public records. Through this blog, we intend to expand on our records management services by providing you all with an information portal for news, events, training opportunities, and discussion. Every day, the analysts and archivists at the State Archives of North Carolina answer questions, consult records creators for advice, and consider the trickier issues of public records law. Now you will have the opportunity to engage with us collectively.
Facebook is a social media site that allows individuals and organizations to connect to people with similar interests, upload photos, and share links and videos. Anyone, even those without a Facebook account, can visit the State Archives of North Carolina and Records Section Facebook page to learn more about upcoming events and recent news.
Flickr is a photo management and sharing application that allows users to post, tag, search and comment on their own photographs and videos and the photos and videos of others. The State Archives' photostream allows the public to search and interact with some of our most popular photographic materials, although not all of our iconographic collections are available through Flickr. For more information about our photographs, visit the Non-Textual Materials page or search our online catalog, MARS.
This website is an online exhibit of some of the most priceless items from the collections at the State Archives of North Carolina, with supplemental materials from the State Library of North Carolina to be added later. These archival documents are not available for public viewing except at specifically designated times due to their importance to the state’s history and, in some cases, their fragile condition. Also included in this online collection are some examples of presidential signatures that the State Archives has collected over time.
One of the most popular iconographic collections at the State Archives of North Carolina is the series of photos and negatives produced between 1929 and 1970 by the Conservation and Development Department, Travel and Tourism Division. Photographers working for or contracting with Travel and Tourism documented interesting events, people, cities, towns, industries, and agriculture across the state. They also captured the state's rich natural beauty and cultural heritage in their photographs of environmental features, cultural events, and festivals.
Making these materials available online is a collaborative effort of the Photo Lab, Information Management Branch, and Non-Textual Materials staff of the State Archives of North Carolina and the staff of the Digital Information Management Program (DIMP) at the State Library of North Carolina. The initial pilot project contains 1130 images from the North Carolina Conservation and Development Department, Travel and Tourism Division Photo Files pertaining to six popular topics: cotton, Cherokee Indians, galax, jugtown pottery, Plott hounds and textiles. More images on other topics will be added over time.
This virtual exhibit is an introduction to the role North Carolinians played in "The Great War." It
also provides access to the State Archives of North Carolina' World War I collection which includes
letters, diaries, photographs, military documents, and memorabilia. Subjects covered in this exhibit
include: the Thirtieth and Eighty-first Divisions, trench warfare, the homefront, and soldier stories. The exhibit was created by Neil Cottrell, an intern in the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office's 2005 North Carolina State Internship Program.
The "Wildcats Never Quit" website is the result of an LSTA grant awarded to the State Archives of North Carolina, the State Library of North Carolina, and the North Carolina Museum of History through the NC ECHO project. The purpose of this grant was to create a virtual collection using selected World War I materials from all three institutions, including printed books and documents, letters, diaries, photographs, and artifacts. By uniting these varied resources in cohesive and searchable formats, our goal is to make it easier for the K-12 community to bring original resource materials into the classroom and to assist scholars of the World War I time period.
The State Archives of North Carolina and the Western Regional Archives are the primary repository of materials relating to Black Mountain College, including the official college records and over twenty other collections of varying sizes relating to the college. Currently this digital collection only includes materials from one Black Mountain College collection, the Black Mountain College Research Project, but we hope to add more materials from other collections. A finding aid for the BMC Research Project is available on our website.
The State Archives of North Carolina created this website in hopes of sharing newly developed material with the public - most notably North Carolina's educators and students. The site includes five episodes from North Carolina’s rich history for students to explore and includes companion lesson plans and other resources for teachers. The website was created by Carrie Misenheimer, the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Program intern working in the Information Management Branch during the Summer of 2009.
North Carolina Family Records Online is comprised of North Carolina family history materials from the holdings of the State Archives of North Carolina and State Library of North Carolina. The online collection currently contains a selection of over 200 Bible Records (lists of birth, marriage, and death information written in North Carolina family bibles) from the 2000+ copies of various donated family Bibles held by the State Archives of North Carolina. The State Library's six volume Marriage and Death Notices -- indices of marriage and death announcements appearing in five North Carolina newspapers from 1799 to 1893 -- rounds out this collection. These newspapers include the Raleigh Register, North Carolina State Gazette, Daily Sentinel, Raleigh Observer and News and Observer.
