National Library Week may be over, but it’s never a bad time to appreciate our library. At UNCW Library, librarians and library workers have been providing services to students, faculty, staff, and community members for over 70 years. A great deal of change and growth occurred in the past few decades. Why not take a look back?

Wilmington College, the predecessor of UNC Wilmington, spent its earliest years sharing class space at New Hanover County High School on Market Street. In 1961, the college moved to a new campus on College Road, where just three buildings accommodated the school’s faculty, staff, and students. One of those structures, the Administrative Building, housed both the administrative offices and the library. In 1965, the North Carolina General Assembly approved funding for Wilmington College’s first stand-alone library. After years of sharing limited space, the library had room to grow. The library was completed in 1969 and named William Madison Randall Library after the school’s third president. More importantly (to us library workers, at least), Randall was also a trained librarian.

In 1987, additional construction on Randall Library was finished, adding more space for seating, employee areas, and—of course—books. The 1980s also saw the creation of computerized cataloging. In Randall and in other libraries across the country, the long-lasting card catalog was slowly replaced. Materials in our archive capture just how important the card catalog was to everyday operations in the library; a Randall Library guide from the 1970s called it “in many ways…the most important tool in the Library” (pg. 8).

Smatterings of growth occurred from the 1990s to the present day, including the opening of the Technology Assistance Center in 2008 and the creation of new annual traditions like the African American Read-In, the FlashLIT writing contest, and the much-loved 48 Hour Film Competition. Significant change arrived in 2022 when construction began on a library expansion and renovation project. With the project’s completion in 2024, Randall Library became Randall Hall, while the new structure connected to Randall’s western side was dubbed Discovery Hall. Together, the two buildings—and the employees, services, technology, and resources they hold—make up today’s UNCW Library. 

To learn more about the history of UNCW Library, view our Digital Collections records, which include textual materials and photographs concerning Randall Library. You can also visit our digital exhibit all about library history. It includes floor plans, a helpful timeline, and even more photographs!

The book Just Yesterday: North Carolina People and Places features photography produced by Bruce Roberts, described as "a prominent twentieth-century photographer." These prints cover everyday life, from ordinary tasks to people doing all kinds of work, capturing "the essence of life in North Carolina in the mid-to late twentieth century." The photographs have been divided by four geographic regions across the state of North Carolina: the Outer Banks, the East, the Piedmont, and the Mountains. For those who grew up in North Carolina or have lived here for quite some time, several of the images may be recognizable and nostalgic.

Beginning with the Outer Banks, there are countless photos of this unique area of our state. Some of the photos include images of many fishermen partaking in a time-honored tradition to our coastal areas. The Cape Hatteras lighthouse features prominently over a few pages, along with the Bodie Lighthouse surrounded by a light blanket of rare snow. One Stacy Franklin Guthrie was highlighted in a photograph, depicting the elderly gentleman next to one of many boats he crafted on his own property. Images from shrimping and fishing boats are brilliantly captured in both black and white and color, depicting large net catches of the highly valued seafood.

Closer to Wilmington's geographic area of southeastern North Carolina, the book next focuses on the East, with a full-page black and white photograph taken in Robeson County from 1959. It shows a father and son walking together next to a large oak tree, as the father holds a hoe. In his description, Roberts states that the son will assuredly use newer methods of farming, namely a tractor. Let us not forget that tobacco was once king in North Carolina, with photos depicting many instances of this crop and how it was farmed. Men walking through tobacco houses at an auction, women separating dried tobacco leaves as a result of the "flue-cured" process, and stories of men placing bricks in the bottom of their tobacco piles since "it was paid for by the pound."

The battleship USS North Carolina is also featured, in a photograph from 1961 returning to Wilmington "after being mothballed since World War II in the naval reserve fleet." Roberts talks about the statewide fundraising, where "thousands of students contributed dimes and quarters to the effort" of bringing the ship to Wilmington. 

Another notable photo in this section devoted to "the East" depicts Suzy Sterling, a white 18-year-old college student with a very young African American child sitting on her lap, staring into each other’s eyes. Sterling had "joined ninety-nine other North Carolina college students in the opening battle of a statewide interracial war on poverty." The photo was taken in Rockingham, NC, in an old two-room schoolhouse in which Sterling had been sent to work in a daycare, playing with and teaching the young students. The little boy in her lap had just fallen and was seeking attention when Sterling pulled him up onto her knees and they proceeded to have a staring contest. This image went on to be included as a full page "in the state of North Carolina’s official history book for eighth graders in 1992" and Roberts exhibited it at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

This book shares beautiful photos of people and places throughout the Piedmont and mountain areas of our state. It is worth a leisurely look at, to  appreciate the varied aspects of our state’s history over the last several decades.

The time for class registration is approaching. Across campus, students anxiously plan and re-plan their schedules, meet with their academic advisors, and wildly hope they aren’t waitlisted for the one class they need to graduate. Registration has always been a stressful experience – for today’s students and for Seahawks of the past. 

Before UNC Wilmington adopted the convenient registration technology used today, students had to register for classes in-person, which entailed the most tedious step of registration: waiting in line. Records from the UNCW Registration Advisory Committee explain the process further. During registration day in the 1980s, students had to enter Trask Coliseum, where they received a form and blank schedule. Getting inside took hours. Many students went to great lengths to be the first in line at Trask, as a 1984 clip from the WWAY Television News Archive shows. From the fashion and hairstyles to the Michael Jackson reference, the video is quintessentially '80s:

Inside Trask Coliseum, students waited in more lines to snag their desired classes. The process was lengthy and often unrewarding. In the 1987 Fledgling yearbook, one student writer lamented: "At registration I stand in line for three hours to get three classes out of ten which have nothing to do with my major" (pg. 76). 

Even after enduring long lines and bustling crowds at Trask, students’ registration was not over. The Registration Advisory Committee outlined registration as a nine-step process that required students to trek to different locations and complete multiple forms. According to one committee document, a UNCW student in 1980 had to complete the following steps once they finished their schedule in Trask: 

• Go to Hoggard Hall to have their schedule checked for problems
• Walk to the data entry cluster to have their classes entered in the computer
• Pay tuition at Hinton James Hall
• The following day, pick up their printed class schedule at the Registrar’s Office

Class registration is anxiety-inducing for college students of any era. To learn more about how past Seahawks viewed registration and how registration processes and technology changed, visit the UNCW Library Digital Collections or view our University Archives finding aids.

Sources

• Registration Advisory Committee, 1980-1981, 1985-1987, Box: 13, Folder: 22. University of North Carolina Wilmington Committee and Administration Records, UA-RG-08. University Archives.

As America celebrates 250 years as a nation in 2026, it seems worthwhile to venture into the history of the state of North Carolina as well. We’ll be taking a closer look at the publication from 1971 entitled North Carolina and the War of 1812 by Dr. Sarah McCulloh Lemmon. A quick review as to why the U.S. Congress declared war on Great Britain in 1812: the practice of "impressment" upon American sailors was being deployed by the British navy. Essentially, they were taking American sailors from commercial ships and forcing them to serve in the British navy against England’s war with France.  This North Carolina state publication highlights key aspects of the war such as geographical perspectives, and how troops and supplies were raised to help support the war effort.

Dr. Lemmon tells us that there was a great need for men to serve in the U.S.'s army at this time. "When the war began, there were only 6,686 officers and men in the regulars…" The "regulars" were made up of men who were entirely volunteers. By the end of the War of 1812, the "number had grown to 38,186-an increase occasioned entirely through recruiting volunteers." Additionally, “Governor Hawkins (of North Carolina) issued an appeal to volunteers either for a twelve-month term or for a lifetime career in the army.” Ideals like "bravery and patriotism" and "golden opportunity," and promises of equipping volunteers with "rifle dress and giving you your favorite weapon," were pitched to attract men to serve in the army.  Also, 160 acres of land were promised to those who enlisted, delivered once the war had come to an end.

Regarding North Carolina and its role in the war, "militia companies from Bladen, Brunswick, New Hanover, and Duplin counties went to Fort Johnson, while companies from Lenoir, Craven, Beaufort, and Onslow (counties), reported to Fort Hampton." All of these militia groups were sent upon the request from Major General Thomas Pinckney, who had been stationed in Charleston, SC. Additionally, one Robert Cochran, a customs officer living in Wilmington at the time, wrote to Governor Hawkins, stating that he did not believe there was a huge threat to the city of Wilmington, but he still asked for some artillery.  Eventually, "two small cannon(s) were obtained for harbor defense."

Furthermore, North Carolina provided its fair share of privateers to the war effort. For example, Edenton, New Bern, Beaufort, and Wilmington all supplied privateers. During war time, these private ships carry official documents from governments, which gives them the right to act as if they were actual warships. If it were during a time of peace however, they would be called pirates. Many privateers were eager to help serve in this war effort since for them, it would provide a chance to capture enemy British ships, return them to coastal ports, and they could then sell the retrieved goods and retain the profits.

Otway Burns was North Carolina’s greatest privateer. He was from Beaufort and his ship was the Snap Dragon. Burns recruited men along the coastline of southeastern North Carolina, much to the chagrin of store owners and other merchants who opposed the war. They feared their small towns would be attacked and damaged and therefore resented Burns' efforts to recruit men for the war effort. However, many men were more than eager to join up and serve on the Snap Dragon as they saw this as a way to make their fortunes. Ironically, at the first attempt to chase a British ship, "some of those men who had been very brave in port, turned pale."

Overall, this publication is a brief and highly informational read on the War of 1812 and North Carolina’s role in it. It is a fascinating way to learn more about the war in general and how our state contributed to federal efforts in the war, which eventually led to a draw with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.

If you're looking for inspiration for UNCW Fashion Week, check out these images of historical resources from the Center's Special Collections. This post highlights our manuscript and archival collections. Part 1 of this series features inspiration images from the Center's book and periodical collections. 

Want to see any of these resources in person? You can find them in the CSENCAH reading room on the 2nd floor of the library. Contact us for more info!

Original costume designs from MS 181 Hannah Solomon Block Collection

Foundational costume corset worn by actress Linda Darnell in The Walls of Jericho, 1948

WWAY news clips related to the fashion industry in the 1980s

Wilmington Downtown Riverfront Modeling of Gowns from Fashion Designer Tim Cobb, 1983 (more info)

Southeast North Carolina Clothing Retailer Discusses Fall Fashions, 1985 (more info)

Fashion icons from the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society Photograph Collection, presented courtesy of the LCFHS

If you're looking for inspiration for UNCW Fashion Week, check out some of these historical resources from the Center's Special Collections. This post highlights images from our book and periodical collections. Part 2 of this series features resources from the Center's manuscript and archival collections. 

Want to see any of these resources in person? You can find them in the CSENCAH reading room on the 2nd floor of the library. Contact us for more info!

Engravings from Godey's Lady's Book, 1850 (more info)

Color woodblock prints depicting Japanese dignitaries from an 1823 book of Japanese court costumes (more info)

Costume designs from Butterick's Masquerade and Carnival: Their Customs and Costumes, 1892 (more info)

Color engravings from Petit Courrier des Dames, Journal des Modes, Paris, 1839 (more info)

This semester, UNC Wilmington students are attending an assortment of classes. Some feature familiar topics like psychology and English, while others differ from the standard university curriculum: courses in Game Theory, Podcasting, and even Advanced Yoga Teaching are all available this year. The 2026 academic catalogue boasts a variety of topics; similarly, course selections in UNCW's past were far from limited. Class schedules in the 1940s and 1950s featured subjects still taught today, including staples like biology, history, and economics. In addition to conventional classes, however, were courses that modern Seahawks may find unusual.   

During the 1940s and 1950s, students could register for a host of classes at Wilmington College (later named UNC Wilmington) through the school's Vocational and Technical Department. The department provided courses to "...supplement and broaden [students'] college preparation," according to a 1953 bulletin (pg. 54). These classes were not the first of their kind in Wilmington. Vocational and technical training had been available to the area's residents since 1940, educating skilled, sorely needed workers for the country during World War II. Wilmington College continued the trend into the 1950s with vocational class offerings like Aircraft and Engines, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Bricklaying, Machine Shop, Sheet Metal, Radio and Appliance Servicing, Mechanical Drawing, and more (Bulletin 1953, pg. 53-54).

Wilmington College, which was a two-year school before 1961, emphasized the importance of meeting the needs of southeastern North Carolina. The college's bulletin stated that courses prepared students for "...all phases of community life," and would satisfy the demand for both academic and vocational programs (pg. 11). The Vocational and Technical Department allowed students to pursue their academic interests while building practical skills. In the Aircraft and Engines class, for example, student learned about engine theory, aerodynamics, welding, and even woodworking (Bulletin 1953, pg. 54). A graduating exercises program from 1949 shows that one of Wilmington College's first graduates was, in fact, an Aircraft and Engines student (pg. 4).

To learn more about the Vocational and Technical Department, read over the Wilmington College bulletins and catalogues available online, or view more photographs of the school's vocational courses. 

This week's edition of our blog focuses on a document from our North Carolina state government publications entitled, A History of African Americans in North Carolina. The volume was first published by the North Carolina Department of Archives and History in 1992, with revisions in 2002 and 2011; the Library has copies of all three versions. It tells the history of African Americans in our state from the colonial origins of slavery to the rise of African American political power. 

Considering the Center's focus on southeastern North Carolina, this post will highlight topics such as the simple act of attending church in Duplin County for enslaved Black people and how they were manipulated in New Hanover County. There are many more topics that are discussed within this resource regarding the history of African Americans across the state, therefore it may warrant a visit to the Center's reading room to discover the history that is highlighted throughout this book. 

“In New Hanover County in 1763 approximately 55% of the households owned enslaved people. Enslaved people, moreover, constituted 73% of the taxables in New Hanover County in 1767 and more than 80% in (neighboring) Brunswick County.” According to the authors, the city of Wilmington commissioners were harsher on these people living in this area of the state. An example of this is highlighted by the selling of farm produce in the markets, but there was no way of ensuring enslaved people were returning any monies they may have earned back to their enslaver. Some enslaved people kept part, or even all earnings from the sale of the produce. As a result “as early as 1745, the General Assembly empowered Wilmington commissioners to monitor the role of enslaved people in the markets. To sell produce, the enslaved people needed to carry tickets, (issued to them), from their enslavers…in 1765 Wilmington commissioners promulgated a set of even stricter ordinances, including a ten o’clock curfew each night.” More instances are listed in the book regarding how these commissioners made it even more difficult for the lives of enslaved people living in the Wilmington area.

Regarding religion and church attendance, “before the War of 1812, African Americans-enslaved and free-made up about one-third of the Methodists in North Carolina. Around that same time, “separate African churches had been established in Wilmington, New Bern, Fayetteville, and Edenton." Of course, enslaved people were not allowed “to be exposed to potentially subversive information or hear the wrong kind of preaching,” especially after 1830 when the education of enslaved people became strictly prohibited. Furthermore, “all meetings of (enslaved people), even for religious purposes, were supposed to be supervised, and ministers were expected to support the system of slavery. Lizzie Baker, who grew up in Duplin County, reported that her parents were taken with the enslaver's family ‘to the white folks’ church. They said the preachers told them they had to obey their 'missus and master.’” Baker went on to describe “secret prayer meetings arranged by (enslaved people)…. even after patrollers found them and beat them.”

In 1910 the state of education for African American students began to improve somewhat as elementary schools for Black children "began receiving state funds....three years later the state established the office of supervisor of rural elementary schools to promote the education of Black (children)...with Nathan C. Newbold becoming the first state agent for these schools." Additional funds were secured from such philanthropic agencies as the "Peabody, Rosenwald, Jeanes, and Salter funds, along with the General Education Board," that all supported Newbold's work. The book goes on to state that resources from the Jeanes Fund "made possible the hiring of supervisors for rural schools, and the Rosenwald Fund financed the construction of schools." As evidenced by the accompanying photo, Newbold would go on to highlight the great discrepancies in schools for Black and white children. 

To reiterate, these are just a few examples of the long history of African Americans in the state of North Carolina. The book goes into detail regarding other areas of African American history in our state such as the effects on the practice of slavery by the American Revolution, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and Black Life in the Age of Jim Crow. Contributions to the book were made by members of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History and professors of history at Shaw University, Wake Forest University, and St. Augustine College.

In 1999, Dr. H. William Gillen donated a collection of over 1,500 texts on the history of medicine to Randall Library’s Special Collections department, which is now part of the Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History. Dr. Gillen was especially interested in neurology, and as a result of this interest, there are a surprising number of books in our collections focusing on sexually transmitted diseases and their effects on the brain. One of the more fascinating titles from this part of the collection is Corky the Killer: A Story of Syphilis, written and illustrated by Dr. Harry A. Wilmer and published by the American Social Hygiene Association in 1945.

At the time this book was published, World War II had resulted in a surge in sexually transmitted diseases among American servicemembers. Psychiatrist Harry A. Wilmer, a gifted artist and humorist and a pioneer in the advent of group therapy, had recently experienced some success with his illustrated book Huber the Tuber, which aimed to explain the disease of tuberculosis in plain language that anyone could understand. Believing that he could build on this success to help meet the critical public health crisis of venereal disease, Dr. Wilmer partnered with an organization known as the American Social Hygiene Association (ASHA), a national nonprofit that aimed to, among other things, “advocate the highest standards of private and public morality; to organize the defense of the community by every available means against the disease of vice; and to conduct on request inquiries into prostitution and venereal disease.”

Corky the Killer is presented one passage at a time, with each passage accompanied by a relevant illustration by Dr. Wilmer and a paragraph of medical commentary by Wilmer and/or the ASHA. The villain of the story is Corky, an anthropomorphized syphilis spirochete, who accompanies an army of his brethren on a mass invasion attempt in “Man-World,” with towns and villages representing the various parts of the human body that syphilis is known to attack.  The leader of the spirochete army is General Paresis, a commander known for delusions of grandeur.  

The “good guys” consist of the Foreign Body Investigators (FBI), aka the “G-Men,” as well as the Bloodhounds, a tactical police force dispatched to eradicate the invaders. Corky is ultimately captured by the bloodhounds, and the book ends with Corky’s execution in the “Soap and Water Chamber of Torture.”

Corky the Killer is a unique piece of World War II propaganda, particularly because of its heavy reliance on patriotic rhetoric. This isn’t surprising, given the fact that the U.S. government was engaged in a targeted public health campaign to combat venereal disease during the war. Posters like the one below portrayed spreading venereal disease as being tantamount to sabotage and treason.  

In keeping with this spirit, Dr. Wilmer and the ASHA take care to draw a direct connection between preventing the spread of syphilis and winning the war. Sometimes this is done through symbolism. For instance, this quote on page 8 regarding effective treatment for syphilis: “It is just as useless to treat the sore as it is to barricade a bomb-pitted road after the invading army has passed over it.”  Other passages draw a more explicit connection between STD prevention and the war effort, such as this snippet from page 18 of the book:

The book helps improve sexual hygiene, but its misogynistic rhetoric is overt – and worthy of study. The ASHA and the U.S. government certainly were not shy about targeting sexually active women in their STD prevention propaganda - a quick internet search will reveal dozens of examples of WWII-era posters and leaflets that objectified women and blamed them for both the spread of disease and hampering the war effort. It’s important to note that even though there are no female characters, and especially no sex workers, depicted in Corky the Killer, the ASHA has clearly chosen to use the book’s medical commentary as a platform to promote their anti-prostitution agenda. See, for instance, this quote from the last page of the book:

The Center’s public services unit assists students and faculty in a wide variety of disciplines who are working on projects related to some aspect of local history or engaging in research with primary sources. Primary sources like Corky the Killer can be incorporated into a variety of courses, because they illustrate the interdisciplinary applications of historical research – in this example, drawing connections between public health, political science, gender and sexuality studies, communication studies, biology, and medicine. Reach out to us if you’d like to brainstorm some ways that the Center’s collections can support your research or teaching!