University Archives holds historic records from all divisions of the University of North Carolina Wilmington. These unique primary source materials document the history of North Carolina’s coastal public university since its founding as Wilmington College. People looking for pertinent information on higher education, Southern U.S. history, student life, athletics, civil rights, the arts, and other areas will find answers in University Archives. Find more information on coming to visit the Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History at UNCW Library, or check out our online resources in UNCW Digital Collections.

At University Archives, we collect official university records with historic and long-term value and provide public access to this information. To build the collection, we rely on the Records Retention and Disposition Schedule for Institutions of the University of North Carolina System. The Records Schedule helps us in University Archives, but it is a tool for everyone. Here are a few records management principles to make 2026 a great year.

Offices with custody of certain records are responsible for managing them. 

According to UNCW’s Public Records Policy, custodians of public records must make records available as soon as possible after receiving a public records request. 

Have you heard that you cannot destroy anything created by UNCW? While that’s true if your office is handling a public records request or is engaged in a litigation hold, it is not the case most of the time. In fact, permanent retention is a rare requirement. (If you are handling a public records request or litigation hold, contact the Office of General Counsel for assistance.)

For everyday management of the information in your office--especially non-current information that your office no longer uses--see the Records Retention and Disposition Schedule linked above. 

The Records Retention and Disposition Schedule for Institutions of the University of North Carolina System (also known as the Records Schedule or the General Schedule) is your go-to resource.

The General Schedule designates the types of records to retain permanently and the types of information to retain for shorter periods of time and then dispose. By NC general statute, this is the document to use to inform records management at UNCW and throughout the UNC system. 

For help interpreting and using the Records Schedule, see the UNCW Records Management Guide. 

If it’s been a while since you’ve had records management training and you know you have files in your office that you no longer need, the Center's UNCW Records Management Guide is a good place to start.  

The UNCW Records Management Guide, maintained by the University Archivist, is an overview to the General Schedule. It includes more details on getting started with records management; reviewing strategies for records management and disposal; and information on managing digital records, records containing sensitive information, and permanent, archival records.

Contact the Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History for help with the records schedule. 

Are you not sure if your information should be retained, destroyed, or archived? Have you found some old media that is perplexing? Contact us! University Archives will help you plan a review strategy and will collect records that should be transferred to the archives.

So long, 2025! After spending nearly two years planning, preparing, and moving Special Collections materials into our new digs in Discovery Hall, it felt great to settle in last year and resume day-to-day collection management activities. This was especially true for the largest collection under the stewardship of Special Collections staff—manuscripts.

Last year, staff spent time catching up on processing new accessions and reprocessing older collections to improve discoverability. We also made significant strides towards processing portions of the largest manuscript collections in our care. This work included:

• Completion of a preliminary inventory of folders (over 25,000!) in the Star-News Image Archive (shout out to student employees Sarah, Hannah, Ry, Bella, and Kenzie for their hard work on this project!)
• Time spent preserving and describing materials in scrapbooks held in the Edwin E. Kirton Family Private Papers.
• Work towards (re)processing materials in the Herman Blizzard Rotary Archive with the assistance of a student funded through a donation from the Wilmington Rotary Club.
• Publication of a digital collection containing descriptions of 457 episodes of WHQR’s long-running program, Sounds Local, which is part of the WHQR Public Radio Archive.

In addition to the work described above, staff also completed processing for the following collections, which are now available for research use in the Center’s reading room. Learn more about how you can access these materials here. 

MS 110 The Hawk’s Eye: This collection contains material relating to "The Hawk's Eye," a regular feature article about Wilmington College published in the Wilmington Star-News during the late 1940s and the 1950s.

MS 211 John Jay Burney Jr. Personal Papers: This collection contains the personal papers of John Jay Burney, Jr. (1924-2010), a Wilmington attorney and former North Carolina state senator. Content represents all aspects of his life--personal, professional, and political--from his time serving in World War II in the 1940s to his North Carolina-based political and legal career that lasted into the early 2000s.

MS 392 St. Stephen A.M.E. Church Records: This collection contains material belonging to St. Stephen A.M.E. Church in Wilmington, North Carolina, from the mid-1800s through 2020. Material includes a poster of the officers of the church in 1896, a photograph of the church's interior, historical ledgers of meeting minutes and conference records, souvenir booklets and programs, newsletters, flyers, calendars, and construction funding paperwork. The majority of the material is focused around regular church services and special events, like Women's Day and Men's Day, from the 1980s to 2020.

MS 393 Earl Sheridan Papers: This collection contains materials relating to Dr. Earl Sheridan, a former Wilmington City Council member, UNC Wilmington professor, and NAACP chapter president. Much of this collection consists of newspapers and newspaper clippings (1981-2009) of articles written by or about Dr. Sheridan. Many articles discuss local and national civil rights issues for African Americans. Of note are stories that report on the NAACP’s opposition of the 1994 New Hanover County school bond referendum and on the police shooting of John Franklin Jones in 1989.

MS 399 Wilmington and New Hanover County Naval Affairs Committee Collection: This collection contains the materials of the Wilmington-New Hanover County Naval Affairs Committee, a City of Wilmington subcommittee responsible for coordinating the visits of foreign and American military ships to Wilmington during the 1980s to the early 2000s. Much of the records in this collection document the visits of military vessels to the Wilmington area between 1983 and 2000. Although most of these records center on the visits of foreign ships, especially British Royal Navy vessels, a small number focus on the arrival of American ships.

MS 400 Larry Kessler's Research Papers on Charlie Soong: This collection contains the research materials of Dr. Lawrence "Larry" D. Kessler (1936-2020), an author, researcher, and professor of East Asian and Chinese history. Part of Dr. Kessler's research papers focuses on China-North Carolina history, including certain significant individuals like Charlie Soong and Dr. Ma Haide. Other records include Kessler's research papers on the American missionary site of Jiangyin Mission Station and two missionary families.

MS 402 Gilbert H. Burnett Papers: This collection contains the papers of Gilbert H. Burnett (1925-2020), the Chief Judge of the 5th Judicial District of North Carolina from 1970 to 1991. This collection consists of materials related to Judge Burnett’s judicial career and community service advocacy, his publications and local television show, and his personal life, including life history, hobbies and interests, and military experience. Of note are newspaper clippings and correspondence documenting Burnett’s role as the preliminary hearing judge in the Wilmington Ten case.

MS 406 Bellamy Mansion Collection: This collection contains historical records from the mid-1800s to mid-1900s of members of the Bellamy family, down the Dr. John D. Bellamy (1817-1896) line, and related family members. A large portion of these records are related to the business dealings and financial matters of the Hargrove family, connected via Emma May Hargrove Bellamy, wife of John D. Bellamy, Jr. (1854-1942). Material also pertains to the Bellamy family home, the Bellamy Mansion on Market Street in Historic Downtown Wilmington.

MS 413 Marsden Bellamy Family Collection: This collection contains material related to members of the Bellamy family, mainly down the Marsden Bellamy (1843-1909) line, including photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, ephemera, and two family Bibles. Content largely relates to major life events, such as marriages and deaths, as well as Bellamy family ancestry, with an emphasis on material related to Chesley Calhoun Bellamy (1887-1957), son of Marsden, and Chesley's wife, Caroline Louise Mallett Bellamy (1891-1978). 

MS 420 Harry Bethea World War II Papers: This collection contains documents pertaining to the World War II service of Harry E. Bethea of Wilmington, North Carolina. Bethea served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force as a bomber pilot in both the European and Pacific theaters. Included are documents from 1944 pertaining to his training and service in the United States before deploying to the European Theater. 

MS 423 Tolis Vardakis Collection of World War II Photographs: This collection contains approximately 165 photographs from World War II. Photographs document the European and Pacific Theaters, with emphasis on the invasion of Poland, Greece, and France, as well as on various types of bomber aircraft used during the war. Most photographs credit the Associated Press or International News Photos Inc. and are stamped as being part of "The Evening Bulletin Reference Library," the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania newspaper from which they were originally generated. Photographs date from 1939 to 1945.

Lower Cape Fear Historical Society Photograph Collection: This collection, on loan to the Center by the Historical Society, contains photographs of the Lower Cape Fear area around Wilmington, dating from approximately 1860 to 2007. The images capture people, places, artworks of Wilmington and its inhabitants, and notable area landmarks across that time. They also document members of and activities undertaken by the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society, with particular emphasis during the 1980s-1990s. This collection is also available to view through its digital collection counterpart. 

In 2018, the Center acquired the WWAY Television News Archive, a massive collection of over 6,000 items (mostly U-matic and DVC Pro tapes and DVDS) primarily consisting of news segments and b-roll footage produced by the WWAY television news station, a long-time ABC affiliate station. The recordings contain footage spanning the period from 1982 through 2012 that was created for local news broadcast. With grant funding received from the Council on Library and Information Resources’ Recordings at Risk program, approximately 8,000 local news clips dating from 1982 to 1997 have been made viewable and searchable in the WWAY Television News Archive Digital Collection.  

"Wilmington Family of Michael Jordan Watches National Basketball Association Draft at Home," 1984 (more info)

The digital collection contains a wealth of video footage and coverage of major local and national events. Several clips dating from 1983 show the fallout of “Operation Gateway,” a two-year joint investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency that uncovered a major drug smuggling ring in southeast North Carolina involving several prominent Brunswick County citizens. Coverage of local campaign activity for several United States presidential elections is also featured. Users can view clips documenting the early days of Wilmington’s film industry, particularly the productions of 1984’s Firestarter and 1985’s Cat’s Eye, alongside footage of high school and college commencement ceremonies, local sports match-ups, and county commissioners’ meetings. 

"New Hanover County Trial of Brunswick County Sheriff Herman Strong, Hoyle Varnam, and Steve Jackson Varnam for Smuggling Marijuana During Operation Gateway," 1983 (more info)

To view the collection for yourself, browse the available clips through the digital collection or use the keyword search box in the top right corner of the page to search for specific people, events, or topics. The digital collection currently only includes about 15% of the collection's news footage for the years 1982-1997, so if you’re having trouble finding coverage of something, contact the Center’s archivists for assistance in locating additional clips.

"Wilmington Independence Mall Back-to-School Shopping, Featuring Boy Who Wants to Dress Like Michael Jackson," 1984 (more info) 

This edition of the Center's blog focuses on the North Carolina state publication entitled Fostering Perspectives. As the title suggests, it offers a variety of articles related to the perspectives of those who work within the state's foster care system. This publication is published twice per year, generally in spring and fall.  Its publication is sponsored by the NC Department of Health and Human Services and the Family and Children’s Resource Program.  Here at the Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives & History, we receive it in print and electronic form.  The following paragraphs summarize information from the May 2025 edition, specifically from Dr. Sarah Norris, Ed.D, MBA, M.Ed. Chief Program Officer with Crossnore Communities for Children, based out of Winston-Salem and Crossnore, NC, about the current state of foster care in North Carolina and the Bridging Families Program which is a "family-focused and team-based model of care designed to directly address the obstacles to family reunification."

In Dr. Norris’ article, “Bridging Families©, The Way Home-One Step Toward Child Welfare Transformation,” she begins by stating that “the child welfare system is in deep crisis.” Essentially, the system as it is currently set up was never meant to face the overwhelming challenges that are presented today, regarding the foster care system.  The Bridging Families© program came to light in 2021 after much thought and reflection, being “grounded in research and practical application…” Quite rapidly, funders began donating money to the program that expanded across three of Crossnore’s primary locations in the western part of North Carolina.  The model was formally adopted by the NC DHHS as “the state’s only endorsed professional foster parenting model with the support of a 2-year, $1.8 million state contract, alongside an additional $3.75 million investment from the Leon Levine Foundation.”

The Bridging Families© approach “positions (foster parents) as full-time, professional partners working alongside the birth families and their children throughout the process.” Since the goal for children in foster care is reunification with their birth parent(s), the program seeks to support families by removing “common structural barriers like fragmented services, inconsistent and limited visitation, and adversarial co-parenting dynamics by embedding professional parenting within a therapeutic, team-driven framework.” Bridge Family parents are fully compensated and act as “an extension of the case-planning team,” along with DSS social workers.  Additionally, “over the next several years, the Bridging Families© model will expand across North Carolina through the work of the Bridging Families© Institute, which provides training, coaching, consultation, and readiness support to child placement agencies committed to implementing the model with fidelity.”

Additionally, the Fostering Perspectives publication typically includes a section entitled "Writing Contest" where questions are asked by the editors and children in foster care are free to write in with their responses. For this edition the question asked the children how they were able to speak up and advocate for themselves at a time when they needed to. One child, aged 9, spoke about how when he gets mad, his “foster mother Christina will always help me by telling me to get to the ‘calm down’ corner or take deep breaths. After I calm down sometimes, we play a board game or do fun things…. whenever I am sad, my foster mother will always ask me what’s wrong and I will tell her what happened so she can understand and help me out.” There are several more responses included in this edition, from various children currently in foster care, at different ages with differing stories to tell.

Overall, Fostering Perspectives is an important publication that the state of North Carolina provides to citizens, specifically those who are interested in or currently navigating the intricacies and challenges of foster care.  The Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives & History currently has editions of this publication in print dating back to 2012. It is also available online from our library catalog: Fostering Perspectives. If you are interested in reading through these editions in person, please feel free to visit the Center’s Reading Room during open hours, Monday-Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

This post was contributed by Sarah Creel, a student employee in the Center's Special Collections unit. Sarah is working to preserve and describe scrapbooks held in the Edwin E. Kirton Family Private Papers this academic year. 

Holiday cards are a way for us to connect with those we care for in our lives  —  to remind them of our appreciation or to simply say, “I was thinking of you.” Additionally, holiday cards are often saved by people as special mementos, and they can make their way into the archive. The Edwin E. Kirton Family scrapbooks, full of personal newspaper clippings, correspondence, and ephemera, provide a sneak peek into this holiday tradition during the mid-twentieth century in Wilmington. 

For Rev. Edwin Kirton and Mrs. Eunice Kirton, Christmas was a busy yet special time for them. Both Edwin and Eunice belonged to the Episcopal tradition, and Edwin served as the Rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in downtown Wilmington for over twenty years. The card below displays an illustration of a Christmas nativity scene, an image that would have resonated with the Kirton family as well as many in their community. 

The Kirton Family Scrapbooks also contain examples of homemade holiday cards with some creative flair. The card below was sent to the Kirtons by the Bluethenthal family, and it is constructed with white card stock and a piece of dried seaweed from Kure Beach attached to it. While quite different from the “typical” holiday card, it was a unique way for the Bluethenthal family to send their season’s greetings. 

Lastly, other holiday cards in the Edwin E. Kirton Family scrapbooks display the family’s connections outside of Wilmington. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rev. Edwin E. Kirton was a member of the Governor’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped. His active involvement in this state commission gave him a relationship with North Carolina Governor Dan Moore and his family. The card below is from the Governor who wishes the Kirton family a happy New Year. 

Overall, the Edwin E. Kirton Family scrapbooks contain a variety of holiday cards from the twentieth century. These cards show the different relationships the Kirton family had within and outside Wilmington, as well as the different types of holiday cards one could encounter in twentieth-century Wilmington. Finally, their preservation in the family scrapbooks also demonstrate the sentimental nature of holiday cards. 

Sources: MS 042 Edwin E. Kirton Family Private Papers, Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History.

44 years ago this week, a lecture on the newly established Wiccan religion was held at UNCW. The speakers, Gavin and Yvonne Frost, were invited by psychology faculty member Antonio Puente in support of a class on the psychology of consciousness, which studied the concepts of self-awareness and the conscious mind. The Frosts’ talk was entitled “Witchcraft: The Way to Serenity.” It was extremely popular – over 175 people packed into King Hall auditorium to hear the Frosts speak. They demonstrated some traditional Wiccan healing practices and explained the basic tenets of their church, afterwards passing out newsletters to the attendees.

The Frosts were the archbishop and archbishopess of the Church and School of Wicca, which they had founded in 1968. It was the first federally recognized Wiccan church in the United States. In the early days of the church, the Frosts developed a correspondence course to teach interested followers about the Wiccan religion.  

The Frosts moved their church to New Bern, North Carolina, in 1974, where the church’s headquarters remained until they relocated to West Virginia in 1996. During that time, the Church and School of Wicca attracted quite a following, and a large population of Wiccan/Pagan-identifying folks still reside in or near New Bern to this day.  

Wilmington has been synonymous with the East Coast film industry for over four decades now, since producer Frank Capra, Jr. (1934-2007) [pictured¹] arrived in southeast North Carolina in the fall of 1983 to shoot Firestarter (1984), based on the 1980 novel by Stephen King and starring a young Drew Barrymore.

Capra, Jr. eventually decided to form a Wilmington-based company, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, with Universal Pictures’ production head Dino De Laurentiis (1919-2010). The company would work out of their newly built Carolco Studios, better known as EUE/Screen Gems Studios after its acquisition in 1996. At the same time, Capra, Jr. was named the President of EUE/Screen Gems in Wilmington. The studio facility would change its name again in 2023, when it was bought by Cinespace Studios.

Beyond work, Capra Jr. took quickly to the Port City, buying a house in the Hancock Park area of town and marrying a local, Deborah Ann Sprunt, who had previously been married to Kenneth Sprunt, Jr. of the Sprunt family. Capra, Jr. also joined the Wilmington Rotary Club [pictured²] in March 1997...

...though per this memo [pictured³] from January 4, 1999, his attendance in the two years since was lax, leading the Attendance Committee to note he should be dropped from the club's membership. However, he was listed again on the club's 1999-2000 roster for that next membership year and did not fall off until 2000-2001.

Capra, Jr. was the son of famed Golden Age director Frank Capra (1897-1991), best known for films like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). For many years, Capra, Jr. held an annual screening of his father’s holiday classic in town. To learn more about the filming of Firestarter and Capra, Jr.’s time in Wilmington, take a look at the Frank Capra, Jr. Collection.

Sources:

1. MS 250 Frank Capra, Jr. Collection, Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History
2. MS 215 Herman Blizzard Rotary Archive, Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History
3. MS 215 Herman Blizzard Rotary Archive, Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History

This post was contributed by Bella Thomas, a student worker in the Center’s public services unit.

Nestled within the Center's collections is a piece of rare United States history: a Civil War-era Wade and Ford medical kit filled with supplies that were most likely used on civilians who needed medical attention. The kit, something I was completely unfamiliar with, introduced me to a new type of history, and also made me appreciate modern surgical technology! 

During the Civil War, there were several medical achievements that paved the way for modern healthcare, such as the establishment of general hospitals and the safe use of anesthetics. Upon opening the wooden kit, I was greeted with a trephine (pictured below), a tool used to open the skull. The trephine has a sharp metal head that attaches to another wooden tool. These types of Wade and Ford kits were created starting in 1861, when William Ford and George Wade partnered with Dr. James R. Wood, a surgeon who later became one of the founders of Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York City.  

Laid against the green velvet interior of the kit are several scalpels, including curved bistouries that were used for the dissection of ligaments and tissue. There are large and small amputation tools, such as a metacarpal knife and a long catlin. A traveler folding tenaculum (pictured below) was used to remove bullets or to pull out arteries to tie them off. A saw with a curved handle and serrated edges was used for lifting metacarpals, cutting fingers, and cutting tendons. Small, sharp, hooked instruments most likely used for cataract or other eye surgeries are housed next to the trephine. A lightly used bone brush accompanies these tools, as well as forceps, a straight probe tenotome used for relieving pain in tendons, and a large bone saw. Other tools were used for bullet extraction, picking up blood vessels, and neurosurgery. Only one postmortem instrument was housed in this kit - a simple, small knife.  

This kit allows us to get a glimpse of civilian life during the Civil War. It houses not only medical equipment, but stories of loss and survival. Viewing this kit allows us to appreciate modern medical technology while simultaneously studying tools that were considered revolutionary for the time. History is found in human stories, whether they are bound tightly in a stack of letters, placed in books, or within artifacts that allow for reflection, contemplation, and discovery of those who came before us.  

Special thanks to Dr. Doug Arbittier, Vice President of Atlantic Health System, for helping identify some instruments.

Sources consulted in research:

• “Antique Surgical Instrument Identification” and “Civil War Medical Books/Medical College Index”, American Civil War Surgical Antiques and Medicine, accessed August 2024, American Civil War Surgical Antiques and Medicine.
• Reilly RF. Medical and surgical care during the American Civil War, 1861-1865. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2016 Apr;29(2):138-42. doi: 10.1080/08998280.2016.11929390. PMID: 27034545; PMCID: PMC4790547.

This Veterans Day, University Archives is exploring the rich history between the military and the University of North Carolina Wilmington. 

UNC Wilmington's military connections emerged in the aftermath of World War II, before the College had even opened. The G.I. Bill was signed in 1944, offering significant financial support to returning soldiers who sought university education. North Carolina, seeing the influx of veteran enrollment, established temporary college centers across the state. In 1947, two centers were created in the state's Southeastern region - reflections of the importance of veterans as well as the racial segregation of the time: Wilmington College, for white students, and Williston College, for Black students. Both colleges provided higher education to veterans, eventually becoming the one UNCW we know today. Original documents related to the colleges, their administrations, and their student veterans are available in our Committee and Administration Records, as well as in our Academic Affairs Records.

 Since its time as a college center, the University has educated and employed many veterans, some of whom are integral to understanding UNCW history. John T. Hoggard, a veteran of the Spanish-American War and World War I, served as the second president of Wilmington College from 1949 to 1958. A World War II soldier, William M. Randall, acted as the College's third president and created the University motto, discere aude, still in use today. William DeLoach, William H. Wagoner, James Marshall Crews, and James Leutze are just a few other veterans who also served as University leaders.

UNC Wilmington extended its support to veterans, particularly student veterans, with the creation of the Office of Veterans Affairs (OVA) in 1974. According to academic catalogues from the 1970s, the OVA was responsible for veteran success on campus, from outreach and recruitment to counseling and educational support. In the 1980s, UNC Wilmington furthered its efforts by developing an Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program. Records in University Archives show that the ROTC program began as a temporary cross-enrollment arrangement. By 1984, however, the University was granted host status, allowing UNCW ROTC to directly provide training, education, and support to future military veterans. The ROTC program no longer exists on campus, but University Archives holds a plethora of materials related to UNCW's ROTC history and the work of students in the organization. Items in the collection include scrapbooks, awards, challenge yearbooks, brochures, handbooks, annual reports, and marketing materials, among other items; see the finding aid for a full listing of records and dates covered. 

Today, UNC Wilmington continues to support its military-affiliated students. Students who are veterans, active-duty, or related to service members receive guidance from the Office of Military Affairs (OMA). UNC Wilmington has ranked in the top 30 schools for military veterans since 2022 because of the OMA's efforts. In 2024, UNCW was named the #1 school in North Carolina for veterans. 

To learn more about the historical connections between UNC Wilmington and the military, visit the CSENCAH Reading Room on the second floor of Discovery Hall during our open hours or contact us with questions or to make an appointment. 

Sources

• The University of North Carolina at Wilmington catalogue, 1975-1976. University of North Carolina Wilmington, 1975. https://libcat.uncw.edu/record=b1418001~S4.
• The Office of Veterans Affairs, 1974, 1976, 1979, Box: 22A, Folder: 8, University of North Carolina Wilmington Academic Affairs Records, UA-RG-04, Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History, https://archivesspace.uncw.edu/repositories/4/archival_objects/140371.
• Military Affairs, 1980-2018, Box: 22, University of North Carolina Wilmington Academic Affairs Records, UA-RG-04, Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History, https://archivesspace.uncw.edu/repositories/4/archival_objects/131162.

This post continues from an earlier post, that centered on The North Carolina Manual. We’ll now look at the 1913 edition of The Manual specifically. This edition was published by the North Carolina Historical Commission, made up of members such as J. Bryan Grimes, chairman from Raleigh, and D.H. Hill, also from Raleigh. Hill, you may recall, has a library named after him at North Carolina State University. The 1913 edition offers readers some interesting pieces of information from that time, and we will be highlighting this in today’s post. For instance, in 1913, Governor Locke Craig earned a whopping $5,000 for his annual salary; the then-Attorney General earned $3,000. There were 41 official Standing Committees in the state Senate during this time, notably Committees on "Insane Asylums, Institutions for the Blind, Institutions for the Deaf, and on Shellfish." The House had a similar Standing Committee for “Shellfish" and a committee on "Oyster Interests." 

There is brief mention of "Pensions for Confederate Veterans" and for those Confederate veterans who were "totally blind and disabled," the law allowed $120 per year, per veteran, which totaled $13,280.00 in the year 1907. For years 1911-1912, the number of teachers in the state totaled 11,914 and the average monthly salary of all teachers was only $35.80.  Additionally, the veterinary division of the Department of Agriculture was responsible for developing an anticholera serum" and, according to the 1913 edition, "ninety-five percent of the hogs vaccinated escaped cholera….and it is expected that the scourge of cholera will be much abated." One other item of note from the 1913 edition mentions a "Hall of History" that was created in 1903 as part of the NC State Museum. It housed "a collection of objects illustrating every period of the life of North Carolina, as Province, Colony, and State…particularly rich in objects of the Colonial and Revolutionary periods and that of the Civil War…already exceeding $1,500 in value." Regarding these materials, The NC Historical Commission stated that they "are thoroughly protected against injury by moths or other insects and are set before the public in the most attractive way."

Additionally, in 1913 the NC State Library held "no works of fiction, unless they be by North Carolina authors, or portray North Carolina life…" There were 32,246 total volumes in the library in addition to 5,852 "Government Books." Instruction as we know "library instruction" today, was in its nascent stages. The Chairman of the Library Commission for the state would "give a course in library methods as a regular department of the Summer School of the State University." It was a course taught for those who were librarians in public school libraries. 

The 1913 Manual also discusses a few different schools and colleges from 1913. The North Carolina State Normal and Industrial College, now known as UNC Greensboro, was originally established in 1891 and its main purpose was "to give young women such education as shall fit them for teaching; to give instruction to young women in drawing, telegraphy, typewriting, stenography, and such other industrial arts as may be suitable to their sex and conducive to their support and usefulness." It should be noted that this institution was only open to enrolling "the white women of North Carolina." None other than Andrew Carnegie himself donated the money to build the library at this institution. Appalachian State University and East Carolina University, previously known as Watauga Academy or Appalachian Training School, and East Carolina Teachers Training School respectively, were also mentioned in the 1913 edition of the NC Manual, listing number of enrolled students, leaders of the schools, and how many acres the schools possessed in the early 1900s, among other information. Finally, the State School for the Blind and the Deaf was established in 1845, and by 1913, had "a very neat and convenient library that was constructed, entirely fireproof, at a cost of $5,000…" per the Manual. There were two schools for the deaf and blind; one for white children and one for "the negro deaf and blind children of the state…which has grown to be the largest and best equipped school for the negro deaf and blind in the South." 

Many more details about these and other schools are listed than can be described here, but we invite you to contact us at UNCW Library to learn more.