This is part of an ongoing series of state-specific resources for African-American genealogy research.
The North Carolina State Archives has one of the smaller digital collections available online, but the resources provided are invaluable.
So far, only three databases have been placed online in the North Carolina State Archives Digital Collections website: North Carolina Newspaper Digitization Project, Black Mountain College Publications, and North Carolina Family Records Online.
The North Carolina Newspaper Digitization Project began as an initiative to digitize newspapers in their collection that were only available on microfilm. This project was supported by an LSTA grant provided by the State Library of North Carolina. These newspapers have now all been digitized, and are available to browse or search within this collection. The collection currently contains newspapers from the following areas, most dating from 1751 through the late nineteenth century: Edenton (Chowan County), Fayetteville (Cumberland County), Hillsboro (Orange County), New Bern (Craven County), Salisbury (Rowan County), and Wilmington (New Hanover). Though not explicitly stated, it appears that the Project will continue to make additional newspapers available through this project.
This column has previously discussed some of the benefits of historic newspapers for 
genealogical research, in the articles “The genealogical value of runaway slave ads” and “Historic newspapers online.” The article to the right of this paragraph gives another example of these benefits, using a sample from this collection. The paragraph shown was printed as part of a report on the testimony in the trial of a man accused of being a runaway slave. The testimony provides evidence of the sales and transfers of a slave through several masters. Official records do not always exist for these transactions, but the testimony of this witness describes the slave’s life history in remarkable detail.
genealogical research, in the articles “The genealogical value of runaway slave ads” and “Historic newspapers online.” The article to the right of this paragraph gives another example of these benefits, using a sample from this collection. The paragraph shown was printed as part of a report on the testimony in the trial of a man accused of being a runaway slave. The testimony provides evidence of the sales and transfers of a slave through several masters. Official records do not always exist for these transactions, but the testimony of this witness describes the slave’s life history in remarkable detail.The Black Mountain College Publications collection currently contains just the materials associated with the Black Mountain College Research Project. Black Mountain College, established in 1933, was one of the first integrated southern colleges. The collection contains many different items, including college bulletins and concert programs, most from the 1930s and 1940s.
The largest and most unique of the collections, North Carolina Family Records Online contains mostly digital images of over two hundred family bible records, and a six-volume index to
marriage, and death notices from newspapers. These records cover families from the eighteenth century to the twentieth century. This collection is fully searchable, as well as indexed by family name and location.
Though most of the family bible records were created by plantation owners, and generally contain their own family records, the example below, from this digital collection, shows how the births of slaves were occasionally recorded by their owners in their bibles. These records are a unique boon to research, as very seldom is there any direct evidence of the actual dates of events in the lives of enslaved African-Americans.
Though there are currently only three databases in the North Carolina State Archives Digital Collections, these databases are resources without equal for many North Carolina families.
Click here to order North Carolina Research: Genealogy and Local History
by Helen F. M. Leary, on Amazon.com.
by Helen F. M. Leary, on Amazon.com.
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