Textiles, Teachers, and Troops: Greensboro, 1880-1945
Textiles, Teachers, and Troops makes available more than 175,000 digital images documenting the social and cultural development of Greensboro from Reconstruction to World War II. Photos, books, personal papers, scrapbooks, and oral histories demonstrate how the textile industry, education, and the massive World War II military presence helped Greensboro grow into one of the leading manufacturing and education centers in the Southeast.
Textiles, Teachers, and Troops is a collaborative project among seven cultural heritage institutions in Greensboro and was funded in part through a Library Services and Technology Act Grant administered by the State Library of North Carolina.
Collections included:
Pages
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- Historical Photographs: Groups, Associations, and Clubs
- Photographs of student and faculty groups, associations, and clubs at UNC Greensboro.
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- Grimsley Hobbs Papers
- Grimsley Hobbs was president of Guilfold College from 1965 to 1980.
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- Mary Mendenhall Hobbs Papers
- Made up largely of the writings and lectures of Mary Mendenhall Hobbs, these papers reflect her strong views on the true spirit of Quakerism; on women's rights, especially their right to a first class education; on the fallacy of rigid Biblical interpretation; and many other topics of current moment.
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- Homespun Magazine
- The literary magazine of Greensboro Senior High School, now Grimsley High School, in Greensboro, N.C.
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- Immanuel Lutheran College Collection
- The Immanuel Lutheran College Collection contains handwritten and printed materials chronicling the events leading to the establishment of this Lutheran college for black teachers and ministers in Greensboro, as well as its early years. A few items relating to the college can also be found in the Jackson Printing Company Collection (https://gateway.uncg.edu/islandora/object/ghm%3AMssColl173).
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- Klein Family Papers
- Min and Al Klein were prominent in both the Jewish and military communities in Greensboro during World War II. They served as coordinators for the soldiers' lounge at Temple Emanuel, were two of the founders of the Greensboro USO, and hosted Jewish soldiers at their house for dinner every Sunday night. Min also volunteered for the Jewish chaplains at the Overseas Replacement Depot. The digitized items include several documents that highlight Min Klein's involvement in supporting servicemen and women in Greensboro during World War II. The 1994 reminiscence that she wrote for Ned Harrison, which goes into detail about World War II Greensboro and her and her husband's involvement, has also been digitized (https://gateway.uncg.edu/islandora/object/ghm%3A12836).
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- McDaniel Lewis Papers
- McDaniel Lewis (1894-1978) was born in Asheville, North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and spent most of his life in Greensboro, where he was heavily involved in a wide range of groups and organizations. The digitized materials all come from the large World War II series, which includes correspondence, clippings, programs, tickets, and photographs relating to Lewis's activities in Greensboro. Of particular note is important documentation about the organizational work and creation of Recognition Day, which Lewis headed and which honored the war service of local veterans at a huge outdoor celebration in 1946. Among his many local activities during the war, Lewis's tenure on the Selective Service board is documented in great detail from both a local and state/national context, with material relating to draft deferments, registration totals, servicemen assistance, etc.
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- Map Collection
- This collection contains maps of Greensboro and Guilford County dating from the 1870s-1980s. Some of the later Greensboro maps also include the city government's annual report.
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- Martin's Studio Collection
- This extensive photographic archive of over 300,000 images consists primarily of 4x5 inch negatives but also includes some prints and business papers. Carol W. Martin (1911-1993) became the first full time paid professional photographer for the Greensboro Daily News in January 1938. When he left to open his own studio in 1947, he took with him a wealth of his work for the newspaper. His World War II images obviously date to his local photojournalism career. Many of the post-1947 images of businesses, on the other hand, were probably taken by his partner, Malcolm A. Miller (1917-2008). Known as Tex, he was a self-trained photographer who learned his craft from classes at White Oak YMCA and from a backyard chicken-coop-turned-darkroom he built at the family home in the Revolution Mill village.
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- President Charles Duncan McIver Records
- Charles Duncan McIver was the founding president of the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG). This collection contains his personal papers from 1855-1906 as well as the offical records of the State Normal from 1891 to 1906.
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- Miscellaneous Collection
- The Miscellaneous Collection consists of primarily single-folder manuscript collections filed alphabetically by topic and also cross-referenced. Subjects cover a broad range of Greensboro history, including businesses, civic groups, schools, individuals, and events.
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- The Mojud Singer
- Employee newsletter of the Mock Judson Hosiery Company in Greensboro.
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- James Turner Morehead Family Papers
- This collection includes correspondence, financial and legal documents, printed material, some Confederate military items, photographs, silhouettes, drawings, and other miscellaneous material. The documentary materials relate chiefly to James T. Morehead Jr. and his brother Joseph Motley Morehead. Photographic materials are portraits of family members and images of Greensboro near the turn of the 20th century.
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- N.C. A&T State University Scrapbook Collection
- These scrapbooks document life at North Carolina A&T State University in the 1930s and 1940s.
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- North Carolina Biography Files (Greensboro Public Library)
- Biographical subject files documenting important figures in Greensboro history. Digitized files are primarily connected with medical professionals.
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- Oral History Collection [Brock Museum, Greensboro College]
- Oral history interviews conducted with Greensboro leaders by history students and faculty at Greensboro College.
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- Pearsall Collection
- This photograph collection documents general student life, athletics, and ROTC at North Carolina A&T State University in the 1930s through the 1950s.
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- Abraham H. Peeler Papers
- Born in Greensboro, Abraham H. Peeler (1904-1991) was an important leader in the local African American community for many decades. Perhaps best remembered as the principal of J.C. Price Elementary School from 1931 to 1969, he also maintained a lifelong interest in organized sports and officiated at high school and college football and basketball games for 32 years. This collection is rich in information relating to the local public school system, particularly J.C. Price School, and the evolution of African American education in North Carolina. The digitized items include a minute book from Ashe Street School, photographs of students at Dudley High School, and printed material relating to the NC Negro Teachers Association. The digitized materials pertaining to J.C. Price School include teachers' handbooks compiled by Peeler and numerous images of the school and its students.
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- Ellwood C. Perisho Papers
- The Elwood Perisho Papers chiefly document the life of Elwood Chappell Perisho (1861-1935), Quaker, educator, geologist and lecturer; and Guilford College operations such as financing and student recruitment during the 1920s and '30s. Types of materials include clippings, correspondence, diaries, addresses, miscellaneous notes and writings, photographs and various printed materials.
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- Photograph Collection
- This collection consists of historical photographs of Greensboro and Guilford County acquired from many different sources. Subjects cover the broad range of local history, including street scenes, businesses, schools, hospitals, and events. Of particular note are many images of the 1908 Greensboro Centennial celebrations and damage caused by the 1936 tornado.
