Phone: (919) 807-7310
Fax: (919) 733-1354
Email: archives@ncmail.net
Mail should be addressed to:
North Carolina State Archives
4614 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, N.C. 27699-4614
Physical address:
109 E. Jones St.
Raleigh, N.C. 27601
Online exhibit illustrating the history of the North Carolina Historical Commission, the predecessor of the current Office of Archives and History, of which the State Archives is a part. The exhibit is based on the book History for All the People by Ansley Herring Wegner. To buy a copy of this book online, visit the NC Historical Publications Shop.
This website contains information about Archives Week related events at the North Carolina State Archives. The purpose of Archives Week is to celebrate the agencies and people responsible for maintaining and making available the archival and historical records of our nation, state, and communities. The North Carolina State Archives participates in the Society of North Carolina Archivists celebration, which takes place during October.
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 North Carolina State Archives. 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.
Black Mountain College Publications
The North Carolina State Archives is 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. Many of these collections include materials published by the college but, until now, there has been no comprehensive listing of all of the Black Mountain College publications available at the North Carolina State Archives. The purpose of this project is to provide such a cross-collections list and to create a virtual collection of BMC publications to allow researchers and the general public to enjoy these unique and interesting materials. 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 soon. A finding aid for the BMC Research Project is available on our website.
An exhibit of celebrations past and present. Included are photographs and transcriptions of letters, diary entries and other documents.
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 North Carolina State Archives Department 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.
Genealogical Research in the North Carolina State Archives
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.
May Day 2009
The North Carolina State Archives, 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.
North Carolina Family Records Online is comprised of North Carolina family history materials from the holdings of the North Carolina State Archives 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 North Carolina State Archives. 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 North Carolina State Archives, 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 North Carolina State Archives 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 North Carolina State Archives 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 North Carolina State Archives, 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.
Materials selected for Presidential Ink: Signatures and Memorabilia, an exhibit which focused on a collection of documents from the holdings of the State Archives bearing the signatures of all the men who have served as president of the United States. These documents were complemented by objects from the collection of the Museum of History in the original exhibit.
Web site which features some of the rare treasures in the possession of the North Carolina State Archives. These priceless documents and maps are not available for public viewing except at specifically designated times due to their fragile state and importance to the state's history.
See the effect the Works Projects Administration (WPA) had on North Carolina and her citizens.
This virtual exhibit is an introduction to the role North Carolinians played in "The Great War." It also provides access to the North Carolina State Archives' 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 North Carolina State Archives, 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.
Last Modified: 01/04/2010