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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Size | 7.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2200 items) |
Abstract | Lockridge Community is an incorporated cooperative community situated on about 100 acres of land in Orange County, N.C. Built in the early 1970s during the height of the back-to-the-land movement, the community values pooling resources and skills among its residents, and makes decisions through community dialogue to reach a consensus. The collection consists of meeting minutes, financial reports, documents on the history and development of the community, photographs, pamphlets and fliers for events, especially for art events. There are also secondary sources written about the material, and video recordings related to community history, events, and members. |
Creator | Lockridge Community. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
The original summary description was created in November 2017 to provide information about unprocessed materials in Wilson Special Collections Library.
This finding aid compiles archival collecting, description, and preservation work performed by Biff Hollingsworth, Meaghan Alston, Nancy Kaiser, Patrick Cullom, Anne Wells, and Jessica Venlet, April 2021-April 2022.
Encoded by: Laura Smith
Box lists and audiovisual titles in this finding aid have been transcribed from original folders and tape labels.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Lockridge Community is an incorporated cooperative living community located in Orange County, NC. Built in the early 1970s during the height of the back-to-the-land movement, the community values pooling resources and skills among its residents and makes decisions through community dialogue to reach a consensus.
The genesis of Lockridge Community began in the late 1960s when a small group of members from Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church of Reconciliation began to discuss the creation of a diverse co-living community. From these discussions a group of four couples, including Carolyn Ostrum and Karl Ostrum, David M. and Linda W. McFadden, Harry McGaughey and Jennifer McHaughey, and Charles Goldman and Margaret Goldman moved forward to bring the community to fruition. After initially settling on a plot of land adjacent to the Duke Forest in Durham, the group purchased a 100-acre former turkey farm from John Lockhart in Orange County, North Carolina, roughly 8 miles from Chapel Hill. In order to raise enough money for down payment on the land, additional families were brought into the community. They included Kathy and Sandy Seaton, Martha and Robert Gwyn, John D. and Angela Lennon, Steve H. and Kathleen Putnam, and James and Doris Murrell. In line with the community's desire to be intentionally heterogenous with a diversity of age, culture, marital status, and socio-economic levels, the adult members of the community ranged from 25 to 50 years old and included white, African American, and Jewish families. The residents came from several professional disciplines including psychology and psychiatry, education, epidemiology, and media.
At the community's inception the land of Lockridge Community was divided into 23 lots for individual homes, with the remaining 70 acres held as communal property for orchards, agriculture, workshops, sport and sports fields. The residents also built and maintained their own roads, water system, and industrial park. In the 1980s, the community was featured in the Governor's Showcase of Solar Homes as it was the site of one of the first solar homes in North Carolina. Around this same time, Lockridge Community began to coalesce into an artist colony. In 1981, resident and tile artist Jayne Bomberg established the long-running Lockridge Artists' Annual Holiday Show and Sale. The success of the event lead to many artists adding art studios to their properties and a strengthening of creative ties between neighbors.
Back to TopThe collection consists of meeting minutes, financial reports, documents on the history and development of the community, photographs, pamphlets and fliers for events, especially for art events. There are also secondary sources written about the material, and video recordings related to community history, events, and members. Some of this material relates to individuals artistic endeavours or careers. Oversize material relates to the development of land and site planned with help from students at NC State.
Back to TopArrangement: Roughly chronological.
Videotape VT-05742/1 |
New Home Creek, Triangle Land Conservancy, undatedVHS |
Videotape VT-05742/2 |
Lockridge, Gwyns with Ken and Jayne, circa 1995VHS |
Videotape VT-05742/3 |
Lockridge, Gwyns with KenVHS |
Videotape VT-05742/4 |
Field tape, Lockridge, November 1995Hi8 |
Videotape VT-05742/5 |
Field tape, Lockridge meeting, September 1997Hi8 |
Videotape VT-05742/6 |
Lockridge, undatedHi8 |
Videotape VT-05742/7 |
Lockridge Community 30th birthday, 21 September 2002VHS |
Videotape VT-05742/8 |
Lockridge Community 30th birthday, 21 September 2002VHS |
Digital Folder DF-05742/1 |
Lockridge Community History, Interview with Bob Gywn, 1995 |
Digital Folder DF-05742/6 |
Lockridge New Year's Eve, 2001 |
Digital Folder DF-05742/7 |
New Hope Creek Triangle Land Conservancy |
Digital Folder DF-05742/8 |
Lockridge at 40, 1972-2012, raw footage tape 2 |
Digital Folder DF-05742/9 |
Lockridge at 40, 1972-2012, raw footage tape 1 |
Digital Folder DF-05742/10 |
Lockridge Community 30th Birthday |