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Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Photographic Collection of Bikers and Motorcycle Clubs Culture in Winston-Salem, N.C. #70183, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from Max Rambod Rare Books in April 2024 (20240429.3).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Patrick Cullom, July 2024

Encoded by: Patrick Cullom, July 2024

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

The 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.

• African American motorcyclists--North Carolina--Winston-Salem--Photographs.
• African American motorcyclists--North Carolina--Winston-Salem.
• Cable, Lloyd Odell, 1912-1976.
• Motorcycle clubs--North Carolina--Winston-Salem--History.
• Motorcycles--North Carolina--Winston-Salem--Societies,etc--Photographs.
• Motorcycling--North Carolina--History.
• Motorcycling--North Carolina--Winston-Salem--History--Photographs.
• Motorcycling--North Carolina--Winston-Salem--History.
• Motorcycling--North Carolina--Winston-Salem.
• Winston-Salem (N.C.)

The city of Winston-Salem in Forsyth County, N.C., is located in the northwest section of North Carolina's piedmont region. Historically, Winston-Salem was the center of U.S. tobacco production and provided employment and guided development during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Many of the photographs in this collection were made at Cable’s Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Sales in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Lloyd Odell Cable was a white man born 7 Feb 1912 in Benaja, Rockingham County, North Carolina. Odell and Frances purchased the Winston-Salem Harley-Davidson franchise at 950 Brookstown Avenue NW from Max H. Strader. Odell and Frances owned and operated Cable’s Harley-Davidson Sales Company until Odell's death. From city directories, Frances sold or transferred the business to W. A. Blackwell Jr. circa 1977. Several of the images depict "Breakfast Run," a short-lived (at least as evidenced by limited number of news articles found during research) annual event held in May [1958–1961], ticketed by Sparky's Harley Davidson Greensboro (1958), and Sparky's and (Mr. Shaw, High Point) in 1959. Odell Cable is noteworthy in the world of North Carolina motorcycling. A Greensboro Daily News sports news column on 9 July 1952 described Cable as "Greensboro's gift to North Carolina motorcycle racing," and another on 23 July 1953 called him "Greensboro's 'Mr. Motorcycle.'"

Cable joined the American Motorcycle Association in 1933. Cable's wife Frances's obituary states she was a "lifetime member" of the American Motorcycle Association. According to a 9 August 1941 Greensboro Daily News article, a group of riders formed the Greensboro Motorcycle Club (GMC) in 1937 (though there is a 12 June 1932 newspaper article regarding a GMC annual outing). GMC members elected Cable president, and he was re-elected in January 1938. In 1940, Cable was one of three delegates who represented the GMC at the American Motorcycle Association's (AMA) meeting in Greensboro on 21 January 1940. Odell served as vice-president of the organization in 1940 and 1941. In April 1941, the AMA appointed Odell as a district referee, a role he continued for many years. Cable was also president of the North Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association. Throughout their ownership of the dealership, the Odells provided services and sales to both Black and white motorcyclists, as well as the use of their facilities as a gathering spot for local motorcycle groups.

The collection contains photographic prints depicting 1950s-1960s motorcycle culture in Winston-Salem, N.C. and vicinity and include numerous images of Black members of this community. Several of the images document interaction between Black and white members, which was often not documented. A majority of the black-and-white and color photographic prints appear to have been removed from a photograph album and several have short descriptions written on them.

Descriptions in quotation marks were transcribed from original captions or notes found with materials.