The Albertype Co., headquartered in Brooklyn, N.Y., produced postcards and other printed materials from 1890 until 1952. The company utilized a specific photomechanical processes process invented by Joseph Albert in Australia in the late 1860s, which was an improvement on the collotype photographic process. The company had teams of photographers who traveled across the United States taking and buying images depicting people, places, and activities in all parts of the country. A majority of the images were published as postcards and marketed to be sold in the locales depicted in the images.

Collection consists of the 60 photographic prints used to produce Sodom Laurel Album (2002). Sodom Laurel Album, chronicles Dellie Norton and her family 1975-1994, who lived in the small mountain community of Sodom Laurel, located in Madison County, N.C. The collection also contains a copy of Sodom Laurel Album (2002).

Collection of ambrotype photographs collected by the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives. Ambrotypes were in production from the early 1850s into the early 1880s. Collection contains 22 images taken of individuals seated or standing for portraits, circa 1852-1880. Individuals appearing in the images include Omar ibn Said, a Black writer and Islamic Scholar who was enslaved for most of his life, and students at Wesleyan Female Institute in Murfreesboro, N.C. Also included are images depicting white soldiers who served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, including General Bryan Grimes of the 4th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, members of the "Iredell Blues," and Meshack F. Hunt of the 5th North Carolina Infantry Regiment.

Between 1984 and 1987, celebrations were held in North Carolina and England to commemorate the 400th anniversary of English colonists settling in America.

American novelist Thomas Clayton Wolfe (3 October 1900-15 September 1938) was born in Asheville, N.C., and attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., from fall 1916 until his graduation in spring 1920. He died in Baltimore, Md., at age thirty-seven of tuberculosis of the brain.

The collection of white University of North Carolina employee, Elizabeth Tannahill Bain (1893-1969) consists of one photographic album dated circa 1914 to 1933 and loose photographic prints. Captured in the album are scenic images of Chapel Hill and the UNC campus including Coker Arboretum, Battle Park, Commons Hall, and University Inn; university events including University Day in 1917 and a 1914 football game; student-led social activities and events; and students training on campus during the First World War. Also included are photographs from Virginia and Tennessee. Loose photographs are chiefly portraits of Bain’s family and friends including her parents Charles Wesley Bain and Isabel Plummer Bain.

The collection assembled between the 1950s and 1980s by white alumnus of the University of North Carolina Marion Durwood Barbour (1929-2016) contains nearly 8,000 picture postcards with views of nearly every North Carolina city and town during the first half of the twentieth century. These picture postcards depict parades and public gatherings; schools; agriculture; textile mills and other industries; vistas in the mountains and on the coast; courthouses, railroad stations and other public buildings; fires, floods, train wrecks, and other disasters; performances of outdoor dramas; and vignettes of the state’s military history. The collection also contains photographic postcards created by twentieth-century North Carolina photographers from across the state, including Bayard Wooten of New Bern and Victor Meekins of Dare County, and printed postcards produced by Albertype Company, Hugh Leighton Company, and other widely known printing companies of the era. Many postcards depicting African Americans, including agricultural laborers, prisoners on chain gangs, children, and elderly men and women, and postcards depicting members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in traditional costume including headdresses, illustrate racist stereotypes of the period. Some captions contain language that underline the racist undertones of the images.

Collection contains images made by white photographer Billy E. Barnes taken during his career from 1959 to 1996. The majority of the images are black-and-white 35mm negatives, photographic prints, and 35mm transparencies (slides). Images were taken across the state of North Carolina and depict poverty in both rural and urban areas, racial tension, experiments in integrated education, poverty prevention/alleviation programs, and the social/political changes that occurred in the state during this span of almost four decades. A large portion of the collection documents the activities of the North Carolina Fund (1963-1968) as well as related organizations and programs that outlasted the Fund project. Images were taken across the entire state, but with a concentration in Durham and Orange County. There are also some images of locations outside North Carolina. Barnes's original descriptions are used when available (from personal photographic log) and, whenever possible, individuals, organizations, events, locations, and dates have been identified. Known groups, organizations, and individuals are listed as subject access points, as are identified locations. Throughout his career, Barnes incorporated new photographic formats and technologies into his work as a freelance photographer and as an official photographer for several N.C. organizations and companies. In 2003, he made the transition from traditional film-based (analog) photography to digital photography. The collection also includes 50 GB (61,200) of digital files representing his digital photographic work.

Photograph album given to white North Carolina State Treasurer and President of the University of North Carolina Kemp Plummer Battle, as a gift given to him upon his retirement from the University. The album contains some of the earliest photographic views depicting campus known to exist. Subjects depicted in photographs include University of North Carolina buildings, grounds, faculty, staff, students, events, and Black people at the historically white University. Of particular interest are the images depicting three Black laborers; Ben Boothe, Eli Merritt, and Jerry Mason, who worked at the University for many years and interacted with Battle. A handwritten note states that the photographs in the album were taken in 1892, but the album contains materials from earlier in the nineteenth century including a composite image of the 1844 UNC faculty.

The collection of white photographer John Cartwright Bell, Jr. (1914-1996) contains black-and-white photographic prints from the 1930s depicting historic North Carolina homes and buildings in Bertie, Camden, and Chowan counties and copy negatives made from a photographic album created by Bell.

The collection of white librarian and photographer Samuel Moyle Boone (1919-2008) contains black-and-white photographic negatives and prints and color sheet film transparencies. The images from the late 1940s to the 1960s depict the University of North Carolina campus; faculty and staff; authors Betty Smith, Manly Wade Wellman, and Kermit Hunter; campus sports including football; local events; and scenic views of the Blue Ridge Parkway. A significant subset of negatives documents the construction of the 1952 addition to UNC’s Louis Round Wilson Library.

The original owner of the collection was John Archibald Brady of Statesville, N.C.

The collection of white photographer, poet, and painter Ignatius "Nace" Watsworth Brock (1866-1966) of New Bern and Asheville, N.C., contains glass plate negatives and positives and black-and-white photographic prints from circa 1889 to 1934. These images depict the towns of New Bern and Asheville and the surrounding areas and individuals including African Americans, members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Nace Brock, members of his family, photographer Bayard Wootten, S. Westray Battle, Cornelia S. Vanderbilt, and Edith D. Vanderbilt. Related materials include correspondence between Brock and Bayard Wootten, poetry written by Brock, and printed items. Like many photographers, Brock devised a classification system to manage the thousands of images he made, and often created titles to accompany photographic prints made for sale or display. Some of these classifications or titles contain offensive and racist language.

The collection of white photographers Paul Buchanan (1910-1987) and Allen Lafayette “Fate” Buchanan (1868-1951) contains 37 black-and-white photographic prints made from original negatives loaned to the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archive. The images depict unidentified individuals from North Carolina counties Mitchell, Yancey, Avery, and McDowell where the Buchanans worked between the 1920s and 1930s. Their photography was not stylized, and images appear spontaneous. Some images include dogs and horses.

The collection of white student Lillian Alexander Burch contains black-and-white photographic prints and color photographic postcards from her 1930 study travel tour of the United States with the Extension Division of the University of North Carolina. Prints and postcards are mounted in an album with handwritten captions by Burch. The images depict popular tourist sites on the west coast of the United States, other tour participants, and camp scenes. Photographs taken at the Hal Roach Studio in California include images of comedic actors Oliver Hardy and Charley Chase. Other materials include loose photographs, pamphlets, ephemera, and a handwritten poem titled “Wyoming.”

Photograph album containing 369 black and white photographic prints depicting white soldiers in training activities, camp life, and equipment at Camp Davis, in Holly Ridge, N.C. Camp Davis was built by the United States Army in 1940 and served as a location for anti-aircraft training until 1944.

The original owner and possible creator of the collection was P.M. Candle, who may have worked for the United States Department of the Treasury. Candle sent the images to his wife enclosed in an envelope from the Office of the Federal Prohibition Director in Greenville, S.C. The Bureau of Prohibition, part of the Department of the Treasury, was responsible for the enforcement of the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibited the sale of alcohol, 1919-1933. During Prohibition, the Bureau of Prohibition regularly raided and dismantled moonshine and other liquor stills, arresting numerous people for the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol.

Mary Grace Canfield (1864-1946) was a native of Vermont and the wife of the Reverend Harry Lee Canfield (1860-1942), a Universalist minister working in North Carolina. The Canfields came to North Carolina in the 1920s.

The collection consists of two photograph albums, a few loose photographs, and two newspaper articles relating to the activities of the Carolina Mountain Club of Asheville, N.C., in the 1930s. The first photograph album highlights outdoor activities of club members, both men and women, from December 1930 to May 1932. Nature photographer George Masa (1881-1933) was a founding member of the club and served as club photographer until his death in 1933. George Masa is believed to have taken many of the images in the first album and is also present in several of the group photographs found in the first album. The second album, circa 1937, depict views from various locations in western North Carolina.

The Carolina Trucking Development Company was based in Wilmington, N.C., in the early part of the twentieth century. The Company appears to have been primarily devoted to agricultural development and was involved with establishing farming communities in several counties in North Carolina, some of which were populated by immigrant groups, including German, Dutch, Italian, and Polish peoples.

Photograph album, 1947, probably belonging to white actor Hope Carter of Asheville, N.C. Photographs were taken during the filming of Tap Roots, in which Hope Carter was a stand-in for Susan Hayward. Movie production on location in Asheville vicinity and the Smoky Mountains. Album contains black-and-white and color snapshots, and some newspaper clippings related to filming. Topics include aspects of on-set movie production, such as scene construction. A majority of the images have hand-written captions. There are staged scenes of white actors in costume portraying Civil War soldiers and African American actors portraying enslaved people. Also included are images of white actor Boris Karloff, in "red-face," portraying a member of Choctaw Nation named Tishomingo. Includes pictures of Hope Carter, Boris Karloff, Susan Hayward, and other 1940s era Hollywood actors.

The collection of white pharmacist Aros Coke Cecil (1897-1958) of High Point, N.C., consists of a twenty-page photograph album Cecil assembled in 1918, a year after he graduated from the University of North Carolina's School of Pharmacy. Each album page contains between two and four photographs depicting student social life on the UNC campus and scenes in Chapel Hill, N.C., and High Point, N.C. Included are images of commencement, campus buildings, dormitories, women on campus, an African American man on the university's housekeeping staff, and the University of North Carolina Student Battalion, which became the university's Reserved Officer Training Corps when the United States entered the First World War. Documents related to the draft and Cecil's induction into the United States Army in 1918 are also included.

The collection of white locomotive engineer and photographer, Frank Clodfelter, consists of fourteen black-and-white negatives with a corresponding contact sheet (1952-1981); color photographic slides (1964-1981), and manuscript materials. The black-and-images depict railroads and scenery in Western North Carolina. The color photographic slides depict railroads, steam engines, and scenic views; the Centennial celebration of Saluda, North Carolina; the Delware and Hudson Railway sesquicentennial in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and views of New York and Eastern Tennessee. The manuscript materials include the original envelopes (with typewritten descriptions) for the images in Series 1, an itemized list of the color slides in Series 2, and a promotional flyer for the book Fog and Steam: A Regional Look at Steam in North America.

Photographs made by white photographer Collier Cobb in a variety of settings during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, chiefly in Chapel Hill, N.C. and other locations in North Carolina. A majority of the images depict scenes on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. The collection is composed largely of glass plates (slides and negatives), as well as some photographic prints. Subjects depicted in photographs include University of North Carolina buildings, grounds, faculty, staff, students, events, and African Americans at the historically white university; residences and churches in Chapel Hill, N.C.; logging in western North Carolina; North Carolina schools in Bertie, Columbus, Craven, Durham, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Harnett, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Onslow, Robeson, Sampson, and Wake counties. Also included are some images depicting members of the Indigenous communities of modern-day Alaska, Canada, and Siberia which Cobb photographed during a trip to the area. Cobb originally described people depicted in some images as "Eskimo(s)" and "Indian," terms he likely misapplied.

The Commercial Museum, located in Philadelphia, Pa., was in operation from 1897 to 2010. Modeled after the great exhibition halls of the World's Fairs (World Fair, Universal Exposition) of the late nineteenth century, the Museum offered a vast selection of displays and information related to commerce and trade in Pennsylvania, across the United Sates, and the international marketplace. The Museum maintained a large collection of photographs documenting a variety of industries, agriculture, and trade in many areas of the United States. These images were marketed for use in publications around the United States and the world.

Bruce Cotten (1873-1954) was born in Wilson, N.C., and over his lifetime became a serious collector of books and other materials related to North Carolina.

Lyman Atkinson Cotten (1909-1990) graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1936 and from Yale University in 1941. He taught English at the University of North Carolina for 34 years, retiring in 1974. Cotten was a trustee of the Order of the Gimghouls, a secret society at the University, from 1952 until his death. He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Society of the Cincinnati, and the Modern Language Association.

The collection of journalist and author Paul Cuadros contains images of central North Carolina and Latinx immigrant communities in and around Siler City that were taken by Cuadros while he conducted research for his 2006 book A Home on the Field: How One Championship Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America. Images document community members including farmworkers, poultry plant workers, and school children; cultural and social events and celebrations such as quinceañeras and Fiesta Latina; church events such as a passion play; and public events including a September 1999 meeting of the Siler City School Board, a February 2000 anti-immigration rally led by white supremacist David Duke, and the local response rallies. Cuadros also documented housing, hog farms, schools, churches, and migrant education programs.

Frank A. Daniels (Frank Arthur Daniels Jr., born 1931) of Raleigh, N.C., was president and publisher of the Raleigh News and Observer and a civic and business leader. His father, Frank A. Daniels Sr., and his grandfather, Josephus Daniels, were also publishers of the News and Observer.

The collection of two white anthropology graduate students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hester Davis (1930-2014) and John L. Grant, consists of photographic materials relating to their 1957 master’s theses. The collection contains black-and-white negatives, black-and-white photographic prints, color slides and black-and-white glass slides. The images depict the community and social aspect of Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation in Western North Carolina.

Uncirculated postcards featuring photographs of coastal North Carolina scenes by white photographer Peter Doran. Images depict subjects and locations in North Carolina, including Southport, Wilmington, Holden Beach, Bald Head Island, Currituck Beach, Outer Banks, Beaufort, Fort Fisher, Ocracoke Island, Bodie Island, Surf City, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Manteo, Sunset Beach, Bird Island, Calabash, Nags Head, and Corolla.

The collection consists of an estimated 1.6 million photographic negatives and prints made by over 40 staff photographers at the Durham Morning Herald (1945-1991), Durham Sun (1945-1991), and The Herald-Sun (1991-2002). The collection includes images taken by staff photographers between 1945 and 2002 chiefly in the city of Durham, Durham County, Orange County, Wake County, and surrounding areas of North Carolina. Included are images of local, state, and national politicians and political events; news events; local businesses; civic groups and other organizations; Durham County, Orange County, and Wake County schools; sporting events; and other images that document daily life in North Carolina. Collection includes both published and unpublished photographs.

The collection of African American photographer Colvin M. Edwards contains approximately 48000 images from the portrait studio he owned and operated in Charlotte, N.C. A majority of the photographs depict community members of two of Charlotte's oldest historically African American neighborhoods, Beatties Ford and Biddleville, and date from the early 1940s through the late 1960s. Also included are images depicting members of local businesses, churches, groups, and schools.

Collection contains black and white photographic prints given to white historian, Elmer D. Johnson by a student leaving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to serve in World War II. Johnson was a student at the University of North Carolina at different times between 1936 and 1951. The images were compiled in a small leather album and depict the UNC campus between 1940and 1942. Included are images depicting interior and exterior views of the Louis Round Wilson Library; the Morehead-Patterson Memorial Bell Tower; South Building; Emerson Playing Field; and student, Paul Hayes, in a dorm room of Pettigrew Hall.

Mary Claire Engstrom was born in 1906 in Kansas City, Mo., and moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., to attend the University of North Carolina, earning her Ph.D. in English literature in 1939. After she and her husband, Alfred G. Engstrom, who taught French at the university, purchased the historic Nash-Hooper house in Hillsborough, N.C., she began to focus on the historical documentation of Hillsborough and its environs. She was instrumental in founding the Hillsborough Historical Society in 1963 and served as chair of the Historic Hillsborough Commission, 1964-1966 and 1976-1983. She undertook a project documenting 122 old structures and historic sites in and around Hillsborough and Orange County for the Historic American Buildings Survey, 1963-1965. Her research and documentation helped many of these buildings qualify for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, including the Nash-Hooper House as a National Historic Landmark. She was also involved in a survey of cemeteries and graves in Orange County. Engstrom lived in Hillsborough and continued her historical research until her death in 1997.

Slide show titled "The Strudwicks: A Family of Artists," created between 1973 and 1975 by Evelyn Lloyd a white pharmacist, Historic Hillsborough Commission member, and Hillsborough Board of Commissioners member. Boxes include handwritten identifications for slides, written on printed Kodak slide index cards. Title of slide show taken from one of the identification cards. Subject matter includes color transparencies of the Strudwick family house and studio in Hillsborough, North Carolina; a portrait of Shepperd Strudwick Sr., June 1958; and copy slides of wood carvings made by Shepperd Strudwick Sr., and paintings and pastels made by his sons Edmund Strudwick III and Clement Strudwick III.

The collection of Italian linguist, Ernesto G. Fabbri (1874-1943), consists of a photographic album dated 1906 and a letter from Fabbri to a friend. The photographic album contains black-and-white prints that depict the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., including the Biltmore house and gardens, Biltmore Farm, and Antler Hill Village. Also depicted are unidentified white individuals believed to be members of the Vanderbilt family who owned the estate.

The collection of white photographer and businessman, Charles Anderson Farrell (1894-1977), consists of black-and-white negatives, black-and-white photographic prints, and slight manuscript material. The images relate to Farrell’s photography work with three books published by the University of North Carolina Press: Stella Gentry Sharpe's Tobe (1939), about a young African American boy and his family; Bernice Kelly Harris's Dramatis Personae: Photographic Studies: Eastern Carolina Folk Plays (1940); and Aubrey Lee Brook's Walter Clark: Fighting Judge (1944), about the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, 1903-1924. Also included are images of the first public performance of the Lost Colony outdoor drama in Manteo, N.C. on 4 July 1937, some of which include offensive scenes of white actors portraying Indigenous people of the Croatan tribe.

Jerome Friar was born in South Carolina and moved to Rocky Mount, N.C., as a child. After relocating to Durham, N.C., in the mid-1970s, Friar took his first step towards what would eventually become a career in free-lance photojournalism with his coverage of a mass meeting of neo-Nazis in western North Carolina in 1980. The images he took at this event were among his first professional works to be published (and remain among some of his most requested images). Shortly after this event, Friar took his camera down to Nicaragua to cover the situation that was unfolding as the Contra War began in the early 1980s. After covering events in Nicaragua, Friar moved to Washington, D.C., so that he could cover events related to socio-economic issues that were being debated at that time. He remained a free-lance photographer, and his works were regularly used in a variety of publications. In 2008, Friar returned to North Carolina, and he currently lives on Topsail Island. He continues to take photographs of people, places, and events on the North Carolina coast and other locations around the state.

William Clyde Friday was born in 1920 in Raphine, Va., and grew up in Dallas, Gaston County, N.C. He graduated from the Law School of the University of North Carolina in 1948, after which he served as assistant dean of students and was named assistant to University President Gordon Gray in 1951. Friday was appointed secretary of the University in 1955, named acting president of the Consolidated University of North Carolina (North Carolina State College (Raleigh), the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), and Woman's College (Greensboro)) in 1956, and became president later in the year. In 1971, the General Assembly restructured higher education in North Carolina, and the Consolidated University became the University of North Carolina System. On 1 July 1972, Friday became president of the new system. He served in that capacity for 30 years, during which time the University System grew to 16 campuses. Friday retired in 1986, after which he became president of the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust, guiding the philanthropy's support of educational endeavors.

John Moran Frohock attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., from 1925 to 1929. He graduated in 1929.

The collection of white journalist and founder of The Triangle Pointer, Roland Giduz (1925-2009) contains black-and-white negatives including 120 roll film and sheet film relating to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1947 to 1970. Images depict individuals including African Americans; President John F. Kennedy, Frank Porter Graham, and William Kenan; sporting events including tennis, swimming, and basketball; and scenes from Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and other locations in North Carolina. The negatives are grouped by locality, subject, and personal name.

The collection of white student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Colin M. Hawkins (1847-1914), consists of “Carte de Visite” photographs, a thin photograph mounted on a thick backer. The images depict the UNC campus, students, and other individuals in the 1860s. The individuals include Colin M. Hawkins, Alonzo Phillips, Thomas Henderson Pritchard, and Edmund Jones.

The collection of white journalist and photographer, Charles Heatherly, consists of 128 35mm color slides depicting exterior views of courthouses across North Carolina. Images appear in his 1988 publication The Courthouses of North Carolina and Tales that Whisper in the Stone.

William Emsley Hipp III graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1974 with degrees in drama and sculpture. During his brief career, he was awarded a number of prestigious commissions to create sculptures of some of North Carolina's most distinguished citizens.

William Picard Jacocks, native of Bertie County, N.C., was a physician. He was a graduate of the University of North Carolina (BA), the University of Pennsylvania (MD), and Johns Hopkins University (Doctor of Public Health). After 1914, Jacocks was associated with the Rockefeller Foundation and spent much of his career in Asia, including India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), working on eradicating hookworm infections and other health issues. He retired in 1942 and moved back to Chapel Hill, N.C., where he was active in alumni affairs and family genealogy research.

The collection consists of images taken by Dudley L. Jennings (1913-2005), an amateur photographer from Lumberton, N.C., chiefly from the late 1930s through the late 1980s. Included in the collection are images of Colonial Williamsburg, Va., Charleston, S.C., Yosemite National Park, Calif., and locations throughout North Carolina, along with other miscellaneous subjects. The collection consists largely of black-and-white 120 and 35mm roll film, with some black-and-white sheet film and 35mm color slides. Also included are black-and-white photographic prints mounted for exhibition.

The collection of white photographer and studio owner, Francis Lavergne Johnson (1901-1971), contains black-and-white photographic prints, black-and-white negatives including sheet film, and color photographic prints. The images depict mid-twentieth-century residents of Chapel Hill, N.C., and individuals affiliated with the University of North Carolina. Individuals include William B. Aycock; Katherine Kennedy Carmichael; William D. Carmichael Jr.; Albert McKinnley Coats; Robert A. Fetzer; William C. Friday; Roland Giduz; Gordon Gray; Paul Elliot Green; Robert B. House; Charlie Justice; Josephina Niggli; Jerrold Orne; Paul F. Sharp; J. Carlyle Sitterson; and Louis Round Wilson. A few images show Chapel Hill High School and the Chapel Hill Post Office.

The collection of white photojournalist and artist, Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952), consists of black-and-white photographic prints relating to historic structures of architectural interest throughout North Carolina. Images were taken from 1935 to 1938.

The collection of white United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agent, Jack (John) J. Kearins consists of black-and-white photographic prints relating to Kearins career as an ATF agent. The images depict John Kearins; illegal liquor stills in North Carolina and their destruction by ATF agents; and a copy of Yankee Revenooer, Kearins’ 1969 book.

The collection of white photographer and businessman, Charles "Charlie" Sidney Killebrew, Jr. (1921-2009), consists of black-and-white photographic prints, black-and-white and color negatives including sheet film and 120mm roll film relating to Killebrew's photography interest. The images date, 1948 – 1997, and depict chiefly Nash and Edgecombe counties, in addition to the surrounding areas of North Carolina. Included are images of local, state, and national politicians and political events; news events; Rocky Mount businesses; civic groups and other organizations; Nash County and Edgecombe County schools; sporting events; and other images that document daily life in North Carolina. Of interest are images depicting presidential visits; civil rights protests; natural disasters; and local celebrities, including white musician Kay Kyser and Black basketball star Phil Ford.

Kay Kyser and Georgia Carroll Kyser were both graduates of the University of North Carolina and long-time residents of Chapel Hill. James Kern Kyser (Kay Kyser) was born in 1905 in Rocky Mount, N.C. He attended the University of North Carolina, 1923-1927, where he was the leader of the cheerleading squad. He is best known as a big band leader and as the Ol' Professor on the radio show Kollege of Musical Knowledge. In 1944, Kyser married model, actress, and singer Georgia Carroll of Blooming Grove, Tex., who had joined the radio show in 1943. In 1951, he and his family retired to Chapel Hill, N.C. Through the Kyser Foundation, Kyser gave scholarships to students of music and dramatic art at the University of North Carolina. He was also instrumental in improving health care in North Carolina, starting the state's public television station, and establishing a highway safety program. Kyser was active in the Christian Science Church, directing the church's radio and television broadcasting division at the Boston headquarters in the 1970s, lecturing, and serving as national honorary president in 1983.

The collection of white photojournalist and educator, Jonathan "Jock" Lauterer (b. 1945), consists of black-and-white photographic prints and black-and-white negatives, including 35mm and 120mm roll film relating to Lauterer’s tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a student, 1964-1968. The images chiefly depict the UNC Men’s Glee Club European Tour of 1966. Also included are images depicting individuals; the UNC campus; town of Chapel Hill, and sporting events. Images of interest depict anti-war protests; marches and speeches of the Civil Rights Movement; and a Ku Klux Klan rally. Individuals include Frank Porter Graham, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and Dean Smith. For a complete list of individuals, see Subject Headings.

The Matthew Leavitt Photographs consist of images taken by photographer, Matthew Leavitt, depicting scenes from several protests, marches, and rallies on women's rights, gun control, immigration, and science, held in Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh, N.C., between February 2017 and March 2018. Events depicted in the collection include the "No Ban, No Wall, Rally," "Women's Rally," "Womens March," "March for Science," and "March For Our Lives."

Stephen Liu received his AB in chemistry with a double major in economics in May 1998 and his MD in 2002, both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to his studies, Liu was a photographer for the Yackety Yack, the University's yearbook.

The collection of African American soldier Albert Lockhart consists of a photographic album of black-and-white and color photographic prints. The images created between March and September of 1961 at Fort Bragg, N.C., depict training exercises and the daily life and living conditions of soldiers in the United States Army 82nd Airborne Division and the Parachute Field Artillery Battalion.

TThe collection of German baker, Manfred and wife, Ann Loeb, consists of black-and-white photographic prints and manuscript materials relating the family’s migration from Germany to the United States in the 1930s in response to the rise of Nazi power. The images depict the settlement of Van Eeden in Pender County, North Carolina; the Heimann and Wolf families; daily responsibilities including house and field work; and children attending school. Manuscript materials include letters relating to the experience and events in Van Eeden and newspaper clippings regarding the Loeb family.

The collection of white photographer, author, and journalist for Wilmington Star-News and the Raleigh News and Observer, Ben Dixon MacNeill (1889-1960), contains black-and-white photographic prints; black-and-white and color negatives; and duplicate negatives. Images depict scenes, events, and people in mid-twentieth-century North Carolina, particularly in Dare County, Mitchell County, and Lee County. Included are images of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse; trails in the mountains prior to construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway; 1923 Spruce Pines riot following the conviction of an African American man for the rape of a white woman; 1925 Cumnock coal mine disaster in Lee County; 1927 commemoration of the Battle of Bentonville; 1928 dedication of the Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk with Amelia Earhart and Orville Wright in attendance; 1928 inauguration of Governor Max Gardner; and enforcement of prohibition.

Edwin Martin began taking photographs in 1980. His North Carolina subjects, taken 1990-1995, include coastal areas, tobacco farming, and Wake County historic buildings.

Adeline Denham McCall (1900-1989) of Chapel Hill, N.C., was a teacher of music and music appreciation. She taught music education and music history at Duke University and served as music supervisor of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools for 30 years. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill she taught music for students interested in early childhood education. She authored or co-authored several books and worked closely with the North Carolina Symphony in its outreach program.

Collection contains photographic material created by white photojournalist Edward J. McCauley (1926-2003) between the years 1949 and 1974, mostly for the Burlington Daily Times-News, but also as a private photographer and developer for portraits, weddings and other events. Included are images of local, state, and national politicians and political events; news events; Burlington businesses; civic groups and other organizations; Alamance County schools; sporting events; and other images that document daily life in North Carolina. Most of the images are from Burlington and Alamance County, but many other North Carolina localities are also represented.

Photograph album and photocopied materials created by white nurse Margaret S. Miles, documenting relief efforts in Grifton, N.C., following Hurricane Floyd. Images depict Margaret S. Miles and other volunteers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing.

Earl Nelson Mitchell (1926-2011) was a professor of physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from the early 1960s until his retirement in 1991. He is author of the photographic textbook, Photographic Science (1984), and co-taught with Ross Scroggs the course, Physics 45: Photography. He and his wife Marlys founded Mitchell Winery located outside of Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1971 and were instrumental in the founding of the North Carolina Winegrowers Association.

Kenneth N. Montgomery attended the United States Navy Pre-Flight School at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., 1942-1943. This collection consists of black-and-white photographs taken by Montgomery during his time at the Pre-Flight School. Photographs depict scenes of training, recreation, dorm life in Stacey Hall, and campus and town views in Chapel Hill, N.C.. Also included are photographs of the Naval Air Facility in New Cumberland, Pa., and postcards of Montreat, N.C.

Collection contains stereographic cards primarily made by white stereograph photographer and studio operator Rufus Morgan (1846-1888) of New Bern, N.C., Goldsboro, N.C., and Raleigh, N.C. Morgan's photographs were taken mostly in North Carolina, but he also traveled to South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New York, and California. The collection consists of more than 350 individual stereographs, 316 stereographs mounted in the Illustrated Catalogue of Southern Scenery by Rufus Morgan, several photographic prints, and some documents related to Morgan's portrait business. Morgan took a majority of the images in this collection and collected some materials by contemporary photographers between 1869 and 1880. Like many photographers, Morgan devised a classification system to manage the thousands of images he made, and often created titles to accompany stereograph cards made for sale or display. Some of these classifications or titles contain offensive and racist language.

The collection contains still images and motion pictures made by white North Carolina businessman and political figure Hugh MacRae Morton (1921-2006). Images document North Carolina from the 1930s to the 2000s, including statewide landmarks and attractions; schools and businesses; nature; Grandfather Mountain; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; sports; and World War II.

The collection of white University of North Carolina Alum, William Starr Myers (1877-1956), consists primarily of images depicting William Starr Myers and his family, including portraits and outdoor group scenes. Also included is an ambrotype portrait of an enslaved Black man identified as "Jed (or Jerry)? last slave of the Morford family" holding a young white girl identified as Elizabeth Morfordd. The collection consists of daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, and prints. Some copy prints and negatives were made of images that were discarded. The majority of the daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes are encased, and the majority of the prints are on print cards.

Collection materials consist primarily of videotapes of original footage and aired broadcast episodes of Exploring North Carolina, a UNC-TV distributed television program about North Carolina's local landscapes and natural resources produced by Natural World Productions. Videotapes feature the plants, animals, geology, and history, both natural and social, of North Carolina. The collection also contains release forms related to the television program, as well as additional videotapes by Exploring North Carolina videographer, Joe Albea, which may not be associated with the television program.

The North Carolina Botanical Garden is an administrative unit of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Garden has been a leader in native plant conservation and education in the southeastern United States for more than 40 years.

Image reference cards relate to frequently requested, popular, and important images from the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, the North Carolina Collection, and a few private collections not held in Wilson Library Special Collections. They were compiled by members of the North Carolina Collection reference staff starting in 1970 and ending in 1990.

A collection of unrelated iconographic materials of miscellaneous subject content. Most of the images cannot be identified with regard to precise geographic localities in North Carolina. A few relate to more than one location or to localities outside North Carolina. Primary subjects appear as subject access points; more detailed subjects appear in the contents list.

This is an artificial collection created by the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from postcards donated over a period of decades. The collection consists of picture postcards dating from circa 1905 to the present arranged by North Carolina county name. Postcards of miscellaneous mountains and miscellaneous scenes of North Carolina are filed at the end. Within some counties additional subdivisions exist by city/town or topic. All 100 of North Carolina's counties are represented in the collection.

The collection consists of images depicting places, events, and people in each of North Carolina's 100 counties. The collection is organized into two series by format and arranged within each series according to county. Images are primarily black-and-white photographic prints and film negatives.

The collection consists of digital photographs taken by winners of the North Carolina Documentary Photography Award, 2012-2015. The North Carolina Documentary Photography Awards is an annual program available to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill undergraduate and graduate students and is sponsored by the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Special Collections Library. The photographs depict a variety of subjects in different locations across North Carolina, and cover a variety of topics including immigration, farming, economic change, Gullah culture and religious gatherings, and North Carolina businesses.

The collection consists of 66 images of North Carolina railroad stations. Images depict railroad stations in over 40 counties in North Carolina and consists of photographic prints made from images taken by unidentified photographers. Materials are arranged by location, and many descriptions include the name of the railroad company that owned or managed the stations.

The North Carolina Department of Community Colleges was established in 1963 by order of the North Carolina General Assembly. The creation of the North Carolina Department of Community Colleges established a unified administrative body for the state's community colleges and technical institutes.

The collection consists of 276 color 35mm slides made circa 1970 that are organized by North Carolina geographical regions and subject themes. The slides were originally used in presentations. Also included are 171 note cards describing the slides' subject matter. Subjects include tobacco; general North Carolina locations; historic sites and other structures; and the coastal, Tidewater, Piedmont, and mountain regions.

Collection of black and white photographs taken by Ben Moore Patrick, a white writer and photographer for the Durham Herald-Sun between October 1941 and May of 1942 in Granville County and Durham County, N.C. Patrick took the images before construction began on Camp Butner, a United States Army facility built in the area during World War II. The images document the rural communities displaced by construction of the camp, including some that were primarly popluated by African Americans. Subjects depicted in the images include homes, farmlands, farm buildings, railroads, churches, and residents. Also included are a few images depicting early construction scenes at the camp.

The collection consists of 402 black-and-white photographic prints made primarily by white architect C. Ford Peatross intended as illustrations for a dissertation, which was never completed, on architect William Nichols (1777-1853). The majority of the images are of structures and buildings in North Carolina, but there are also images of structures in England, Alabama, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., that were designed by Nichols or that influenced his work. A majority of the images in the collection are copy prints made by Peatross of materials from the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) collections at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Original photographs taken by Peatross have been identified and copy work includes citations from original sources.

The collection consists of a single photograph album containing photographs of the University of North Carolina's 1907 senior class. The photographs were taken by Holladay Studio in Durham, N.C., who specialized in university and college groups. The album was originally owned by Quincy Sharpe Mills.

A collection documenting more than 3,500 persons, most of whom have a connection to the state of North Carolina. The collection is arranged by surname and forename.

Collection consists of approximately 7,500 images made by white sportswriter, columnist, and photographer William W.(Bill) Prouty while working for The Chapel Hill Weekly and The Chapel Hill Newspaper, between 1955-1961. Subjects depicted in images include community organizations; events; businesses; churches; schools; sports teams; people of local and national significance; and scenes and activities in and around the towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough in Orange County, N.C.

Vertical aerial photographs of systematic survey of Wake County, N.C. Photographs taken by several different aerial photography companies.

Two photographic albums created by members of the The Shared Learning Association of Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, N.C. Albums include images depicting white board members, founders, and others attending annual picnic and other events related to The Shared Learning Association of Chapel Hill.

The North Carolina chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity was established at the University of North Carolina in 1857. Collection consists of photographic prints depicting members of the Sigma Epsilon fraternity. Included in the collection are images of Edward Kidder Graham (class of 1898) and John Motley Morehead III (class of 1891).

Alfred Eric Stepney was an African American enlisted soldier in the United States Army stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., in 1942. He was from White Plains, N.Y.

Stereograph images are composed of two images placed side by side. When viewed through a stereoscope or another similar device, the images appeared three-dimensional. After 1850, these images were frequently produced on cards that could be sold commercially.

William Jasper Stimson (1860-1929) and his son, Benjamin Alston Stimson (1893-1969), were white photographers based in Statesville, N.C. William Stimson moved to Statesville in 1890 to set up Stimson Studio which was later run by Benjamin Stimson. Benjamin Stimson served in World War I, working as an X-ray technician at Base Hospital 45 in Autun, France, in 1918.

Lamar Stringfield (1897-1959) was a North Carolina native and an accomplished composer, conductor, musician, and teacher. Stringfield studied and composed music based on American folklore and worked with many music ensembles, including symphony orchestras, chiefly in North Carolina.

John H. Tarbell (1849-1929) was a white photographer who operated a studio in Asheville, N.C., between 1896 and 1901. Originally from Massachusetts, Tarbell returned to New England around 1902 and remained there until his death in 1929.

Collection of tintype photographs collected by the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives. Tintypes were in production from the mid-1850s into the early 1900s. Collection contains 19 images taken of individuals seated or standing for portraits, circa 1856-1900s. Individuals appearing in the images include an enslaved man named Caesar of Hillsborough, N.C., members of Carroll family of Danbury, N.C., and graduation marshals at the University of North Carolina in 1861. Also included are images depicting white soldiers who served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War; Speck Harris (1837-1863) of the "Flat River Guard" Company B, 6th North Carolina Infantry Regiment and James Henry Lane (circa 1864).

Images taken by white photographer Gary E. Trawick depicting scenes made in the 100 county seats of North Carolina between 1993 and 2016. Images chiefly depict courthouses, police stations, and general scenes in the county seats. Also included are notes written by Trawick, reflecting on his visit to many of the locations represented in the photographs.

Tryon Palace was originally completed in 1770 in New Bern, N.C., which served as the first capitol of North Carolina. Tryon Palace was the residence for the governor and his family. The original building burned in 1798. Early in the 20th century, a major effort began to re-construct the original palace. The renovated Tryon Palace re-opened in 1959.

Doris Ulmann (1882-1934) was a pictorialist photographer based in New York City, N.Y., renowned for her portraits of both prominent figures in New York City and of people from the rural South. Ulmann attended the teacher training program at Felix Adler's Ethical Culture School, and enrolled in psychology, law, and photography classes at Columbia University, all located in New York, N.Y. She graduated from the Clarence H. White School of Photography in New York City, N.Y. After established herself as a portrait photographer in New York City, she increasingly turned her attention to photographing rural southerners and members of Appalachian mountain communities, to whom she referred affectionately as her mountaineers. In 1929, Ulmann began her collaboration with Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Julia Peterkin on the widely-acclaimed Roll, Jordan, Roll, a book documenting African American folk culture in South Carolina's Gullah coastal region. Ulmann continued photographing rural communities until her death in 1934.

Photographs created by the U.S. Coast Guard Public Relations Office Fifth Naval District, based in Norfolk, Va., depicting white members of the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard at several public health service facilities in North Carolina. Locations in North Carolina include Kill Devil Hills, Elizabeth City, Buxton, and Moorehead City.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is a federal agency, responsible for creating and enforcing public policy regarding food, agriculture and forestry within the United States. The Oxford Tobacco Research Laboratory was established in 1910 in Oxford, N.C., as a facility for research on tobacco production.

The collection consists of about 100 lantern slides identified as having been created for lectures of the United States Department of Agriculture's “Farmers' Institute.” Slides for two lectures are included, with each slide identifying the lecture number and author(s), the slide number, and an original negative. A majority of the images depict farmhouses, farmland, and the Black and white people who lived and worked on the farms. Also included are a sketch of a farmhouse and part of a poem. None of the images are credited or identified as to location.

The United States Navy Pre-Flight School was established in February 1942 and was a major component of the University’s contributions to the national war effort during World War II. The United States Navy announced the establishment of a pre-flight school to train naval pilots on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. The University hosted the second stage of a one-year training program for the servicemen. Cadets began arriving in May 1942 at the rate of about 300 every two weeks until a quota of 1,875 was reached. Collection consists of approximately 6,000 negatives made by United States Navy photographers. The images document the work of the Pre-Flight School, including both training and social activities. Images depict white and Black men and women (including civilians) who contributed to the work of the school as Officers, Cadets, Nurses, WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), and instructors. Also included are numerous images depicting women and Black servicemen who were part of the School’s daily operation. There are images of black servicemen who were transferred to the campus as members of the U.S. Navy’s B-1 Band. They were among the first Black non-commissioned officers in the modern U.S. Navy who were assigned positions other than cooks, porters, or other related support staff.

The crosslisted course American Studies 60/Folklore 195 was taught between 1990 and 1997 and again in 2008 and 2009 by Professor William Bamberger at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill celebrated the bicentennial of its founding in October 1993. The two chief photographers represented in this collection are Dan Sears and Rick Beckman. Sears has served as the official University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill photographer since 1992. He has also worked for several newspapers, United Press International, and the Associated Press. Beckman began his career as a photojournalist and taught for 30 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The collection consists of images documenting the history of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill organized into eleven series by broad categories: administration and staff, 1897-1980s; alumni, 1900-1979; athletics, 1890s-1999 and undated; buildings and grounds, 1799-1999 and undated; documents, 1950s and undated; keepsakes, 1980s-1990s and undated; military affairs, 1910-1980s and undated; organizations, 1878-1990s and undated; schools and colleges, 1870-1980s; special events, 1910s-1980s; and students, 1870-1990s. Images are in a variety of formats, primarily black-and-white photographic prints, but also including film negatives, 35mm color slides, 35mm roll film negatives, illustrations, color lithographs, pages from publications, and other types of documents.

The collection spans the time period from 1911 through the 1970s and includes photographs and related material documenting theatrical productions, personnel, tours, programs, events, and other activities of the Department of Dramatic Art. Images primarily document the Carolina Playmakers (1918-1975). Many of these early play images were taken and produced by the photographer Bayard Wootten or by Wootten-Moulton Studios. Productions and activities of the PlayMakers Reperatory Company, the North Dakota Playmakers (founded by Frederick Henry Koch in 1905 before he came to the University of North Carolina), and the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project are also depicted. The collection consists primarily of photographic material (prints, negatives, and 35mm slides), but also contains programs from productions, notes on tour dates, reviews, and other materials. A majority of the images in the collection have original description containing production title and date. Some images may have titles and descriptions containing offensive and racist language or depict offensive scenes of white actors portraying people of color.

The Department of Pediatrics of the University of North Carolina was founded following the 1947 appropriation of funds by the North Carolina General Assembly for the construction of the North Carolina Memorial Hospital. The Hospital (renamed in 1989 as UNC Hospitals) opened in 1952, marking the expansion of the two-year medical curriculum into a full four-year school of medicine. In 2002, the Department of Pediatrics was relocated within the newly opened North Carolina Children's Hospital at the University of North Carolina medical campus in Chapel Hill.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library's Photographic Services unit existed from the early 1950s through 2006 and specialized in photographic processes (copy negatives and photo prints), microfilm and microfilm duplication, still photography, positive microfilm printing, and other services for the University Library and other North Carolina libraries.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries' Photographic Services unit existed from the early 1950s through 2006 and specialized in photographic processes (copy negatives and photographic prints), microfilm and microfilm duplication, still photography, positive microfilm printing, and other services for the University Library and other North Carolina libraries.

The collection includes 1,562 images depicting activities of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Navy ROTC from 1941 to about 1985, including training, sailing, social and ceremonial events, awards, and graduating classes. Also included are images depicting aircraft carriers, battleships, and other naval watercraft and vehicles.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Photographic Laboratory served the University community for almost half a century, from 1946 to 1990. The Laboratory processed (developed) film for University photographers and served as the image reproduction center for University offices, schools, departments, staff, and student activities. Thousands of the images in this collection appeared in a variety of University-related publications (including the Yackety Yack and The Daily Tarheel) in addition to being used in official materials created to provide information about different departments, schools, and departments on campus. The Photographic Laboratory ceased operations in 1990.

The University sponsored School of Medicine was established in 1879 with a two-year medical curriculum. When the School of Medicine's first Dean resigned from the University in 1895 to focus on his medical practice, the School of Medicine was closed. It remained closed until 1890, when it reopened with a one-year curriculum. The School of Medicine returned to a two-year curriculum in 1896. In 1947, the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated funds for the construction of the North Carolina Memorial Hospital. The hospital (renamed in 1989 as UNC Hospitals) opened in 1952, making possible the expansion of the two-year medical curriculum into a full four-year school of medicine by 1954. In 1998, the UNC Health Care System was established, bringing together UNC Hospitals and the School of Medicine under one entity.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health became the nation's fourth school of public health and first public university school of public health when it was organized as part of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in 1936. By 1939, the School of Public Health became a separate school within the University and began awarding its first degrees by 1940. In 2008, the school was renamed the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Images depicting the construction of the Blewett Falls Dam on the Pee Dee River in Anson County, N.C., in 1911. Subjects depicted include the site, the base constructions, the works, the river (dry and flooded), and a communication tower.

Scrapbook, 1939-1942, created by Lee A. Wallace, a white administrator for District 1 of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Scrapbook includes printed materials and photographs documenting a variety of WPA District 1 projects supervised by Wallace. A majority of the images depict projects in various states of progres including community centers, schools, bridges, roads, airports, utlities (sewer, water, electricity), jails, courthouses, public piers, and parks. WPA District 1 in North Carolina included Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Martin, Northampton Pamlico, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrell, and Washington Counties. A majority of the materials are captioned and dated. These projects were completed during a period when segregation laws required the creation of separate public facilities for white and non-white citizens. The scrapbook contains a few images with captions indicating they depict work being done in majority Black communities, as well as including images depicting black citizens and workers.

The collection chiefly consists of both black-and-white and color photographic negatives of various formats taken by white photographer Tom E. Walters while on assignment for The Charlotte News and The Charlotte Observer (1950s-1960s), and during his career as a self-employed advertising photographer (1960s-1990s) based in Charlotte, N.C. Also contained in the collection are approximately 1,000 photographic prints, including the images Walters entered into the Annual National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Competition for the years 1958 through 1962. In addition to Walters' photographic prints are tear sheets, magazines, and various other print materials featuring Walters' images. Also included are printed materials, correspondence, and log books related to the operation of his photographic studio. Earlier materials primarily depict news and political events including civil rights sit-ins in 1958 and 1961, numerous North Carolina and United States politicians, and famous musicians and entertainers. Later materials feature regional businesses and organizations such as North Carolina National Bank (NCNB), Charlotte Country Day School (CCDS), the Mint Museum of Art, and Pentes Design. Notable individuals depicted in the collection include North Carolina Governor Luther Hodges, Jack Pentes, Bones McKinney, Harry Golden, and Carl Sandburg.

Louanne Watley is aphotographer and poet based in Chapel Hill, N.C. Her work has appeared in Carolina Quarterly, Calyx, and North Carolina Literary Review.

Harry Legare Watson (1876-1956) graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1899 and went on to careers in law and journalism, chiefly in Greenwood, S.C.

Dr. Bailey Daniel Webb, a descendent of the Webb family of the Granville, Person, and Orange counties area of North Carolina, was a student in the graduate school at the University of North Carolina in chemistry (1937-1939) and biochemistry (1939-1941). She was an early female graduate of Duke University School of Medicine (M.D., 1946) and then a pediatrician in private practice in Durham Co., N.C., 1949-1987. Webb was recognized with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Distinguished Alumna Award in 1998. Her sister, Kate Webb Williamson, was a public health nurse in Granville County in the 1940s and later served as supervisor of public health nurses in Cumberland County, N.C. Kate Williamson was the recipient of UNC-Chapel Hill's first Margaret Dolan Award in 1973.

Louis Round Wilson (27 December 1876–10 December 1979) was born in Lenoir, N.C., and, in the 1890s, attended Davenport College in Lenoir; Haverford College in Haverford, Pa.; and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., from which he graduated in May 1899. After teaching for a few years, Wilson embarked on a long and distinguished career in librarianship, library science education, and university administration. Wilson served as librarian and first director of the School of Library Science from 1901-1932 at the University of North Carolina, and dean of the Graduate Library School at the University of Chicago, 1932-1942. From 1901 to 1932, Wilson served on many University of North Carolina committees, developed collections, and oversaw the planning and construction of two of the University's main libraries: the Carnegie Library in 1907 and the 1929 building that, in 1956, would bear his name. When he returned to Chapel Hill from Chicago in 1942, he resumed his many activities at the University, serving on numerous faculty and special University committees until he retired in 1959. He was a consultant to the president of the University from 1959 to 1969.

John Wallace Winborne (1884-1966), was a graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., and a justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Winifred Bryant, a white woman who enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve in 1943, compiled this photograph album while stationed at Camp Lejune and Cherry Point Marine bases in North Carolina between 1944 and 1945. The album begins with photographs of Bryant's "first day in uniform" followed by portrait images of fellow (women and men) Marines, many signed. Other photographs show Bryant and other women in a variety of uniforms including coveralls. They are also seen in convoy training, with a variety of jeeps and trucks, "cattle trucks," used to transport large groups of marines to training sites, working on engines, a long chow line. Leisure and downtime are also photographed with images of bedtime with "mascots" (stuffed animals), on leave at the beach, and on a fishing trip. Also included are images of their barracks, including bunks and the laundry. North Carolina sites include Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point United States Marine Corps bases.

Patrick S. Wooten is a 1993 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Political Science, who went on to obtain a law degree and serve as Assistant Attorney General in the North Carolina Department of Justice.

Collection contains photographs primarily made by white female photographer and studio operator Bayard Morgan Wootten (1875-1959) of New Bern, N.C., and Chapel Hill, N.C. These images, mostly made circa 1904-1954, include scenic landscape photography, much of it depicting the western North Carolina mountains; and scenes of daily life of both white and Black residents in rural areas. Also included are images depicting members of the Wootten, Moulton, and Clarke families of North Carolina. While most of the images are from North Carolina, some are from South Carolina, Virginia, and other southern states. Formats include glass negatives, film negatives, photographic prints, lantern slides, and artwork; there are also some manuscript materials. Some of the images might have been made by Wootten-Moulton studio but not by Wootten herself. Like many photographers, Wootten devised a classification system to manage the tens of thousands of images she made, and often created titles to accompany prints made for sale or display. Some of these classifications or titles contain offensive and racist language.

The Catherine and Robert Yates Collection consists primarily of photographs of Chadbourn, North Carolina, around the turn of the twentieth century. Many images depict the strawberry industry, including strawberry fields, markets, and the first long-distance air shipment of strawberries in 1946. Other images depict Chadbourn streets and scenes, businesses, schools, and railroads, as well as other areas in North Carolina and Virginia. Also included are images of various individuals, including William Harmon Chadbourn.