Because I attended East Carolina University between the years of 1970 and 1974, I thought to take a look at the Archive of The Daily Reflector, the Greenville, NC newspaper that was founded in 1882. Still publishing a daily and Sunday paper today, over 80,000 of their photographic images were donated to the East Carolina University Joyner Library Digital Collections, and to date a significant portion of these images have been scanned and available for access and research. This archive, called Seeds of Change, allows us to see the daily lives of eastern North Carolinians. I found the collection rich with “between-the-lines” insights, and fascinating both photographically and historically. Though I grew up in a different part of the state during those years, these images could have been taken in any small, southern town. From teen dances to parades to the reviled cloud of the Ku Klux Klan, there is plenty to discover when you go local with your research.
If you would like to learn more about the digital collections at East Carolina University, contact information is available here.
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.01_525.jpg)
Woman at the ticket counter waits for customers at the movie theater. 1958
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.02_525.jpg)
The winner of the Country Future Farmers of America National Public Speaker's Contest Bobby Corey, who is a junior at Chicod High School. 1962
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.03_525.jpg)
An African-American woman and wife of a Pitt County tenant farmer standing on her porch with six children. Date from article: “Annie Barnes, ‘about 43’, says she is mother of 31; thirteen now living.” 1949
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.04_525.jpg)
A man throws the first pitch at the opening of Elm Street Park. 1953
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.05_525.jpg)
A Little League team and coaches pose by a wall and bleachers in uniforms that read Pepsi-Cola. 1954
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.06_525.jpg)
Children on swings in front of houses. 1955
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.07_525.jpg)
A woman hangs clothing on a line to dry while her two young sons watch. 1955
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.08_525.jpg)
A man holds poultry on his front porch next to boxes and bags of food that have been dropped off by N.C. Patriot Inc. 1955
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.09_525.jpg)
A boy stands with a new bicycle, with six adults around him, in front of Jackson's Shoe Store. 1955
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.10_525.jpg)
Woman stands next to refrigerators in a kitchen. 1956
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.11_525.jpg)
Teenagers at a dance inside a building. 1956
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.12_525.jpg)
The African American “Mother of the Year” sitting for picture. 1957
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.13_525.jpg)
Children and teachers in front of bible school building. 1957
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.14_525.jpg)
Two men inside a service station watching the World Series on television. 1957
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.15_525.jpg)
African American children out front of a row of wooden houses. 1950 - 1959
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.16_525.jpg)
Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity members sitting at a table drinking beer. 1959
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.17_525.jpg)
Children dressed up in costumes for Halloween. 1950 - 1959
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.18_525.jpg)
Contestant wearing an evening gown in the Miss Greenville beauty pageant. 1959
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.19_525.jpg)
Mr. Alfred Kennedy picking up rusty nails and tacks in his driveway with a magnet attached to a string. 1960
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.20_525.jpg)
Man holding up a wild bobcat that was killed. 1962
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.21_525.jpg)
Three debutants in matching dresses sitting in front of three boys in matching shirts at the red barn dance. 1962
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.22_525.jpg)
Statue of Jesus in front of a cross on a parade float in a Christmas parade. 1960
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.23_525.jpg)
Two barbers cut hair at the opening of Gaskin’s barber shop. 1954
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.24_525.jpg)
Man speaking from a platform during a Ku Klux Klan rally. 1965
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.25_525.jpg)
A road sign reading “United Klans of America, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Unit 73 welcomes you to Ayden.” 1966
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.26_525.jpg)
Across a field, hooded figures are seen around a burning cross. 1966
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.27_525.jpg)
Little League scoreboard on the side fence of a field. 1955
![The Greenville, NC Daily Reflector: 1948 to 1967](/media/images/03.30.14.28_525.jpg)
Three boys lay in front of a television. 1954
More information can be obtained by clicking on the image for source.