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Close to Home: North Carolina
Spring 2022 |
The North Carolina Collection of the Forsyth County Public Library houses a broad range of non-circulating resources to suit your research needs. The room contains a wealth of local, state and federal information as well as archived issues of newspapers and magazines. Our knowledgeable staff will be happy to assist you with your project, whether you are an experienced researcher or just getting started. For help with questions about North Carolina, local history, or genealogy, please come visit us on the second floor of the Central Library in Winston-Salem, NC or call 336-703-3070 during regular business hours. |
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Carolina Builtby Kianna AlexanderJosephine N. Leary is determined to build a life of her own and a future for her family. When she moves to Edenton, North Carolina from the plantation where she was born, she is free, newly married, and ready to follow her dreams.
As the demands of life pull Josephine’s attention away, it becomes increasingly difficult for her to pursue her real estate aspirations. She finds herself immersed in deepening her marriage, mothering her daughters, and being a dutiful daughter and granddaughter. Still, she manages to teach herself to be a businesswoman, to manage her finances, and to make smart investments in the local real estate market. But with each passing year, it grows more and more difficult to focus on building her legacy from the ground up.
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Abandoned North Carolina : mouth of the holler
by Christina E. Cole
Abandoned North Carolina: Mouth of the Holler takes you on an introspective look at North Carolina's past and abandoned architecture with angsty mystery, fulfilling fear and unbridled truth through the eyes and words of the author and photographer, Christina Cole. North Carolina is a state that has progressively worked to shake the old South mentality against a modern backdrop. Yet, the haunting and brash facts lie in a legacy of crumbling walls and barely standing skeletons. Hoodoo and Satanism alike writhe in its belly like Culebra masked only by superstition. Enslavement and suppression were its stronghold from 8,000 B.C. and now again in the present day. While attempts to thwart and rise above the past play out, the one thing that remains true is the bones of the structures that held them. Guiltless, blameless wood, frame, metal, brick, or stone tell the tales of long ago, with pictures for some being the only proof of their existence.
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The other Dr. Gilmer : a murder, a mysterious illness, and an unlikely fight for justice
by Benjamin Gilmer
Fresh out of medical residency, Dr. Benjamin Gilmer joined a rural North Carolina clinic only to find that its previous doctor shared his last name. Dr. Vince Gilmer was loved and respected by the community—right up until he strangled his ailing father and then returned to the clinic for a regular week of work. Vince’s eventual arrest for murder shocked his patients. How could their beloved doctor be capable of such violence? The deeper Benjamin looked into Vince’s case, the more he became obsessed with discovering what pushed a good man toward darkness.
When Benjamin visited Vince in prison, he met a man who appeared to be fighting his own mind, constantly twitching and veering into nonsensical tangents. Sentenced to life in prison, Vince had been branded a cold-blooded killer and a “malingerer”—a person who fakes an illness. But it was obvious to Benjamin that Vince needed help. Alongside This American Life journalist Sarah Koenig, Benjamin resolved to understand what had happened to his predecessor. Time and again, the pair came up against a prison system that cared little about the mental health of its inmates—despite more than a third of them suffering from mental illness.
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The Tobacco Wives
by Adele Myers
Maddie Sykes is a burgeoning seamstress who’s just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina—the tobacco capital of the South—where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. After years of war rations and shortages, Bright Leaf is a prosperous wonderland in full technicolor bloom, and Maddie is dazzled by the bustle of the crisply uniformed female factory workers, the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt’s glossiest clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives.
But she soon learns that Bright Leaf isn’t quite the carefree paradise that it seems. A trail of misfortune follows many of the women, including substantial health problems, and although Maddie is quick to believe that this is a coincidence, she inadvertently uncovers evidence that suggests otherwise.
Maddie wants to report what she knows, but in a town where everyone depends on Big Tobacco to survive, she doesn’t know who she can trust—and fears that exposing the truth may destroy the lives of the proud, strong women with whom she has forged strong bonds.
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With this famous field guide by professional nature photographers Nora and Rick Bowers and by award-winning author and naturalist Stan Tekiela, you can make wildflower identification simple, informative, and productive. There’s no need to look through dozens of photos of wildflowers that don’t grow in the Carolinas. Learn about 200 of the most common and important species found in the region. They’re organized by color and then by size for ease of use. Fact-filled information contains the particulars that you want to know, while full-page photographs provide the visual detail needed for accurate identification. |
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Famous and Infamous Women of North CarolinaThursday, April 7, 6:30 p.m. Central Library Auditorium Join us for an engaging talk with author, historian, and storyteller Randell Jones. Learn about the fascinating lives of women in North Carolina who dared to live life on their own terms. From pirates and daredevils to first ladies and scholars, this is an informative and lively presentation.
The talk will include special remarks about the subject of our current Women’s History Month exhibit, “Lucy Bramlette Patterson – Our Lady of Letters. ” You can view the virtual exhibit at Becoming America 250.
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Longrifles of the Wachovia Tract
Saturday, June 4, 2:00 p.m.
Central Library Auditorium
Join us for a talk about the development of longrifle making traditions in the colonial south. C. Michael Briggs will talk about the crafting styles of the Salem School and the Davidson School of rifle making.
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Virtual Genealogy Help Monday - Friday between 10 - 11 a.m. and 2 - 3 p.m.
Virtual Program with ZoomChasing after family secrets? Let us help you catch them. Schedule a virtual appointment with a librarian to help you do your genealogy. Use this link to schedule a virtual genealogy help session using Zoom. Use the calendar on the bottom right of the page to select the date and time. We recommend that you download Zoom before the appointment. Appointments will be available Monday through Friday from 10 -11 a.m. and 2 - 3 p.m. Appointments will last for approximately 60 minutes. If you have any problems scheduling, please call us at 336-703-3070. If you need help using a genealogical database and do not have a library card, you'll need to get a library card. You can apply for a virtual library card for online resources by filling out the Online Library Card Registration. Please allow 1-2 business days to fully process your request. |
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