Digital Gaston County, North Carolina

• Gaston County Public Library Digital History Collection has a Schools and Colleges Collection of historical pamphlets, brochures, and photographs of Schools, Colleges, and Universities.  
• North Carolina public schools. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. 1936 - 1975. Articles, statistics.
• Educational Directory of North Carolina. North Carolina. Dept. of Public Instruction. List of schools and officials.1932 - 1996.
• High schools of North Carolina: public and private, white and colored, urban and rural: a complete list.1925-1926; 1926-1927.

• A county with a history...Home to 16 Rosenwald Schools, Lincoln Academy, and others, Gaston County, North Carolina has had a legacy with African American education.  Gaston County H.E.T. Diversity Awareness and Recognition Subcommittee.


• High schools of North Carolina: public and private, white and colored, urban and rural: a complete list.1925-1926; 1926-1927.


• High School Principals' Annual Reports, Gaston to Guilford County. This file includes high school principals' annual reports from schools in Guilford County, Gaston County, and Granville County. The reports include information about enrollment, names of graduates, grounds, equipment, educational material, schedules, curricula, staffing, and school organization. The reports affected school ratings and teacher salaries. Includes Highland High School (Gastonia), John Chavis High School (Cherryville), Lincoln Academy (Kings Mountain), Reid High School (Belmont), and Stewart Jr. High School (Bessemer City). 1924-1925; 1925-1926; 1926-1927; 1927-1928; 1929-1930; 1930-1931; 1931-1932; 1932-1933; 1933-1934; 1934-1935; 1935-1936; 1936-1937; 1937-1938; 1938-1939; 1939-1940; 1940-1941; 1941-1942; 1942-1943; 1943-1944; 1944-1945; 1945-1946; 1946-1947; 1947-1950.


• African American Education collection contains documents and photographs related to African American education in North Carolina before 1950 drawn from the collections of the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum and the Division of Negro Education of the Department of Public Instruction record group in the custody of the State Archives of North Carolina. (Includes records related to Julius Rosenwald Fund)
  Go to: https://digital.ncdcr.gov/spotlights/african-american-education-in-north-carolina


• Biennial report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina for the scholastic years 1885-1886; 1920-22; 1922-23; 1923-24; and more provides statistics of the number of teachers, enrollment, and enrollment by grade, of North Carolina schools by county.


• Lincoln Academy, Kings Mountain, N.C. 1888 - 1955. Lincoln Academy, named after President Abraham Lincoln, was opened as a boarding school for African-American girls in the fall of 1888 by Emily Catherine Prudden. List of print and online resources.
  Go to: https://gastonlibrary.libguides.com/lincoln-academy


• African American High Schools in North Carolina:  a list of the names and locations of all of the public African American high schools compiled from the North Carolina Educational Directory around the time that the schools were desegregated.
  Go to: https://tools.digitalnc.org/aahighschools/


• Colored Elementary & High School--Gastonia (1926). Photograph of Colored Elementary & High School in Gastonia, North Carolina, information in regards to cost of building, property value, and population is attached to the photograph.


• Oral History Interview with George Miller, January 19, 1991. Interview M-0015. "George Miller, a former principal in Wilkes County, North Carolina, discusses the importance of knowing the day-to-day inner life of the public school system." Mr. George Miller of Gastonia, North Carolina, came back from A & T College to his hometown and started teaching. He stayed at Highland High School for 20 years, 1941-1961.

   

• FamilySearch.org has the following North Carolina collections:
  • North Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1863 - 1872. Includes Lincolnton, NC Field Office, Freedmen's Bureau (Lincoln County). Check these records for early African-American schools in Gaston and Lincoln County: Location of Schools for the Freedmen in Sub District of Lincolnton with names and Post Office address of Teachers, Letter dated Nov. 30, 1868, p.130-135. (Includes descriptive pamphlet M1909 Rolls 27 and 28)


• A Magical Romance For Any Season, Highland High School, Gastonia, North Carolina, 1887-1966 "A Brief History" with Pictures and Notations. Factual Information Pertaining to our Beloved Alma Mater, The Highland High School. September, 1992. George W. Miller, ed.


• The Baltimore Village School, Cramerton, North Carolina "was built by Stuart Cramer, in the late 1920s for the children of African American men and women who worked in Cramer Mills and Cramer's dairy farm and orchards."


• For Yearbooks, visit Digital Gaston: Yearbooks. Includes Highland High School, The Ram.
  Go to: https://gastonlibrary.libguides.com/digital-gaston-county/yearbooks

• Rosenwald Schools in North Carolina Multiple Property Documentation Form includes complete list of Gaston County Rosenwald Schools.


• A county with a history...Home to 16 Rosenwald Schools, Lincoln Academy, and others, Gaston County, North Carolina has had a legacy with African American education.  Gaston County H.E.T. Diversity Awareness and Recognition Subcommittee.


• List of Rosenwald Schools in NC by History South.


• Gaston County School Photographs includes photographs of the Rosenwald Schools for Mauney School, Belmont School, Mountain Chapel School, Belmont School, and South Point School.


• The State Historic Preservation Office website for North Carolina's Rosenwald Schools has a PDF download List of Surveyed Rosenwald Schools ("SURVEY FILE MATERIALS RECEIVED FROM VOLUNTEER SURVEYORS OF ROSENWALD SCHOOLS SINCE SEPTEMBER 2002") which includes Gaston County. Also includes Fisk University Rosenwald Fund Card File Database. "A source for information about Rosenwald Schools all across the south, whether standing or lost, most with documentary photographs."


• Also available is PDF download of a List of Surveyed Rosenwald Schools ("Rosenwald Schools Documented in the Files of the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office") which includes Gaston County.


• African American Education collection contains documents and photographs related to African American education in North Carolina before 1950 drawn from the collections of the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum and the Division of Negro Education of the Department of Public Instruction record group in the custody of the State Archives of North Carolina. (Includes records related to Julius Rosenwald Fund)
  Go to: https://digital.ncdcr.gov/spotlights/african-american-education-in-north-carolina


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• Belmont, N.C. by Sue Drennan. Handwritten school project about the history of Belmont. Illustrated with photographs
• City of Belmont by Nancy Reade Hall. 1956.

Central School Bessemer City, Gaston County - National Register of Historic Places

Go To: https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/GS0933.pdf

• North Carolina Vocational Textile School Belmont. A general catalog for the North Carolina Vocational Textile School in Belmont, advertising its history, schedule of classes, different departments, and more.


• Gaston College Catalogs "Over 60 years and dozens of catalogs from Gaston College are now online at DigitalNC. The publications span over six decades, from 1955 to 2018. Founded in 1952, the institution was originally called Gaston Technical Institute. Run under the banner of the School of Engineering at North Carolina State College (which changed its name to NC State University in 1962), the school was later renamed to Gaston College in 1964. These catalogs cover admissions, student registration for classes, scheduling, financial aid information, and lists of programs and classes."


• Prospectus of Sacred Heart Academy at Belmont, Gaston County, North Carolina. by Sacred Heart Academy (Belmont, NC)1903, 53 p.


• Gastonia Industrial Education Center Geared to Progress. A small booklet about the Gastonia Industrial Education Center, including the programs that the institution offers, its curriculum, costs, and admission requirements.

The History of Dallas, North Carolina. Prepared by eighth grade class of 1953-54 and teacher, Mrs. Allie White Hoffman

Ashley High School, Gastonia, NC

• Collection includes the Frank L. Ashley Senior High School (Gastonia, N.C.) newspaper, Fine Yarns, and more.
• Frank L Ashley High School Class Of 1960 includes issues of the Fine Yarns newspaper.

• Kindergarten Class. No Author Mill News. Vol. XXII, no. 16 (Oct. 14, 1920). Charlotte, N.C.: Mill News Print. Co., 1920. School children--North Carolina--High Shoals--1920.

• Gaston County's Educational Heritage, 1857-1957. A booklet about the history and developments of the schools in Gaston County to 1957. Includes lists and histories of schools and their important figures, as well as the script to the play "Gaston County's Educational Heritage" based on the history of the local schools.

Gaston County eighth grade class handwritten reports, illustrated with historical photographs, produced by Gaston County schools in the 1950s:

• The History of Dallas, North Carolina. Prepared by eighth grade class of 1953-54 and teacher, Mrs. Allie White Hoffman
• The History of Harden Book made by students of Harden Elementary School 1955-56
• Gaston County by Mrs. Warren's Eighth Grade Mount Holly School. 1950s?
• History of the Victory Section of Gaston County Victory School, Eight Grade. Mrs. Sam Holloway's 8th grade class. 1956.
• Our land and settlers. Handwritten document with photographs compiled by one of Gaston County's eighth grade classes.
• Belmont, N.C. by Sue Drennan. Handwritten school project about the history of Belmont. Illustrated with photographs
• City of Belmont by Nancy Reade Hall. 1956.
• Tryon Community.  Written as a school project of the children at the Tryon School in the 1950s and details the history of the community of Tryon.

• Mount Holly Elementary, 1952-53 Student photographs from the collection of Mrs. Caroline Heath Reinhardt, Mount Holly Elementary, First Grade teacher (1952-53).
• Gaston County by Mrs. Warren's Eighth Grade Mount Holly School. 1950s?

• Board of Education Minutes, 1885-1964, Gaston County, North Carolina (Not indexed, but you can browse images)
  Go to: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/251466


• Gaston County, North Carolina school records, 1855-1884
   School records: reports of common schools --- 1855; pay records for teachers and other services --- 1871-1883; school census including lists of students --- 1870-1879, 1862, 1883, 1880-1882, 1884; school committee papers --- 1877, 1883; school district divisions and petitions --- 1876, 1880; teachers licensed --- 1883, 1884; teachers vouchers --- 1871-1878, 1880-1881, 1883-1884
  Go to: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1279340



• The Gaston County Student Records Department houses records dating from the 1920's to 2017 of graduates and all former students. More records are called in as space is available to process them. "Gaston County School graduates are now able to request cumulative records information and transcripts online."
  Go to: https://www.gaston.k12.nc.us/studentrecords




• Academic Transcripts of Defunct Post-Secondary Schools and Colleges. The State Archives of North Carolina has custody of the student academic and (in some cases) financial aid records of certain defunct North Carolina post-secondary schools and colleges. Go to: https://archives.ncdcr.gov/researchers/services/academic-transcripts-defunct-colleges
  A list of these academic institutions is available, as well as information about how to request copies of Student Records.
  [NOTE: According to the list, they do NOT have the records for Miller-Motte Business College, Gastonia]




• Access the Gaston County Board of Commissioners Minutes Archive for a complete Repository of Board of Commissioners’ Adopted Regular Meeting Minutes from 1879 through 2018.

  Some of the records you will find in the Gaston County Board of Commissioners Minutes:

  • School Committees by Districts. July 19, 1879.
  • Teachers examined and approved. September 1, 1879.


• High School Principals' Annual Reports, Gaston to Guilford County. This file includes high school principals' annual reports from schools in Guilford County, Gaston County, and Granville County. The reports include information about enrollment, names of graduates, grounds, equipment, educational material, schedules, curricula, staffing, and school organization. The reports affected school ratings and teacher salaries. Includes Highland High School (Gastonia), John Chavis High School (Cherryville), Lincoln Academy (Kings Mountain), Reid High School (Belmont), and Stewart Jr. High School (Bessemer City). 1924-1925; 1925-1926; 1926-1927; 1927-1928; 1929-1930; 1930-1931; 1931-1932; 1932-1933; 1933-1934; 1934-1935; 1935-1936; 1936-1937; 1937-1938; 1938-1939; 1939-1940; 1940-1941; 1941-1942; 1942-1943; 1943-1944; 1944-1945; 1945-1946; 1946-1947; 1947-1950.

• Digitized Gaston County Yearbooks
  Go to: https://gastonlibrary.libguides.com/digital-gaston-county/yearbooks