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DavidsonLearns (2023): An Exploration of Davidson History

This research guide includes readings, resources, and other notes related to the four week Davidson Learns course taught by Archives staff in Spring 2023. Information is primarily about the town of Davidson.

Week 3: 1941 - 1970

town main street with little shops and cars parked on the roadside

Davidson, N.C., Main St., 1962 (29-0104)
Session Date: March 14, 2023
Instructor: Molly Kunkel

About:

This session is designed to introduce you to Davidson's history (1941-1970) and the basics of archival research. To better focus our exploration, we will examine select primary source materials. Specifically, we will review oral history interviews, articles from two local newspapers, a map of the town, and photographs. These sources will help us learn more about two events that occurred in Davidson:

  1. The Brady’s Alley fire in 1950 
  2. The boycott of Ralph Johnson’s Barbershop in 1968. 

Please review the "Homework" section (see below) before we meet on March 14th.

Homework

(suggested but not mandatory)

Instructions:

The homework is meant to introduce class participants to archival sources and set the scene for the class session.

  • Skim the oral history transcript (see document link below).
  • Review the brief newspaper articles from The Mecklenburg Gazette and The Davidsonian (see document links below).
  • Browse a map of Davidson, NC from the late 1960s/ early 1970s. (see document below)
  • You do not need to do any further research before class. We will explore the specifics together! 

Oral History Transcript:

You can also listen to the accompanying audio through the library's catalog.

Newspaper Articles:

Articles related to the Brady’s Alley fire in 1950:
Articles related to the boycott of Ralph Johnson’s Barbershop in 1968:

Map:

Davidson College Library Research Guides are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mailing Address: Davidson College - E.H. Little Library, 209 Ridge Road, Box 5000, Davidson, NC 28035