Contact the Center
Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History
UNCW Library, Discovery Hall, 2nd floor
5162 Randall Dr.
Wilmington, NC 28403
csencah@uncw.edu
910-962-7810
Visit the Center
Location
The Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History is located on the 2nd floor of Discovery Hall in the UNCW Library.
Hours
From May 19th through August 15th, 2025, the Center will be open by appointment only due to reduced staffing. 48 hours' advance notice is required for appointment requests. Visit our website to request an appointment.
Access Policies
Prior to visiting the Center, users should familiarize themselves with our access and use policies.
CSENCAH Guide to Southeast North Carolina Newspapers
The Center's Guide to Southeast North Carolina Newspapers lists the various historical and current newspapers produced in the eight-county Southeast North Carolina region, including information on how to locate and access them. Many of these newspapers have been partially or fully digitized and made accessible online.
Researching Local Newspapers Online
Local and regional NC newspapers can be searched and accessed online using the following databases. These resources are freely available to the public and do not require a UNCW login.
- The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center: This project brings together a wide variety of digitized collections (primarily newspapers, yearbooks, and local publications) from across the state of North Carolina.
- Chronicling America: Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress, Chronicling America contains over 20 million newspapers from across the United States, including many small North Carolina papers. This database includes newspapers from approximately 1777 to 1963.
- The Columbus County News Reporter: The News Reporter has been the newspaper of record in Columbus County since 1896, with a special focus on Whiteville and the surrounding communities. This database includes a near-complete run of issues for 1924 to 1984, as well as incomplete coverage for 1905 to 1923.
- The State Port Pilot: The State Port Pilot was founded in 1928 by W. B. Keziah, a former editor for The News Reporter of Whiteville. The paper began with a weekly release documenting the life and times of the people of Brunswick County North Carolina. The State Port Pilot collection includes issues from 1977 to 1991.
Additionally, the databases below are accessible with a UNCW login, or by visiting UNCW Library and using a guest computer.
- Historic North Carolina Digital Newspaper Collection: This database contains 3.5 million pages of digitized content from over 1,000 NC county newspapers ranging in date from 1751 to 1999. It is powered by Newspapers.com and hosted by NC LIVE. Please note that this database is accessible to users outside the UNCW community with a library card from any North Carolina public library.
- Wilmington Star-News (full description follows)
Wilmington Star-News and Precursors
- Star-NewsPortions of the Wilmington Morning Star, Wilmington News, and Star-News are accessible online with a UNCW login using this link. While many issues of the Star-News are accessible online using the Star-News database, gaps in coverage do exist. Use the following timeline to locate coverage for a specific date.
- 1867-1924: accessible online via the Star-News database OR the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center.
- 1925-1939: Available on microfilm at UNCW Library.
- 1940-1947: accessible online via Chronicling America OR the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center.
- 1948: Available on microfilm at UNCW Library.
- 1949-1994: accessible online via the Star-News database OR Google News Archive.
- 1995-2007: accessible online via the Star-News database (text only) OR Google News Archive (full page facsimiles)
- 2008-2018: accessible online via the Star-News database (text only; no images or full page facsimiles available).
- 2019-present: accessible online via the Star-News database.
If you need an issue that hasn't been digitized, you can visit UNCW Library to request the microfilm version of the newspaper. See the catalog record below for more information.
- The Wilmington morning star byCall Number: Microfilm - PeriodicalPublication Date: 1867-1993Microfilmed issues of the Morning Star and Wilmington News are available to consult onsite at UNCW Library.
Finding Other North Carolina Newspapers
- Guide to North Carolina Newspapers on MicrofilmThis document describes newspapers that have been microfilmed by the State Archives of North Carolina. Researchers can contact the State Archives for more information on accessing these titles.
- North Carolina Newspaper LocatorThe North Carolina Newspaper Locator database lists approximately 2,000 local newspapers held on microfilm at the Government & Heritage Library in Raleigh. These newspapers range in date from 1751 to the present.
UNCW Library Historical Newspaper Databases
These databases are restricted for use only by UNCW affiliated users. They may only be accessed from a campus wi-fi network or with a UNCW username and password.
- Access World NewsAccess World News is a comprehensive resource that includes a variety of news publications worldwide. These sources include major national and international newspapers, as well as local and regional titles as well as newswires, blogs, web-only content, videos, journals, magazines, transcripts and more. Access World News is updated daily.
- African American Newspapers, 19th centuryContains information about cultural life and history during the 1800's and first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day, including the Mexican War, Presidential and Congressional addresses, Congressional abstracts, business and commodity markets, the humanities, world travel and religion. The collection also provides a great number of early biographies, vital statistics, essays and editorials, poetry and prose, and advertisements all of which embody the African-American experience. Find more information.
- African American Newspapers Series 1Chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience, African American Newspapers, Series 1, features 280 newspapers from 35 states, including many rare and historically significant 19th-century titles. These titles published for or by African Americans constitute valuable primary sources for researchers exploring such diverse disciplines as cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies and more. Beginning with Freedom’s Journal (NY)—the first African American newspaper published in the United States—the titles in this groundbreaking series include The Colored Citizen (KS), Arkansas State Press, Rights of All (NY), Wisconsin Afro-American, New York Age, L'Union (LA), Northern Star and Freeman’s Advocate (NY), Richmond Planet, Cleveland Gazette, The Appeal (MN) and hundreds of others from every region of the U.S.
- African American Newspapers Series 2African American Newspapers, Series 2, 1835-1956 complements and expands on African American Newspapers, Series 1. Published in 22 states and the District of Columbia, the more than 75 newly available newspapers in Series 2 significantly increase access to primary sources for researchers across African and African American studies; political science; ethnic studies; diaspora studies; women’s studies; and cultural, literary and social history. Key titles include Frederick Douglass’s New National Era (Washington, DC), Washington Tribune (Washington, DC), Chicago Bee (Chicago, IL), The Louisianian (New Orleans, LA), The Pine and Palm (Boston, MA), National Anti-Slavery Standard (New York, NY), New York Age (New York, NY), Harlem Liberator (New York, NY), North Carolina Republican and Civil Rights Advocate (Weldon, NC), Southern News (Richmond, VA) and many others.
- America's Historical NewspapersEarly American Newspapers provides an unparalleled record of daily life in hundreds of diverse American communities. Through eyewitness reporting, editorials, legislative updates, letters, poetry, advertisements, election returns, matrimony and death notices, maps, cartoons, illustrations and more, these historical newspapers offer researchers essential local and national perspectives on American history, culture and daily life across three centuries. The collections feature more than 6,000 titles from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Find more information.
- Ethnic NewsWatchEthnic NewsWatch is a current resource of full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives. The database now also contains Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, which provides historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989.
- Historical Black NewspapersThis collection of historical black newspapers provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Publications include: Baltimore Afro-American (1893-2010); Chicago Defender (1909-1975); Michigan Chronicle (1934-2010); New York Amsterdam News (1922 - 1993); Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916-2010); Pittsburgh Courier (1911 - 2002).
- Historical NewspapersThis collection of historical newspapers provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
- News & Observer CollectionCoverage of the Raleigh News & Observer from 1991-present.
LGBTQ+ News
- The Front PageThe Front Page is an LGBTQ+ newspaper published in Raleigh, NC, that began publication in the 1970s. Many issues of the Front Page mention news and events related to the LGBTQ+ community in Wilmington and southeast NC. Numerous issues of the paper have been digitized by the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center.
- Q-NotesWhile predominantly focused on Charlotte (where this newspaper is published), Q-Notes frequently reports on news and events related to the LGBTQ+ community in Wilmington and the surrounding areas as well.