When Are We US? America250: A Look to the Past to Inform Our Future

Connecting the Docs: True Stories from the Old North State

In this special hour-long episode and season finale of Connecting the Docs: Unprocessed, State Archivist Sarah Koonts and Becky McGee-Lankford, assistant state records administrator, introduce us to America250, the nationwide commemoration to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding. North Carolina’s programming will highlight historical events of the Revolution as well as the ideals of liberty, courage, sacrifice, civic responsibility, and progress that have developed in the years since. To kick off preparations for this momentous occasion, Koonts and McGee-Lankford share inspiring records in the State Archives that embody these ideals and bring history to life: a 1776 letter from John Adams that later become the renowned pamphlet Thoughts on Government; a rare 1903 Constitutional Reader created to aid disenfranchised black men—and later women—overcome the burden of the Permanent Registration Act of 1901; a 1964 report from the Council on the Status of Women that details systemic challenges in work and life; and much more.

Sources Mentioned:

John Adams, 1776. Thoughts on Government Letter. Vault Collection, State Archives of North Carolina. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p15012coll11/id/606/rec/1

Joseph Graham Papers, PC.60. State Archives of North Carolina.

General Assembly Session Records. State Archives of North Carolina. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/search/collection/p16062coll36

North Carolina and Tennessee, Revolutionary War Land Warrants, 1783-1843, Roll 07: Revolutionary Warrants, frame 324-5 of 608. www.ancestry.com

Military Collection, Troop Returns, box 6, folder 20. http://www.digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16062coll26/id/980/rec/2

North Carolina and Tennessee, Revolutionary War Land Warrants, 1783-1843, Roll 04, frames 105-6 of 619; www.ancestry.com

Pettiford, George (Granville), 1831. Declaration of Service to Accompany U.S. Pension Applications. War of the Revolution Papers. State Archives of North Carolina.

Granville County Pleas and Quarter Sessions Minutes, 1821. State Archives of North Carolina.

Harris, G. Ellis, 1903. North Carolina Constitutional Reader, Being a Hand Book for Primary Use in One Part. State Archives of North Carolina. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p15012coll11/id/710/rec/4

The Many Lives of North Carolina Women (Commission Report), 1964. Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women. State Archives of North Carolina. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p16062coll44/id/7009/rec/27

Good Neighbor Council Digital Collection, SR.31. State Archives of North Carolina. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/custom/good-neighbor