Greensboro Library, NC
Home MenuEveryday Life In Guilford County in the Past
This annotated bibliography was prepared for use by third-grade teachers as a supplement to their curriculum on the comparison between Guilford County in the past and the County as it is today. These materials, which are from the North Carolina Collection, provide information about life today and are to be used in the library.
Most of the materials were not written with third-graders in mind, however. Teachers should adapt the information for their students. Materials that were written for children are noted in the annotation.
Of course, this bibliography may be of interest to a wide variety of readers, not just third-grade teachers! Included are memoirs written by Greensboro natives and biographies that give glimpses of local life at different periods. Most sources are strictly local, but a few books with a state-wide emphasis have been included because of their emphasis on daily life.
Local Histories
Biographies
- Charlotte Hawkins Brown
- David Caldwell
- Levi Coffin
- Dolley Madison
- Edward R. Murrow
- William Sydney Porter (O. Henry)
Guilford County
Arnett, Ethel Stephens. The Saura and Keyauwee in the Land that Became Guilford, Randolph, and Rockingham. Greensboro: Media, 1975. (NC 970.3 C52)
This is an account of the lives of Indians who once inhabited our county. Included are descriptions of their physical appearance, homes, food, activities, sports, marriage, money, medicine, and religion. Circulating copies are available.
Guilford County Bicentennial Commission. Guilford County, a Brief History. Greensboro: Guilford County Bicentennial Commission, 1971. (NC 975.662 G95)
This booklet, written in cooperation with the schools, gives a brief description of the lives of Indians and pioneers. It was written with students in mind and is the easiest local history for children to read.
Hughes, Fred. Guilford County: a Map Supplement. Jamestown: The Custom House, 1988. (NC 975.662 H89)
This book about 18th-century life in Guilford County is taken from original sources. It
includes information on churches, schools, pioneer life, various groups of settlers, including Quakers and Germans, a description of the diet and cooking styles (including facts about health), and an article on gold in Guilford County. If you want to have an 18th-century Guilford County feast, this is your source! A circulating copy is available.
Robinson, Blackwell P., and Alexander R. Stoesen. The History of Guilford County, North
Carolina, U.S.A. to 1980, A.D. Edited by Sydney M. Cone, Jr. 1981? (NC 975.662 R65)
This history is very detailed. Circulating copies are available.
Sieber, H. A. Holy Ground: Significant Events in the Civil Rights-Related History of the African-American Communities of Guilford County, North Carolina, 1771-1995. Greensboro: Project Homestead, 1995. (NC 975.662 S57)
This summary of the county’s civil rights history is illustrated with drawings and photographs. Circulating copies are available.
Sieber, H.A. White Water, Colored Water. Greensboro: Project Homestead, 1993. (NC 975.6622 S57)
This brief book covers much of the same information as Sieber’s Holy Ground. Circulating copies are available.
Stockard, Sallie W. The History of Guilford County, North Carolina. Knoxville: Gaut-Ogden,
1902. (NC 975.662 S86)
This general history is illustrated with black-and-white photographs. A 1983 edition has no illustrations but adds an index. Circulating copies of the newer edition are available.
Stoesen, Alexander R. Guilford County: A Brief History. Raleigh: N.C. Division of Archives
and History, 1993. (NC 975.662 S87)
Here is a good summary of county history; circulating copies are available.
Weatherly, Andrew Earl. The First Hundred Years of Historic Guilford, 1771-1871. Greensboro: Greensboro Print Co., 1972. (NC 975.662 W53)
Brown SummitThis is a well-illustrated history; circulating copies are available.
Phillips, Robert L. The Village of Brown Summit, Past and Present. Greensboro: The Printworks, 1993. (NC 975.662 P56)
GibsonvilleThis detailed history of one of Guilford County’s villages is illustrated with black-and-white photographs; circulating copies are available.
Walker, Mary Hannah.A History of Gibsonville up to 1900. (NC 975.662 W18)
This four-page typed history gives an idea of the early history of this small town.
Albright, James W. Greensboro, 1808-1904: Facts, Figures, Traditions and Reminiscences. Greensboro: Jos. J. Stone, 1904. (NC 975.6622 A342g)
While the book focuses on businesses, churches, and political history more than on everyday life, it gives many facts about early Greensboro. A circulating copy is available.
Album of Greensboro, N.C. Greensboro: Chamber of Commerce, 189-? (NC 975.6622 A34)
Here are many pictures of 19th-century Greensboro, accompanied by text.
Arnett, Ethel Stephens. Confederate Guns Were Stacked [at] Greensboro, North Carolina. Greensboro: Piedmont Press, 1965. (NC 973.782 A74)
This book describes Greensboro life in the spring of 1865, as the one-mile-square village, with a usual population of about 1800 people, suddenly had to absorb over 90,000 refugees, Confederate soldiers, and Union soldiers into the town and the surrounding area. Circulating copies are available.
Arnett, Ethel Stephens. Greensboro, North Carolina; the County Seat of Guilford. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1955. (NC 975.6622 A74)
This is an excellent general history of Greensboro. Circulating copies are available.
Chafe, William H. Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom. New York: Oxford UP, 1980. (NC 323.423 C43)
This is a standard book about civil rights in Greensboro. Circulating copies are available.
Fripp, Gayle Hicks. Greensboro. Dover: Arcadia, 1997. (NC 975.6622 F91)
This is primarily a collection of photographs showing Greensboro’s past, with a brief description of each. Circulating copies are available.
Fripp, Gayle Hicks. Greensboro, a Chosen Center. Sun Valley, CA: American Historical Press, 2001. (NC 975.6622 F91)
This excellent general history has plenty of illustrations. The library also has the 1982 edition. Circulating copies of both are available.
Fripp, Gayle Hicks. Greensboro. Vol. II: Neighborhoods. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 1998 (NC 975.6622 F91)
This is a collection of pictures from various neighborhoods, each with a long caption.
Circulating copies are available.
Griffin, Roy. Look over Your Shoulder…One-Nine-O-O: Greensboro at the Turn of the Century. [Greensboro]: 1970. (NC 917.5662 G85)
In this book, Griffin gives facts about Greensboro from 1890 through 1917 and also includes vignettes about daily life in that period. Topics include downtown sales of produce, old-time jokes, school lunches, clothing styles, winding the family clock, Greensboro as the "city of flowers," outhouses, musical evenings in those pre-television days, and home remedies. Circulating copies are available.
O’Keefe, Patrick, ed. Greensboro, a Pictorial History. Norfolk: Donning, 1977. (NC 975.662 G81)
This history is told in black-and-white photographs with brief captions. Circulating copies are available.
Wolff, Miles. Lunch at the 5 & 10. Chicago: I. R. Dee, 1990. (NC 305.896 W85)
This is the standard book about the Greensboro sit-ins. Circulating copies are available.
High Point
The Building and the Builders of a City. Compiled by the High Point Chamber of Commerce. High Point: Hall, 1947. (NC 975.66211 H63)
This history is very detailed. A circulating copy is available.
McPherson, Holt. High Pointers of High Point. (High Point: [Chamber of Commerce of High Point, 1976] (NC 975.662 M17)
JamestownThis history is illustrated with black and white photographs. Circulating copies are available.
Crouch, Esther Kersey. A Short History of Jamestown, North Carolina. 1965. (NC 975.662 C95)
This 17-page history gives some insight into daily life in a Guilford County community.
Thomas, C. Yvonne Bell. Roads to Jamestown: A View and Review of the Old Town. Fredericksburg: BookCrafters, 1997. (NC 975.662 T45)
SummerfieldThis history is illustrated with black-and-white photographs. Circulating copies are available.
Scarlette, Gladys. Summerfield, North Carolina: a Pictorial History. Greensboro: Younts, 1995. (NC 975.662 S28)
There are plenty of pictures of life in earlier times. A circulating copy is available.
Biographies of Guilford County People
Brown, Charlotte Hawkins
Marteena, Constance Hill. The Lengthening Shadow of a Woman: A Biography of Charlotte Hawkins Brown. Hicksville: Exposition, 1977. (NC B B8772)
Here is the story of a private school for African-Americans, Palmer Memorial Institute, run by a determined young educator. It gives a picture of life at the school, located in Sedalia, from 1902, when Brown founded it, until her death in 1961. Circulating copies are available.
Silcox-Jarrett, Diane. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, One Woman’s Dream. Winston-Salem: Bandit, 1995. (NC 370.92 B87S)
This is a very readable retelling of Brown’s life. It gives a good picture of school life in
another time, as well as of other aspects of life, such as travel in Jim Crow days, and is
illustrated with many black-and-white photographs. Circulating copies are available.
Caldwell, David
Arnett, Ethel Stephens. David Caldwell. Greensboro: Media, 1976. (NC B C147A)
David Caldwell, a minister, physician, and educator, was one of the county’s leading citizens from 1765, when he accepted the call to Buffalo and Alamance Presbyterian Churches, to his death in 1824. This well-illustrated book gives glimpses of this period in the life of the county. Circulating copies are available.
Coffin, Levi. Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, the Reputed President of the Underground Railroad. Richmond, IN: Friends United Press, 2001. (NC 973.7115 C67)
Madison, DolleyThis autobiographical work gives insight into slavery in Guilford County and into the work of the Underground Railroad here. Circulating copies are available.
Arnett, Ethel Stephens.Mrs. James Madison: the Incomparable Dolley. Greensboro: Piedmont Press, 1972. (NC B M182A)
Dolley was born in the New Garden area in 1768. The book includes short descriptions of the area as it was during her early childhood and of the house where she lived, as well as telling briefly about the Indians who had earlier lived in that area. Circulating copies are available.
Kendrick, Alexander. Prime time; The Life of Edward R. Murrow. Boston: Little, Brown, 1969. (NC B M984K)
The great broadcaster was born in Guilford County in 1908. Pages 72-81 tell about his first five years here; then the family moved to the state of Washington. Although the Murrows’ modest farm house was only a few miles from Greensboro, a trip by horse and buggy was an all-day affair! Circulating copies are available.
Persico, Joseph E. Murrow, an American Original. New York: McGraw-Hill,1988. (NC 070.92 M98)
Arnett, Ethel Stephens. O.Henry from Polecat Creek. Greensboro: Piedmont Press, 1962. (NC B P849)Chapter 2, "A Child of Polecat Creek," gives a glimpse of early twentieth-century rural life here. Circulating copies are available.
O. Henry (the pen name of William Sydney Porter) was born in 1862 in Greensboro and left for Texas in 1882. This book describes Greensboro life during his childhood and adolescence, including the last part of the Civil War period. There are other biographies of him, but this is the one written by a Greensboro resident knowledgeable about the city’s past. Circulating copies are available.
Memoirs of Guilford County Life
Hometown Memories…Guilford County Tales. Hickory: Hometown Memories, 2002. (NC 975.662 H76)
This collection of memoirs by Guilford County residents provides an excellent look at the lifestyles of citizens at different times in the 20th century. A circulating copy is available.
Banner, Ray. Greensboro, the Best Place to Live. Greensboro: 1998. (NC 975.6622 B21)
Banner, born in 1908, includes five pages on life in Greensboro during his childhood and teen years. Circulating copies are available.
Douglas, Robert Dick, Jr. The Best 90 Years of My Life. New York: Vantage Press, 2007. (NC 340.092 D73D)
Douglas, born in 1912, tells about growing up in Greensboro's Fisher Park
neighborhood. He also describes his adult life as a Greensboro lawyer. A circulating
copy is available.
Edmunds, Mary Lewis Rucker. Recollections of Greensboro. Greensboro: M. L. R. Edmunds, 1993. (NC 975.6622 E24)
This Greensboro native, great-great-granddaughter of John Motley Morehead, focuses on her growing up in the 1920’s but also includes tales from earlier times, such as O. Henry’s childhood and youth (1862-1882). The book is illustrated with numerous photographs. Circulating copies are available.
Gingher, Marianne. A Girl’s Life: Horses, Boys, Weddings & Luck. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2001. (NC 305.242 G49G)
This well-known Greensboro author tells about her happy childhood in the 1950’s and 1960’s, when the city had a much more rural atmosphere than it does today. Circulating copies are available.
Griffin, Roy. As I Remember---(A Boy in the’Twenties). 1967. (NC 818 G85)
Griffin’s book is a collection of his memories of Greensboro during the 1920’s. What did children do for fun? How did they celebrate holidays? What were some favorite foods? Griffin makes a period of history come alive! Circulating copies are available.
Hawkins, Opal Winchester. From Brush Arbor to Bricks and Mortar; An Oral History of the Mount Zion Community of Greensboro, North Carolina. [Greensboro: Mount Zion Project Committee], 1984. (NC 975.662 H39)
A number of people from this community in East Greensboro talk about their experiences. Here are personal memories from the 20th century, giving a good picture of the everyday life of these African-Americans.
Lasley, James B. Where There's a Will Chapel Hill: Chapel Hill Press, 2004. (NC 929.2 L34)
Lasley writes about his life in the Groometown area of Guilford County in the 1920s and
1930s, including his student days at Sedgefield School and Jamestown High School. He
includes information on the process of growing and marketing tobacco. A circulating
copy is available.
Sills, Walter H. Old Times Not Forgotten. Volumes 1 and 2. Greensboro: W. H. Sills, 1991-1996. (NC 975.6622 S58)
Sills describes Greensboro as he knew it during his long life, with emphasis upon his childhood in the 1920’s. He includes Scouting, playing cowboys and Indians, the cars of his youth, the coming of the ice wagon, being quarantined, Greensboro as an army town during World War II, childhood parties and holiday celebrations, and many other interesting parts of Greensboro life. Circulating copies are available.
Batchelor, John. The Guilford County Schools: A History. Winston-Salem: John F. Blair, 1991. (NC 370.975662 B32)
Browse this book for insights into the lives of school children through the years. Circulating copies are available.
Donnell, Minor C. Bessemer School—The Early Days. (NC 371.01 D68)
This account of the school’s history includes descriptions of the games which the children played, of school routines—even humorous anecdotes about school life. Chapter headings include: student shenanigans, athletics, student activities, and student misdemeanors.
Park, Herbert W. Physical Education. Greensboro: Public Schools, 1923. (NC 371.1 P23)
Here are three volumes telling what children in grades 1 through 7 were doing in physical education in the Greensboro schools in 1923. The volume for third grade starts with the "moral code," which lists ten laws, such as "The Good American tries to gain and to keep perfect health." It gives exercises for "relief periods," dances, and games. A fun way to give children a view of the past!
Publications of the Guilford County Literary and Historical Association. Vol. I. Greensboro: Published for the Association by Jos. J. Stone, 1908. (NC 975.662 G856p)
This includes articles on the schools of Guilford County, including Edgeworth Female Seminary.
Report of the Way We Were: Oral Histories of Four Former All-Black Public Schools in Two North Carolina Counties. [Afro-American Genealogy and History Society, 1991] Greensboro. (NC 371.97 R42)
Read the interviews about Dudley High School and Mt. Zion Elementary School to learn about life in these schools earlier in the 20th century. A circulating copy is available.
Daily Life in North Carolina
While these books do not focus on Guilford County, they are included because of the emphasis on daily life in our state. All of them include excellent photographs.
Clayton, Thomas H. Close to the Land: The Way We Lived in North Carolina, 1820-1870. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1983. (NC 975.603 C62)
This book covers rural and town life. Circulating copies are available.
Fenn, Elizabeth A. and Peter H. Wood. Natives & Newcomers: the Way We Lived in North Carolina before 1770. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1983. (NC 975.602 F33)
The Scotch-Irish settlers in Guilford County are discussed on pages 70-71. Circulating copies are available.
Nathans, Sydney. The Quest for Progress: The Way We Lived in North Carolina 1870-1920. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1983. (NC 975.6041 N27)
This book covers industrialization, urbanization, the Jim Crow period, life in mill villages, and the new leisure. On pages 47-49, there is a description, with a full-page photograph, of Fordham Drugs, Greensboro’s oldest drugstore which is still in operation. Circulating copies are available.
Parramore, Thomas C. Express Lanes & Country Roads: the Way We Lived in North Carolina, 1920-1970. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1983. (NC 975.6042 P25)
Check pages 87 through 92 for information on the Woolworth sit-ins in Greensboro and on Palmer Memorial Instititute at Sedalia. Circulating copies are available.
Watson, Harry L. An Independent People; The Way We Lived in North Carolina, 1770-1820. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1983. (NC 975.603 W33)
The Francis McNairy House and Dolley Madison Memorial on the grounds of the Greensboro Historical Museum are briefly described on page 9. Circulating copies are available.
Other Useful Materials
Blair, John Jay. Just for the Fun of It. Greensboro: Guilford College Library, 1973. (NC 741.092 B63)
Drawings by a former High Point teacher show items used in daily life in the past, from a dulcimer to a clay pipe, an ice hook, a candlestick, a candle mould, a coffee grinder, a cow bell…and on and on! Unfortunately, no dates for the use of the items are given.
Bowles, David. Spring House. San Antonio: Plum Creek Press, 2006. (NC 975.662 B78)
This novel, based on stories and documents from the author's ancestors, tells about the
Mitchells, a Scotch-Irish family who moved to this area in 1762 and lived where the
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park is now located. Although the author wrote the
book as a novel to make it interesting, it sticks so closely to the facts that we have
shelved it with Guilford County history. The Battle of Guilford Courthouse is part of the
story. Circulating copies are available.
Carroll, Karen Cobb. Windows to the Past; Primitive Watercolors from Guilford County, North Carolina, in the 1820’s. Greensboro: Greensboro Historical Museum, 1983. (NC 757.9 C31)
This collection of portraits shows what the people of our county looked like! There is also information about the county at that time and about the lives of the individuals who are pictured.
Cook, Marion Belden, comp. Children of the USA: Stories from the South. New York: Silver Burdett, 1946. (NC 808.3 C77)
An 18-page short story by Nellie Rowe Jones, who used to be the director of the Greensboro Public Library, tells about the life of some Guilford County children during the 1940’s. They are delighted when their father’s High Point factory makes furniture based on a design by their great-great-great grandfather. While this is fiction, it gives a feeling for the importance of the furniture industry in the county. It is written simply enough for elementary students to read.
Edmunds, Mary Lewis Rucker. Governor Morehead’s Blandwood and the Family Who Lived There. Greensboro: Greensboro Printing, 1976. (NC 929.2 M83)
This well-illustrated book describes the house and the family’s history. There are glimpses of the lively life in the mansion. Circulating copies are available.
The "Folklore" folder (Guilford file) includes two articles from The Journal of American Folk-lore, April-June, 1917, including traditional tales and riddles from Guilford County, along with a description of traditional Christmas celebrations here. I’ve used the riddles with fourth-grade groups; although they find them difficult to guess, they love trying!
Fry, John Walker. The Photography of John Walker Fry. Greensboro: Greensboro Preservation Society, 1982. (NC 975.6622 F94)
The text, written by Mary Lewis Rucker Edmunds, tells about her family, who lived in Greensboro from the town’s earliest days, emphasizing the period from 1898 to 1917. It includes many of Fry’s pictures of his family’s daily life, which Mrs. Edmunds, a relative of his, explains for us. Circulating copies are available.
"Holidays" folder, Guilford file
This includes information on Christmas and Halloween customs. New Year’s customs of the Germans in North Carolina are also included; Guilford County had German settlers, but the article does not tell whether our county’s German settlers celebrated in the way described.
Homespun. (NC 975.6622 H76)
The December 1926 issue of the literary magazine of Greensboro’s Central High School focused on Greensboro. It includes such articles as "Saturday Night on Elm Street," "Rummage Sales on East Market Street," "Hallowe’en in Greensboro," and "Autumn in Irving Park."
New Wings; an Anthology of Prose and Verse, Written during 1930-1931, by the Children of Greensboro Public Schools, Greensboro, North Carolina. (NC 810.8 N53 v.1 1930-1931)
Here are the voices of local children of 70 years ago!
Sharpe, Stella Gentry. Tobe. (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1939) (NC 776.9 S53) (Reference copies are also at Hemphill, McGirt-Horton Branch, and Chavis Branch; McGirt-Horton and Chavis use the call number E Sharpe)
These black-and-white photographs of rural African-American children in the 1930’s, working and celebrating, were taken in Goshen, ten miles from Greensboro. The text, written simply enough for elementary students, describes daily life in that period.
Tourgee, Albion Winegar. A Fool’s Errand. (NC F Tourgee)
This novel, available in various editions, was written in the 1870’s by Greensboro’s famous carpetbagger. While it is not strictly autobiographical, it describes Greensboro life, as he saw it, during the Reconstruction era.