1940s Series
A Mighty Storm
A late summer hurricane slams the Outer Banks, leaving a path of destruction like nothing North Carolina’s coast has ever seen before.
Philip Gerard
History
Founding Fontana
When the United States needed a power source for nuclear weapons research, it turned to the mountains of North Carolina. The only thing that stood in the government’s way: the people living there.
Decades Series
The Miracle of Hickory
When polio strikes children in the Piedmont, doctors, nurses, and volunteers rise to the occasion to build an emergency quarantine hospital.
Decades Series
Field of Dreams
At a rural crossroads in Halifax County, black farmers chart a new destiny for their families through the Tillery resettlement program.
Decades Series
Land of Blue Smoke
With the creation of the Qualla Boundary comes conflict — between two men determined to lead the Eastern band of Cherokee and within the tribe itself.
Decades Series
The Deluge of 1940
Mountain communities bear the brunt of the decade’s most deadly Atlantic storm — forever changing our western landscape.
Decades Series
The Home of the Airborne
After the Great War, the army planned to mothball a sandhills airfield. But when the United States is pulled into another conflict, the base is reborn with a new purpose and a new name: Fort Bragg.
Decades Series
The Soundtrack of the Decade
In the 1940s, traditional mountain music gives rise to bluegrass, jazz spreads nationwide, and three North Carolina natives make their mark on American music.
Decades Series
The Liberty Armada
When America went to war in 1941, the Navy turned to Wilmington to provide ships. The city’s response helped secure victory for the allies and left a lasting mark on the North Carolina coast.