On a quiet night in 1961, a plane from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base accidentally releases two thermonuclear bombs near Goldsboro. Only later do North Carolinians learn how close they came to the brink of disaster.
The 1960s: How a Silent Vigil Changed Duke University
As the nation mourns the loss of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., college students in Durham take action on campus.
The 1960s: North Carolina’s First Professional Basketball Team Mounts a Full-Court Press
In 1969, North Carolina bounds onto the national court: Fans across the Piedmont rally to support the state’s first pro basketball team, the Carolina Cougars.
The Great Blizzard of 1960
The decade blows in with a series of winter storms that threaten to incapacitate the High Country. But residents are resilient — and the rest of the state mobilizes to help.
The 1960s: A Dynamic Decade
Momentum has been building, and by the early 1960s, the payoff is clear: Now in the national spotlight, North Carolina enters an era of action and activism.
The 1950s: The Squire of Haw River
How a dairy farmer from Alamance County ascended the political ladder to become governor, then senator — never forgetting his rural roots along the way.
The 1950s: The Art of the Impossible
North Carolina’s investment in a public art collection opens minds, enriches the lives of citizens, and creates a home for the state’s cultural aspirations.
The 1950s: The Shape of Things to Come
Three universities, dozens of movers and shakers, one singular vision: Research Triangle Park charts a new course for North Carolina, proving that a simple idea can become a grand reality.
The 1950s: Photographer Hugh Morton & Grandfather Mountain
One of our state’s most magnificent treasures was in danger of being overdeveloped. Instead, with a photographer’s passion for natural beauty, Grandfather Mountain’s new owner opens it to all.
