Voices of America

Modern-day conveniences and luxuries appeared like the inventions of science fiction in a place where electricity seemed, at first, unnecessary and short-sighted to many of the coastal inhabitants, who were simply comfortable living in the ways and manners of their ancestors. However, the progress offered by the twentieth century would not be denied even in rural Carteret County. Though fishing remained the industrial backbone, as it had for generations of Down Easterners, Carteret County began a remarkable transition from a coastal outpost community to a tourist destination, attracting thousands of seasonal and year-round tourists. The Crystal Coast documents this time through a collection of firsthand accounts that touch upon the many elements of everyday living, including childhood games, early schooling (from both the students' and teachers' perspectives), daily chores, the toils of fishing, the intricacies of home remedies (such as the ubiquitous cure-alls castor-oil and corn liquor), a variety of cooking techniques, courtship and marriage, and life around town. Not just a simple time, these years were marked by major cultural events, and the people of Carteret County were not immune, experiencing intimately the hardships of Depression-era America and the challenges and fears of a world war at their doorstep. Sharing both the black and white experience, this volume, with over 100 images, celebrates a special place and people in the Southern landscape. A unique visual history, The Crystal Coast allows readers a rare opportunity to venture into the Morehead City, Beaufort, and Portsmouth Island of a bygone era, viewing not only the region's vivid past, but breathing its true essence.

In Eastern North Carolina lies a rural, agrarian community known as Edgecombe County. Here, the Tar River winds slowly through the land and provides beauty, nourishment, and recreation for its residents. The soil in Edgecombe is rich, and many of the friendly souls who live here-and whose families are rooted here-own unique memories of the county's yesteryears.

Edgecombe Remembers is a window into Southern life over the past 80 years. In this volume, community locals offer readers a variety of journeys-from a 1930s tobacco farm to the activities of homemakers from the 1970s. Early 20th-century Christmases were celebrated with different customs, while education was a privilege not available to everyone. World War II, an especially difficult time for Americans, is an event that those who remember speak of with the joys of patriotism and the tenderness of heartache. The people whom these voices represent may not have been rich in material wealth, but they lived rich, full lives with what was available.