North Carolina Collection

Online Exhibits

Research Guides

Article Databases

Clipping Files

North Carolina Postcards

Online Catalog

Site Map

Biographical Research in the North Carolina Collection

Online Catalog

The UNC Library's online catalog is the best place to start your search for materials on North Carolina people. Most (about 90%) of the holdings of the North Carolina Collection are cataloged online. To search for books by a specific person, select an "author" search. To look for books about somebody, select a "subject" search.

Group in a window. Western North Carolina, 1930s. Photograph by Bayard Wootten. North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, WM-212-47 1226.

Clipping Files

For more than a half-century North Carolina Collection staff members have compiled and indexed articles from North Carolina newspapers, making a special effort to save significant obituaries and other stories about people. The clippings are bound and available for use in the NCC reading room. Indexes to most of the clippings are available on the newspaper clippings page on this website.

North Carolina Collection Biographical Index

The North Carolina Collection Biographical Index is a comprehensive index of names from over 500 books and journals containing biographical information on North Carolinians. Currently, over 125,000 citations to biographical sketches are listed in the database.

Dictionary of North Carolina Biography

The Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, edited by William S. Powell (University of North Carolina Press, 1979-1996), contains short, authoritative biographical sketches of prominent North Carolinians and helpful references to additional sources. Researchers on the UNC campus can access this source online using NetLibrary.