Social history is a hobby shared by Elizabeth (Betsy) Ross and Roger Kammerer, of Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina. All the images being shared in this forum were digitized from borrowed originals . Many of the pictures are being offered here to anyone who either cherishes what they stand for, or who might find them valuable documentation for historical research.
While the great majority of the photos are of the people of area, many define architectural style and/or the ambience of place. Formed in 1760, the county has a long history. Genealogists in all 50 states have reason to trace ancestors who lived here, and whose sons and daughters followed migration paths across the United States for over 200 years.
In the 1990s, Pitt County is a growing commodity for industry, and the seat of a huge university, East Carolina University, with enrollment approaching 20,000. But its heritage, as seen in many of the photographs, is rooted in rural enterprise. Agriculture was more than income, it was a way of life. The small towns that the county nurtured are nearly lost in the sprawling suburbs of Greenville, becoming one large city. Another decade may swallow them up completely. The collectors feel an urgency to preserve and share the resources before even the fading photographs are misplaced forever.
Roger and Betsy want to thank the people who have contributed their old family albums. We also thank Maury York, Director of the J. Y. Joyner Library, ECU, North Carolina Collection, for sponsoring these pages.
Without the element of human memory, there would be no concept of history. See the " Fairuse Policy " for downloading these pictures.
Created August 1996
Updated February 1998