The recent purchase of Wachovia Bank, discussed by Stephen below, will likely mark the disappearance of a historic North Carolina name from the corporate landscape. Wachovia was the name of the region in central North Carolina that was originally settled by the Moravians in the 1750s. The land was purchased from Earl Granville, and named after a location in Austria from which some of the settlers had emigrated. By the time John Collet published his map of North Carolina in 1770, of which a detail is shown here, the land had been divided, and the area called Dobbs Parish was the center of the Moravian community. The name Wachovia remained in use through the 1850s, when the nearby town of Winston was established as the seat of the recently formed Forsyth County.
From now until November 4, we are going to share with our readers some of the political ephemera and memorabilia that the NC Collection collects and maintains. Today’s feature is a pamphlet from the 1968 Democratic primary race for lieutenant governor, which featured the first female candidate for that position, Margaret Harper. Prior to running, Harper was a businesswoman and newspaper administrator, serving as the editor of the The State Port Pilot while her husband was in the military during World War II. Though she did not receive the nomination, Harper did win 23 percent of the vote. She tried again and lost again in 1972…this time garnering 20 percent of the vote.
