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Key local figure

Marinda D. McPherson

McPherson, of Hillsborough, taught in Orange County for more than four decades and was known as a singer. McKellar Israel recorded her in 1972 and 1973 singing children's games, play party songs and spirituals she had learned from her family.

Source: UNC Wilson Library finding aids: McKellar Israel Collection of North Carolina Field Recordings, 1972-1975

Also found in catalogs as Marinda Dunnigan McPherson.

1 work about Marinda D. McPherson is indexed here.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 6 dated events in the chronology →

  1. A Negro library committee was already running library service for Black readers in Orange County The committee met in September 1945 under chairman Mrs. M. D. McPherson, reported over a hundred new books received and 800 books circulated during the summer, and was assembling book kits for rural areas. Miss Annie Cameron was named as one of the people who started the library for Black residents of the county. People: Marinda D. McPherson, Annie Sutton CameronThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 13, 1945, p. 7
  2. Marinda McPherson sings a joint recital at the Orange County school auditorium Mrs. M. D. McPherson and Galvin Lampley gave a joint recital in the Orange County school auditorium in Hillsboro. She sang The Star by James H. Rogers and Because by Guy d'Hardelot, and Lampley played De Falla and Chopin.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 21, 1946, p. 5 (News of the Negro Community)
  3. Marinda McPherson sponsors the annual kite contest at the Hillsboro school The annual kite contest sponsored by Mrs. M. D. McPherson was held on the school playground in Hillsboro, with prizes for the fastest getaway, the longest distance, dash and altitude, and the most original kite.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 7, 1949, p. 10 (News of Negro Community)
  4. The Orange County Negro Public Library held its grand opening at the community center in Hillsboro The library opened on a Sunday afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. with Mrs. M. D. McPherson as directress and Miss Victoria Craig as librarian. Mrs. Douglas Davis, the tri-county regional librarian, sponsored the event and spoke, and Mrs. Eliza Webb attended for the Confederate Memorial Library. People: Marinda D. McPhersonThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 26, 1949, p. 8
  5. Black residents opened a fund drive to build the Orange County Negro Public Library a building of its own The library then held 2,254 books in a single room with shelves full and volumes stacked on the floor, and had circulated 2,015 books in the year. A committee including Mrs. Marinda D. McPherson, A. L. Stanback and Mrs. M. C. Burt asked for donations, naming $100 for outside sheeting and $70 for a roof. People: Marinda D. McPherson, A. L. StanbackThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 29, 1950, p. 5
  6. Marinda Dunnigan McPherson is recorded singing songs she learned from her family McKellar Israel recorded McPherson in the fall of 1972 and the fall of 1973, singing children's games, play party songs and spirituals she learned from family members, among them songs she first recalled hearing her grandmother Marinda Hart sing about 1920. Israel also interviewed her and her husband David McPherson about community events and history.Search the index · UNC Wilson Library finding aids: McKellar Israel Collection of North Carolina Field Recordings, 1972-1975

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Marinda D. McPherson, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Indexed works

Works about or by Marinda D. McPherson. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

McKellar Israel collection of North Carolina field recordings, 1972-1975

Israel, McKellar · 1972

Field recordings gathered by McKellar Israel between 1972 and 1975, in the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC, collection 20176. Topics include African American folklore, children's games and songs, English ballads, gospel music, Primitive Baptist hymns, storytelling, and interviews with textile workers in company towns. The work concerns Orange and Chatham counties.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: McPherson, Marinda Dunnigan, 1907-.

UNC

Places in this person’s story

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Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

All places and the county map →

Research sources

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Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Marinda D. McPherson Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
  • Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries

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