Skip to content

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

0 indexed records are connected with this person.

In the index

Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

No work in the index names this person by itself yet. The works below belong to The Orange County Negro Public Library and the struggle for equal library service, 1936–1960s, the wider story it is part of.

The Hyconeechee Regional Library, Caswell County, Orange County, Person County: a self-study and community analysis

1977 · [The Library], 1977

African-American Access Policies at the Consolidated University of North Carolina Libraries, 1951-1958

2012 · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

UNC

In the chronology

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See the whole 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,… People: Marinda D. McPhersonDigitalNC: The News of Orange County, September 13, 1945, page 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 Beca…Search the index · DigitalNC: The News of Orange County, March 21, 1946, page 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 dist…Search the index · DigitalNC: The News of Orange County, April 7, 1949, page 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… People: Marinda D. McPhersonDigitalNC: The News of Orange County, May 26, 1949, page 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 … People: Marinda D. McPhersonDigitalNC: The News of Orange County, June 29, 1950, page 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 …Search the index · UNC Wilson Library finding aids: McKellar Israel Collection of North Carolina Field Recordings, 1972-1975

Continue your research

We have not added outside sources for this person yet. The index still lists the related works below. If you know a useful source, tell us.

Background reading at OCPL

Held in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection. Selected because their titles or catalog subjects provide wider historical context for this person; they may not discuss the Orange County person directly.

Search the Wall Collection for this person →

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connects people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026