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Local figure

Isabel Smith

Isabel Smith and her husband, Paul Smith, bought the Intimate Bookshop on East Franklin Street from Milton Abernethy in 1950 and moved it into the former Berman Department Store in 1958. They sold it to Wallace Kuralt in 1965 but ran its rare-book section until the end of 1968.

Source: Internet Archive: Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan pp. 293, 303, 323

1906–1982 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

1 work about Isabel Smith is indexed here.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 3 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Paul Smith becomes owner of the Intimate Bookshop Paul Smith took over the Intimate Bookshop on East Franklin Street, formerly Abernethy's, and fitted it with display fixtures designed for his earlier shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans. People: Paul Smith (Intimate Bookshop), Milton Abernethy, Isabel Smith Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Intimate Bookshop, East Franklin StreetSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 3, 1950, p. 8 (Paul Smith Installs New Store Fixtures)
  2. The Intimate Bookshop moves into the old Berman Department Store on East Franklin Street Sam Berman closed his department store in 1959 because of poor health, keeping the building and leasing it to Paul and Isabel Smith, who moved their bookshop into it once it was remodeled. The 119 East Franklin building was the Intimate Bookshop's home for about forty years. People: Paul Smith (Intimate Bookshop), Isabel Smith Place: Intimate Bookshop, 119 East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Sam BermanSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 303 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 5, 1959, p. 8; The Daily Tar Heel, March 2, 1994, p. 5
  3. Paul and Isabel Smith sell the Intimate Bookshop to Wallace Kuralt The Smiths sold the East Franklin bookshop to Kuralt but kept running a rare-book department inside the store until the end of 1968. People: Paul Smith (Intimate Bookshop), Isabel Smith Place: Intimate Bookshop, 119 East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Wallace KuraltSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 323 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, September 8, 1980, p. 3; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 5, 1959, p. 8; The Daily Tar Heel, March 2, 1994, p. 5

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Isabel Smith, 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 Isabel Smith. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

Old book news.

Old Book Corner (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · 1981 · The Old Book Corner

News and catalogs from the Old Book Corner, a Chapel Hill bookshop run by Paul and Isabel Smith, who also edited the sheet. Issue 9, from 1981, includes a brief history of the business and of the owners' careers. Volumes of 28 cm, issued by the shop.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Smith, Isabel, 1906-1982.

UNC

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first.

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Research sources

Sources and research tools for this person. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further. Research guide: Trace a family through historical records.

Records of the time

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Isabel Smith 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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Books about Isabel Smith

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Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

Catalog searches use the Library of Congress name heading: Smith, Isabel, 1906-1982. Historical-record searches use the person’s name and may include namesakes. Links open in a new tab.

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