Angie Royal says she wears a lot of jewelry because she wants to imitate her great-great-grandmother who always wore platinum. Platinum is too expensive though so she sticks to white gold and silver.
Miss Warsaw Middle School Zequoia Sanderson sits on top of a car for the 96th annual Warsaw Veterans Day parade as her mom Cathy Barden, left, and Zena Bell, in the car, prepare to ride in the parade as well.
Soyoung Cobb, who has owned Downtown Wig Mart in Wilson for 45 years, says that wig sales are down 65 percent over the past four years.
Contestants compete for the crown in the 80th Miss North Carolina Scholarship Pageant.
Contestants compete for the crown in the 80th Miss North Carolina Scholarship Pageant.
Gary Grant, a Black farmer who fought his entire life to keep his family’s native land, explained that North Carolina tricked the entire country with one word, “North.” This is a visual exploration of that idea and the traditions of this uniquely southern state.
Artist and landscape designer Preston Montague holds a freshwater mollusk. "Everything that I do is a water story," he says. "In the water was when I was the most free. I felt like I could fly."
Firefighters Jarrett Blackmore and Dillon Southerland keep the American flag from touching the ground.
Joan Best, left, and Kempie Riley, right, listen to a band during Veterans Day celebrations in Warsaw. Veterans Day holds a special place in Best’s life. “I’ve had two husbands and both of them are veterans,” she laughs and her daughter was born on Veterans Day.
A ribbon adorns a door in downtown Warsaw for the town’s 97th Veterans Day Celebration. The celebration is considered to be the longest running consecutive Veterans Day celebration in the country.
Jewell Register, 75, sucks on a lollipop while waiting for a train to pass before the Warsaw Veterans Day parade resumes. Jewell has been attending the annual Veterans Day festivities since she was a little girl. The town’s population has remained right around 3,000 people since the 1970s and Register says the parade hasn’t changed much either.
Baked goods cover the table during a BBQ lunch at the Warsaw firehouse.
Sudan Roadsters wait for the Warsaw Veterans Day parade to begin.
Miss North Carolina Outstanding Teen contestants run off stage to go change for preliminary competitions.
Cape Fear Garden Club Azalea Belles Anna Raines, Olivia Walton, and Leah Avent attend a tea in their honor at the New Hanover County Arboretum. Their outfits consist of nine different pieces - the hoop dress, parasol, pantaloons, gloves, barrettes, cape, purse, dress bag, and handkerchief.
Photos of past Azalea Festival belles hang on dressmaker Kay Godwin's wall.
Meatless meat loaf sits on Kaiden Clark's plate for dinner on her last day of school before summer break.
Bill Lawson, 94, is a former educator from Kinston who spent his spare time photographing his family, friends, and community over many decades.
The blessing of the hounds takes place on the opening day of fox hunting season. The hounds are blessed in accordance with a tradition dating back to medieval days when St. Hubert, the patron saint of hunters, was thought to keep the hounds safe.
The 2016 North Carolina Poultry Jubilee Court rides on a float through Warsaw as part of the town's 96th Veterans Day Parade.
A cross stitch of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse hangs in Maria and Paul Linden’s beach house in Avon, North Carolina. The house represents a dream that the Lindens say they have had for a long time. They bought the ocean front property in October 2020 and have hosted many family gatherings there already in addition to renting it out during the summer. A strong line of dunes in the back of their property makes them feel more secure from future storms, sand erosion, and sea level rise. The beach will also be the site of a nourishment project.
Hanna Philipp, left, and Ken Macior, right, dance together at the ninth annual Oktoberfest celebration in Calabash, North Carolina. The festival featured the Harbour Towne Fest Band, which Macior founded nearly 30 years ago, as well as a bierstein holding contest, arm wrestling, and traditional Bavarian food such as bratwurst and pretzels.
Pastor Litisha Dawson attends the Hats and Heels event in Kinston, North Carolina. Pastor Dawson hosted the event which featured numerous speakers from the community as well as some singing and dance performances.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade and Commemoration in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade and Commemoration in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Attendees enjoy traditional Bavarian food such as bratwurst with sauerkraut, pretzels, and potato salad at the ninth annual Oktoberfest celebration in Calabash, North Carolina.
Walt Kraybill leads the crowd in a song at the ninth annual Oktoberfest celebration in Calabash, North Carolina.
Ted Gittings performs with the Harbour Towne Fest Band at the ninth annual Oktoberfest celebration in Calabash, North Carolina. The festival featured the band which was founded nearly 30 years ago, as well as a bierstein holding contest, arm wrestling, and traditional Bavarian food such as bratwurst and pretzels.
Nancy Miller competes in the women’s division of the bierstein holding challenge at the ninth annual Oktoberfest celebration in Calabash, North Carolina.
Lori Glenn wears purple eyelashes to complete her outfit as queen of the Mardi Gras celebration in downtown Durham.
Rides at Kinston’s BBQ Festival, also known as the local hog happening, twirl late into the night.
A disco ball sits in the closet at Adkin High School in Kinston. Adkin was the predominantly Black high school in Kinston and the site of a civil rights walkout organized by students in 1951 to protest the unequal distribution of resources for schools in town.