Braswell Memorial Library collects old and current materials pertaining to the history of Rocky Mount and Nash County for use in meeting the research, educational, and recreational needs of its patrons. Works about North Carolina and Nash County’s parent county, Edgecombe, that assist patrons in putting the history of Nash County in perspective are collected as well. Other areas collected are: places from and to which significant numbers of Nash County residents emigrated/immigrated; counties through which the Tar River flows, as this is the target area for the local genealogical society; and other North Carolina counties of interest.
The Charles S. Killebrew Collection
Charles S. Killebrew, A Tarboro, NC native, joined the Air Force after high school and developed an interest in photography. When he left the service in 1945, he was offered a job at the Rocky Mount Telegram, formerly The Evening Telegram. For many years he was a freelance and staff photographer for the Telegram, operated a studio in Rocky Mount, and ran an aerial photography business, Carolina Aerial Mapping Service Inc. Many of his aerial shots were done on contract with the government and were taken with a 250-pound camera mounted on the belly of his Cessna 195 airplane.
Mr. Killebrew’s collection of photographic negatives spans his career, 1948 to 1997. While its focus is primarily on Nash and Edgecombe Counties, North Carolina, many other areas of Eastern North Carolina and other states are also represented. Over the course of his career, Mr. Killebrew won awards for his photography, most notably for images of train wrecks in Four Oaks, NC and in South Carolina.
The collection of approximately 500,000 images was acquired by Braswell Memorial Library and transferred to UNC Chapel Hill to be digitized and preserved.A small sample of the collection can be viewed at Digital NC.
Schedule of Fees
Obituary requests: Most years of local newspapers are only accessible on unindexed microfilm, and the fees below apply. Dates to within at least a month are required for microfilm newspaper lookups of any kind.
To scan and send file(s) by email: $3 per first page scanned, $1 per additional page(s)
To photocopy and/or scan and send pages (including genealogical reports) by regular mail: $3 per first page scanned or photocopied, $1 per additional page(s); no charge for postage ($5 per page for estate services)
To conduct research for patrons not present in building (email or telephone requests): $20 per hour
To burn files to a CD and mail CD: $3 per first page scanned, $1 per additional page(s) + $2 per CD; no charge for postage
To copy a CD: $2 per CD + $1 for staff time
To travel to North Carolina State Archives (or other offsite repository) to do research: $90
