NORTH CAROLINA: The South's New Leader

North Carolina, observed Historian Arnold Toynbee in 1939, enjoys a "springlike burgeoning of life" because, unlike other Deep South states, it is not "a country living under a spell." The most important new fact about the U.S. South in the spring of 1959: burgeoning North Carolina, too busy in pursuit of 20th century economic development to be inhibited by diehard last stands against school integration, has quietly taken over the mantle of Southern leadership that Virginia wore so long, so proudly.

Springlike Tarheel vigor was at work last week from Kitty Hawk to...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!