"What Good Old Days?"

Feb. 27, 1976 - "Before Liberty" by Roy Thompson: Episode 35 - (narrated by Randell Jones, Feb. 27, 2026)

Welcome to Before Liberty – a reminder of how “their New World made North Carolinians different.”

AT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY of this special yearlong series first appearing weekly during America’s Bicentennial on the pages of the Winston-Salem Journal from July 4, 1975 - July 2, 1976, we are pleased to share once again Roy Thompson’s stories about North Carolina and its people—this time as a podcast.

Roy Thompson’s engaging accounts of our shared history now root new generations in learning about North Carolinians—a lively and ever-changing people always creating new stories to tell about us.

Enjoy now, Roy Thompson’s Before Liberty—

“What Good Old Days?”

- “All of the Colonials would feel at home with some of the problems that perplex us today—the high cost of living, … corruption in government.” —Roy Thompson

illustration by Jim Stanley, appearing in Feb. 27 1976 Winston-Salem Journal

History talks coming soon:

Tuesday, March 10 - Statesville, Iredell Public Library, 6pm
Wednesday, March 11 - Blowing Rock Historical Society, America Legion Bldg., 4:30pm
Thursday, March 12 - Yadkinville, Willingham Theater, 6pm

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Coming March. 6, 2026: Episode 36—
“Life among the Black Forefathers”

- “The state had a great many free blacks who voted, owned property, and enjoyed protections under the law.” —Roy Thompson

This reprise of Roy Thompson’s “Before Liberty” is narrated by award-winning history writer and speaker Randell Jones of Winston-Salem. He is producing this audio series for the education and enjoyment of North Carolinians during 2025 and 2026,
America’s 250th anniversary of Independence.
(Visit RandellJones.com )

Before Liberty

Each of them came to the New World for his own reasons.
They began at once to change the land.
And the beautiful, fertile, sometimes hostile land began to change the newcomers from across the great water.
The land made the strong ones independent, and in time they wanted the world to know it.
This is the bicentennial year of their declaration of it, and each Friday of this historic year the Journal will have a story about the way North Carolina was …
The way its people were…
Before liberty.

Subscribe for free to receive Before Liberty weekly episodes as they are released.