New Special Collections Exhibit: King of the North Carolina Moonshiners
Percy Flowers with one of his prized coonhounds. Source: Lost Flowers by Perry Sullivan.
The Special Collections Division presents a new exhibition titled “King of the North Carolina Moonshiners: The Story of Percy Flowers”. Curated by North Carolina Collection Serials Technician Fred Harrison and Manuscript Technician Nanette Hardison, this exhibit will be on display from January to April 2024.
The exhibit tells the story of Percy Flowers, who built an empire making moonshine whiskey during the 1950s and 1960s in Johnston County, North Carolina. Few North Carolina moonshiners gained the level of notoriety and success that Flowers achieved, and the result was a great deal of publicity for Percy Flowers. An article by John Kobler that chronicled Flowers’ long and extensive history with moonshine appeared in the August 2, 1958, issue of the Saturday Evening Post. The article was entitled, “King of the Moonshiners”; a title that would come to be used when describing Percy Flowers.
This exhibit provides details of Percy Flowers’ life and the world he grew up in. The exhibit will also show how Flowers got his start in the moonshine business, and the legal difficulties that resulted from this business. Items that will be on display will give details of the equipment and the ingredients Flowers used to make moonshine whiskey.
The resources used for this exhibit range from books from the North Carolina Collection, online resources, as well as materials from the East Carolina Manuscript Collection. There will also be rare artifacts from the Frank Stephenson, Jr. Papers Collection on display. These artifacts are hydrometers that were used to measure alcohol content; a tool that moonshines used during the moonshine making process.
Please visit the North Carolina Collection on the 3rd floor of Joyner Library to view the exhibit and learn more about the life and career of Percy Flowers.
Sources:
Frank Stephenson, Jr. Papers (#0692), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, Special Collections, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Stephenson, Jr., Frank. And Mulder, Barbara Nichols. North Carolina Moonshine: An Illicit History, Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, copyrighted 2017.
Sullivan, Perry. Lost Flowers: True Stories of the Moonshine King, copyrighted 2013.