June 21 through the years

100 Years ago – 1925

Eighteen Martinsville businesses agreed to close at noon on Wednesdays during July and August to give their employees a break from having to work so much in the oppressive, stifling heat. They were: C.W. Holt Inc.; Fulcher’s Inc.; P.R. Millner Jr.; Mrs. Prager; M. Berlin; A. Globman; S. Heiner; S. Kolodny; A.D. Beckner; Richardson Electric Co by H.A. Richardson; Townes Clothing Co.; A. Fusfeld; J. Macht; B. Fetuske; H.B. Byrd; A.W. Arnold; Fontaine & Maury; and J.T. Reynolds. Meanwhile, the stores all remained open on Saturdays, because that was the busiest day, when most of the factories gave workers a half-holiday which would be the workers’ only time to go shopping.

75 years ago – 1950

A portion of the walls and roof of what was left of the condemned Farmers Warehouse collapsed in heavy wind and rain, killing two men and seriously injuring a third. Killed instantly under tons of brick and timber were Thrumon Lester Sigmon, 37, of Koehler and Lilburn Hubert Carter, 41, City. Preston Young, 43, of Greyson Street was badly hurt. Part of the building already had been torn down, and the three men were sitting in the basement. The floor ripped open and debris landed on the men. One of the first people to hear cries for help was Billy Davis, who had walked with his father, Ben Davis, from the Planters’ Feed Store a few hundred feet east of the scene.

50 years ago – 1975

Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County Executive Director Clyde Britt warned that the premiums for liability insurance for the hospital were likely to be $60,000 in 1976, a big increase from the $37,000 of 1975. The increase was attributed to the fact that the Virginia General Assembly had abolished “charitable immunity” protection guarding community hospitals against malpractice suits.

25 years ago – 2000

Shirley Fink had created a tapestry symbolizing the effect AIDS had on people around the world. It hung on the wall in the West Piedmont AIDS Task Force office at Memorial Hospital. The tapestry was part of the AIDS education work she and her husband, James, were doing, carrying on the role of their son, Art Prillaman, who died of AIDS in 1997 at the age of 35. The couple began volunteering with the task force after he died, and they had taken the 40-hour Red Cross certification in HIV education, which allowed them to speak to groups about HIV and AIDS.

— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.

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June 20 through the years