February 8 through the years
100 Years ago – 1926
Under the Smith-Hughes system of education, the state and federal governments paid two-thirds of the cost of instruction for workers in factories, and the class or corporation paid the other third. Mr. Van Oot, the State Supervisor of Trade and Industrial Education, held a confererence with representatives of the local furniture plants and the Carolinas Cotton Mills of Fieldale to talk about the program. J. Frank Wilson of Fieldale said that classes had been taught successfully at the Carolina Mills. W.E. Morgan was sponsoring an evening class for employees of American Dining Room and the American Furniture Corporation. Rives Brown secured a foremanship class for his employees for the month of July. At Martinsville Cotton Mills, Mr. Wm. S.L. Mowbry had been teaching a class with 21 students for 2 weeks.
75 years ago – 1951
The local chapter of B’nai B’rith named the local committees to plan the state convention which would be held in Martinsville in April. More than 150 people from across the state were expected to attend. The committees were: Entertainment, Edward Altschull, Mrs. Harry Baumel and Lewis Fusfeld; Program, Dan Green and Mrs. Dan Greene; Registration, Sam Goller, Mrs. Leon Globman and Joseph Schreibfeder; Finance, Dr. Sam Kaufman, Harry Fusfeld; Transportation, Sam Kaplan and Theodore Berlin; and Publicity, Seymore Rosenberg and Mrs. Joseph Schreibfeder.
Work began on Cole, Carroll and Paul streets in Martinsville. The Stone Construction Company of Salem paved 3 ½ blocks with macadam after dumping top soil on the streets and erecting retaining walls and gutters. Those roads served 30 houses which had been built 3 years before.
50 years ago – 1976
CB radio was popular, and its terminology became regular slang. Some examples, listed in the Bulletin’s Stroller column: Big 10-4: You said a mouthful; Bottle popper: beverage truck; Brush your teeth and comb your hair: radar ahead; Cowboy Cadillac: an El Camino or Ford Ranchero; Ground clouds: fog; Home 20: your hometown; Mama Bear: policewoman; Willy Weaver: drunk driver.
25 years ago - 2001
A public meeting about applying for Community Development Block Grants was held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Fayette Street. City officials were hoping to get as much as $1.25 million to redevelop the land of the former site of the R.P. Thomas Trucking Terminal. CDBG funds are issued by the federal government and administered by the state government. Wayne Knox, Martinsville, planning, zoning and housing manager, was overseeing the initiative.
A 12-year-old driving a family member’s car led police in a chase in the neighborhood around Paul Street. The child was charged with disregarding a signal by law enforcement, driving on the sidewalk, reckless driving and driving without a license. Paul Street resident Elaine Clark told the Martinsville Bulletin, “When I heard the sirens last night, I thought ‘what in the world?’ I thought someone had done committed murder. … You could see blue lights flashing everywhere. I told my husband, ‘Lord, come and look. I ain’t never seen so many blue lights.’”
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.