September 3 through the years

100 Years ago – 1925

State Clothing Specialist Miss Oliver scored the rooms of 10 girls throughout Henry County as part of the Girls’ Room Improvement Contest, which began in May. At her first visits to the girls’ rooms, Miss Oliver made suggestions on how the girls could make their rooms better looking and more comfortable. The culmination of the contest would be a meeting at the courthouse on Sept. 5.

75 years ago – 1950

The police report for August showed that 169 people were arrested in the City that month. In the year before, 153 had been arrested. Fifty-one of the 169 were arrested for drunkenness; 32 for traffic violations; 14 for assault; 10 for drunk driving; 10 for gambling and eight for creating a disturbance.

50 years ago – 1975

Patina Carter, 14, and her brother, Howard Douglas Carter, 16, children of Tina Carter of 127 Sellers St., drowned in the city reservoir. The investigating officer said that it happened when they were playing in a boat with two other teenagers. The boat had been taken without permission from the dock. The decided to swim to shore, a distance of several hundred feet. It was thought that one of the siblings suffered from a cramp and the other tried to help. More than 50 rescue workers responded to the scene, and a dozen divers searched for the teenagers.

Fire Chief Lloyd Gregory reported that at least $6,300 was raised locally for the Muscular Dystrophy telethon. He and other firemen manned the phones for calls originating in this area.

25 years ago - 2000

Henry County middle school principals had been in a committee since spring looking into having mandatory school uniforms for the middle schools of Axton, Drewry Mason, Carver and Bassett. That was because of problems created by students dressed in skimpy clothing and clothes with references to gangs or sex.

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