August 11 through the years
100 Years ago – 1925
Front-page article in the Henry Bulletin: “200,000 In Klan Parade. Many Local Men Witness Demonstration. In talking with one of the men who was an eye-witness of the big parade of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the reporter learned that there were more than two hundred thousand in the greatest parade ever pulled off in the Capital City. From Pennsylvania alone more than thirty thousand Klansmen were in line, with a like number from New Jersey. The Western States were all represented as was every state in the Union, sharing in one of the most orderly as well as colorful of all parades ever staged in the city. Among the interesting groups were large delegation of women, wearing silken robes and beautifully decorated hats. The West was represented by a large number of Cowboys from the plans and riding real western horses. …Washington policemen remarked about the fine decorum exhibited by all the marchers, and with the exception of the presence of a few pick-pockets-nothing was done to mar the meeting. The Klon Klave will be held at Harrisonburg Penn., next year at about the same time.” Another article on the same front page recounted that about 30 men from Martinsville headed out on Friday by train for the Saturday march in Washington. “It has been reported that the purpose of the demonstration was to wrest the power from Southern leadership and shift it to Northern hands, the moving of the headquarters from Atlanta to Washington being contemplated. This seems to be a dream however, since the organization is distinctly non-sectional, though of Southern origin, and the few radical minded men, responsible for the unpleasantness in the Organization, will soon be ousted. The Kleagle responsible for the mobilizing of the thousands who went to Washington, was at one time a Martinsville visitor, and because of his radical overtures in dealing with the Klan here, was politely told that Southern people knew their own better than anyone else, and receiving a like reception in other Klan meetings, he was later transferred to Washington.”
Mrs. R.P. Fagg of Axton, Mrs. C.H. Bradshaw, Mrs. Charles Clarke, Mrs. R.P. Fagg of Axton and J. Nick Jones County Agent, accompanied by Miss Emma Bratten, went as delegates of the Henry County Home Improvement Committee to the State Farmers Institute in Blacksburg.
At the Town Council meeting: It was decided that the Town of Martinsville would pay half the $212.24 for regrading the base-ball grounds on account of wash-outs caused by heavy rains (The base-ball club paid the rest); S. Kolodny and others presented a petition on the nuisance of hogs and a hog pen kept on the property of T.W. Carter of Church Street, and Carter spoke on his own behalf, and the matter was referred to the committee on Health; the mayor appointed a committee of J.D. Sparrow, J.W. Booker Jr. and Whitney Shumate to look into getting a more modern system of bookkeeping for the town; the Grand Lodge of Masons requested to receive free utilities of water, phone and electric current for a home for the aged and infirm Masons it was planning to build, and the Town OK’d the plan as long as the Town did not have to pay installation charges; the town attorney was instructed to carry out the legal steps to change the status of Martinsville to a city of the second class, up from that of town; and the Town agreed to pave Fayette street, with the town putting in $13,000 of the cost and property owners along the street putting in the other $6,000.
75 years ago – 1950
Members of the Martinsville Exchange Club met at the Henry Hotel for their regular meeting, then went to tour the construction site of the Philpott Dam. Stanley B. Mitchell was the Exchange Club’s president.
50 years ago – 1975
The Martinsville School Board voted to increase tuition for out-of-city students: to $651 from $541 for high school, to $612 from $502 for elementary and to $306 from $251 for kindergarten. The school board also voted to retain its textbook rental fees as $13 for high school, $11 for elementary and $5.50 for kindergarten.
25 years ago - 2000
Clearview Elementary School principal John Vartensian announced that the students of his school had dramatic gains in standardized test scores. It was the first year Clearview had been a year-round school.
Kevin Belcher, 27, of Stuart was killed in a wreck on Virginia 8 near Stuart.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin.