August 18, 2017 Coats Museum News
The year was 1964-the year in which the Civil Rights Act was passed and the government attacked smoking. Lyndon B. Johnson made his first state-of-the union address to Congress and used it to call for greater efforts for civil rights and to declare his war on poverty. The U.S. Ranger VI hit the moon. Hasbro, Inc. introduced the toy soldier known as GI Joe. Since then, Joe has rarely been out of the top ten popular toys except for a brief furlough in the late 70’s. The Beatles arrived in the US for the first time and appeared on the “Ed Sullivan Show”. The Ford Mustang made its debut and was copied by the “pony cars”- Barracuda, Camero and Firebird. There were fads and trends in 1964.The electric carving knife made it easier to carve a turkey or roast. Discotheques drew hordes to do the frug, monkey and funky chicken.
Numbers were large in 1964. California became the most populous state and dropped New York to second. US Airlines racked up $130 million in profits. The Gross National Product soared to $650 billion. There were 500 million radios in the US. Americans smoked over 524 billion cigarettes or 215 packs for every American over the age of eighteen. A head of lettuce cost twenty-five cents and a pound of coffee sold for eighty-two cents. The average American spent eighteen cents of his or her after-tax dollar for food. The 888-page Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he killed President JFK.
New words for 1964 were Beatle mania, go-go, supertanker, brain-drain, Pop-Tarts, White back lash, front lash, quasar and new math. Nikita Khrushchev was ousted as Premier of the Soviet Union. There were 23,300 American troops in Vietnam (Dickson, From Elvis to E-Mail, pp.137-142 (Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1999).
In Coats, Miss Cavanna Ennis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Garner Rose Ennis, was honored on her 11th birthday. Deborah Ennis, Debbie Lee, LaRue Williams, and Gail Stewart attended the event (Daily Record Mar. 4, 1964).
Jack Ruby claimed he had planned to shoot Lee Harvey Oswald after he pumped three shots into the accused assassin of JFK (Daily Record Mar. 4, 1964).
Mr. and Mrs. Wilbert Crawford Thornton of Coats announced the birth of twin daughters-Wanda Lou and Wanda Sue Thornton on March 3rd at Betsy Johnson Memorial Hospital. The mom was the former Joyce Ann Norris (Daily Record Mar. 6, 1964). Does anyone know this family?
How many of you remember Carson Gregory? Does anyone know how many terms he served in the NC House? I do know that the Daily Record, Mar. 11, 1964 edition printed that Carson Gregory had filed to regain the seat he had lost to Dr. H.D. (Buster) Mabe of Erwin. Gregory had held the seat for twelve consecutive terms.
As a child, I recall Carson dropping by my parents’ house on many occasions, but I remember him most for almost never missing one of our high school basketball games. He knew all of us players by name as well as the names of our parents and brothers and sisters. Wonder if he were alive today, would he continue to support the community?
I ask my husband, who did not grow up in Coats but moved to rural Coats after we married, how he remembered Carson Gregory. His comments were exactly similar to mind. H.L. stated he had a way of making you feel that you were the most important person in the world. He said, “Mr. Carson was always smiling and never showing off his position. He appeared to be as comfortable in old work boots as he did when dressed in a white shirt and tie.” I somehow feel if Mr. Carson were alive today, he would drop into our little Coats Museum just to see how we were doing.
The Coats Woman’s Club had met at the home of Mrs. H.O. Connell with Mrs. Clyde Grimes as co-hostess. Guest speaker was Miss Faye Clark, home economics teacher at Coats high School. The twenty-two members were Miss Katie Yates, Miss Mattie Bain, Mrs. Joyce Adams, Mrs. Loretta Whitehead, Mrs. Joyce Stewart, Mrs. Lucy Kelly, Mrs. Godfrey Beasley, Mrs. Lib Guy, Mrs. Haywood Roberts, Mrs. J.C. Hawley, Mrs. J.R. Butler, Mrs. Mildred Malone, Mrs. S.R. Moore, Mrs. Mattie Highfill, Mrs. Charlie Williams, Mrs. Herbert Johnson, Mrs. O.K. Keene, Mrs. Edna Parrish, Mrs. Vic Lee, Mrs. Mary Jo Mann, and guest Mrs. L.E. McKnight (Daily Record Mar. 12, 1964).
Can a beauty queen seek another beauty title while holding a current one? Obviously so because Sandra Gail Wolf, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Wolf of Coats, was the current Miss Coats High and she had entered the Miss Erwin Pageant (Daily Record Mar. 13, 1964).
How many of you recall the name L.L. Levinson? That is a popular name in our neighboring town of Benson. Did you know that he lived in Coats for several years? In fact, he served two terms as mayor of Coats from 1918 to 1922. He left Coats to go to Benson to practice law there according to the Daily Record Mar. 13, 1964 edition which also shared that due to his death, a new firm was named: Levinson, Dobson and Jenkins.
Some of you may also recall in some of my earlier columns about that era of 1918-22 when it was shared that Levinson was a very vocal advocate for progress in Coats encouraging the voters to approve the construction of a new and bigger school. Several trips had to be made to the polls before enough money was available to build that three story brick construction on the old school campus. It was because of that construction that the old five room and two room school buildings were no longer needed. Note that the two room school building is the current Research Library and Theater Room of the Coats Museum. Having followed Mr. Levinson through print for many years, something tells me he would be proud of the role that women played in the development of the museums on the Coats Heritage Square. Why? It was during his term as mayor of Coats that women were given the right to vote and he wrote many news items for the Harnett County News telling the women to come forth an exercise their right to vote so the town could build a new school.
Individuals have many reasons for researching their roots. One is they simply want to know where their ancestors came from and who might be in their family tree. Some actually have an interest in knowing the reason of deaths of ancestors to see if there is a commonality in reasons for deaths such as dying from cancer, strokes, heart attacks or old age to know how they might be affected with that ailment.
The Family Genealogy Festival was a real success thanks to Desi Campbell, Peggy Robinson, Bryan Avery and the Overbees of the Shaw Half Way House Restoration team. Thanks also goes to the volunteers at the Coats Museum for giving tours, sharing research materials, and serving refreshments. It was such an honor to share our town’s story to individuals from all over the US. Some will find it hard to believe that people flew in or drove from Utah, Maryland, Georgia and many other distant points. We were excited to have participants from throughout Harnett County as well.
Museum volunteer Becky Adams taught at Lafayette High School before she took a teaching position at Johnston Community College. A lady from Georgia came into the museum from the festival. As we talked to her, she shared that she had attended Lafayette High and then she and Becky realized that she had been a student in Becky’s typing class back in the mid 1970’s. She informed Becky that she had earned her master’s degree and turned out ok. From what we saw, there is no doubt about that.
We wish to thank Tim Carroll from the Fuquay Museum who came bearing many artifacts of the Durham and Southern Railroad, several items from Coats area and numerous items belonging to the late Mrs. Blannie Betts Davis who had taught school in Coats School in the mid 1920”s. Thank you, Tim, for once again sharing with the Coats Museum.
We also wish to thank Rhonda Faircloth Page and her husband John, Jr. who came from the Averasboro area to donate a German First Aid Kit, photos and an album belonging to her dad, Major Daniel Faircloth. We miss having the late Major Faircloth dropping by the museum.
The year was 1964-the year in which the Civil Rights Act was passed and the government attacked smoking. Lyndon B. Johnson made his first state-of-the union address to Congress and used it to call for greater efforts for civil rights and to declare his war on poverty. The U.S. Ranger VI hit the moon. Hasbro, Inc. introduced the toy soldier known as GI Joe. Since then, Joe has rarely been out of the top ten popular toys except for a brief furlough in the late 70’s. The Beatles arrived in the US for the first time and appeared on the “Ed Sullivan Show”. The Ford Mustang made its debut and was copied by the “pony cars”- Barracuda, Camero and Firebird. There were fads and trends in 1964.The electric carving knife made it easier to carve a turkey or roast. Discotheques drew hordes to do the frug, monkey and funky chicken.
Numbers were large in 1964. California became the most populous state and dropped New York to second. US Airlines racked up $130 million in profits. The Gross National Product soared to $650 billion. There were 500 million radios in the US. Americans smoked over 524 billion cigarettes or 215 packs for every American over the age of eighteen. A head of lettuce cost twenty-five cents and a pound of coffee sold for eighty-two cents. The average American spent eighteen cents of his or her after-tax dollar for food. The 888-page Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he killed President JFK.
New words for 1964 were Beatle mania, go-go, supertanker, brain-drain, Pop-Tarts, White back lash, front lash, quasar and new math. Nikita Khrushchev was ousted as Premier of the Soviet Union. There were 23,300 American troops in Vietnam (Dickson, From Elvis to E-Mail, pp.137-142 (Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1999).
In Coats, Miss Cavanna Ennis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Garner Rose Ennis, was honored on her 11th birthday. Deborah Ennis, Debbie Lee, LaRue Williams, and Gail Stewart attended the event (Daily Record Mar. 4, 1964).
Jack Ruby claimed he had planned to shoot Lee Harvey Oswald after he pumped three shots into the accused assassin of JFK (Daily Record Mar. 4, 1964).
Mr. and Mrs. Wilbert Crawford Thornton of Coats announced the birth of twin daughters-Wanda Lou and Wanda Sue Thornton on March 3rd at Betsy Johnson Memorial Hospital. The mom was the former Joyce Ann Norris (Daily Record Mar. 6, 1964). Does anyone know this family?
How many of you remember Carson Gregory? Does anyone know how many terms he served in the NC House? I do know that the Daily Record, Mar. 11, 1964 edition printed that Carson Gregory had filed to regain the seat he had lost to Dr. H.D. (Buster) Mabe of Erwin. Gregory had held the seat for twelve consecutive terms.
As a child, I recall Carson dropping by my parents’ house on many occasions, but I remember him most for almost never missing one of our high school basketball games. He knew all of us players by name as well as the names of our parents and brothers and sisters. Wonder if he were alive today, would he continue to support the community?
I ask my husband, who did not grow up in Coats but moved to rural Coats after we married, how he remembered Carson Gregory. His comments were exactly similar to mind. H.L. stated he had a way of making you feel that you were the most important person in the world. He said, “Mr. Carson was always smiling and never showing off his position. He appeared to be as comfortable in old work boots as he did when dressed in a white shirt and tie.” I somehow feel if Mr. Carson were alive today, he would drop into our little Coats Museum just to see how we were doing.
The Coats Woman’s Club had met at the home of Mrs. H.O. Connell with Mrs. Clyde Grimes as co-hostess. Guest speaker was Miss Faye Clark, home economics teacher at Coats high School. The twenty-two members were Miss Katie Yates, Miss Mattie Bain, Mrs. Joyce Adams, Mrs. Loretta Whitehead, Mrs. Joyce Stewart, Mrs. Lucy Kelly, Mrs. Godfrey Beasley, Mrs. Lib Guy, Mrs. Haywood Roberts, Mrs. J.C. Hawley, Mrs. J.R. Butler, Mrs. Mildred Malone, Mrs. S.R. Moore, Mrs. Mattie Highfill, Mrs. Charlie Williams, Mrs. Herbert Johnson, Mrs. O.K. Keene, Mrs. Edna Parrish, Mrs. Vic Lee, Mrs. Mary Jo Mann, and guest Mrs. L.E. McKnight (Daily Record Mar. 12, 1964).
Can a beauty queen seek another beauty title while holding a current one? Obviously so because Sandra Gail Wolf, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Wolf of Coats, was the current Miss Coats High and she had entered the Miss Erwin Pageant (Daily Record Mar. 13, 1964).
How many of you recall the name L.L. Levinson? That is a popular name in our neighboring town of Benson. Did you know that he lived in Coats for several years? In fact, he served two terms as mayor of Coats from 1918 to 1922. He left Coats to go to Benson to practice law there according to the Daily Record Mar. 13, 1964 edition which also shared that due to his death, a new firm was named: Levinson, Dobson and Jenkins.
Some of you may also recall in some of my earlier columns about that era of 1918-22 when it was shared that Levinson was a very vocal advocate for progress in Coats encouraging the voters to approve the construction of a new and bigger school. Several trips had to be made to the polls before enough money was available to build that three story brick construction on the old school campus. It was because of that construction that the old five room and two room school buildings were no longer needed. Note that the two room school building is the current Research Library and Theater Room of the Coats Museum. Having followed Mr. Levinson through print for many years, something tells me he would be proud of the role that women played in the development of the museums on the Coats Heritage Square. Why? It was during his term as mayor of Coats that women were given the right to vote and he wrote many news items for the Harnett County News telling the women to come forth an exercise their right to vote so the town could build a new school.
Individuals have many reasons for researching their roots. One is they simply want to know where their ancestors came from and who might be in their family tree. Some actually have an interest in knowing the reason of deaths of ancestors to see if there is a commonality in reasons for deaths such as dying from cancer, strokes, heart attacks or old age to know how they might be affected with that ailment.
The Family Genealogy Festival was a real success thanks to Desi Campbell, Peggy Robinson, Bryan Avery and the Overbees of the Shaw Half Way House Restoration team. Thanks also goes to the volunteers at the Coats Museum for giving tours, sharing research materials, and serving refreshments. It was such an honor to share our town’s story to individuals from all over the US. Some will find it hard to believe that people flew in or drove from Utah, Maryland, Georgia and many other distant points. We were excited to have participants from throughout Harnett County as well.
Museum volunteer Becky Adams taught at Lafayette High School before she took a teaching position at Johnston Community College. A lady from Georgia came into the museum from the festival. As we talked to her, she shared that she had attended Lafayette High and then she and Becky realized that she had been a student in Becky’s typing class back in the mid 1970’s. She informed Becky that she had earned her master’s degree and turned out ok. From what we saw, there is no doubt about that.
We wish to thank Tim Carroll from the Fuquay Museum who came bearing many artifacts of the Durham and Southern Railroad, several items from Coats area and numerous items belonging to the late Mrs. Blannie Betts Davis who had taught school in Coats School in the mid 1920”s. Thank you, Tim, for once again sharing with the Coats Museum.
We also wish to thank Rhonda Faircloth Page and her husband John, Jr. who came from the Averasboro area to donate a German First Aid Kit, photos and an album belonging to her dad, Major Daniel Faircloth. We miss having the late Major Faircloth dropping by the museum.