March 17 through the years
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
100 Years ago – 1924
Real estate transfers: M.E. Lawrnce to John W. Lawrence, land on Leatherwood Creek, $2,000; J.F. Stanley to Anna B. Penn, lot on northside of Brown street, $100.
75 years ago – 1949
More than 400 people attended a lecture about values and Christian leadership by Henry R. Luce, the editor of Life and Time magazines. The lecture was hosted by the Laymen’s League of Christ Episcopal Church.
The Norfolk & Western Railway asked the state for permission to cut its passenger train service through Martinsville in half. The cuts would only leave the 12:13 p.m. service to Winston-Salem, N.C., and the 4:21 p.m. service to Roanoke.
The city health officer reported a second case of spinal meningitis: affecting Anita Lavinder, 11, of Princeton street. The family, including three other children, was put under quarantine. The first spinal meningitis victim, Gladys Martin, 7, of Collinsville, had just been released from the hospital.
1960
The previous day’s snow and sleet brought the year’s total to 48.5 inches, more than the total of the previous seven years combined. The 4.5 inches that had fallen peacefully melted away in the 45-degree temperature that day, but not before two more fender-benders plagued local residents.
50 years ago – 1974
Nominees for Secretary of the Year award were Mrs. Nancy Dettmar of Piedmont Trust Bank and Mrs. Barbara Prillaman of Tully Corporation, nominated by the Blue Ridge Chapter of the National Secretaries Association. The winner would be announced April 14 at Forest Park Country Club.
Martinsville women who had been airline stewardesses and were laid off due to the energy crisis included Stephanie Commander of Trans-World Airlines and Barbara Eggleston of Pan American World Airways.
Mrs. Elizabeth Stockton, 27, of Axton and her niece, Miss Beverly Marie Hairston, 19, also of Axton, were shot on West Fayette Street.
25 years ago - 1999
The Rotary Club hosted five people from Bangladesh who were part of a Rotary Club Group Study Exchange program. Patrick Henry Community College was one of the places they visited.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.