May 16
By Holly Kozelsky and Pat Pion
100 Years ago – 1924
Mulberry Street was undergoing tremendous growth in a short period of time. Seven new houses, worth a total cost of at least $650, had been or were being erected. Their owners were: Finley and McCoy, contractors, house for sale; W.R. Broaddus, W.R. Broaddus, built by Willis and Walker; W.L. Parker, built by A.B. Johnson; John R. Bradford, built by Williams and Walker; E.G. Acker, built by A.B. Johnson; and T.M. Ford, built by Willis Walker.
75 years ago – 1949
Four cows in Henry County died of hydrocyanic acid poisoning, a result of their having eaten wilted leaves of cherry, plum and/or peach trees. Farmers advised not to plant pit-fruit trees near cow pastures.
1960
There was a continuing outbreak of infectious hepatitis in the area, after having first been noticed in January. There had been 54 new cases since then, with six being reported since May 1. The assumption was that there were additional unreported cases. There were no general immunization methods available at the time. Gamma gobulin was furnished free of charge to contacts of cases when requested by family physicians. Gamma gobulin, the treatment of choice, was furnished by the American Red Cross and distributed by the local Health Department. There was a specific allocation formula which limited the entire state to 17,000 ccs. The local departments were receiving priority on its request due to this outbreak.
Franklin Memorial Hospital in Rocky Mount became the first hospital in the area to institute the novel “Candy Striper Program.” The program was developed by the American Hospital Association and involved interested high school junior and senior girls. The girls would receive five one-hour lecture programs and then participate in 30 hours of supervised practice in the hospital. The program name derived from the red and white striped pinafore uniforms the girls wore. The Candy Striper program became very popular among 16- to 18-year-old girls and was adopted by both Martinsville General Hospital and Franklin Memorial Hospital.
50 years ago – 1974
About 420 attendees of the American Iris Society convention in Roanoke toured the iris gardens of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Davis, south of Oak Level. The Davises had more than 800 varieties of iris on their property. They got their start after Mr. Davis’s mother gave her son a basketful of iris plants from her homeplace in Franklin County about 15 years before. Arthur Davis worked at DuPont.
25 years ago - 1999
Seven families on properties around the former Fieldcrest Lodge united in protest against the idea of White Oak School buying that historic property to be used as housing. Operated by the Danville Association of Retarded Citizens, White Oak School had a location on Virginia Avenue in Collinsville.
— Information from museum records and the Henry Bulletin and the Martinsville Bulletin accessed on microfilm at the Martinsville Branch Library.