Feb. 21

100 Years ago – 1925

Local churches devoted their Sunday services to commemorate the birth and work of George Washington.  The message of most of the sermons was the need to keep faith with the Founding Fathers. The theme of the church services was requested of the local pastors by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

75 years ago – 1950

Martinsville firemen were among those who responded to fight a fire that destroyed most of the main building of Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham.

50 years ago – 1975

American Furniture Co. asked the State Air Pollution Control Board for an extra three years to meet federal and state air quality standards. The company was working under a pollution abatement plan which was supposed to go into effect at the end of May, a month before the effective date of the standards set by the Clean Air Act of 1970. The air board set a public hearing on American’s request at March 27 in City Council Chambers.

Mental tests that were given to Eddie Lee “Shangai” Thomas showed that he was competent to stand trial. Thomas was accused of the murders of Sallie Aliff and her four children on the day after Christmas.

25 years ago - 2000

The Senate unanimously approved a budget amendment that would provide insurance for displaced textile workers in the West Piedmont Planning District and Carroll County, and the House Appropriations Committee approved a budget bill that would authorize the governor to create a health care program for NAFTA-displaced workers who lived below 185% of the poverty level.

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