North Carolina Slate Horary
Raleigh
0©C-
CAROLINA COMMENTS
Volume IV
JULY, 1955
Number 2
SUMMER REGIONAL MEETING
The summer regional meeting of the State
Literary and Historical Association will be held
with the Western North Carolina Historical As¬
sociation, August 19-20, at Mars Hill College,
Mars Hill. The program will be as follows:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 19
1 :00-2 :30 Registration, College Dormitory
2:30 College Auditorium
(Fletcher M. Green, presiding)
Welcome, Hoyt H. Blackwell, president,
Mars Hill College
“Centennial History of Mars Hill College,”
J. A. McLeod, Mars Hill College
“The North Carolina Minerals Museum,”
S. T. Henry, publisher, Spruce Pine News
8:00 College Auditorium
(Clarence W. Griffin, presiding)
Address, Fletcher M. Green, president, State
Literary and Historical Association
“The Wonders of the Smokies” (illustrated
with slides), Arthur Stupka, naturalist,
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
SATURDAY, AUGUST 20
10:00 College Auditorium
(Mrs. Sadie S. Patton, presiding)
“Conditions in Western North Carolina
During the Civil War,” James Elliott,
Clemson College
“The Toe River Valley,” Jason B. Deyton,
superintendent, Mitchell County Schools
Business Session
During the meeting you may get rooms and
meals at the college at a cost of $4.50 for four
meals and one night’s lodging. If you wish to
arrive a day early and stay a day late you may
get a college room at $1.00 a night and take meals
in town. All linens are furnished. Do not write
the college for reservations until further notice.
REPORT FROM THE ROCKY MOUNT-HALIFAX
MEETING, MAY 6-7
Judged by the interest it stirred up in the
general area of Rocky Mount and Halifax, the
spring regional meeting of the State Literary
and Historical Association was eminently suc¬
cessful. The local area contributed the largest
share of the attendance, but members came from
as far east as Currituck County and as far west
as Chapel Hill and Wake Forest.
The program focused attention on the history
of the Tar and Roanoke river region, the first time
this has been done in a general meeting of the
sort. There were tours of historic points of in¬
terest in Rocky Mount and Halifax, and papers
on the history of Nash and Edgecombe counties,
Rocky Mount, Halifax, the Tar River, and on the
revival of historical interest in the Coastal Plain
generally.
Those present also got a good first-hand account
and view of the work being done by the Histori¬
cal Halifax Restoration Association, which has
undertaken a program of restoring outstanding
historic sites in the Old Town of Halifax.
LIT AND HIST MEMBERSHIP
A recent tabulation of members of the State
Literary and Historical Association reveals that
there are now 1,293 of us. Five years ago there
were only 438.
Growth in the past few years has been striking,
but if our organization is to equal similar organi¬
zations in several of the comparatively new mid-
western states, we have a long way yet to go.
The membership of such state historical societies
as those of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri runs
into the thousands.
Chowan County, with a population of less than
13,000, has a total of 51 members. If our most
populous counties had members in the same pro¬
portion, some of them would have up to 800. Wake
has the largest county representation with 162,
which is a fine showing, but if Wake would equal
Chowan’s standing it would need a total of 550.
It is planned that our membership campaign
will be accelerated in all parts of the state in the
months ahead.
