600 Writers and
Bill Powell
Л
progress r«‘|iorl on oiuk of flip most
omliitioiis lilomrv projects off tlip
century.
К»/
C. SYLVESTER GREEN
McKimmon since 191 1, the clubs have
grown from tliai lime when ihe work¬
shops were held in school rooms. Sun¬
day School rooms. Masonic Lodges
and rooms of civic clubs and Ihe for¬
mation of fourteen clubs with 4 If*
members, to. ai ihe time of her retire*
ment. 75.000 members.
Aunt Jenny graduated from Peace
College and at the age of 50 returned
to school to graduate in 1927 with a
B.S. degree from N. C. State Univer¬
sity. In 1929 she received her M.S. de¬
gree and in 1934 the University of
North Carolina conferred an honorary
degree of LL.D. upon her.
In her girlhood her family lived on
a large lot on the edge of town in Ra¬
leigh. It was large enough for them to
have a garden, raise chickens and own
a co«'. and this was the beginning of
her lifelong interest in gardening, nu¬
trition and the family life.
At the time she was appointed Home
Demonstration Agent. Raleigh was a
typical small southern town where she
raised four children and felt the close¬
ness of both the town and county peo¬
ple. Each was acquainted with the
other's mode of life, and farming was
a big part of that life. It was this back¬
ground and Aunt Jenny's warm intelli¬
gent approach to the people she was
trying to help that put Home Demon¬
stration Clubs in every county in the
state.
Service Ruby
She retired in 1937 but continued
her weekly broadcasts and newspaper
columns, and wrote the story of the
Monte Demonstration Clubs in North
Carolina. She remained a part of
the program by counselling, making
speeches to club women. Her title un¬
til she fully retired in 1946 was As¬
sistant Director of the State College
Agricultural Extension Service.
She was the first woman in the
United States to be awarded the "Dis¬
tinguished Service Ruby" by the Na¬
tional Epsilon Sigma Phi honorary fra¬
ternity of the United States Agricultural
Service. She was appointed by four gov¬
ernors to more state positions than can
be listed.
With all of her outstanding credits,
the Jane McKimmon I remember was
a person with twinkling blue eyes and
silvery hair, who always had time to
listen to you. She had a natural wit.
and could talk on any subject. She
was firm in her convictions, and was
( Continued on page 21 )
What of North Carolina's be¬
ginnings? What factors shaped its
design and gave it form, welded
its divergencies and molded its
dreams? Only those who lived and
worked in those formative years
can answer. Only those who
through the years have given the
State character, trained its leaders,
taken its burdens for their own,
and wrought a great State for the
present — only those can make
testimony of truth that turned the
laborious past into the accom¬
plished present.
Dr. William S. Powell, distinguished
historian, curator of North Caroliniana.
and Professor at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has set
himself a tremendous task. He has
projected a Dictionary of North Caro¬
lina Biography. To help him. he has
already enlisted many writers who will
prepare sketches for that collection. He
wants the collection to include all men
and women who have made important
contributions to the building of the
Stale. This is not the first time such a
work has been undertaken, but it is the
most elaborate for half a century. In
1962. Dr. Powell published a one-
volume North Carolina Lives, and that
book is well-worn front much use in
many libraries not only in this State, but
in many others, for North Carolinians
are everywhere and others are inter¬
ested in them.
New Interest in Our Past
This current work is unique and
comprehensive. It will be much more
inclusive of recent North Carolinians
who have added their legacy to its
whole. It will be an objective work.
tracing through biographical sketches
the State in its unfolding. That is why
he has chosen to write only of those
who have lived, and are gone.
Dr. Powell has added this extra load
to his full teaching responsibility be¬
cause he believes there is a need for
such a work. He conceives a new in¬
terest in our past and the people who
made it. “ — because so many new peo¬
ple have become significant, and be¬
cause we now have resources available
to tell us more about earlier people
than we have formerly had." he ob¬
served.
I was interested in how he chose his
subjects for these sketches. He told me
the selections were based on his own
more than 25 years of experience with
North Carolina history, biography, and
culture. “I also had the good help of
members of the Historical Society of
North Carolina, and many others. With
all the good advice 1 could get. I
added names to my list and I removed
names."
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Is Held Up
There will be eight volumes in this
new w'ork, and there will be an aver¬
age of 500 sketches in each volume.
The first volume, A-C, is just about
ready, "Excellent progress has been
made on this project, considering I have
no 4vhip' to hold over the authors. It
is all voluntary and most contributors
arc diligent, careful and thorough in
their work. Nevertheless, a handful of
people who agreed to write sketches in
the A through C section arc holding up
the whole process. I cannot get the
manuscript for the first volume to the
Press until all sketches are in."
When I asked how many writers had
20
THE STATE. JULY 1975
