Volume XIV
Number 36
February 1
1947
T
HE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
Entered as second-class matter. June 1. 1933. at the Postofflce at Raleigh. North Carolina, under the Act of March 3.
187»
Pearsall’s Health Program
Group of Negro farm children, having filled out blanks in the com¬
munity house, are on their way to the X-ray mobile unit for chest pic¬
tures that will reveal whether or not they have tuberculosis.
The Speaker of the House
has other claims to dis¬
tinction besides those
which might be included
in political activities, as
you will learn from this
article.
— By —
WM. II. RICH
А К
R SO A
MOST PEOPLE throughout
North Carolina think of Tom
Pearsall of Rocky Mount as
Speaker of the State House of Rep¬
resentatives, to which important
post he was elected without oppo¬
sition at the beginning of the 1947
session.
He is the Speaker, of course, and
this places him in a group of dis¬
tinguished North Carolinians —
past and present — for to obtain
that distinction a man must enjoy
the fullest confidence and respect
of a sometimes critical House.
Some really big men have served
as Speaker of the North Carolina
House of Representatives, and the
record of Tom Pearsall, when it
shall have been written, may place
him among the best who have
served the State in that capacity.
But Tom Pearsall is more than
a leader in political and legislative
circles. He is a humanitarian who
looks upon the individual not as a
"number,” but an important entity,
with a service to perform and a
destiny to achieve, regardless of
his race, social standing, or eco¬
nomic status.
Operates Many Farms
Mr. Pearsall, general manager of
the M. C. Braswell Farms, consist¬
ing of 22,000 acres in Nash and
Edgecombe counties, 5,500 of
which are under cultivation, will
go down in the public health his-
THE STATE. February I. I9A7
tory of North Carolina as a pio¬
neer. He has set an example in hu-
manitarianism and sound economy
that should, and will, be followed
by other individuals and organiza¬
tions in agriculture and industry,
in an effort to bring better under¬
standing between management and
labor, without strikes or other co¬
ercive measures on the part of
either.
Living and working on the vast
farms supervised by Mr. Pearsall
are 140 families, consisting of more
than 900 persons, seventy-five per
cent of whom are Negroes. So fa¬
miliar is Mr. Pearsall with these
people that he can address almost
every one of them, young and old.
by name. He is familiar with their
problems, and, above all. he is con¬
cerned with their health needs.
When one of them is unable to
carry on. he usually knows the rea¬
son why and seeks to remedy the
matter.
Mr. Pearsall, an ardent advocate
of the principle of preventive med¬
icine, as practiced by public health,
conceived the idea that a mass
health survey of the farm popula¬
tion under his supervision should
be made by those competent to
make such a survey. First, he con¬
tacted Dr. Robert F. Young and
Dr. J. S. Chamblee. health officers
for Edgecombe and Nash counties,
respectively, and laid his blueprint
before them. The services of the
State Board of Health were then
asked and promised — and the
plans proceeded.
Two-day Survey
Two days were set apart for the
survey, which was made at the
farms’ headquarters in Battleboro,
a dozen miles north of Rocky
Mount. Early on the first day, ev¬
erything was in readiness. Hun-
( Continued on page 18)
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