In February of 2014, the portraits of three Jacksonville residents were re-discovered, improved upon and placed in a primary place on the walls of a Jacksonville Northside library. According to the Florida Times Union article, the staff at the Dallas James Graham Branch Library took special interest in the portraits of Mary McLeod Bethune, Mary White Blocker and Dallas James Graham, cleaned them up and had a ceremony to give them new prominence on the walls of the library.
The wall in the Dallas James Library (Ramey Collection).
I visited that library on Tuesday and a most kind person, Christina showed me their place on the wall. The frames looked new, the portraits large and a description highlighted all three people.
It was reported The Jacksonville Myrtle Avenue Library Branch opened in 1964. There was not even a plan for integrating Duval public schools until 1967. May 27, 1999, 28 years later, a judge indicated that the Duval Public School System was in “unitary status”. Progress was being made.
Just down the street from the library was Mt. Ararrat Baptist Church whose pastor was the Reverend Dallas Graham. Mr. Graham was known for being a pastor, owner of a funeral home and one outspoken about important social justice issues. He was the man who filed a lawsuit with the Duval County courts to allow Blacks to vote in either/or Republican or Democrat primaries. The judge ruled in his favor and in 1946 allowed Blacks to vote for either party. Mr. Graham died in April of 1976 and a year later, the library was named in his honor.
Dallas James Graham. ( Ramey Collection).
Mary McLeod Bethune was born in South Carolina “to parents who had been slaves”. Through a turn of events and with the help of someone, she attended college in hopes to become a missionary. Now living in Florida, she began a school for Black girls which over time merged with the Cookman school for boys of Jacksonville in 1923. Mary was president of Bethune-Cookman College from 1923-1942 and from 1946-1947. There is so much more about her life which begs attention including the fact that President John D. Roosevelt donated $62,000 to help her in her progressive network. Also, while serving as President of Bethune-Cookman she made the school library of use to all people. As a result, it became the first free library to Black Floridians.
Mary McLeod-Bethune (Ramey Collection)
Mary White Blocker was born in 1871. She was the daughter of William and Josephine White. She died in 1965 but not before making a huge difference in Jacksonville, Florida. In 1941, Ms. Blocker filed suit in Jacksonville, Florida “on behalf of herself and Duval County COLORED TEACHER’ ASSOCIATION and others similarly situated, in the Jacksonville courts so that Black teachers could be paid the same salary as White teachers. Of course.
Mary White Blocker (Ramey Collection).
When I read the article about these people, I just had to go see for myself the tribute, read about it and then share it.
According to Google’s question area, Florida inmates still make license tags. Their labor today is not so much “car tags, cheap labor and chain gangs” like it once could have been but prisoners still make tags that ride on the back of today’s autos. And upon their death, a tag is placed on their tombs. The prison system as we know it began after the Civil War somewhere about 1868, long before autos but the basic human behavior has stayed consistent. Man needs limits.
Early example of Fl State Prison
As Florida began to grow, workers were continually needed and the prison was a crowded place where businesses went to “lease laborers”. In 1877, Florida Governor George Drew and the first President of Jacksonville’s board of trade, ensured a leasing program whereby private businesses and industries could get the workers needed to move forward their workforce. To lease workers they would need to house them, feed and clothe them.
In 1911 the legislature began providing funds for establishing an actual prison farm which was completed in 1914. Prisoners were leased out to help build the new Florida growth. By 1915, prisoners grew crops on the prison farm, tended to animals and more. The prison was a working Florida farm. Men tended to harder labor and women to cooking, gardening and sewing.
According to Scott Winters’ article, “Do Prisoners Really Make License Plates?”, the answer is that about 80% of plates made in the U.S. are made by about eight prisons.
The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles indicates that “its first motor vehicle registration certificate” was on August 1, 1905. With popular demand, over the years the department has “developed ways to regulate the motor vehicle industry”. From paper file to micro-film and now online
First tag issued ( Dept corrections)
With the onset of the new automobile, a man from Jacksonville and also the 19th Governor of Florida, Napoleon Bonaparte Bowden signed new laws requiring residents to pay a $2. registration fee to register their vehicles. The first tag was made of leather and issued in 1906. Some people made homemade tags at the onset but by 1915 certified tags were required and by 1907 Florida had 132 automobiles registered.
Tag office- Florida Memory
In the 20th century it is said that the early prison system could be harsh and unreasonable to inmates so by 1923 reforms were made. In 1927 the Florida Department of Corrections built an auto tag plant thus giving inmates clear work schedules and ways to pay their debt to society. Over the years there have been continued reforms for inmates but making tags is still an option.
Making Tags ( Florida Memory)
The PRIDE(Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversity Enterprises) program began in 1981 and a rehabilitative program for prisoners. For years, prisoners made license plates for PRIDE’s prison work program and they were sold to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Scott Winters of FGR radio, says when he was small “his parents would tell him that if he didn’t behave he’d end up having a life in prison making license plates”. I’m glad to see he must have paid attention being at a broadcasting business when his article was written.
In 2013 a program run by Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversity Enterprises ( PRIDE) continues to organize work efforts for inmates and tag making is one of the tasks. On their website it says: “PRIDE is a self-funded enterprise whose mission makes a positive difference in Florida. We make communities safer and save taxpayers money by training eligible inmates in vocational skills and transitioning them into the job market upon completion of their sentences. This job-centered approach lowers the number of repeat offenders and reduces criminal justice costs for all citizens.”
One of the few women inmates at Raiford Cemetery
When an inmate dies in the Union County prison, a tag is made for the tomb stone of the inmate. The cemetery is located on the grounds of the prison just down the road from the front gate to the prison. The tag is simple, has the name of the inmate, the inmate’s prison number and DOD (Date of death).
There are some former Jacksonville residents buried there such as Frank Johnson, Will Champion, Roy Dunwood, John Simmons, and Lloyd Odell Salter, to name a few; all convicted criminals. Donald Davidson died at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford this week. There is no word if a tag was made for his grave. If and when it will say “Donald Dillbeck, 068610, DOD-2-23-23 (DOD-date of death).
Tags that were detached from graves. Raiford
At the time of death, nothing matters but the relationship to one’s Maker. Of course, we hope rehabilitation for each person in the cemetery has taken place with God. May we all realize- “There go I save the grace of God”. Trust Him today.
See you tomorrow,
Nan
“Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. Exodus 23:7”
“Thou shalt not kill.” Exodus 20:13
Sources: Bible, Florida Department of Corrections , Rob Goyanes, Wikipedia, dc.state.fl.us- Personal visit.
On May 1 1924, the Jacksonville Journal, former “Metropolis”, printed the first known picture of the first electric chair in Florida. It was on display at 10 Newnan Street, Jacksonville, Florida where both White and Black people dropped in to view and “discuss among themselves”.
It is said to have been built by inmates of the Florida State Prison. According to Wikipedia, the “electric chair was the sole means of execution in Florida from 1924 until 2,000 when the Florida State Legislature, under pressure from the Supreme Court, signed lethal injection into law”. Because of sparks emitted by the chair when being used from time to time, it caused great controversy and was named “Sparky”. A new chair was put in use in 1998 but no one has been executed by the chair in Florida since 1999.
Jacksonville Journal, 1924 (Ramey Collection).
Funds for the first Florida State Prison Farm, as it was known, were provided by the Florida Legislature in 1911. The very earliest days of the prison system is sketchy but in 1877, lawbreakers were a part of a “convict leasing program” whereby corporations leased their services having to also “clothe, feed, house and provide medicare for the prisoner”.
After 1913, prisoners were housed at the often called “Raiford Prison”, located northwest of Jacksonville, Florida in a small town named Raiford. It became a place where prisoners were used to build bridges, field crops, dig ditches and more. Women inmates sewed, made clothing, gardened and cooked. The inmate leasing program ended in 1923.
On February 23, 2023, Donald Dillbeck, the convicted killer of a precious soul, Faye Vann was executed by lethal injection, although he could have chosen the electric chair. Lethal injection was passed by the courts in January of 2000, however the choice of that or the alternative of the electric chair at the execution chamber would be that of the inmate.
The last chair was built in 1998 was a three-legged chair made out of solid oak. Hangings, which waere the means for execution in early 1800’s have not been used since the April 18, 1927 where a “large crowd gathered.” In South Florida. Schools were closed for the day and it is said “onlookers stood on rooftops”. The gallows were built behind the jail in Volusia County. While the Florida State Legislature had changed the methods for executions after 1924, “ a surprising Florida Supreme Court ruling called for one last local hanging” according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.”
The first inmate executed by chair was in 1924. This chair, that sat at 10 Newnan in Jacksonville was taken to Raiford and used for many years. There is quite of list of inmates who used that practice and others.
Dept. of Corrections
The most recent execution was that of Dillbeck who was the 100th prisoner executed since the death penalty was reinstate in Florida in the mid 1970’s. Governor Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant and though his attorneys tried to stop the execution, the Supreme Court declined the request. Dillbeck declined use of the electric chair which was one of his last decisions. In all sincerity, I hope he decided to trust Jesus, a decision we all must make. That would be the decision of true life or death.
See you tomorrow,
Nan
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12
If you travel to Fort Caroline, near the mouth of the River, off the coast of Mayport, in Jacksonville, Florida, you can see the Fort Caroline monument “, Standing tall in the sand, it marks the spot on which Jean Ribault, became the first Protestant to set foot on American soil. The marker was unveiled “with appropriate ceremonies” by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
1924 Jacksonville Journal. Photo O’Brien E. Watt via Ramey Collection
That same week, there were festivities throughout the city of Jacksonville to celebrate this obviously exciting event. Gatherings and street parties were had with a “most brilliant close” to the placing of this historic monument according to the Jacksonville Journal. At the closing event held at the Mason Hotel Mason, Mrs. W. S. Jennings opened “with grace and charm”. The Honorable Mayor John T. Alsop of the city, expressed his “pleasure at having in Jacksonville a distinguished gather and welcomed the guest.” Also at the event was T. C. Imeson, chairman of the city commission, Dr. R. H Carswell, Mrs. Florence Murphy Cooley, and others. Mrs. James A. Craig thought it important to introduce her children and quoted Longfellow’s poem, “Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime and departing leave behind us footprints in the sands of time”.
I highly recommend that you take your families to see the monument and while you’re there remind them that they too can make a difference for Christ.
See you tomorrow,
Nan
Sources: Kingsley Plantation, Mayport documents, Jacksonville Journal, Personal visit.
Jacksonville celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2022. The beginning of the city was documented as being platted in 1822 only a year following Spain releasing Florida to the United States. The Sesquicentennial booklet of 1972 indicates there were “ fully 250 people up and down the river in 1821”. They were called “Inhabitants of the St. Johns”. The land of Cowford, on the Northside where Jacksonville was to grow was owned by Lewis Z. Hogans, John Brady and Isaiah D. Hart.
A town was laid out at the insistence of Isaiah David Hart. “They came by covered wagon and boxcar, bumping along the Kings Road from Georgia, filtering down from the Carolinas and Virginia. They came too by sailboat or sloop, or simply in a jammed-packed canoe” writes the author of the booklet.
Credit:Jacksonville Historical Society
With 250 people along the St Johns River, there was a need for caring for the lost, dying and the dead. That ’s where the hearse was established. The hearse would carry the dead through the stages of loss to their resting place. The word hearse is a “middle English word and became associated with a horse and carriage transporting the deceased”. Early on, the horse-drawn carriage was used to carry the sick and the dead from place to place. Doctors traveled with a flat-back buckboard used to carry patients and people when needed. Over time, it was customised to meet the need and eventually was specific to funeral home use.
Early Dr. wagon-Ramey Collection
The Florida Morticians Association indicates that the first Black-owned funeral director and home in Jacksonville was run by Japhus M. Baker in 1895. It was located at 767 W. Beaver Street in Jacksonville according to reports. Wyatt Geter, his nephew was born in 1883, is said to have become the first Black man to become a licensed undertaker. His home was at 441 Beaver Street was occupied by his wife, Alice, Mother, Fannie Presley and brother Frank. Geter is listed in the 1940 census as being 83.
Credit:Schepp funeral Home
Wooden pews were used in many of the early funeral homes. Hillman-Pratt Walton Funeral home where one of the first Black licensed funeral directors once served still has those pews according to Anthony Walton who runs the business. It began in 1900 and has the original curtains and Bible from the days of Pratt. Pratt, according to Walton built his own caskets and had a factory on the 2nd floor of the funeral home. The Pratt family, according to Florida Memory, also lived on the 2nd floor. According to the Daily Record the business began in 1900 by Pratt and “operated in the 400 block Broad Street until moving into the building at 527 W. Beaver street in 1915” . It closed in 2019. The new owner, Eric Adler wishes to preserve the history. Pratt is also the founder of the Florida Negro Embalmers and Mortician’s Association Dan McDonald reported.
Early on, Jacksonvillians used wagons of sorts for carrying the deceased. By 1909, H. D. Ludlow of Chicago was credited as having used a “rebooted Cunningham horse-drawn hearse body remounted on a Thomas bus chassis by Coey’s Livery Company” for an actual funeral procession; the first of its kind. There is believed to be the birth of the funeral carriage.
Early hearse
According to the Begg’s Museum in Madison, Florida, Jacksonville’s Samuel Allen Kyle of Moulton- Kyle Funeral Home, a Jacksonville undertaker ordered, along with T. J. Beggs, Sr. the first two Dodge hearses in Florida. The first one was delivered by train to Beggs in Madison, Florida distinguishing him as the “first” to own a motorized Hearst in Florida. S.A. Kyle’s motorized hearse was delivered to Jacksonville second being the first in Jacksonville but the second in Florida. The Begg’s hearse has been remodelled and is on the floor in their museums. Seeing it, we can get an idea of what was used in our city by S. A. Kyle Funeral Home in 1919.
Beggs Hearse ordered along with one by S. A. Kyle of Jacksonville, Fl-Photo-Beggs Museum
Looking back at the first funeral homes in Jacksonville, one is documented to 1851, when Calvin Oak, known as a “gunsmith, funeral director and watchmaker” moved his family from Vermont to Jacksonville for health reasons. He would live some 30 years building several businesses in the city including a gun factory which manufactured barrels, cartridges and all things related to guns. He owned and operated a jewellery store on Bay Street. In 1856, he and his son Byron Edgar, opened a funeral home business which was eventually was owned by Harry S. Moulton and S. A. Kyle and of the Moulton and Kyle Funeral Services. Calvin’s son, Byron and brother would continue with his businesses even adding tomb stones being a “marble cutter” at 25 Laura Street by 1870. Oak who died July 26, 1881 and was carried by horse and wagon to the Old Cemetery for burial. Byron died October 28, 1889 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.
Oak family-Mortuary and Stone business-Florida Memory
The Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission documents a sketch of the early design of the Moulton-Kyle funeral home. It was located west of Main Street and on the north side of Union Street.The 1914 drawing by architects Earl Mark and Leroy Sheftall would come to fruition over time. In 1976, the First Baptist of Jacksonville, Florida would have a block-size parking lot built across from it.
Entrance of the funeral home- Video grab- Channel 4
Over the years there were several owners until it closed in A brick garage was added in 1926. Harry Moulton died in 1936. The business fell to different businesses and finally closed in the 1960’s. It fell into disrepair and burned in 2022. The most recent owner of the building was Peeples Funeral Services, J. Robert Peeples, President, now operating a funeral home on Main Street of Jacksonville. A 1976 hearse was said to have been removed.
An interesting document found by “Abandoned Southeast”, an urban explorer in the defunct Moulton-Kyle funeral home was the information for the wife of William W. Adams who died on March 2 1914. It seems her body was prepared and she was shipped or sent by train to her hometown in Steuben County, New York. Her husband, William W. Adams would also be buried in NY beside her in 1931.
Both William and his wife Francis were buried in NY.
In 2009, Navy pilot Scott Speicher and graduate of Forrest High School and FSU was stationed at Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Fl. when he was the first American commit casualty of the Persian war. His plane was shot down in Iraq and when his remains were found 18 years was later met with crowds of people lining the streets to welcome him home in a bittersweet tribute.
Nancy Scott Speicher carried in closed hearse with Navy Seal on side-(US. Military Photo-Chief Specialist A. C Casullo)Jacksonville Memory Gardens now has a fleet of hearses . Ramey
In February 2019, the following was posted about Sarah L. Carter with Sarah L. Carter Funeral Home: “Ms. Carter is the first African American woman in the state of Florida to open a funeral home from start-up and has marked her 17th year in the business as an independent owner.” Ms. Carter has a degree in Mortuary Science and a bachelor’s in Biblical studies.
Photo Credit: Sarah L. Carter Funeral Service websiteSarah L. Carter Funeral Home- New Kings RoadSarah. L. Carter Funeral Home Fleet of hearses
Different hearses are used by various funeral homes. The services for police officer Jimmy Judge was honoured in 2023.
Giddens hearses
There are those who provide horse and buggy services even today. When I went to give my support and regards to the family of Queen Elizabeth II, a horse and carriage carried her to a hearse where she was taken to Windsor Castle to be buried. “God Save The Queen” was sung by her people as the coffin rode past. It was quite moving.
Queen Elizabeth II honors in London-2022- Photo:Ramey
See you tomorrow,
Nan
Category: Buildings, Cemeteries, History | Comments Off on First Woman Funeral Business Owner, First Black Funeral Director, First Hearse(Well Second)
The 1890 Store Jacob’s Jewelers Closed the last day of January 2023.
On the day following the closure of Jacob’s Jewelers, a store that has been in Jacksonville since 1890, I received from a person I did not even know, a bronze-looking “Jacob’s” token. On the front, it has an engraved diamond symbol with the words, “Jacobs” at the top and at the bottom in circular fashion, “Fine Jewelers since 1890”. On the back it has the logo and words, “Member of the Fine Jewelers Guild” and in circular fashion, “Redeemable against any purchase of over $100* Twenty Five Dollars”. So, my new friend, who sent this, gave me a token now worth far more than $25 since it now is certainly a collector’s item. Thank you new friend, Sandra J. D.
I had been online reviewing items people collect in Jacksonville and a person posted that she had some coins and willing to give them to interested people. People can be nice. She mailed one to me free of charge and I even asked to pay. When she wrote “No need to pay me, I’d rather see them go to someone whom likes these, I promised to “pay it forward” and I will.
The envelope was sent with her name at top on the left and the coin tucked into a nice plastic, clear-faced coin container. Grateful. At the moment it sits prominently in my den so I can see it.
I visited Jacobs Jewelers last month after learning they were relocating and talked with Roy and Delores Thomas who bought Jacobs Jewelers in 1968. The building where Jacobs Jewelers is located at the corner of Laura and Adams is where our now-famed Jacksonville clock sits. The Greenleaf Building was bought by JWB Real Estate. Apparently, the old clock which had once sat at the old Jacob’s Bay Street location would remain a Jacksonville landmark and icon since the Thomases donated it to the city some years ago. It is a 15 foot tall Seth Thomas clock and supposedly only one of the two left in the world. It is iconic in that people still “meet at the clock” and taken photos at that Laura and Adams location. That’s a story for another day.
The Thomases initial thought was they would relocate Jacobs Jewelers but as time went on, they changed their thinking and decided to “retire”. I think that both with beautiful grey hair, will find that their kids and grandkids will probably love the time they will be able to spend with them. The current signs in the windows say “Retirement Sale”. They moved the “Moving Sale” signs after their wrestling with moving the location vs retiring to a new life after over fifty-five years.
Looking from the outside of the store, it’s difficult to see if the business is open. It’s dark-looking going in but when inside, the beauty of the merchandise was stunningly brilliant. There was in all of the glass cases beautiful jewerly of every kind including, watches, rings, bracelets and throughout the store their were other items on shelves and tucked in corners and cabinets. I went during the Christmas season and found it full of seasonal decorations including at least 2 Christmas trees.
The 132 year old store has had a great run in Jacksonville. There are a lot of different stories telling of it’s great beginning on Bay Street and now it comes to a close leaving the 208 N. Laura Street address at the corner of Adams Street.
It will be missed as will Roy and Deloris Thomas but they will be cashing in their tokens for full value in a new life.
Sometimes I think I missed my calling. While in graduate school we were told to get an interview in a place that if we could choose to work, we would seek employment. My choice was the Florida Times Union. In my mind…If I could have any job in the world, it would be a reporter/writer/photographer for the Florida Times Union. I made an appointment with an editor and sat in her office for about an hour at 1 Riverside Avenue( now demolished-2022) discussing the possibilities.
One case of many journals.
I never pursued that job and for almost 40 years loved being a teacher, administrator and for a few years, adjunct professor at UNF teaching a teacher’s course. Looking back, I was so happy in the education field. On the side and in my free time, I spent hours photographing, writing and publishing stories. That continues to this day. There has always been a journalist inside of me even as a youngster.
Having an interest in writing causes one to save stories, old documents and collect memorabilia related to writing. My files are many and it is a constant thing to keep up with what has been collected such as unique items, pens, pencils, letters, documents, photos, old newspapers and the like. There are five things that are especially unique that I’ve saved over the years: 1. Two authentic bound huge newsprint books from the early 1920 Florida times Union years. 2. A collection of vintage, old and rare ink pens. 3. Unique historical items, letters, documents, related to America and her people including Presidents, Royalty and Rosa Parks; a personal favorite. 4. Literally thousands of photographs. 5. Jacksonville stuff in general.
There is no way of knowing how differently my life would be if I had gone the path of a newspaper girl but I am grateful that I got the life of both.
Still, I wonder what life I would have had as a full time reporter? In the meantime, I’ll see you tomorrow as I report from the sidelines.
Henry Ford revolutionised the way of travel world-wide. The 1896 the quadricycle was the first vehicle on four bicycle wheels. It was powered by a four-horsepower engine.
Ford Quadricycle- Photo- Ford Company
With 12 investors the Ford motor company was incorporated in 1903. By 1907, the inventor had the now-famous scripted “Ford” logo.
HIs 1907, his first assembly line was in Highland Park, Michigan. He purchased a 130-acre tract of land and would build a factory to speed up wheels on the ground.By 1908, the Model T automobile was introduced and the assembly line was set up to mass produce autos. From there the auto industry was on the move and on the rise. According to Whitehousehistory . org, “Congress appropriated $12,000 for the purchase of the first two White House motor cars despite heated protests”. Pierce Arrow was the first chauffeur for President William Taft.
Whitehouse first car- William Taft- Photo- White House
Henry Ford was a busy man and traveled from place to place, even abroad. In time he had as many as 31 plants . This was all before the Great Depression.
Ford traveled on Flagler’s Florida east coast railway and at the invitation of Inventor Thomas Edison took his wife Clara and son Edsel to visit Fort Meyers, Florida They liked the vacation so well, Henry Ford bought a 2 story riverfront home there next to Edison.
Ford Estate in Fort Meyers
With the auto industry booming, factories were being made and in 1924 Jacksonville, Florida would join Charlotte, NC, Chicago, Il, Memphis, Tn, Salt Lake City, UT in having an assembly-line plant. The Jacksonville, Florida factory was on the St. Johns Riverfront at 1900 Wambolt Street. It served from 1924-1932.
Ford Plant- Photo- 2022- Ramey
The Great Depression hit from 1929-1939 affecting so many businesses. It is believed the boom of the 1920’s, a stock market crash, poor management of the Federal Reserve and other causes brought about this downturn.The Jacksonville, Florida Ford plant was one of them. This period of serious economic depression affected everyone and the auto industry was hit hard. The Jacksonville plant closed in 1932. Over the years following, the land-area was used for parts and distribution which ended in 1968. From then until about 2015, various companies used the space including a wooden pallet manufacturing business.
Ford Plant- 2022- Ramey
The Jacksonville Historic Preservation group was in hopes of saving the Ford Manufacturing plant naming it a designated local landmark in 2003. In 2015, the same year it was purchased by Amkin Hill Street LLC, Henry Ford was inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame. Over the years the factory building has been in disrepair and every day losing its former glory.
Ford Plant Jacksonville- Florida Memory
In October of 2022, Mike Mendenhall of the Jacksonville Daily Record announced that the “Jacksonville City Council will allow the owners of the historic former Ford Motor Co. factory in Talleyrand to demolish the 97-year old riverfront landmark for a possible maritime industrial redevelopment project”. This was a sad day for the historians of Duval County.
We’re living in sad days where our history is continually removed but , keep taking those photos so we can at least have the memories…..
Remembering Henry Ford- Florida Memory
The original Michigan Ford Motor Auto plant remains in tact. It was made a National Historic Landmark in 1978.
See you tomorrow,
Nan
Sources: Ford Motor Company, Whitehouse. Org, Jacksonville Daily Record, Mike Mendenhall, Wikipedia, Personal visit to the plant-Ramey.2-2-23
Many of us applied for the Teacher in Space program back-in-the-day. Teachers were invited to fill out some paperwork in order to be considered for the NASA space program. The paperwork was done by hand and mailed in. Having been a teacher for only about 9 years I applied anyhow. After a time, a letter was sent from NASA indicating if a person was in the running for a spot with NASA and the Teacher in Space program.
Mike Reynolds was born on March 30, 1954. He was a Jacksonville teacher who had grown up in Duval County and ended up being one of the final five contestants. He had attended Duval County schools and began teaching at Duncan U. Fletcher High School. Later, he left town to attend Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey and in 1982 had returned to receive a Masters at the University of North Florida right here in our city. He later received a Doctorate in science education and astronomy in 1990 from UF.
Press Photo for Reynolds
In 1985 Reynolds had applied for the Teacher in Space program and became one of the top 5 candidates. In 1986, Reynolds was teacher of the year at Fletcher High and from there he traveled to the Kennedy space center to be a part of the teacher in space program events and later would be invited to watch the Challenger space shuttle blast off into space.
NASA Program logo
On this cold day, January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger with 7 NASA astronauts aboard, lost their lives in a shuttle disaster only 73 seconds after take off. The cause of the explosion was cold weather when the 0-ring seal failed. It was a sad day for all of America and even the world. Jacksonville residents mourned the loss.
Challenger Crew
Mike Reynolds went on to work at Florida State College, Chabot Space and Science center, Meade Instruments and the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observation. He died October 15, 2019 at the age of 65. He had spent his whole career in the science, astronomy and in the education field.
For me, I probably could not have figured out the math.
See you tomorrow,
Nan
In honor of those who lost their lives, we name them and thank them for their service:
The last Challenger mission, dubbed STS-51L, was commanded by Francis R. “Dick” Scobee and piloted by Michael J. Smith. The other crew members on board were mission specialists Ronald E. McNair; Ellison S. Onizuka, and Judith A. Resnik; payload specialist Gregory B. Jarvis; and teacher S. Christa McAuliffe. (Credit: NASA).
In 1913, the singer/actor-obsessed Oliver Hardy of Georgia moved to Jacksonville in hopes to get a better opportunity in the film industry. At that time, Jacksonville, Florida was a hub for making movies and the Lubin Manufacturing company that produced and distributed films was a part of that success. At night, Hardy was a singer-actor and by day he worked at the Lubin Manufacturing Company, one that produced and distributed films. Jacksonville was a place for the cinematography industry for filming after summer wore off and was called the “winter film capital of the world” at one point.
Florida Photographic Collection
Oliver Hardy was born in Columbia County; Harlem, Georgia. Today, that little town is growing in leaps and bounds with a population of over 3,000 people. Even as recent as yesterday, I saw logging trucks hauling off huge trees and the railroad tracks still rumbling from the sound of ingoing and outgoing train cars although there is no depot stop for passenger trains. In 1913, it is documented as having 10 passenger trains a day. In 1835, the train tracks were being laid from Augusta to Eatonton. Harlem, Georgia was a stop but the last passenger train came through in 1983. Now it’s only commercial. Interesting to me was that nearby there was a community called “Saw Dust”.
Oliver Hardy Water Tower- Photo-Ramey
From the account written on the Harlem city website, in 1857, a Medical College of Augusta, just miles away moved to the area and sold land for a dollar an acre. He donated land for the Baptist and Methodist churches and for a school; now Harlem Middle School. Within 10 years, Newnan Hicks was known to quit his job for being asked to work on Sunday and thus wanted to have a town that did not sell liquor, moving down from Andrew J. Sanders, that process began and by 1870 the town was founded and named by a visiting New York relative from New York, thus “Harlem”.
Laurel and Hardy-Wikipedia photo
The theatre where Hardy and his counter part, Stan Laurel performed was right there along the train tracks. I can imagine the whistle blew and rails rumbled time after time before, after and yes during performances. It is now a museum.
About the time Hardy moved to Jacksonville, he met and married Madelyn Saloshin, a pianist. A Lubin facility was opened at 750 Riverside Avenue in Jacksonville, Florida. Hardy played a small role in his first movie “Outwitting Dad”. That was only the beginning of his career. He would team with Stan Laurel and make more than 100 comedy films.
Oliver-Hardy Wall- Photo- Ramey
The Lubin Manufacturing Company, based out of Philadelphia was active from 1897-1916 with a studio in Jacksonville beginning in 1913. It was in the Lubin film company that Hardy was billed as “Babe Hardy and appeared in “ some fifty short” films. During those years, the company had legal battles with the Thomas Edison motion picture business, a “disastrous fire” at the main Lubin studio, destroying a great many negatives and World War II came causing additional losses. All of these things brought about a bankruptcy in 1916 with the end of the company and the company closing completely.
Oliver- Hardy Museum- photo- Ramey
In terms of the film industry in Jacksonville, the Florida State Archives indicates that “the political atmosphere in Jacksonville turned against the movie industry due to accusations of fraud, ties to political corruption and fear of endangering the public welfare with elaborate stunt sequences.” The movie era in Jacksonville was over and it moved to Hollywood California.Basically, the only thing left of the film industry in Jacksonville is the Norman film building but that’s a story for another day.
Norman Studio in Jacksonville-Wikipedia
According to ta Tampa Bay story Oliver Hardy wrote in a letter to a friend, “”The best times of my life were spent in Jacksonville.” So, those must have been some good days.
See you tomorrow,
Nan
Sources: Silentera. Com, The Coastal, Wikipedia, Tampa Bay Times, Visit to Harlem 1/26/23.
