On January 6, 1965, Governor Terry Sanford announced that the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) would invest $70 million in the Research Triangle Park (RTP) by locating its National Environmental Health Sciences Center there.
The investment proved pivotal in the growth of the park.
A postcard depicted the “Black Men’s Cell Block” at Central Prison ca. 1900-1915. Image from N.C. Museum of History
On January 6, 1924, Earl Eugene Scruggs was born near Shelby. The renowned bluegrass banjo musician elevated the banjo known for his distinctive three-fingerpicking style, now named for him.
On January 5, 1878, North Carolina Supreme Court Justice and law instructor Richmond Mumford Pearson died in Winston.
Born in what’s now Davie County in 1805, Pearson began his law practice in Salisbury in 1826. After representing Rowan County in the House of Commons, he became a Superior Court judge in 1836.
On January 5, 1891, Gov. Daniel G. Fowle, two years into his term, moved into the state’s new Executive Mansion before construction was completely finished.
On January 2, 1975, Susie Sharp took the oath of office as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
On January 2, 1926, the Mt. Olive Pickle Company was formally incorporated by local business people in Wayne County.
The effort to start the company arose within the community, and the original group of 13 local shareholders invested $19,500 to establish a company to pack and sell pickles.
On January 5, 1921, Lillian Exum Clement took her seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, becoming the first woman in the South to hold legislative office.
Clement was born in Black Mountain in 1886, and she worked in the Buncombe County sheriff’s office while studying law at night. In 1916, she passed the bar exam and the next year opened her own practice.
On January 1, 1864, Parker Robbins of Bertie County, a free person of color of mixed African and Native American descent, enlisted in the 2nd United States Colored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Monroe, Va. Federal military authorities in eastern North Carolina began actively recruiting and enlisting African Americans for the United States Colored Troops in 1863, eventually establishing one artillery and three infantry regiments. Those wishing to join a mounted unit had to travel to Virginia to join. Robbins and his younger brother both did just that.
On January 1, 1942, the Rose Bowl was played in Durham—the only time the game has not been played in Pasadena, California. Since America had just joined World War II, there was concern about holding the game, or, indeed, any large public gathering, on the West Coast for fear of attack from the Japanese. The Duke University Blue Devils, Oregon State University Beavers, and all of their fans would potentially be in great danger if the game was played in California, organizers reasoned.