On November 10, 1903, Drexel Furniture was founded by six partners in the small Burke County town of Drexel. One of the partners, Samuel Huffman, managed the business until his death in 1935. At that time, his son Robert took control of the operation.
Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History
A 1970 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development advertisement for Soul City.
On November 9, 1973, civil rights activist Floyd McKissick broke ground on Soul City in rural Warren County.
On November 9, 1979, Louise Thaden, early aviation pioneer, died of a heart attack in High Point.
One of the first women to make flying her business, Thaden flew her first solo flight and received her pilot’s license in 1927. By 1928 she set the woman’s altitude record at 20,260 feet, and the next year she claimed the woman’s endurance record after flying for 22 hours, 3 minutes and 28 seconds. That same year she was the first woman to win the National Air Races.
On November 8, 1950, internationally-renowned photographer and painter Ignatius Brock died at age 83.
Born in Jones County in 1866, Brock got his start in photography as an apprentice at the Gerock Studio in New Bern. He moved to New York to study art at the Cooper Union Institute, before returning to North Carolina and opening his first studio in Asheville.
(Image: Medal of Honor Recipient Lawrence Joel)
On November 8, 1965, Specialist/SFC Lawrence Joel of Winston-Salem, a Korean War veteran, began a routine patrol near Bien Hoa, Vietnam. Joel and his unit, the 1st Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry, were ambushed by a Viet Cong battalion that outnumbered them six to one.
On November 7, 1954, attorney, teacher, congressman and North Carolina Governor William B. Umstead died of heart failure.
Born on a Durham County farm in 1895, Umstead served as a lieutenant in the 81st “Wildcat” Division during World War I before being elected to Congress. During his three terms in the House of Representatives and a single term in the Senate, Umstead focused mostly on rural issues, including soil conservation and rural electrification.
On November 7, 1944, water impoundment began at Fontana Dam in western North Carolina. At 480 feet, Fontana Dam is the highest dam east of the Rocky Mountains.
On November 7, 1950, Elymas Yates “E. Y.” Ponder was elected sheriff of mountainous Madison County, defeating Republican incumbent Hubert Davis by 31 votes.