On May 13, 1846, United States president and North Carolina native James K. Polk signed a declaration of war on Mexico.
At the time of the 1844 election, many Americans advocated an expansionist vision of the nation’s future, popularly known as “Manifest Destiny.” Complicating the issue was a growing dispute over the possible expansion of slavery into any territories acquired by the United States.
On May 13, 1976, the iconic Shell Service Station on East Sprague Street in Winston-Salem was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Built by R.H. Burton in 1930, the station was one of eight constructed around Winston-Salem that year in an effort by the Shell Company and its local affiliate, Quality Oil, to boost marketing in North Carolina. The Sprague Street station is the only one of the eight still in existence.
On May 13, 1830, Zebulon Baird Vance was born in the Reems Creek area of Buncombe County. Raised in Asheville, Vance studied at the University of North Carolina. After setting up a law practice in Asheville, he launched his political career. Known for his personality and oratorical skills, Vance served as a state senator, U.S. congressman and governor.
On May 12, 1876, North Carolina’s first Jewish synagogue, the Temple of Israel, was dedicated in Wilmington.
The Jews of Wilmington were part of the second wave of immigrants who arrived in the United States from Germany, and they worked primarily as artisans, merchants and storekeepers. In 1855, Jews set aside a Hebrew section of Oakdale Cemetery in the city. As the community grew in the mid-1800s, the Jews in the area began to need a house of worship.
On May 12, 1954, Clyde Hoey died in his office in the U.S. Capitol.
A native of Shelby, Hoey married Bess Gardner, sister of Governor O. Max Gardner, and is counted as part of the “Shelby Dynasty,” that dominated state government for two decades. Hoey served as governor from 1937 until 1941. Until his bid for governor, he concentrated on his law practice and worked as a lobbyist.
On May 11, 1970, Henry Marrow, a 23-year-old African American Vietnam veteran, was murdered in Oxford. Marrow was approaching Robert Teel’s store to buy a Coca-Cola when he spoke to a young white woman. Teel, his son and his step-son interpreted the exchange as offensive, so they chased Marrow from the store parking lot, beat and fatally shot him.
On May 10, 1949, the Morehead Planetarium opened on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. It was first planetarium in the South, the first planetarium on a university campus and the sixth planetarium to be built nationwide.
On May 10, 1838, General Winfield Scott issued a proclamation to eastern Cherokees, by order of President Martin Van Buren, to evacuate their ancestral homeland. The subsequent military-enforced migration to what is now Oklahoma became known as the Trail of Tears.
On May 10, 1876, Julia Adeline Royster was born in Raleigh.
After studying art and photography, she changed her name to the more artistic Juliana and, in 1910, married artist Jacques Busbee, also of Raleigh. Her dedication to art led her to become Art Department Chair of the Raleigh Women’s Club in 1911 and chair of the state federation of women’s clubs in 1915. In both roles and in her other philanthropic work, she devoted her efforts toward promoting North Carolina’s handicraft traditions and advocating social good.