Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville half a century ago? It was a different era of history, culture and politics but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made headlines then and today. As interesting as the differences may be, so are the similarities. These are some of the top stories from this week in 1961. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• A town meeting-type forum attracted 460 members and friends of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce to the auditorium at the Prudential Building (now the Aetna Building). The topic of debate was annexation.
“Information and interest will produce action,” said chamber President Charles Campbell as he introduced past President Olin Watts, who moderated the discussion.
“We hope that this forum will unite the community on a course for the common good,” said Campbell, who also said the chamber had not taken an official position on annexation.
Speaking in favor of annexation of suburbs to the City of Jacksonville were state Rep. John Mathews and Jacksonville University President Franklyn Johnson, who made it clear he “spoke as a taxpayer and citizen.”
On the other side of the issue was Cecil Pemberton, executive vice president of the Florida Tax Information Association, who also spoke as a taxpayer.
Johnson sought one answer from his opposition: “If you are opposed to annexation, what constructive solution to growth problems do you offer?”
Pemberton called for a two-year exploratory study of costs and other information before a decision would be reached on annexation.
Mathews said the 1957 Legislature enacted permissive legislation for the City of Jacksonville to make such a study with a budget of $25,000.
The same type of legislation was enacted by the 1959 Legislature. “But groups in this city who are especially interested in economy forestalled the City appropriating the money each time,” said Mathews.
• Grady West, a retired barber shop and department store owner from Twin City, Ga., made Duval County agricultural history.
He and his wife moved to Jacksonville in 1957 and purchased their retirement property, including a 20-acre orange grove in Mandarin.
Three harsh winters in a row froze them out of the citrus business before they picked their first fruit, so they came up with another plan.
Disappointed but not defeated, the Wests started exploring other agricultural options that might be able to fund their retirement. His family had been in the tobacco business in Georgia for generations and he wondered if the plant would grow in Florida soil.
West consulted Duval County Agent Jim Watson. He researched the question and advised the couple that he was certain the crop would thrive here, so in December 1960, the Wests, along with family, friends and neighbors, laid out eight beds 12-feet wide and 500-feet long.
Watson and representatives of the State Plant Board and Department of Agriculture watched the project with a great deal of interest.
Within two months, more than 84,000 healthy, hardy tobacco plants had sprouted and were being harvested, three months before the Georgia tobacco crop was expected to be ready.
“I’ll match this Florida-grown tobacco against the Georgia product any day in quality and in health,” said West.
Although only a small portion of his acreage at 12066 Brady Road was planted, West said he intended to finish it out in tobacco if the project was a success.
• The Meninak Club observed its annual Eagle Scout Recognition Day by playing host to 64 scouts at a luncheon at the Mayflower Hotel.
The day’s program was directed by David E. Shields, chair of the Meninak Boy Scout Committee. He had arranged to have the scouts visit the offices of Meninak members in whose line of work the scouts had expressed an interest.
• The Cold War was not a war between communism and democracy, but a struggle between communism and religion, Mayor Haydon Burns told members of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville at the club’s meeting at the Mayflower Hotel.
Burns was the featured speaker as the Rotarians observed Navy Day.
Navy officers from 10 countries that were allies of the United States were special luncheon guests. The visitors were participating in a three-week training program at Jacksonville Naval Air Station.
“Let’s consider the whole world fighting the Cold War for what it is, communism versus religion, and let’s honor and cherish our friends wherever we find them,” said Burns.
Burns recalled many personal experiences he had in Iron Curtain countries and in Cuba on official visits he had made. He said Americans had to “learn to recognize the quality of the opposition” and criticized the way the nation’s diplomats had been selected for assignments abroad.
“And I am not talking politics, Democrat or Republican, but for more than two decades, nearly three, we selected our representatives on the basis of who contributed the largest sum to the campaign coffers of the successful national party in the most recent national national election,” he said.
“The country has been extremely fortunate to have selected as many fine men as it has through this method,” he said.
• Jacksonville’s explosive growth gained recognition from the French government when France appointed a consular representative here.
He would be the first representative of a foreign government to serve in Jacksonville since before World War II.
“The French government knows that Jacksonville is a booming city and wants to be represented here,” said Jacques Grellet, consul general of France stationed in New Orleans.
Grellet announced that John Duss, an attorney and former president of The Jacksonville Bar Association, would be the consular agent.
Duss would represent French commercial and cultural interests in North Florida and take care of problems of French residents and visitors. It was an honorary job with no salary.
• The Jacksonville Racing Pigeon Club held the fifth in its eight-race series of average speed races with a 200-mile flight from Macon, Ga.
A.J. Lehe was the winner, with his bird going the distance in 4 hours and 47 minutes for a speed of 1,247 yards a minute, or an average speed of 40 mph.
Keith Young placed second and Bob Bernard was third. A total of 96 birds from 12 lofts participated.
The pigeons would rest the following week, including Easter Sunday, then they were scheduled to be transported to Atlanta for a 300-mile race.
• The inauguration of jet airline service between Jacksonville and New York City was announced by Mayor Haydon Burns and James Austin, president of Northeast Airlines. The service would begin April 30 at Imeson Airport.
“We feel the advent of jet service to the New York market and to our sister cities in Florida will accelerate opportunities for attracting new industries and particularly attractive executive offices of existing industries,” said Burns.
Austin, who was scheduled to address members of the aviation committee of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon at the Roosevelt Hotel, said the service was “primarily intended for businessmen.”