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.
• The new Air Traffic Route Control Center in Hilliard was dedicated at a ceremony attended by more than 4,000 people.
Principal speakers were U.S. Rep. Billy Matthews, in whose 8th Congressional District the center was located, and James T. Pyle, administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency.
Matthews briefly reviewed the history of the FAA and its responsibilities.
“No agency, in my opinion, is more representative of the vital interests of all our people than this one, for it represents both government and private enterprise in wide ranges of its operation. The FAA, though barely more than two years old, has more than justified the intent of Congress in its creation,” he said.
The FAA was a combination of two former agencies, the Airways Modernization Board and the Civil Aeronautics Administration. They were unified as the FAA by Congress after “long and careful consideration,” said Matthews.
He also said aviation had come a long way since he was a boy, when planes flew at 40 mph.
“Speeds up to 600 miles an hour are common now and by the end of the decade, we will have airliners traveling at a speed of 2,000 mph,” said Matthews.
The new facility, formerly located at Imeson Airport, served commercial, military and private aircraft in a 200-mile radius. It employed more than 250 people.
• Two dental technicians and a house painter were arrested and charged in three separate cases with practicing dentistry without a license.
County Solicitor Edward M. Booth said the arrests were the culmination of a 10-week undercover investigation in which a toothless civilian employee of the police department obtained false teeth from each of the suspects, who were not believed to be conducting business together.
The undercover agent for the investigation was identified in the formal charges as David Alsobrook.
Detectives began the probe after complaints by the dental profession.
Booth said Alsobrook was examined in the garage of one of the suspects’ homes. Teeth and laboratory equipment valued at $2,000 were seized at the time of that suspect’s arrest. Alsobrook also had been examined at his home by another suspect.
The investigation started after an advertising card was mailed by one of the defendants to the son-in-law of a local dentist.
The alleged unlicensed dentists were charging, $85, $90 and $95 for complete sets of false teeth. Detectives estimated one of the defendants had 15-20 customers during one month of the investigation.
• Another engineering study to determine the feasibility of further extending the Jacksonville Expressway with another bridge across the St. Johns River was authorized by the Jacksonville Expressway Authority.
Authority members voted to empower Charles Main, chair of the authority, to enter into a contract with a New York consulting firm to survey traffic needs.
The survey would include an assessment of the potential earnings of a new toll bridge across the river at a location other than the previously proposed 20th Street site, which had been deemed inappropriate by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Fletcher Morgan, chair of the Duval Board of County Commissioners and an ex-officio member of the authority, questioned the necessity for the study because the firm had completed a similar survey a year earlier in connection with the vetoed proposed site.
• Jacksonville’s 1961 Cancer Crusade was launched at a breakfast at the Robert Meyer Hotel.
The goal of the campaign was to raise $110,000 and the drive’s slogan was “Learn and Live.”
The funds raised would be used to operate two tumor clinics, to give assistance to about 500 local cancer patients and to support research and development, said Richard L. Miller, campaign chair.
A key unit in the drive would be the trades and industry division, headed by James A. Rogers, which was charged with raising $40,000 of the goal.
When keynote speaker Wallace Tudor arrived at Imeson Airport from Chicago the day before, he was given a certificate designating him an honorary citizen of Jacksonville by City Health Commissioner Claude Smith.
• The City Pardon Board granted four pardon petitions and denied one.
One pardon was granted to a 61-year-old man to enable him to attend his brother’s funeral in Danielsville, Ga. He was sentenced March 17 to a 30-day term for being drunk.
The board pardoned a 24-year-old woman who was serving time in lieu of a $25 fine imposed March 11 for being drunk. The inmate was out on a trial visit from the Northeast Florida State Hospital at Macclenny and would be returned to the institution upon her release.
A 40-year-old man who was sentenced March 21 to serve 30 days for petty larceny of motor oil was granted pardon after the board learned restitution had been made and the complainant had no objection to the pardon. The inmate had five children and his wife was expecting another baby in a few weeks.
Another pardon, for a 50-year-old man, was conditioned on a finding by the county judge that the inmate was mentally incompetent. He was sentenced March 15 to 10 days for disorderly conduct by abusing a minor child and profane language.
The board denied a pardon for a 40-year-old man with a lengthy record of arrests who was sentenced Feb. 6 to 90 days for being drunk and fighting with a knife. His former mother-in-law asked his release so he could attend to settling an estate.
• An Atlantic Beach visitor was rescued from his burning bed by Neptune Beach Marshal James Jarboe and then was arrested on five charges.
J.B. Holifield, 28, of Daytona Beach was asleep at Bennett’s Motel on Atlantic Boulevard when Jarboe drove by on patrol, saw smoke coming from the unit and turned in a fire alarm. Jarboe then went inside the building and dragged Holifield out of the room.
Holifield was arrested on charges of breach of the peace (drunk), resisting arrest, striking an officer, creating a disturbance and setting a fire. Bond was set at $500, which he was unable to raise, and he was returned to jail.
The Atlantic Beach Fire Department extinguished the blaze. Damage to the bed and room was estimated at $200.