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.
• Mayor Haydon Burns left Jacksonville to lead a delegation of municipal chief executives from the U.S. on a trip to Germany to “give assurance to people on both sides of the Iron Curtain” that Americans would stand firm in the Berlin crisis.
The group was scheduled to return Oct. 4 after touring several German cities and the border between East and West Berlin.
Burns was joined by colleagues from 22 cities from California to New England, representing the U.S. Conference of Mayors, of which Burns was the president.
They were to deliver hundreds of telegrams to West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt, expressing the American mayors’ support of the policies of President John. F. Kennedy and his announced stand against the Soviet Union.
Burns was scheduled to be the principal speaker during a broadcast of Radio Free Europe that would be beamed behind the Iron Curtain to express his and his fellow mayors’ support of the president’s position.
Burns said the U.S. Conference of Mayors was underwriting his expenses for the trip.
• People representing Jacksonville University appeared before the City Council Budget and Finance Committee. They said the university might lose its accreditation if the City withdrew its financial support in 1962.
JU was receiving $100,000 from the City and a like amount from the County Commission each year. Supporters of the funding argued that a cutback in funds would “be a critical blow to the future of the school.”
Guy W. Botts, chairman of JU’s board of trustees, said accreditation was expected in 1961 but might be withdrawn if the City refused to support the institution. He said the university might be self-supporting in five years.
Opposing the appropriation were George Overby, representing the Greater Jacksonville Ministers Association; Gary Harris, a former student at JU; and Mrs. Ada Duckworth.
They spoke against the funding on the ground that JU was “infiltrated with leftist thinking.”
The committee “listened with sympathetic ears” but gave no indication of having reached any conclusions.
• The “Spruce Up Downtown” campaign of the beautification committee of the Downtown Council of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce was launched officially with a brightening of the Confederate Memorial in Hemming Park.
The concrete base and pedestal of the statue was “given a stern cleaning” with help from members of the Jacksonville Junior Chamber of Commerce.
Printed circulars were distributed to Downtown property and business owners to urge them to join the effort to make the main business section an attractive place to live and work.
The Garden Club of Jacksonville was assisting the campaign by providing information about the types of plants best suited for outdoor displays.
• Prosecution of Lee Wilcoxen on charges of thefts from Massey Technical Institute, which he once served as president, ended when Wilcoxen entered a plea of no contest to a petty larceny count.
After the plea, the county solicitor’s office dropped one other charge of petty larceny and two counts of grand larceny against Wilcoxen.
The charges involved alleged thefts of the institute’s postage, radio parts, booklets and a camera. The case to which the defendant pleaded no contest alleged theft of $2.15 in postage and forms on May 16, 1960.
After a five-day trial, a jury on Dec. 2 had found Wilcoxen guilty of larceny of $90.98 worth of the institute’s property. The prosecution contended the thefts were part of a scheme to build up Wilcoxen’s own privately owned venture, the Florida School of Electronics.
Wilcoxen was subsequently granted a new trial on the ground the prosecutor made improper remarks to the jury concerning Wilcoxen’s failure to testify on his own behalf.
Sentencing for the 54-year-old Wilcoxen was deferred at the prosecution’s request until Oct. 1 by Criminal Court Judge William T. Harvey.
• County Detective Robert Stringer said that about 70 girls who had attended a club initiation during which a Baldwin High School girl suffered chemical burns all denied having seen the liquid poured on the victim.
Minnie Meads, 15, was reported in excellent condition at a hospital in Macclenny, recovering from burns to her abdomen.
Stringer said Meads was among 20 girls being initiated into the school’s Future Homemakers of America organization. The hazing was conducted throughout the school day and Meads balked at doing one of the stunts required of the initiates.
One of the club members was alleged to have said “OK, you’re going to get it tonight,” reported Stringer.
That night, as the initiation reached a climax in the school building, Meads was blindfolded and the liquid was poured upon her.
Meads said she could see from the bottom of the blindfold and could identify the shoes of the girl who administered the liquid.
Stringer said he intended to question the suspect, but the girl did not attend school the day after the initiation.
The liquid was analyzed at a Jacksonville laboratory. Stringer said it contained, among other things, vinegar, mustard, liniment and nail polish remover with an acetone base.
“None of those taken separately would have harmed the girl, but taken collectively, the liquid was rather potent,” he said.
Stringer said he would turn the case over to County juvenile authorities and the Duval County Board of Instruction.
School Superintendent Ish Brant said the school board “probably will formulate a policy concerning initiations conducted by school-sponsored organizations.”
• Carl Noble, a 24-year-old short order cook, was arrested by City and state narcotics agents for possession of marijuana.
Frank Castor, director of the State Board of Health’s Bureau of Narcotics, said Noble was taken into custody at his home on State Road 13, a few miles south of Jacksonville.
Officers removed 22 marijuana plants Noble had growing in boxes at his home. Also seized were cigarette papers and two small vials Castor said contained marijuana dust.
Noble had been under surveillance for several weeks and enough marijuana to make about 500 cigarettes “at the going rate of $1-$2 each” was confiscated, said Castor.
He said there didn’t appear to be any widespread operation connected with the homegrown marijuana and that it was the first seizure of the plant in Duval County in a number of years.
In 1961, possession of marijuana was a violation of the Florida Uniform Narcotic Drug Act and a felony.
• What made Duval County tick and what was “needed to make it tick better” were the themes of an old-fashioned town hall session at the weekly meeting of the Southside Business Men’s Club at the Charcoal Steak House.
Jacksonville real estate executive George Linville started the discussion by stating that area citizens had exhibited much community spirit in the past, but with new problems facing the community, an impetus to new citizen actions was needed.
A consensus of audience comment on the positive side of the ledger agreed with Linville that people had shown a willingness to accept community responsibilities; that Jacksonville’s waterfront had great potential for future development; that there were “wide opportunities” at all economic levels; that there was an excellent religious atmosphere; and that the people were courteous.
On the debit side of the spreadsheet, according to the audience, were that port facility development needed more action; that the problem of adequate sewage disposal needed to be addressed; and that a solution had to be found to mitigate inequalities in the property tax assessment system.
It was also said that the community needed to take a more active interest in problems facing the school system and that improved methods of financing the public schools should be found.
• A report from the National Radiation Surveillance Network stated that on Sept. 25, 1961, Jacksonville had the highest field estimate of atmospheric radioactivity in the nation.
Readings from sampling stations all over the country had been rising over the previous weeks, an effect attributed by U.S. Secretary of Welfare Abraham Ribicoff to Russia’s resumption of nuclear tests.