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 1963. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library's periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• By a substantial margin, Mayor Haydon Burns won a fifth-term victory in the primary election. Burns and other Democrats on the ballot were unopposed by any Republican candidates, assuring them of winning the June 18 general election.
Burns received 25,543 votes to 14,489 for his opponent, City Council member John F. Lanahan.
Voter turnout was 63.7 percent of registered Democrats.
All incumbent City commissioners were re-elected, including Dallas Thomas, finance commissioner; Louis Ritter, highways, sewers and airports commissioner; and J. Dillon Kennedy, commissioner of public utilities.
Incumbent City Council members who won re-election in the primary were Lemuel Sharp, W.O. (Oscar) Mattox and Cecil F. Lowe. James (Jimmy) Marr, filling an interim term by appointment, won a spot on the ballot in the second primary against former Council member Robert Roberts.
Long before all the votes were counted from the city's 73 precincts, Burns declared victory at a rally at the Roosevelt Hotel for campaign workers and supporters.
"This is the highest majority by which any man has ever been elected to the mayor's office. I feel extremely grateful to the people who have donated so much of their time to this campaign," said Burns.
• Duval County Solicitor Edward M. Booth appeared before the Civil Service Board to request authorization of two additional legal secretary positions in his office for a total of three positions.
He was responding to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Gideon v. Wainwright case to the effect that people accused of crimes but without money to retain legal counsel are entitled to be provided counsel at the state's expense.
Prosecutors throughout Florida were anticipating that hundreds of prisoners who were convicted without being represented by an attorney would petition the courts to have their convictions set aside and demand new trials.
Booth said he planned to have two stenographers in his office move up to occupy the two new legal secretary jobs, leaving openings for two new stenographers. He said the stenographers would be required to pass promotional exams, were already doing the work of legal secretaries and were entitled to the higher classification and salary.
Booth told the board the case would have a "profound effect on the courts from now on," and his office had received in the past week petitions for new trials from 30 inmates, including a man who was sentenced in 1944.
The board granted Booth's request.
• Jacksonville University conferred degrees to 131 graduates at the college's 29th annual commencement exercises. Before the ceremony, it was announced JU had awarded a $690,897 contract for construction of a College of Music and Fine Arts building.
University of Miami President Henry King Stanford was the keynote speaker. He received JU's first honorary doctor of civil law degree, presented by Franklyn Johnson, JU president.
• The Duval County Legislative Delegation introduced a bill that would create the Jacksonville Port Authority. The delegation announced its members had agreed in principle on legislation that would allow the City to take over operation of the municipal docks and terminal and the development of Blount Island.
The authority would consist of seven members, including one each from the City and County commissions. The other five members would be appointed by the governor from a list of nominees provided by the delegation.
The authority would be empowered to issue revenue certificates and, subject to a referendum, general obligation bonds secured by an ad valorem debt service tax up to 1.5 mills.
• More than 5,000 Boy Scouts from 215 units participated Saturday in the annual exposition of the North Florida Council, Boy Scouts of America. Exhibits in the Gator Bowl were open to the public.
One of the highlights of the exposition was the presentation of a charter to Scout Squadron 18 aboard an airplane circling over the stadium, with loudspeakers broadcasting the ceremony to spectators below.
The aircraft was a C141 Globemaster stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La.
Members of the squadron, their sponsors and other dignitaries boarded the aircraft at Imeson Airport. While the plane circled, Thomas McGehee, president of the Duval County Community Chest-United Fund, made the presentation.
Squadron 18, sponsored by Riverside Presbyterian Church, was nicknamed the "Flying Eagles" because 13 of its 15 members were Eagle Scouts.
Herpetologist Ross Allen brought alligators, rattlesnakes and Seminole Indians to the exposition to "lend atmosphere to the occasion."
• Civic leaders said the award of three contracts to Thiokol Chemical Corp. by the U.S. Air Force was great news for Jacksonville.
Much of the work on three contracts for the development of large solid-fuel rocket boosters would be done at the Thiokol division in Camden County, Ga., near Woodbine.
"This places Jacksonville squarely between two great space centers of the Atlantic Seaboard, Thiokol and Canaveral," said Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce President and General Manager William S. Johnson.
"This should be a great stimulus to the states of Florida and Georgia to expedite construction of Interstate Route 95 and to make immediate improvements to U.S. 17," he said.
C. William Beaufort, president of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, said the awarding of the contracts to Thiokol was a "great boost" to the economy of the entire Northeast Florida and South Georgia area.
"Located where we are in Jacksonville, between Thiokol and the Cape, we are bound to see great results from these great projects being in our area. From a geographical standpoint alone, we can't help but benefit. This news is a great thrill and should be a stimulus to others in this area to really get into the space program," Beaufort said.