Military room worth visiting
Published 11:00 pm Saturday, May 2, 2009
We were honored to receive a group from Leadership Tri-State at the Lawrence County Historical Museum this week. They made a tour of the museum and seemed very pleased with what they saw. They said they would return.
Any group or school class that wants to visit the museum may call 533-0208 or 532-1222. When I came to the museum last Sunday I was pleased to hear Jean Kinley playing the piano we recently bought. She commented the piano was a very good purchase for the historical society. We plan to have Jean play a concert in the near future. Please come and hear a 97-year-old lady who still gives lessons perform. She is great.
A docent meeting was conducted last Saturday and it was a very good meeting with our leaders. Refreshments were served and they were outstanding. If you are interested in becoming a docent please come to the museum and get an application. We would be pleased to have you. I guarantee you will enjoy it. Also, if you want to be a member of the historical society stop by and we can make it happen. The next docent meeting will be 11 a.m. Saturday, May 16. Refreshments will be served. There will be an orientation for the new members.
Instead of all of our merchandise being in the sun room, different items, such as books, will be on the glass case under the stairway. You can find different items for purchase throughout the museum.
The pottery is in the sun room and when you come in, look around and see what we have for you. Last Sunday, after listening to Jean Kinley perform on the piano, I went to the military room upstairs.
Here you will find flags, swords and guns. There are uniforms (including Virginia Payne, who was a WAVE), 1st Sgt. Emmet A. Classing, who spent 30 years in the Army— C. 7, a memorial for Harold Freeman Spears, who died in service to his country.
He was in the Marine Corps. Frank Bruce had a composite picture of five members of his family in service. Dr. George Hunter, who served in World War I and II, is honored here. We recently received an addition of Billy Barnett, 1932-1950, who was killed in action in Korea. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery, which is the second in line of a war medal. Books of WWI and WWII and roster of the Civil War can be found. Col. Lambert has his place in the glass case in this room.
This is a very interesting room and we welcome you to stop by and visit it. A plaque of John Kennedy, made by Carlton Davidson, our former state representative, is housed here. Come in and look around, you may find an ancestor here.
Historical fact:
Convicted of tax evasion, Alphonse Capone enters a federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Ga. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. In 1899 he entered organized crime as a young man, married and then moved his family to Chicago in 1919. By 1925, Capone gains control of the majority of Chicago’s underworld, controlling all aspects of prohibition-era racketeering. Unable to bring charges against Public Enemy 1 for numerous violent crimes (including masterminding the Valentine’s Day massacre in 1920) federal authorities fall back on tax evasion indictments. — taken from “History” May/June 2009.