Alice Sink - Wicked Greensboro

PRAISE FOR ALICE SINKS WRITING

Sink has taken her memories and channeled them into five years of research and writing that resulted in herbook The Grit Behind the Miracle, which chronicles the true story of the Infantile Paralysis Hospital that was built in 54 hours in 1944.

Jill Doss-Raines, Lexington Dispatch

Throughout the rare glimpses from 1900 to around the early 1950s, Sink stuck to one consistent theme in Kernersville. Sink portrayedthe sense of community.

Brandon Keel, Kernersville News

Boarding House Reach reminds us of one of the most important truths of life: There are no ordinary people! Every story here is fascinatingand every one importantly belongs to history.

Fred Chappell

Community abounds in a colorful new book about the history of North Carolina boarding housesa travelers guide to a lost place that was small-town and worldly at the same time.

Lorraine Ahearn, Greensboro News & Record

A very highly recommended addition for academic and community library collections, Boarding House Reach could serve as a template for similar studies for other states.

Midwest Book Review

Hidden History of the Piedmont Triad recounts a number of interesting stories from throughout the Triadfrom historic people and places to lesser-known colorful slices of life.

Jimmy Tomlin, High Point Enterprise

[In Hidden History of the Piedmont Triad] Sink writes about Lexingtons downtown dime stores. She describes how each counter was like a different department of the store, with a candy counter and comic book sections popular with childrenand makeup counters that carried old-fashioned items such as Tangee lipstick and Evening in Paris perfume.

Vikki Broughton Hodges, Dispatch

Did you know that a nightclub in High Point once hosted the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington? Have you heard the story of Lexington native John Andrew Roman, put to death on circumstantial evidence, or the local World War II fighter plane pilot who flew eighty-two missions to prevent German fighters from attacking American bombers? These are but three of the many little-known storiesfound in Hidden History of the Piedmont Triad.

Arbor Lamplighter

[Hidden History of the Piedmont Triad]covers people, places and events that have been forgotten.

Ryan Gay, lifestyles editor, Kernersville News

In Hidden History of the Piedmont Triad, author Alice Sink rediscovers the quirky stories of the Piedmont Triadtying North Carolina into the rest of world history.

Our State Magazine

Hidden History of Hilton Head offers a lively array of historical tidbits and tales. From beautiful poems written by renowned locals to the songs that guided the slaves to freedom and time-tested regional recipes, author Alice Sinks collection truly encompasses the spirit of the Lowcountry.

The History Press (Charleston, SC)

The premise of No [Wo]man Is an Island is outstanding! I laughed out loudeven hollered a few timesdont remember doing that since Raney and Walking Across Egypt. I can see it as a TV sit-com if the PC police wouldnt kill it.

Carol Branard

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2011 by Alice Sink

All rights reserved

All images are from the Library of Congress.

First published 2011

E-book edition 2012

ISBN 978.1.61423.440.1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sink, Alice E.

Wicked Greensboro / Alice Sink.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

print edition ISBN 978-1-60949-275-5

1. Crime--North Carolina--Greensboro--History--Anecdotes. 2. Corruption--North Carolina--Greensboro--History--Anecdotes. 3. Criminals--North Carolina--Greensboro--Biography--Anecdotes. 4. Greensboro (N.C.)--History--Anecdotes. 5. Greensboro (N.C.)--Social conditions--Anecdotes. 6. Greensboro (N.C.)--Moral conditions--Anecdotes. 7. Greensboro (N.C.)--Biography--Anecdotes. I. Title.

HV6795.G73S46 2011

364.10975662--dc22

2011008304

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

To Dr. William (Bill) McKeown, our surrogate son, good friend and family physicianwho, by the way, does not have a wicked bone in his body.

Contents

Preface

An unknown local writer of the 1880s recaptured something of life and customs in Greensboro before the Civil War. He writes a wickedly (showing great skill) glorified account of the perfect life:

[Looking back] to the time when a few [gas] lamps, secured on top of posts, one to each block, lighted Greensboro on those nights when the moon refused to shine; when pony phaetons, or the family coach and a few sweetheart buggies were the means of transportation; when small negro boys were kept busy running to and fro bearing notes of invitation, of condolence, of congratulation, and perchance of love before the days of the telephone; when housemaids or butlers were sent to neighbors and friends across town laden with baskets and waiters of flowersmessages of love and friendship; when maidens as well as matrons were never seen on the street after sunset without an arm secure within that of her manly escort; when matrons could be distinguished from girls by their subdued and dignified dress; when the girls themselves wore dresses from four to six yards wide and always long enough to reach the toes of their slippers; when neatly braided coiled hair was the fashion after sixteen years of age; when men were called dudesand wore their trousers skin tight, the upper lip adorned with cute mustachios and twirled their canes as they walked down the streets; when competent and faithful cooks ruled the kitchen; when a Smithfield ham, a 10-pound roast, and a turkey were placed upon the same dinner table on Sundays when company came; when all good sermons took one hour and often an hour and a half for delivery; when people went to visit each other instead of calling; when ladies were never seen on Main Street save when compelled to shop; when every winter brought snow about Thanksgiving time and from then until March save for intervals for a week, perhaps, there was plenty of snow to make coasting down College Hill the joy of children by day and the delight of grown folks by night; when the elm trees on West Market Street formed a veritable vista, the branches overhead interwoven into fretwork, through which the sun made wonderful patterns on the graveled street below; when Elm was really Elm Street, shady and beautiful; when Church Street was a winding road and North Elm Street stopped in front of the O. Henry Hotel; when South Greensboro was the home of half a dozen old families and only a handful of houses were seen beyond Greensboro College.

Greensboro and its people have always been good to me. I have family and friends living there. I attended Girls State there many, many years ago and was even elected lieutenant governor. I received both my undergraduate and graduate school education at UNCG, studying with excellent professors and acclaimed writers Fred Chappell, Lee Zacharias and Arturo Vivante. Today, I present programs and have book signings for Greensboro businesses and book and civic clubs. So, my personal perception of the city is positive; however, as is the case in all places, history does sometimes rear its wicked little head, and when it does, chillingbut truestories are revealed.