By Holly Kozelsky
If you think now is a scary time to be living through, take a look at a real fright – 1951.
Martinsville, exactly three-quarters of a century before now, was going through a scary time with a lot to be worried about. The Korean War and Red Scare had people afraid of what was going on in the world; they were suspicious of Communism and on guard against nuclear war. However, the threat didn’t just come from without – it came from within, as relations between Martinsville residents were anything but gentle.
And in the midst of all that political and social turmoil, a terrible fire destroyed a large part of the town people where people shopped and ate, and where many made their livings.
First, it was the early years of the Red Scare, when Americans were afraid of Communism. They also were afraid of Russia dropping an atomic bomb. And remember, these generations had just lived through World War II, so the dangers and deprivations of war were very real to them.
The Civilian Defense Authority was regular local men joining up alongside the policemen and firemen to defend our city from attack. Each community had a CDA, as part of an effort coordinated by the federal government, which set quotas on how many men each community had to have join in its forces.
The federal government also was distributing pamphlets describing the “Six Survival Secrets” of an atomic attack. Air raids were being conducted in Martinsville, and children were being taught to crouch under their desks.
(Oh – are you wondering what the trick was to save yourself from an atomic bomb? Supposedly, it was this: 1, Try to get shielded, such as in a basement, subway or ditch; 2, Drop flat on the floor or ground; 3, Bury your face in your arms; 4, Don’t rush outside right afterward; 5, Eat only canned food and drinks; 6, Don’t start rumors. Feel better now?)
As people worried from attacks from afar, a very visible attack of a different nature on downtown Martinsville left ugly scars for years – a devastating fire Jan. 7 and 8, 1951. That fire started in and wiped out the Banner (Planters) Warehouse on Franklin and Depot Streets (the site now is the parking lot below TheatreWorks’ Black Box Theatre). The fire traveled in three directions, destroying the buildings in its paths.
February started off with seven funerals that had been long anticipated while efforts had been made to ward them off.
Those funerals followed the executions of the Martinsville Seven, black men who had been accused of raping Mrs. Ruby Stroud Floyd, 32, on Jan. 8, 1949, in Martinsville. Their sentences of execution had been handed down on May 43, 1949, and in the 20 months since, five reprieves were granted while the case was carried through the state and federal courts, four times to the U.S. Supreme Court or one of its justices.
The first four executions happened on Feb. 2, 1951. They died in this order: Joey Henry Hampton, 22; Howard Lee Hairston, 21; Booker T. Millner, 22, and Frank Hairston Jr., 21, all in the electric chair. Before they were electrocuted, though, George Thomas Hailey, 27, who had been sentenced for murder in the rape slaying of a 14-year-old girl was killed in the chair.
Two ambulances, which had left Martinsville at 1 a.m., were waiting outside to take their bodies home.
Frank Hairston, the last to be electrocuted, was the 49th black person to die in the same electric chair for rape since the chair was installed in 1908. No white man had been executed for rape in Virginia since 1908.
On Feb. 5, the final three of the Martinsville Seven were executed: John Clabon Taylor, 24 James Luther Hairston, 23; and Francis De Sales Grayson, 40. Picketers marched around the White House grounds, and other protesters held a march at the State Capitol in Richmond.
In Martinsville, black people and white people were suspicious of and afraid of each other.
More information on these and other matters are in the MHC Historical Society’s daily “Looking Back” column, which tells what happened on this date 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago. You can see it on https://www.mhchistoricalsociety.org/looking-back.
Just be sure to brace yourself when you read the 1951 entries. They were pretty discouraging for December, January and February. What’s next for March?
