If you haven’t been in a while to see what’s new, it’s time to visit the Martinsville-Henry County Heritage Museum (formerly the Martinsville-Henry County Heritage Center & Museum).
The museum, located in the Historic Henry County Courthouse at 1 E. Main St., Martinsville, has three new exhibits plus a new children’s area:
Among the exhibits is “Connected Community,” which shows the ways people of the area have remained in touch and in the know. They include local newspapers, TV stations, radio stations and company newsletters. Highlights of the exhibit include:
- The Aug. 11, 1961, edition of the Martinsville Tribune, a newspaper by and for black residents during the Civil Rights era. Its front-page article describes how the four Martinsville lunch counters were integrated on Aug. 8, 1961. That article, plus an article on the same topic by the mainstream newspaper, the Martinsville Bulletin, are printed out and on display.
- An Amberola record player which plays cylindrical, not disc-shaped, records, on loan from Walter Shepard of Martinsville.
- Early radios, along with four front-page newspaper articles from 1922, the year the first radios came to Martinsville, describing the wonder of radio and who was listening to what on the radio.
Another new exhibit, “Sew Special,” celebrates how homemakers in years past sewed the clothes their families wore. Highlights include:
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Sew Special: “Sew Special” pays tribute to the ways homemakers have made their family’s clothes through the generations. Highlights include exquisite dresses made by four generations of the family of Mary Ann Elizabeth Moore, and the resourcefulness of women in the early 1900s who made clothes from feedsacks. Dresses made by four generations of the Mary Ann Elizabeth Moore family, lent by her granddaughter, Judy Epperly.
- Sewing machines and sundries through the years.
- Sewing tutelage book and supplies owned by Rosa Boyd Austin, who had been the seamstress for the R.J. Reynold’s family, lent by her granddaughter, Barbara Parcell Shively.
A third exhibit, “MHC After Dark,” is about mid-century nightlife and other events at Paradise Inn and Club Martinique. This exhibit is upstairs, paired with a selection of dresses and fur coats worn by women in the mid-1900s.
The Children’s Area started with a child-sized table and chairs donated by Ann Martin. It has activities for children, including a miniature log cabin donated by Carolyn Beale of Martinsville, lace-up cards, foam blocks and other pastimes.
People who have lent and/or gifted items for these exhibits include:
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Cabin 2: This cabin made by Lawrence Penn of Fieldale, donated by Carolyn Beale, is one of the items for kids to play with at the MHC Heritage Museum’s new children’s area. Carolyn Beale of Martinsville
- Dora Bennett of Martinsville
- Ann Crenshaw of Martinsville
- Alex Crowder of Fieldale
- Linda Demarcey of Martinsville
- Judy Epperly of Martinsville
- Regina Flora of Ridgeway
- Steve Isom of Fieldale
- Debbie Hall of the Enterprise/Henry County Enterprise
- Tiffany Hayworth of Martinsville
- Cheryl Hedgecock of Spencer
- Dr. Mervyn King of Martinsville
- Holly Kozelsky of Dyer Store
- Sheila Martin of Bassett
- Myrna McCrickard Ferguson of Collinsville
- Steve Merricks of Stanleytown
- Joe Prater of Fieldale
- Barbara Parcell Shively of Martinsville
- O.G. Reid of Martinsville
- Charles Roark of Star News
- Davis Scott of Bassett
- Kathy Shelton of Spencer
- Walter Sheppard of Martinsville
- Brenda Williams of Martinsville
Admission to the museum is free.
A reception for the new exhibits will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, June 14, at the MHC Heritage Museum, 1 E. Main St., Martinsville. Wine, beer and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Please RSVP attendance (name and number of people in your party) by June 11 to (276) 403-4697 or mhchistoricalsociety@gmail.com.
