Originally published in the Cecil Whig
1965 was a tumultuous year: the war in Vietnam ramped up with the addition of over 100,000 United States servicemen. Anti-war demonstrations increased with thousands protesting from California to Washington, DC. Civil Rights would boil over with the Watts riots in Los Angeles, tens of thousands of individuals, both black and white, marching for equal rights across the South, and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Cecil County schools would also desegregate that year. However, as the New Year dawned, fifty years ago this week, a review of the front page of the Cecil Whig for January 6th (the first edition of the paper for the New Year) showed much more tranquility. The first Cecil County baby of 1965 was born at Union Hospital, Carolyn Michele Russell, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Luther Russell of North East. The bottom of the page included coverage of the 52nd Birthday Luncheon of the Women’s Club of Elkton. Pictured are Mrs. Henry Warburton, Jr., President of the Maryland Federation of Women’s Clubs; Mrs. W. Norman Wharrett, President of the Eastern Shore District of the Federation; Mrs. Daniel J. Smith, First VP of the Women’s Club of Elkton; and the guest speaker for the event, Mrs. Ella Schleunes of Baltimore.
Not all of the news of the day was fluff. Nestled in the middle of the front page was notice of the filing of a civil suit for $190,000 in damages by Mrs. and Mrs. Henry S. Berry of Elkton as the result of the Boeing 707 Airline crash near Elkton in December, of 1963. The suit requests payment for injuries to Mrs. Berry and damage to the Berry property from crash debris. It alleges Butler Aviation-Friendship, the defendant, used a dangerous fuel for the weather conditions and the plane’s equipment. This suit is similar to another filed by ten families of crash victims for $21 million, also centering on the fuel used.
On an inside page there is notice of Army Private Gary N. Leonard being home on leave for the holidays. Pvt. Leonard, a graduate of Perryville High School, had just completed his basic training and was preparing to travel to San Francisco where he would ship out for a 13 month tour of duty in Korea.
Other pages illustrate the effect of fifty years of inflation as whole chicken fryers at Acme cost 25 cents per pound. Boneless chuck roasts are going for 56 cents per pound while a pint of strawberries, the first week in January, cost just 59 cents! And if you have the coupon, you can receive an additional 100 S&H Green Stamps with a $10 purchase. Limit one per family. Oh, and before we leave the world of food in 1965, the McDonald’s in Newark advertises milk shakes for 22 cents each!
In sports, the Elkton Elks high school basketball team beat North Harford 55 to 41, but could not repeat against the Elkton Alumni the next day, who beat the varsity team, 55 to 52.
Finally, as this was at the close of the holiday season, the Simmons family (Lawrence, Elizabeth and daughter Sara Ann) of Bacon Hill boasted a Christmas tree featuring 800 lights and 2000 ornaments.
This and nearly all editions of the Cecil Whig and other county newspapers from across the centuries are available at the Historical Society of Cecil County. See our web site for these and other resources as well as our operating hours at www.cecilhistory.org.
Happy New Year from the board of directors of the Historical Society of Cecil County!