Edward R. Murrow’s 104th Birthday

Edward R. Murrow photographed by Don Sturkey
Photograph by Don Sturkey

On this day in 1908 Edward R. Murrow was born in the Guilford County community of Polecat Creek. Named Egbert Roscoe Murrow by his parents, the CBS News broadcast legend changed his name to Edward while a college student. The Murrow family left their Guilford County farm when Murrow was six and moved to Washington in search of more prosperous work in the lumber industry. However, Murrow always remained loyal to his Piedmont roots, visiting Guilford County and other parts of the state throughout his life. The Charlotte Observer‘s Don Sturkey captured the image above during Murrow’s stay at the Hotel Charlotte in the Queen City in December 1956. The photograph below was taken about 1951 and is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Photographic Laboratory collection. The photographer, location and exact date of the photograph are unknown. I’m still searchng for details on Murrow’s visits to Chapel Hill and Charlotte. I’ll add to the story if and when I find additional information. In the meantime, our colleagues at NCPedia have created a rich entry on Murrow.
Edward R. Murrow with
Gordon Gray, president of the UNC system; Edward R. Murrow; F.O. Carver, president of the Carolinas Radio News Directors Association; and Chancellor Robert B. House

An ‘integrationist’ GOP candidate for governor in ’64?

“In the [1964] North Carolina governor’s race, approximately 97 percent of black voters preferred segregationist Democrat Dan K. Moore to his integrationist Republican opponent, Robert L. Gavin. As Gavin explained, ‘This I believe was because of the determination of the Negro race to defeat our [Goldwater-Miller] national ticket.’ ”

– From “Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party” by Geoffrey Kabaservice (2012) 

As a two-time gubernatorial candidate in the early ’60s, Gavin may have qualified as a situational moderate — but “integrationist”?

Rob Christensen notes in “The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics” that when running against Terry Sanford in 1960, Gavin had “said if the Democrats were elected, Congressman Adam Clayton Powell  — the only black in Congress — would try to integrate every public school in North Carolina.”