Jack and Hugh, 1958

Julian Scheer and Bob Quincy
On November 17, 1958 the Rocky Mount Telegram published this Hugh Morton photograph (cropped tighter) of Julian Scheer (left) and Bob Quincy with a caption informing readers that their book, Choo Choo—The Charlie Justice Story, would be published on November 29. The Charlotte News, for which Scheer and Quincy were columnists, published the same photograph three days earlier. The photograph likely dates from September 20, when Scheer wrote a column about the game, or a subsequent UNC home game day at Kenan Stadium.

It was late summer, 1958. I was getting ready for my first year at UNC. In the mail one afternoon, my dad got a UNC General Alumni Association newsletter. Inside was a list of several UNC authors who had books coming out soon, including Bob Quincy and Julian Scheer and their biography of my all time hero Charlie Justice. The newsletter said the book, titled Choo Choo: The Charlie Justice Story, would be out on November 29, 1958.

https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/morton_highlights/id/712
Bob Quincy, Julian Scheer, and Charlie Justice with copy of Choo Choo: The Charlie Justice Story, circa September 1958.

I left for school on September 18th and soon after I arrived on campus, I visited the Intimate Bookshop on Franklin Street. (It was the original “Intimate,” the one with the squeaky wooden floors). The man at the store said they expected to have the book in time for Christmas.

November 29th was the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I was at home in Asheboro, so I went downtown to see if Scott’s Book Store had the book. They didn’t, so as soon as I got back to school on Monday I went to the Intimate, and they had the book. I got it, went back to my room in Cobb Dorm and read it in one sitting. It was great and I could not believe the magnificent pictures taken by Hugh Morton. I knew who Morton was. I had seen his name under sports pictures in the newspapers, many of which I had clipped and pasted in a huge scrapbook. And my dad and I had also visited Grandfather Mountain in August of 1953 and had walked across the Mile High Swinging Bridge.

I wanted to send Mr. Morton a letter and tell him how much I liked the pictures, but I didn’t have his address. I thought I had heard he lived in Wilmington but, since I had no address, I decided to call Grandfather Mountain and leave a message with the switchboard operator. So, on Tuesday afternoon, December 2, 1958 . . . I called.

When the operator answered, I introduced myself and told her why I was calling. Much to my surprise she said, “Mr. Morton is here in the office, would you like to speak with him?”

“Yes” is all I could get out.

And then a few seconds later . . . “Hello Jack, this is Hugh Morton.”

We talked for almost ten minutes. Turns out we were both huge fans of Charlie Justice. And because of that connection, Hugh Morton and I became friends—a friendship that lasted for almost forty-eight years, from December 2, 1958 to June 1, 2006.

Happy one hundredth, Hugh

Hugh Morton posed holding camera in snowy scene
Hugh Morton

On this day 100 years ago, Hugh Morton was born.

Every time I sat down to write about the significance of today I got serious writer’s block, becoming a bit overwhelmed about needing to say something, well, significant. I kept digging through the Morton collection’s finding aid and period newspapers available online, looking for something that had yet to be said. In short, there is just too much to say about a person’s seventy-one years with a camera without writing a book for a blog post.

Photographers work one frame, one exposure, at at time. They often explore a subject by creating multiple images—varying their distance, changing their angle of view, switching to a different focal length lens, and altering the plane or depth of focus.

A View to Hugh launched on November 1, 2007, more than fourteen years ago. During that time, we have deliberately focused on stories told through Hugh Morton’s photographs. I decided during the blog’s early days to “focus on the photographs, not the person.” The arrival of one’s one hundredth birthday, however, finds one looking more at the person. Enough time has passed since beginning the blog. Our distance from the subject has lengthened. We can now change our angles of view, switch lenses, alter our focus. A 100th anniversary provides the space to do so.

Over the course of this coming year we hope to bring more biographical perspective to our writing. It befits the celebration of someone’s 100th birth year—and it is certainly less daunting than trying to squeeze a tome into a short story. Our subject will still be the photographs of Hugh Morton, but we aspire to bring more biographical perspective to the storytelling. For example, I have been exploring how and when Morton began his involvement with the Carolinas Press Photographers Association, eventually becoming its vice president and then president. Another example will be a story on the newspaper column he briefly wrote.

And what about next year? Shall we get back to basics and call it Morton 101? We shall see.

New name added to Morton’s presidential list

Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Joseph R. Biden Jr. during a confirmation hearing held by the European Affairs Subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The editor cropped this detail from a negative by Hugh Morton.

During his seventy years with a camera, we believe Hugh Morton photographed eleven United States presidents—from Franklin Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. Then, on January 20, 2021, we added a twelfth name to the list.

It was Wednesday, March 4, 1987: Hugh Morton and Smith Barrier, Greensboro News & Record Sports Editor, drove to Washington, D.C. Likely, Barrier was going to cover the 1987 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament, to be played at Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, and Morton had arranged interviews and photo sessions with United States Senator Jesse Helms and Tar Heel newsman David Brinkley for his forthcoming book Making a Difference in North Carolina (published in 1988) with co-author Ed Rankin Jr. The initial link above will carry you to the first of a three-part series describing their trip.

Morton wrote in his 1996 book, Sixty Years with a Camera, Ed Rankin and Jesse Helms were roommates when they got out of school and worked for newspapers in Raleigh. So when Ed and I authored the book, Making a Difference in North Carolina, the senator spread the red carpet for us in Washington.” Morton photographed Helms in different settings, including a hearing by the European Affairs subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on March 5, 1987. On that day the subcommittee debated Ronald Reagan’s appointment of Jack F. Matlock Jr. to be ambassador to the Soviet Union. Matlock was a native of Greensboro and a Duke University graduate. (The Senate confirmed Matlock’s appointment later that month.)

Morton also photographed other senators during the subcommittee hearing, one of whom was Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware. Biden began his first term in the Senate in January 1973, just thirty years old after being elected at the age of twenty-nine.  Two years later, Biden’s fellow senators elected him to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Clairborne Pell was the committee’s chairman when Morton visited, having succeeded Indiana’s Richard Lugar (1985–1987).  Two decades later, Biden and Helms would combine to chair that committee for ten of the next fourteen years, interrupted only by a second Lugar chairmanship.

  • Jesse Helms: 1995–2001
  • Joseph R. Biden Jr.: 2001–2003
  • Richard G. Lugar: 2003–2007
  • Joseph R. Biden Jr.: 2007–2009

Morton also photographed Lugar that day. A photograph of Biden, Helms, and Lugar by Morton appears on page 290 of Making a Difference in North Carolina. That negative is in the collection but has not been digitized, so here is a similar scene from the hearing:

https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/morton_highlights/id/1137
Left to right: United States Senators Joseph R. Biden Jr., Jesse Helms, and Richard Lugar.

Nearly thirty-four years after Morton made these photographs, on January 20, 2021, the United States inaugurated Biden as its forty-sixth president—thus bringing Morton’s list of presidential photographs to twelve. Here’s Morton’s presidential list, with links to online images:

In full disclosure, here is the full view of Morton’s negative used at the beginning of this post, without cropping.

Joseph R. Biden and Jesse Helms photograph without crop
Morton’s photograph of Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Jesse Helms, without the cropping above that only shows Biden.

A View to Hugh in 2021

Hugh Morton feeding bear
Hugh Morton feeding a black bear from his hand, in the Grandfather Mountain black bear habitat.

Happy New Year, 2021!  It has been essentially impossible to maintain A View to Hugh during the past ten months during the coronavirus pandemic. Our blog entries are stories centered around photographs and negatives from the Hugh Morton collection, but I did not have access to the physical collection while working from home. Also, I have been creating an online exhibition with a team of co-workers that has been very research intensive. As a result, this blog has been hibernating like a bear . . . but during the time of year when bears are not in hibernation.

The good news for 2021 and A View to Hugh is that I will soon be able to access the Morton collection negatives and prints every three weeks on a cyclical schedule starting January 11.  During those weeks I will be working inside Wilson Library on the “Digital First” team digitizing Special Collections’ materials requested by remote researchers.  After my four-hour shifts, I will have a few hours in the afternoon to work on my typical tasks.

This change in my work environment comes on the eve of the one hundredth anniversary of Hugh Morton’s birth on February 19. As the calendar continues, my next work week inside Wilson Library will be February 1–5. That schedule provides two weeks to prepare blog posts ahead of Morton’s centennial birthday.

Are there new topics you would like us to explore or previous posts you’d like us to revisit? Please let us know and we’ll do our best to cover the topic this celebratory year.

A UNC friend like no other

In early 2004, when Hugh Morton selected a panel of “Golden Age” UNC football athletes to help sculptor Johnpaul Harris in preparing the Charlie Justice statue, Joe Neikirk was first on the list. After all, Neikirk had originated the statue idea.  On this day, May 29, 2020 Neikirk would have turned 92 and Hugh Morton collection volunteer Jack Hilliard looks back at the life and times of Joseph Randolph Neikirk, a friend of Carolina like no other.

group during Charlie Justice statue dedication day, November 5, 2004
Charlie Justice statue dedication day, November 5, 2004 (left to right): Woody Durham, “Voice of the Tar Heels”; Charlie Justice teammates Art Weiner (All America end), Joe Neikirk (center); and then UNC Athletic Director Dick Baddour. Photograph by Hugh Morton.

Joe Neikirk arrived on the UNC campus in the fall of 1946 and went out for the football team. He played center and was a kickoff specialist for the freshman team at first, but late in the 1946 season, when varsity center Chan Highsmith was injured, Neikirk became the varsity back-up center . . . just in time for the 1947 Sugar Bowl game. During the ’47, ’48, and ’49 seasons, Neikirk became an extremely important part of what would become known as “The Golden Era” of Carolina football. During the 1948 season, Neikirk was included in one of the most famous Hugh Morton pictures taken during the era. The image was taken following Carolina’s historic win over Duke on November 20, 1948. All-America Charlie Justice’s 43-yard-touchdown run set the stage for the 20-to-0 win and following the game Neikirk, Bob Cox, and Bob Mitten carried Justice off the field.

Charlie Justice on shoulders of teammates
1948: #22 UNC tailback Charlie Justice on shoulders of teammates following 20-0 win over Duke in Kenan Stadium; #63 UNC center Joe Neikirk; #42 UNC left Guard Bob Mitten; #69 UNC right end Bob Cox; #81 UNC right tackle Ted Hazelwood (background left). Cropped version of photograph appears on cover of 4 December 1948 issue of THE STATE, the November 1948 issue of THE ALUMNI REVIEW, and the 1949 YACKETY YACK.

Morton’s image is one of the most reproduced Charlie Justice pictures and was featured on the cover of The State magazine issue of December 4, 1948. Morton always included the picture in his slide shows and in his 1988 book, “Making a Difference in North Carolina” (page 256), and his 2003 book, Hugh Morton’s North Carolina (page 165). The image is also in the 1949 UNC yearbook The Yackety Yack (page 259).

Neikirk graduated from Carolina on June 5, 1950 receiving a BA degree in Education. On July 29, 1950 he married the love of his life Eleanor (Nonnie) McClure. Following his graduation, Neikirk became the head football coach at Mooresville High for three years. In 1955, he began his career at an entry-level position with the Norfolk and Western Railway and progressed through numerous positions.

During his time with the railway, he always kept his eye on the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, and returned often for reunions and special events honoring his time and his teammates at UNC.  One of those special reunions came during the weekend of October 30th, 1971 when the teams of ’46, ’47, and ’48 celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary, highlighted by the return of their head coach Carl Snavely to Chapel Hill after almost twenty years. Joe and Nonnie Neikirk traveled for the reunion from Chagrin Falls, Ohio where Joe was Vice President of the Erie Lackawanna Railway Company. Part of the celebration was a Hugh Morton slide show.

When Joe and Nonnie came back to Chapel Hill for graduation/reunion weekend in May of 1989, Joe had advanced to Vice Chairman of Norfolk Southern Corporation and he took part in the 1989 edition of “Saturday Morning in Chapel Hill,” before a full house in Memorial Hall. Neikirk’s teammate Bob Cox conducted that morning’s program, “Why Did We Have It So Good and What Made Us Different.” Nine Tar Heel legends shared stories of their time at Carolina in the program, and once again, a Hugh Morton slide show kicked off the proceedings.

In 1993, Neikirk retired from Norfolk Southern, and he and Nonnie moved back to Chapel Hill. Soon after their return, Joe began working on a major project celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Carolina’s first bowl trip, the 1947 Sugar Bowl. He arranged for a Norfolk Southern train with twenty-two cars to transport ninety UNC team members, managers, wives, and special guests to New Orleans to meet up with about forty members of the University of Georgia’s 1947 Sugar Bowl team.

That Sugar Bowl reunion trip was one to be remembered. Gus Purcell, a tailback on the ’47 team said, “the Sugar Bowl trip was a dream come true.” Said Hugh Morton, “It was really a fun trip, and I would not take anything for having gone on it.”  And UNC All America end Art Weiner said, “Our trip was great and we are still marveling that Joe Neikirk could put it together.” Author and artist Harold Styers, in his book, Hark the Sound: A Time Remembered and a Sentimental Journey declared Neikirk the “Most Valuable Player” of 1997.

Neikirk illustration as MVP

Two years later, UNC’s “Voice of the Tar Heels” Woody Durham paired with the UNC General Alumni Association to present a series of programs called “History of Sports at Carolina: Football.” On September 27, 1999 he featured “The Justice Years 1946-1949.” Neikirk, Paul Rizzo, a blocking back on the Golden Era teams, and Art Weiner, the All America end did a marvelous job of reliving that fabulous era. It was at this gathering that I met Joe Neikirk’s wife Nonnie, a delightful lady. We talked at length about films from the Golden Era. Over the next few months, I sent her and Joe several cassettes with game film from the era.

On December 7, 2000, I received a letter from Joe with holiday greetings, and then he said,” Jack, I’m laying the ground work on a project that I’ll be in touch with you about after the first of the Year.” That project turned out to be the Charlie Justice statue project. He teamed with Hugh Morton, who in turn brought sculptor Johnpaul Harris to the project. Morton also selected a team of Justice Era players to aid Harris. The team made two visits to Harris’ Asheboro studio. Of course Morton brought his camera on each of those visits. One of those pictures is in his 2006 book, Hugh Morton: North Carolina Photographer (page 155).

Charlie Justice statue on a flatbed trailer
The Charlie Justice statue on a flatbed trailer before it was put in place on November 4, 2004 (Left to right) Joe Neikirk, former UNC system president Dr. William C. Friday, and sculptor Johnpaul Harris. Photograph by Hugh Morton.

On Thursday, November 4, 2004, the Morton team gathered at the Kenan Football Center to put the 900-pound-statue in place.

Justice statue dedication
The Charlie Justice statue dedication day, November 5, 2004 with Justice-era players gather in front of the statue. Photograph by Hugh Morton.

The following day, under a beautiful Carolina blue sky, the statue was dedicated. Moderator UNC’s Athletic Director Dick Baddour introduced Tar Heel dignitaries and former players. Of course, one of those players was Neikirk. It was during his remarks that something happened that will never be forgotten.

Just as Neikirk said, “I can’t help but believe that Charlie and Sarah are looking down with pride,” the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower chimed out the quarter-hour. Neikirk raised his hands and looked up into the Carolina blue sky. In describing the incident UNC football historian Lee Pace said “No one present believed there was anything coincidental about it.”

In addition to his sense of humor and quick wit, Joe Neikirk was a great story teller. On March 30, 2006, the late Dr. Ron Hyatt teamed with the GAA to present a look back at Carolina’s Golden Era. Neikirk teamed with fullback Walt Pupa, and ends Bob Cox and Ed Bilpuch to tell some stories from the era. Neikirk’s story initiated a standing ovation from those gathered at the Hill Alumni Center. The story goes like this:

Four days after Harry Truman defeated Thomas Dewey for the Presidency, Carolina played William & Mary in historic Kenan Memorial Stadium, on November 6, 1948.  Carolina was ranked third in the country and had won thirteen straight games, but William & Mary came to play.  With the score tied at seven and time running out, Carolina had the ball at its own 21 yard line. Billy Hayes went back to pass. He spotted Max Cooke at the 28 and let it fly, but William & Mary’s Joe Mark cut in front of Cooke and made the interception. When Hayes finally got Mark on the ground, the ball was at the Carolina 8 . . . just as the gun sounded to end the game. William & Mary’s All-America Jack Cloud immediately ran up to referee Mr. Dandelake pleading for a time out. Neikirk was standing beside the referee, as he said, “Son, the d— game is over.” Neikirk added “the tie wrecked our season,” but Carolina went on to a 9-0-1 season. By the way, that 1948 Tar Heel team was just last week ranked as the second best UNC football team of all time by the website Tar Heel Illustrated.

Joe Neikirk served on numerous civic and philanthropic boards, including Virginia Institute of Marine Science and William and Mary’s Board of Visitors. He also served as a board member of the UNC Educational Foundation. In gratitude to the University for his opportunity, Neikirk endowed a football scholarship, and in recognition for his distinguished career, Norfolk Southern Foundation established a professorship in the School of Education in his honor.

Joseph Randolph Neikirk passed away on December 22, 2012—two and a half years before the love of his life Eleanor McClure Neikirk passed on June 3, 2015. During their sixty-two years of marriage they raised four sons.

Joe Neikirk will forever be remembered as a member of the greatest generation, who never forgot his UNC Tar Heel roots.

Virtual vacation

Robert Hartley overlooks a cloud-filled valley at Grandfather Mountain
Robert Hartley, longtime former manager of Grandfather backcountry, overlooks a cloud-filled valley at Grandfather Mountain, N. C. The date of this photograph by Hugh Morton is unknown.

In these stay-at-home days, cultural institutions are pursuing various avenues to stay engaged with their communities. One such effort launches today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram: #MuseumVacation. This virtual vacation tour springs from an idea by Eileen Hammond at UNC’s Ackland Museum.  The tour works like this: you travel around the world on a virtual vacation, visiting locations via an image from a museum’s collection. A link will lead you to the next stop on the tour that features another image from a different cultural institution. The North Carolina Collection will be participating in this tour, and its tour stop is atop Grandfather Mountain using the above photograph. The North Carolina Collection will be extending this idea through July with a spinoff under the hashtag #VacationNC. We hope you’ll following along!

Why this image? Well, it is beautiful for one. Secondly, 2020 marks the tenth full operation year of the Grandfather Mountain backcountry becoming a state park, officially established in the spring of 2009 . . . and we like anniversaries at A View to Hugh. Thirdly, state parks reopened last weekend as part of North Carolina’s first phase of reopening, so you can actually go to the park. (Remember that Grandfather Mountain, the scenic tourist attraction which includes the Mile High Swinging Bridge, is a separate entity run by the Grandfather Mountain Foundation.)

Do you have a favorite Hugh Morton photograph that we can feature during the North Carolina Collection’s #VacationNC virtual summer vacation? If so, please let leave a comment!

 

Alumni Reunion Weekend, pandemic style

Charlie Scott
UNC’s Charlie Scott, Class of 1970, attempts a layup during the Tar Heels matchup with the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest in Carmichael Auditorium, January 17, 1970. Scott dropped a career high 43 points that Saturday afternoon, but the Tar Heels fell to Wake Forest, 91-90. After two straight ACC titles and NCAA Final Four appearances in 1968 and 1969, the 1970 Tar Heels finished the season with a first-round upset loss in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and an early exit from the National Invitational Tournament. (Photograph slightly cropped on the left side by the author.)

Had the novel coronavirus pandemic not besieged the world, the southern part of heaven—like many college campuses—would be celebrating commencement this weekend.  At UNC, commencement weekend also marks the alumni reunions for several anniversary years.

Each year for the past decade or so, I’ve assembled into a digital slideshow about 50 to 100 images from the “UNC Photo Lab” collection for the fiftieth anniversary class. Whenever possible, I’ve added images from the Hugh Morton and, more recently, the Durham Herald Company collections. The slide show is part of Wilson Library’s offerings for visiting alumni and anyone who happens to find themselves on campus that day.  Each slideshow has been paired with a selection of songs drawn from the Southern Folk Collection for the same reunion year.  Both run on a continuous loop through the afternoon.  Also on display are the yearbooks for the featured reunion years.  People wander into the building, have some cookies and a cold drink, and take in the architecture, the exhibitions, and our special slideshow and musical walk through memory lane.

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary for the Class of 1970.  With the campus closed in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, I was not able to go through the collections and select images for digitization. Graduation ceremonies are not going to take place, and the General Alumni Association’s weekend celebrations have been postponed. Not to be deterred, Wilson Library created an online version of our Wilson Library open house event.  In some ways it is better because there is direct access to digitized issues of The Daily Tar Heel and Black Ink, neither of which would get placed on display due to the fragility of newsprint.  The above photograph of Charlie Scott is featured in the online event because it is one of the few previously scanned photographs from the 1969–1970 academic year that I can access from home. In the online collection, there are four images from the contest between the Tar Heels and the Demon Deacons played on January 17, 1970.

Side Story

A search through the Morton collection finding suggests that Hugh Morton was not on campus much during that academic year, and that he did not photograph many athletic events. He photographed the UNC versus NC State football game in Raleigh on September 20.  The only other basketball games with photographs in the collection were the North Carolina State on February 9 (although there is a note in the finding aid that says “all same game?”), and the ACC Tournament in March.

 

Our favorite Michael Jordan photographs by Hugh Morton

Michael Jordan April 1985
NBA rookie Michael Jordan lacing up his Nikes, probably April 5, 1985. I suspect there’s a future post in the making with this photograph. My quick fact-check revealed that Nike debuted the original Air Jordan in March. In mid May, The Chicago Tribune declared the Air Jordan shoe “a slam dunk.”

Many UNC basketball fans are likely aware that ESPN has launched a ten-part documentary series about Michael Jordan titled The Last Dance.  Episodes one and two debuted last Sunday; those will be re-run this Sunday, followed by the debuts for episode three and four.  If you are a fan of binge streaming television shows, there’s four hours of immersion viewing for you right there!

I suspect you might be looking for other activities to keep you engaged with the world outside your stay-at-home location. To help you with that, Jack Hilliard and I would like you to share with the readers of  A View to Hugh your favorite Michael Jordan photograph made by Hugh Morton.  Which one is your favorite . . . and most importantly, why?

Please look through the 124 images of MJ in the online Morton collection, then pick your favorite and share in the comments. If you wish (so we can see the image), copy and paste the Reference URL in your comment.  Here’s a screenshot with a red ellipse to help you find it:

Reference URL
The Reference URL is the permanent web address for a record in the digital library software currently used by UNC Libraries. Clicking on the box opens a pop-up window. Select and copy the web address in the top box, then paste that into you comment.

Jack and I have picked ours favorites: mine is above, his is below.  What’s yours?  Please let us know in the comments section! (Please see note below about comments with links.)

Michael Jordan dunk versus University of Virginia

Jack Hilliard

When recalling Michael Jordon’s UNC accomplishments, my favorite Hugh Morton image of Jordan was taken on February 10, 1983 during a game against the University of Virginia in Carmichael.  I think it is my favorite shot simply because it is a classic Jordan pose. It was a game winner, plus there is a beautiful Morton story behind the image. That story goes like this:

  • In early February, 1983 Morton got a call from C.J. Underwood, the longtime anchor and reporter at WBTV, Channel 3, in Charlotte. Underwood wanted to do a feature for his “Carolina Camera” news series about Morton and his longtime association with UNC sports. They both agreed that the UVA game on Thursday, February 10th in Chapel Hill would be a good time to meet and shoot the feature. As the teams warmed up for the game, Jordan came over to Morton’s court-side location, as he often did. During the course of their short conversation, Morton told Jordan about Underwood and the WBTV photographer shooting the feature. As the two parted, Morton said, as he always did, “Have a good game, Michael.” Following that fantastic shot, Michael, as he started back up the court, brushed by Morton and asked, “Was that good enough?”

Jack wrote about this photograph on A View to Hugh back in 2013, celebrating Jordan’s fiftieth birthday, in a post titled The Dunk for the Ages. 

Stephen Fletcher

I picked my favorite Michael Jordan photograph simply because he still has that youthful look with his quick smile, which Morton captured despite it being a posed portrait.  After looking into the background of the photograph, I came to enjoy it even more because yet another “Morton Mystery” emerged: the date of April 5, 1986 that has been provide in the online collection for years is likely incorrect.  A quick check of the Chicago Bulls’ 1986 schedule showed the Bulls in Chicago playing Atlanta, not on the road in Philadelphia.  Looking at the 1985 schedule revealed that the Bulls played the 76ers in Philadelphia a year earlier.  That date made this a rookie-year portrait and a “sneaker” closeup of Jordan donning an early pair of Nike’s Air Jordan shoes.  I love when looking deeper at a photograph unlocks more than meets the eye!

Clicking on the photographs above will take you to the records in the online database, where there are other image made on the same date.  The description for the photograph I selected reads, “Michael Jordan tying his Nike shoes; picture probably taken in Philadelphia, while Morton was on assignment for the 1986 edition of the “Carolina Court” yearbook, published by Art Chansky.” Mr. Chansky: if you’re reading this . . . can you shed any light on the subject?

A Note About Comments with Links

To repel comment spam, we have a Comments Policy. Essentially, the blog software earmarks comments containing links with a Pending status. I’ll be monitoring routinely the Pending Comments folder and approving them periodically.  There’s no need to resubmit your comment if it doesn’t appear right after you submit it.  If your comment is lengthy, you may wish to type it elsewhere (like a word processor) then cut and paste it into the comment box . . . just in case.

White House Easter Egg Roll, 1977

Grandfather Mountain Cloggers at White House
“Grandfather Mountain Cloggers at White House,” during the Easter Egg Roll April 11, 1977.

On April 21, 1876, Congress passed the Turf Protection Law . . . or more formally, “An act to protect the public property, turf and grass of the Capitol Grounds from injury.” The act stipulated that “it shall be the duty of the Capitol police hereafter to prevent any portion of the Capitol grounds and terraces from being used as play-grounds or otherwise, so far as may be necessary to protect the public property, turf and grass from destruction or injury.”

Pray tell why? Apparently Easter Monday egg rolling on the capitol grounds had grown to unsustainable numbers!

Easter Monday had become the favorite day of the year of children in the District of Columbia. On April 6 1874, the Washington, D.C. newspaper, The Daily Critic, estimated that 1,000  children were “in the Capitol and President’s Grounds, this afternoon, indulging in the amusement of egg rolling.”  Two years later, the city’s Daily National Republican estimated there were at least 5,000 “lads and lassies, aye, and many older heads congregated to witness the pranks and capers of the boys and girls in rolling the eggs from the crest of the hill to the lawn below.” They also had their fun “at the president’s grounds and other convenient places.” Perhaps it was that day that prompted the Capitol grounds ban before April drew to a close.

Easter 1877 was a rainy day In Washington and there were no egg-rolling events.  An 1878 news brief in the Washington Post a short time before Easter Monday noted that Capitol police would be enforcing the ban, but President Rutherford B. Hayes saved the day.  He approved the use of the White House lawn for egg rolling that year—and is credited with establishing the event as it has become today—only today there will be no egg rolling at the White House due to the CORVID-19 pandemic.

Fannie B. Ward described the importance of Easter Monday in Washington in an April 1879 syndicated news article, so either the Capitol loosened its restraint or Ward recalled earlier times. Her description nonetheless captures the extent of the tradition’s popularity.

Easter Monday in the District of Columbia is a grand gala day for the little folk, what Thanksgiving is in New England or the Fourth of July in the West; schools are closed upon that day, and from sunrise to sunset thousands of children throng the hill upon which the Capitol stands, and the slopes and terraces of the White-House, all intent upon egg-rolling or egg-butting. Many bring their dinners and picnic on the springing grass—with hard-boiled eggs for every course; and there is no cessation of the sport till the purple gloaming falls, and “the blankets of the dark” shuts off the scene.

Nearly one hundred years later, Hugh Morton was on the White House lawn attending the Easter Egg Roll on Monday, April 11 1977.  The Grandfather Mountain Cloggers were part of the day’s celebration, which Morton photographed.  There are six slides 35mm color slides in the collection, five of which are in the online collection.  Two are a bit unusual: they depict Lillian Gordy Carter, President Jimmy Carter’s mother, seated in a wheelchair while watching the festivities from a White House balcony.

Lillian Gordy Carter
Lillian Gordy Carter, watching the White House Easter egg Roll activities.

Rainbows through the camera lens of Hugh Morton

Today’s post comes from the keyboard of Jack Hilliard, Hugh Morton collection volunteer.

rainbow
A rainbow in a field of yellow wildflowers, probably near Grandfather Mountain, NC. Within the Morton collection, this photograph is part of a group of slides that had been stored together and labeled “Grandfather Mountain Parkway Copies.”

“Rainbows are formed when light passes through a drop of rain, bending as it goes from the air to the water. That light will then reflect off the inside of the drop of water, separating into wavelengths, thus forming colors. When the light exits the water droplet, it creates a rainbow. —Website: “SciJinks”

The old saying, “April showers bring May flowers,” may or may not be entirely true, but as we celebrate the months of spring 2020, it’s not unusual for an afternoon thundershower to pass our way. Those thundershowers are often followed by one of nature’s most beautiful sights: a rainbow.

Since I began working as a volunteer with the Hugh Morton collection in the North Carolina Collection at Wilson Library on the UNC campus in 2008, I have made a list of my personal favorite Hugh Morton photographs. Two of those images are of rainbows. One is in the Morton online collection pictured above, while the other is in the book, Hugh Morton’s North Carolina (2003) on page 24. I think Morton’s caption for that picture says a lot about his entire portfolio of photographs:

Pictures of rainbows cannot be planned, and one needs to act quickly when one appears. I rounded a curve on N.C. 18 between Morganton and Shelby, saw this one, and grabbed the camera just in time. The cows were still there seconds later, but the rainbow was gone.

During his more than seventy years with a camera, Hugh Morton was always there just in time to document his North Carolina—just as his 2003 book title implies.