Orange County’s bicentennial, 1952–1953

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 7 dated events in the chronology →

1. August 4, 1952 County commissioners name a committee to plan Orange County's 200th anniversary On August 4, 1952, the commissioners named a nine-member countywide committee under L. J. Phipps of Chapel Hill to plan an observance of the county's 200th anniversary, to be held with the laying of the cornerstone of the new courthouse that fall. Its members included historian Hugh Lefler of Chapel Hill, Shepperd Strudwick and E. M. Lynch of Hillsboro, Clem Cheek of the Orange Grove-White Cross section, and four women from the Schley-St. Mary's, Cedar Grove, Efland and Carrboro communities. People: Luther James Phipps, Shepperd Strudwick (1868-1961), Edwin M. Lynch, Hugh Talmage LeflerSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 7, 1952, p. 1
2. September 11, 1952 County commissioners name 55 citizens to committees for the bicentennial On September 11, 1952, the commissioners named 55 Orange County people to committees for the bicentennial: program and guests under R. B. Studebaker, finance under Clem M. Cheek, publicity under Mrs. Mack P. Efland, exhibits under Shepperd Strudwick, and a pageant committee under historian Hugh T. Lefler that took in playwright Paul Green and Samuel Selden of the Carolina Playmakers. Several pageant members already doubted a creditable pageant could be staged by the October date, and the observance was expected to slip to the spring. People: Shepperd Strudwick (1868-1961), Paul Green, Samuel Selden, Archibald Henderson, Hugh Talmage LeflerSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 18, 1952, p. 1
3. October 1, 1953 Hugh Lefler and Paul Wager edit a bicentennial history of Orange County For the county's 200th anniversary, Lefler and Wager edited Orange County, 1752-1952, with chapters by about fifteen contributors on early history, agriculture, industry, schools and more, plus a dictionary of county biography and lists of county officials. People: Hugh Talmage LeflerSearch the index · UNC Libraries: Orange County History Guide, General History · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 1, 1953, p. 1
4. October 7, 1953 Masons lay the cornerstone of the new Orange County courthouse at the county bicentennial On the opening day of the county's bicentennial week, Grand Master Edwin T. Howard and Eagle Lodge No. 19 laid the cornerstone in the half-finished courthouse. Chief Justice William A. Devin gave the address.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 8, 1953, p. 1 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, October 2, 1953, p. 1
5. October 7-13, 1953 Orange County celebrates its two hundredth birthday with a week of parades, tours and a pageant Orange County marked its bicentennial from October 7 through 13 with the courthouse cornerstone ceremony, parades in Hillsborough and Chapel Hill, Garden Club tours of old homes that drew more than 600 visitors, and six showings of the historical pageant "The Road to Orange" in Hillsborough and Chapel Hill. The News counted something over 3,500 paid admissions to the pageant. People: Luther James PhippsSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 15, 1953, p. 1
6. October 7, 1953 The pageant The Road to Orange opens the county bicentennial week On the opening night of the six-day bicentennial, a local cast of more than 150 presented The Road to Orange, an outdoor drama of the county from 1740 to 1800 acted in pantomime to voices from backstage, on a 200-foot stage at the Hillsboro High School athletic field with seats for 2,000 and fireworks to close. Directed by UNC graduate students Jim Leonard and John Haney with Samuel Selden of the Carolina Playmakers as adviser, it was to play four nights in Hillsboro and two on Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill. People: Samuel Selden, John Ehle, Luther James PhippsSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 8, 1953, p. 9
7. January 4, 1954 County commissioners pay the bicentennial's $9,000 deficit The commissioners paid about $9,000 in unpaid bicentennial bills from surplus funds and released Judge L. J. Phipps's accounting, which put the pageant's cost at $9,060.40 and the county history's at $6,830.41 and left a deficit of $8,998.61. Phipps suggested staging a shorter version of "The Road to Orange" each summer on a permanent outdoor stage in Hillsborough. People: Luther James PhippsSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 7, 1954, p. 1