Nashville Retrospect Allen Forkum

Veteran reporter Larry Brinton recalls growing up in Hillsboro Village, how he became a journalist, and more of his big news stories, including the Janet March murder in 1996 and President Kennedy’s Nashville visit in 1963. This special podcast, on the occasion of Brinton’s recent death, is a continuation of the interview from Episode 01 by host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper). (Segment begins at 04:14)

Larry Brinton is shown in photos he estimated were taken in the early 1940s. In the left photo, Larry (left) stands with his brother, Reuben Brinton. On the right, Larry stand with his sisters Ann and Jean. Larry was born on Sept. 8, 1930, and died on July 25, 2019. (Images: Larry Brinton)

Larry Brinton is pictured in a 1964 “mugshot” for the Nashville Banner. He started working for the Banner after leaving the Navy in 1954, first as an obituary writer, then as a police reporter. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room)

In this snapshot, Perry March (left) is pictured with Brinton at March’s house in Ajijic, Mexico. Brinton was the only reporter to whom March would talk. Brinton said of March: “From day one I was convinced he had murdered his wife of nine years. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind, ever.” (Image: Larry Brinton)

Part of the original caption from the Dec. 26, 1961, Nashville Banner: “Banner color cameras record the drama of the spectacular blaze which destroyed the historic Maxwell House Monday night, leaving in ruins one of the most famous landmarks in the Nashville area. Roaring flames ate through the roof of the century-old building while soot-smeared firemen fought stubbornly to bring the angry blaze under control. …” (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room, photo by John Morgan)

Country music star Patsy Cline is pictured in publicity photo. Brinton covered the story of her 1963 death by visiting the crash site of her airplane in Camden, Tenn. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room)

President John F. Kennedy steps out of his open-top limousine at Vanderbilt’s Dudley Field in May 1963. During his visit, Brinton had an encounter with the president at the Hermitage Hotel. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room)
Also hear the award-winning journalist discuss his role in exposing the cash-for-clemency scandal of Gov. Ray Blanton, which eventually led to Brinton’s portrayal of himself in the 1985 movie “Marie.” (Segment begins at 42:25)

Marie Ragghianti stands in front of Nashville’s Federal Courthouse in 1977. While heading the state parole board, Ragghianti met secretly with Larry Brinton in September 1976, saying that she suspected paroles were being sold by Gov. Ray Blanton’s administration. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room, photo by Dean Dixon)

The front page of the Oct. 23, 1976, Nashville Banner on which Brinton’s story about the cash-for-clemency scandal first appeared. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives)

In the 1985 Warner Brothers movie “Marie” about the cash-for-clemency scandal, Brinton portrayed himself. This screen capture from the movie’s trailer shows Sissy Spacek as Marie Ragghianti with Brinton in the background. (Image: Warner Brothers)
And finally, Allen Forkum reviews some of the contents of the August 2019 issue, including the 1926 execution of the “Petting Party Bandit” and an 1899 outbreak of illness in Nashville due to contaminated buttermilk. (Segment begins at 01:48)
 
SHOW NOTES
A list of articles relating to this episode that you can find in archive issues of The Nashville Retrospect (archive issues can be ordered by clicking here or on the issue links below):
• “Growing Up in Hillsboro Village” by Larry Brinton, The Nashville Retrospect, October 2016
• “4 Opry Stars Die In Crash,” by Larry Brinton and Clay Harges, Nashville Banner, March 6, 1963 (The Nashville Retrospect, March 2010)
• “Police Push

Dancing at the Hermitage Hotel. Being at teenager at the start of World War II. Confronting Jim Crow injustices. Host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper) interviews 94-year-old Mary B. Williams, who also recalls her career as a presenter in the early days of Nashville television, when commercials were performed live and occasionally made for humorous bloopers. (Segment begins at 04:40)
(Special thanks to Tom Vickstrom)

Mary Binkley Williams and her husband, Thurman P. Williams, are pictured at the time of her marriage in 1942 when she was 18 years old. She grew up at 1509 Russell St. in East Nashville before going with her husband to Virginia the day after their marriage. (Image: Mary B. Williams)

The Hermitage Hotel, Nashville’s first million-dollar hotel, opened in 1910 and is pictured here on a vintage postcard. Mrs. Williams has fond memories of the hotel, from fraternity dances, to sorority lunches, and even her honeymoon. (Image: Mike Slate)

Mrs. Williams landed a job modeling clothes for a N.Y. designer at Tinsley’s, a women’s clothing store in downtown Nashville. These advertisements appeared in the Jan. 21, 1945, Nashville Tennessean. (Image: Newspapers.com)

Original caption from the Aug. 13, 1950, Nashville Tennessean: “Behind the Camera’s Eye—Shelton Weaver, WSM-TV studio engineer, makes an adjustment on one of the station’s expensive television cameras. A single tube used in the camera costs $1,300.” In the podcast, Mrs. Williams recalls her career as at presenter in live commercials at WSM-TV. (Image: Newspapers.com, photo by Robert C. Holt Jr.)

Mrs. Williams today lives in the Green Hills area of Nashville.
Also hear Don Cusic, Curb professor of music industry history at Belmont University, tell the story of Nashville’s first big hit record, “Near You” in 1947, and the beginnings of Music City USA. Hear Donia Dickerson recount the origins of the song, written by her father, Francis Craig, a famed Big Band leader in Nashville. (Segment begins at 46:00)
(Special thanks to Beth Odle)

Francis Craig and His Orchestra are picture at a performance at the Hermitage Hotel. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room)

Original caption from the Aug. 28, 1947, Nashville Banner: “Francis Craig, Nashville orchestra leader, is shown with the first record of ‘Near You,’ the song written and recorded by him and which is now the most popular choice on the juke boxes of America. Craig has broken an all-time record by being the first Southern man to write, play, and record a song in the South and see it make the Hit Parade.” The record would go on to sell millions of copies and start Nashville on the road to being a recording center. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room)

This sheet music for Francis Craig’s “Near You” is part of his collection of papers at the Nashville Public Library, which was donated by his daughter, Donia Craig Dickerson.
And finally, Allen Forkum reviews some of the contents of the March 2019 issue, including Vanderbilt University first women’s basketball team in 1897, the death of Daniel Boone in 1809, and an obscenity case against homosexual movies in 1979. (Notice: The mentioned Clover Bottom Massacre should have been 1780, not 1870.) (Segment begins at 02:00)
 
SHOW NOTES
A list of articles relating to this episode that you can find in archive issues of The Nashville Retrospect (archive issues and be orderd by clicking here or on the issues links below):
• “Craig’s ‘Near You’ Tops Hit Parade,” Nashville Banner, Aug. 28, 1947 (The Nashville Retrospect, August 2011)
• “Artifacts: Francis Craig photo and record” by Clinton J. Holloway, The Nashville Retrospect, July 2015
• “Francis Craig’s Orchestra To Play For WSM Opening,” Nashville Banner, Oct. 4, 1925 (The Nashville Retrospect, October 2009)
 
Links relating to this episode:
*My Cup Runneth Over,” by Mary B.

Slavery was so pervasive in Tennessee that the city of Nashville owned slaves. Host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper) interviews historian Bill Carey about his book Runaways, Coffles and Fancy Girls: A History of Slavery in Tennessee. Using his survey of advertisements in Tennessee newspapers, Carey shows how slavery touched many aspect of everyday commerce and law, such as banks, newspapers, factories, courts and even taxpayers. The ads also provide personal details and descriptions of enslaved African-American individuals, and they reveal the cruelty of the human bondage, from the separation of mothers from their children, to the use of young girls as sex slaves. (Segment begins at 04:50)

Nashville purchased 24 slaves in 1830 to work on construction projects for the city government, such as the water works. The next year, two of them, a married couple, escaped. The mayor of Nashville placed the above ad offering a reward for their capture. The ad appeared in the June 25, 1831, National Banner and Nashville Whig. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives)

This ad offering a reward for a runaway slave was placed by slaveholder, and future president, Andrew Jackson in the Oct. 24, 1804, Tennessee Gazette. Jackson offered extra money for the slave to be beaten. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives)

“Fancy girls” were young female slaves sold for sex. This advertisement by slave trader Rees W. Porter, who operated a slave mart in downtown Nashville, appeared in a March 20, 1856, Republican Banner. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives)
Also hear Roots author Alex Haley speak to the Tennessee State Legislature in April 1977. In his speech, samples of which can be heard in this podcast, Haley announced that a new, 12-part TV mini-series was in production, following the success of the record-breaking Roots mini-series. The book and the TV show sparked a surge of interest in genealogical research. In this podcast, genealogist Taneya Koonce discusses her own connection to Roots and the challenges of African-American genealogical research. (Segment begins at 31:00)
(Special thanks to Joel Dark)

Alex Haley (right), author of Roots, speaks to the Tennessee State Legislature on April 5, 1977. Governor Ray Blanton is on the left. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room, photo by Jack Gunter)

Alex Haley signs autographs at Fisk University as part of a “Welcome Home Alex Haley” event on May 20, 1977. Haley was raised in Henning, Tenn. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room, photo by Dean Dixon)

Original caption from the May 21, 1977, Nashville Banner: “Keisha Rutland, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Rutland of Nashville, proudly displays Haley’s autograph [on a copy of his book Roots]. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room, photo by Dean Dixon)

Alex Haley speaks before a crowd of thousands at the Tennessee State University stadium on May 20, 1977, during a “Welcome Home Alex Haley” event. (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room)

In the 1979 TV mini-series “Roots: The Next Generations,”  the characters Jim and Carrie Warner were a fictionalized version of a real interracial couple in Henning, Tenn. Pictured above are Jim and Carrie Turner, and their sons, George, Hardin, and William. Nashville genealogist Taneya Koonce, who is interviewed in this podcast, researched the family, which you can read about here and here. (Image: Sharon Minor)
And finally, Allen Forkum reviews some of the contents of the February 2019 issue, including a river catching fire in 1824 and Bigfoot sightings in 1979. As part of Black History Month, there are also articles about a new Ku Klux Klan headquartered in Nashville in 1919, and a personal account of life under slavery by a former Nashville slave. (Segment begins at 02:15)
 
SHOW NOTES
A list of articles relating to this episode that you can find in archive issues of The Nashvil

Sometimes called "the forgotten conflict," the War of 1812 has largely faded from modern memory, even though it had a lasting legacy. Host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper) interviews Dr. Tom Kanon of the Tennessee State Library and Archives about his book, Tennesseans at War, 1812 to 1815, and that legacy, including: Tennessee rising to national prominence and becoming known as “The Volunteer State”; Native-Americans losing millions of acres of territory in the Creek War, which Kanon contends was a first step toward the Indian Removal Act of the 1830s; and Gen. Andrew Jackson becoming president of the United States because of his fame after a lopsided victory against the British in the Battle of New Orleans. Also hear how a comet and earthquakes helped launch the war. (Segment begins at 05:15)
“Andrew Jackson with the Tennessee forces on the Hickory Grounds (Ala) A.D. 1814” is a circa 1840 lithograph published by Breuker & Kessler. (Image: Library of Congress)
“Se-loc-ta, A Creek Chief” is an engraving from The Indian Tribes of North America (1838) by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Selocta joined Gen. Jackson as a guide and warrior in his campaign against the Red Sticks, a faction of Creek Indians at war with American settlers. (Image: Library of Congress)
This map shows “The Battle of the Horse Shoe,” which took place on March 27, 1814, between Red Stick Creek Indians and Tennessee troops led by Major General Andrew Jackson. The map is from The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812 (1869) by Benson John Lossing. The original caption: “The above plan of the battle of Cholocco Litabixee, or the Horseshoe, is arranged from one in Pickett’s History of Alabama. A shows the position of the hill from which Jackson’s canon played upon the breastwork. CCC represents the position of Coffee’s command. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives)
“Treaty with the Creeks” is an 1847 depiction of the August 1814 meeting at Fort Jackson between representatives the United States, led by Major General Andrew Jackson, and the defeated Creek Indians. Kanon says the Creek Indians lost 22 million acres of land, located in today's Alabama and Georgia. (Image: New York Public Library)
“January 8, 1815. British (Gen. Pakenham) Loss: Gen. Pak. & Over 2000 Kd [killed] & Wd [wounded]. American (Gen. Jackson.) Loss: 7 Kd. & 6 Wd.” is a lithograph published circa 1890 by Kurz & Allison of Chicago. (Image: Library of Congress)
In this episode's "audio artifact" segment, hear Richard Fulton’s country music record from 1968. Fulton was a Tennessee state senator, a U.S. congressman, and a mayor of Nashville. (Segment begins at 58:00)
(Special thanks to Clinton J. Holloway for use of his Richard Fulton record)
Richard Fulton’s “Poor Little Paper Boy” was predicted by the Jan. 20, 1968, Billboard magazine to hit the top 20 Hot Country Singles chart, though it apparently did not. (Image: Clinton J. Holloway)
And finally, Allen Forkum reviews some of the contents of the January 2019 issue, including: Gen. Tom Thumb’s Nashville visit in 1869; Richard Fulton’s ousting from the state senate in 1955; a speech given at the 1905 emancipation celebration; and a religious controversy in 1835. Also hear an interview with former Nashville Banner reporter Roger Shirley about his 1982 story about the sulphur water fountain at Werthan Industries. (Segment begins at 01:30)
(Special thanks to Roger Shirley)
A line forms to get a drink of sulphur water at Werthan Industries on Taylor Street at Eighth Avenue North in December 1982. Nashville attorney David Rutherford (standing at the back of the line) tried to get the historic sulphur spring moved to nearby Morgan Park. In the podcast, former Nashville Banner reporter Roger Shirley recalls visiting the foundation to write a story (which was republished in the December 2018 issue of The Nashville Retrospect).  (Image: Nashville Pu

On Christmas Eve, 1956, a woman jumped off the Shelby Street Bridge into the Cumberland River with a baby in her arms. Host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper) revisits this tragic and heroic story through interviews with people who were there, including Harold Hogue, Anne Knox, and Judy Hunt Charest. Also learn about the aftermath of the event during the decades since. (Segment begins at 04:45)
(Special thanks to Mike Hudgins and Sheri Hogue for their assistance with this story.)
Original caption from the Dec. 24, 1956, Nashville Banner: “Muddy waters of the Cumberland River swirl around Mrs. Milton Hunt (arrow No. 1), who clings to a steel retaining beam, and her three-and-a-half months old daughter, Judy (arrow No. 2).” In the podcast, Anne Knox mentions the two objects floating in the water. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives, photo by Vic Cooley)
Original caption: “Jack Knox [III], 25-year-old drafting department employe of Nashville Bridge Co. holds Mrs. Hunt above the water after he had rescued the baby and then swam to where the mother was hanging on near exhaustion.” (Image: Anne Knox, Mike Hudgins, photo by Vic Cooley)
Original caption: “Mrs. Hunt is pulled ashore from the Bridge Company boat. A first aid team worked on her until she could be taken to General Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.” The man in the foreground wearing a watch is Harold Hogue, who is interviewed in the podcast. Virgil Johnson is piloting the boat. (Image: Anne Knox, Mike Hudgins)
Original caption: “Gilbert M. Dorland, vice-president of Nashville Bridge Co., hold three-and-a-half months old Judy Hunt after the tot was pulled form the icy waters of Cumberland River below the firm’s building.” (Image: Anne Knox, Mike Hudgins)
Original caption: “Dressed in the only available dry clothes, a bridge company baseball uniform, Knox warms up after his plunge into the icy waters shorty after 10 a.m. today. He is a former West End High School and Citadel athlete.” (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room)
The Hunt family (Marguerite, Milton and Judy) is pictured in 1957. (Image: Judy Hunt Charest)
Judy and her mother, Marguerite. (Image: Judy Hunt Charest)
Jack Knox (right) receives the Arland D. Williams Society award at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., on Nov. 12, 2005. He died ten days later. (Image: Anne Knox, Mike Hudgins)
Judy Hunt Charest and Harold Hogue at the reunion at the site of the rescue on Sept. 16, 2015. The John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge (formerly the Shelby Street Bridge), the Nashville Bridge Building (formerly the Nashville Bridge Company), and the pier mentioned in the story, can all be seen in the background. (Image: Allen Forkum)
Harold Hogue shows the watch given to him by Judy Hunt Charest, which she had engraved with: “Everyone needs a HERO. Thanks for being mine. 12/24/56 Love, Baby.” (Image: Allen Forkum)
UPDATE: Harold Hogue died on Dec. 28, 2020.
UDPATE: Judy Hunt Charest died on March 11, 2022.
Also hear folk singers Dee and Delta Hicks of Fentress County, Tenn., discuss the lost tradition of Old Christmas in a 1981 interview by Bob Fulcher (assisted by Sharon Celsor-Hughes). Old Christmas was traditionally observed in some rural and mountainous areas of the south on Jan. 6 and included tales of farm animals kneeling to pray at midnight on Christmas Day. The interview was part of Cumberland Trail Park Manger Bob Fulcher's  Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project. (Segment begins at 48:40)
(Special thanks to Bob Fulcher of Cumberland Trail, and to Lori Lockhart and Zach Keith at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.)
Dee and Delta Hicks of Fentress County, Tenn. (Image: Bob Fulcher)
And finally, Allen Forkum reviews some of the contents of the December 2018 issue, including children’s letters to Santa Claus in 1907 and Johnny Cash’s 1976 Christmas TV special. Also hear calls from readers about bygone Chr

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, we take a look at artifacts and monuments of The Great War found throughout the city. Host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper) interviews Dr. Lisa Budreau, senior curator of military history at the Tennessee State Museum, about relics and souvenirs collected from Tennessee soldiers after World War I, including a German cannon and Sergeant Alvin C. York’s war medals. Dan Pomeroy, senior curator and director of the state museum, relates the history of the Military Branch Museum, located in the War Memorial Building. And Allison Griffey of the Tennessee State Library and Archives discusses stories from the Gold Star Records, including soldier’s letters, as well as women factory workers, the influenza epidemic, and the Mexican village at the Old Hickory gun powder plant. (Segment begins at 03:22)

Some of the uniforms featured in the new Tennessee State Museum temporary exhibition titled “Tennessee and the Great War: A Centennial Exhibition” (left to right): aviator Lieutenant Charles McGhee Tyson of Knoxville (the boots belonged to his father, General Lawrence Tyson), Rebekah Dodson Senter of the Army Nurse Corps, and Captain Albert Harris Jr. of Davidson County and part of the Vanderbilt Medical Unit in France.

The German breastplate armor discussed by Dr. Budreau in the podcast can be seen in the upper left. Beside it is a gas mask case. At the bottom is a Colt-Vickers water-cooled .303 caliber British machine gun, which were used by many countries during WWI, including the U.S. 30th Division troops attached to the British army.

This German field cannon can be seen in the new Tennessee State Museum temporary exhibition about WWI. The 7.7 cm, Model 1896 cannon by Krupp was likely captured by the U.S. 30th Division near the German Hindenburg line in 1918. It took over two and a half years to restore it to operational condition. 

This Sergeant Alvin C. York collection is part of a permanent WWI display at the new Tennessee State Museum. York's Medal of Honor and Croix de Guerre with palm can be seen in the middle right of the picture.

The gold star flag of Nashvillian Johnny Overton, held in the Gold Star Records at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, features the popular WWI phrase “Over There.” Overton was killed on the battlefield in France on July 18, 1918, at the age of 24. You can read more about Johnny Overton in the November 2018 issue, in the article "A Nashville Soldier of the Great War Remembered," by John P. Williams. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives)

At left is Cecil Calvert Bain, whose items in the Gold Star Records include a letter home about influenza in his camp. Like many soldiers in World War I, he would ultimately die of the disease at age 27 in Camp Gordon. At right is Private Luther Gilbert, Company B, 804th Pioneer Infantry, United States Army. Pvt. Gilbert was a member of one of the 14 African-American Pioneer Infantry units in World War I. Men in these units were often given dangerous maintenance and engineering tasks on the front lines. He died of pneumonia at 22 years old in France and was most likely a victim of the Influenza Epidemic of 1918.(Images: Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Sue Howell (Mrs. A.C. Adams) is pictured with her seven sons, all of whom were involved in World War I and survived. She displayed seven blue stars on her service flag. The photo appears in the book Davidson County Women in the World War, 1917–1919, published in 1923, which you can read more about in the October 2018 issue of The Nashville Retrospect in the "Artifacts" column by Clinton J. Holloway. (Image: Clinton Holloway)

The Old Hickory DuPont gun powder plant is shown circa 1918. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives)
Also hear the song “Over There” from World War I and lines from patriotic songs written by two Nashville women for the war. (Segment begi