We recently digitized a large scrapbook created by a dedicated group of members of the 1951-1952 Rocky Mount Junior Chamber of Commerce – the “Scrapbook Committee”. The scrapbook, held by the Braswell Memorial Library (Rocky Mount, N.C.), contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and Jaycee promotional materials.
The Rocky Mount Jaycees were very active, promoting public safety and “Americanism” through pamphlets, meetings, and editorials; organizing an annual “Rural Youth Day” attended by around 2,500 girls and boys; advocating for an airport in Eastern Carolina; supporting local boy scouts; and hosting family picnics, costume balls, and beauty contests.
It was this group of Jaycees that originally came up with the idea for the Rocky Mount Children’s Museum; they went on to provide half of the initial funds for construction The scrapbook also details the Jaycees’ purchase of a miniature train for Sunset Park – still an attraction today!
It is no wonder that, in 1952, the Rocky Mount chapter went on to win the Harold A. Marks Memorial Award – presented to the “most outstanding Jaycee chapter in the nation.”
