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Dr. Irma Smathers, continued

. . . Continuing with the life of Irma Henderson Smathers . . . After Dr. Irma Henderson settled into her own office, she needed, like all physicians, some medical malpractice insurance. William E. Smathers of Autry-Smathers Insurance Agency sold her the coverage. They married the following year. She liked to say of her malpractice policy and her insurance
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Dr. Irma Smathers

Irma Henderson Smathers was born in Madison County in 1910 to Carlene “Jenny”and Logan Henderson. Growing up in Marshall, “Irma painted her dolls with Mercurochrome and did surgery and suturing on their sawdust bodies. She told everyone she was going to be a doctor. They said, “No, dear, you mean you are going to be a
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Beacon Manufacturing Co., Baseball Team Starring Wade Martin

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Swannanoa native Wade Martin, who was known nationally for his woodcarving abilities. Click here if you haven’t read it. While I was writing about Wade Martin, I was surprised to read that he was also known of as a great baseball player. Because I was staying focused on Wade’s
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Do you know (or remember) what a Fire Alarm Box is?

THE NORTH CAROLINA ROOM HAS ONE ON DISPLAY. WE MIGHT EVEN LET YOU PULL THE ALARM AND HEAR IT RING! When it was not common for people to have telephones in their homes, if your house caught on fire, you would run to the nearest fire alarm box and pull the handle. Using electric impulses,
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Swannanoa Woodcarver Wade Martin Carves One Last Piece

Wade “Gob” Hampton Martin was born in 1920, the son of Marcus Lafayette and Callie Holloway Martin. He had four brothers, Edsel, Wayne, Fred and Quintin and one sister, Zenobia. All of them carved. In the early 1930s the family moved from Andrews, N.C. to Swannanoa, N.C. Wade was nine at the time and grew
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LAURA GASKIN: HEAD LIBRARIAN OF PACK MEMORIAL LIBRARY

Our fearless leader, Laura Gaskin, is retiring from Pack Memorial Library after 24 years of dedicated service.  Laura has been the Head Librarian here for most of that time, but she cut her teeth as the first Special Collections Librarian at Pack. It’s staggering to think about the work and dedication it must have taken to process, organize, and
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