1933: Governor orders probe of Burgaw ‘lynching'

This historical perspective, compiled from past Star-News articles archived at the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Randall Library, takes readers back to the Cape Fear region of years past.

75 years ago

Sept. 1, 1933: If you've ever been on North Front Street in downtown Wilmington you may have seen "Bijou" imprinted in the sidewalk where the Bijou Theater once stood. On this date, Strangers of the Evening, with Zasu Pitts, Luelen Littlefield and Eugene Pallette was playing. Over at the Royal, you could see Barbara Stanwyck in Baby Face.

Sept. 1, 1933: Don't imagine this ad would be received very well today. A woman in a swim cap was pictured smoking a cigarette with the headline "Enjoys Swimming More Now!" and "A cigarette tastes mighty good after a few dives. Since I switched to Camels, I've enjoyed swimming and smoking more than ever."

Sept. 2, 1933: Though Back Then often takes a lighthearted look at local history, sometimes the ugliness of the past hits home. Gov. J.C.B. Eringhaus was ordering a thorough investigation after what he described as a lynching took place in Pender County. Police went searching for Dock Rogers, a black man, after he had allegedly shot and wounded two people. As police surrounded Rogers at his house, a mob of 200 people was said to have been on hand. Rogers was shot while police tried to arrest him. He was being taken to Burgaw to receive medical treatment when the mob was said to have pulled him from a wagon, his body riddled with gunshots, and then dragged him onto the lawn at the courthouse. The coroner's jury ruled he died at "hands of a person or persons unknown."

Sept. 3, 1933: I'm not sure what the league was, but the Star reported that the American

Bakers of Wilmington were battling the Hampstead team in baseball at Robert Strange Park. The article said: "Runt Jarrell and Simmons will work for the Pender County lads."

Sept. 4, 1933: The rise of Adolf Hitler was evident from glancing through 1933 newspapers. Hitler urged that Germans fight bolshevism and said that democracy would never succeed because not all people were fit to participate in governance. Hitler said leaders should be composed only of those whose forbearers founded the nation.

25 years ago

Sept. 3, 1983: During a meeting with County Commissioner C. Henry Smith, about 60 Hampstead residents urged the commissioners to use proceeds from a newly enacted half-cent sales tax for school construction. Butch Grubbs, who was developing a shopping center on U.S. 17, said he had lost eight couples interested in investing in the project after they learned of the condition of the schools.