OPINION Pieces of Kings Mountain History

On August 3, 1923, Calvin Coolidge took office, making 2023 his centennial presidential year. This year also marks a centennial for Grace Coolidge—the 100th anniversary of her broadcast in the then-young medium of commercial radio. Grace Coolidge was a modern, vibrant woman who many say was more popular in her own endeavors than her president husband.

LORETTA COZART

An article ran in the Kings Mountain Herald on April 22, 1937, connects Kings Mountain to the president’s wife and a British aristocrat. According to the Herald, “Two famous ladies have recently purchased rugs made in Kings Mountain at the rug plant operated by the Victory Gin Co. Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, wife of the late President Coolidge, recently bought two beautiful Scotch plaid rugs. The rugs were a special order made up in five colors,” the article continued.

“Lady Astor, of London, is also enjoying rugs made in the Best Town in the State. Lady Astor’s sister who lives in Tryon, N. C. bought the rugs and sent them to her sister as a present.

getting some good advertising from the manufacture of these rugs, and if P. D. Herndon, who is in charge of this plant, will keep up the good work soon the Best Town in The State will be known around the world.”

Hayne Neisler found a similar article in the N.C. Daily Bulletin about the same time that shared more detail from the visit,

“Former First Lady Grace Coolidge spent the afternoon in Kings Mountain yesterday purchasing throw rugs for her winter home here in Tryon, N.C.

“Arriving at P.D. Herndon’s Victory Gin rug factory around noon, she spent several hours looking at different designs before purchasing several beautiful five color Scotch plaid rugs. Mr. Herndon graciously offered the rugs to Mrs. Coolidge at no charge, but she insisted on paying telling him a story about her late husband, President Calvin Coolidge, who had a legendary reputation for being tight with a dollar.

“After leaving the White House in March of 1929, Mr. Coolidge later found out he had left behind two fifty-dollar Liberty Bonds in the safe near the Oval Office. He instructed the staff to immediately forward him the interest from his last month in the White House.

After several frantic calls to the White House a letter arrived at the Coolidge’s home in Northampton, Massachusetts. Inside the envelope was his month’s interest-- two cents.”

Grace Coolidge made a name for herself with her interest in the newest rage, the radio, according to coolidgefoundation.org.

One of the ways the radio got its big start was KDKA’s election night broadcast of the Harding-Cox contest in November 1920. Among those caught up in the enthusiasm for the new medium was Grace Coolidge. While she was curious about radio’s workings, what most likely drew her to it was her love of music and baseball. Early radio stations usually provided timely baseball scores as part of their daily programming.

Grace Coolidge’s interest in radio became known to the newspapermen who followed her husband, Vice President Calvin Coolidge. In the spring of 1922, to boost interest in the radio, photographs began appearing in newspapers around the country of various public figures listening to their radio sets. According to Wireless Age, the theme was “National Leaders Accept Radio as Force for Good.”

Harding cabinet members. But the radio men made an exception for the Second Lady, Grace Coolidge. The photographers, Underwood & Underwood, took an engaging picture of Mrs. Coolidge wearing earphones while working the dials on her radio receiver. This photograph, taken in the Coolidge suite at the Willard Hotel, appeared in papers around the country. Meanwhile, articles about Grace Coolidge and photos of her were appearing fre- quently in the press—making her a public figure in her own right. The 1920s were a pivotal for women in America. In the Warren G. Harding election of 1920, women voted for the first time. In 1925, the first woman governor was elected. And, in 1928, Amelia Earhart flew across the Atlantic. Adding perspective to the changing times, the 1920s also saw the founding of NBC, and the next year the first “talkie” movie, The Jazz

Singer, was released. To know that the popular First Lady Grace Coolidge made a stop in Kings Mountain while traveling to see her winter home in Tryon, NC in 1937, just four years after her husband’s death, connects Kings Mountain to the history of very famous people. Further, to know that Lady Astor’s sister visited “The Best Town in the State” to purchase rugs for her only adds to the story.

The participants were all male and several were

“Kings Mountain is