Fred Turnage
2011-08-11 - by
A friend chastised me – and rightly so – for not taking note of the July 31 death of long-time (1973-2007) Rocky Mount Mayor Fred Turnage.
It’s not just that Turnage was mayor for 34 years and not just that he was a progressive leader in difficult times.
Rocky Mount has long been a rock-ribbed conservative place. It propelled Jim Gardner into politics in the 1960s, and Gardner was Jesse Helms before Jesse Helms. It was also fertile ground for racism, the John Birch Society and a particular strain of mean-edged conservatism.
My friend recalls going to an event at the home of Fred and Norma Turnage for then-U.S. Senate candidate Robert Morgan in 1974. He was amazed to see African-Americans there. That just wasn’t done then.
Fred Turnage did it – quickly, courageously and for a long time. He was a good one.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats
Fred Turnage
2011-08-11/
A friend chastised me – and rightly so – for not taking note of the July 31 death of long-time (1973-2007) Rocky Mount Mayor Fred Turnage.
It’s not just that Turnage was mayor for 34 years and not just that he was a progressive leader in difficult times.
Rocky Mount has long been a rock-ribbed conservative place. It propelled Jim Gardner into politics in the 1960s, and Gardner was Jesse Helms before Jesse Helms. It was also fertile ground for racism, the John Birch Society and a particular strain of mean-edged conservatism.
My friend recalls going to an event at the home of Fred and Norma Turnage for then-U.S. Senate candidate Robert Morgan in 1974. He was amazed to see African-Americans there. That just wasn’t done then.
Fred Turnage did it – quickly, courageously and for a long time. He was a good one.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats