Did you know?
It was reported on the front page of the Uniontown Evening Standard on Sept. 9, 1943 (70 years ago, today), that allied forces were in the midst of toppling the regime of Italy’s Benito Mussolini. The Italian government had announced its unconditional surrender. It was reported as American and British troops had staged a landing in Naples. On the editorial page that day, there was some discussion about why the apparent victory in one of the main fronts of WWII had seemed to have taken place without any local public fanfare.
“Uniontown took the news of Italy’s surrender pretty peacefully yesterday — in fact, without a ripple,” said a ‘Round Town item written by George Swetnam. “We called the fire station to suggest that the occasion called for a little noise but were informed that it was against the rules to blow the siren for anything but blazes. We tried the Uniontown Brewery but couldn’t even get the telephone to answer. Oh, well, everybody would have taken it for an air raid alert, anyway,” he wrote.
As it turned out, while the Italians did surrender, Nazi soldiers stationed in Italy continued to fight against the invading forces.
On this date in 1950, it was announced that a renowned actor/musician was headed to Fayette County for a performance in Brownsville. Louis Prima and his orchestra would be playing the Sunset Ballroom in Brownsville the following night.
On Sept. 10, 1951, it was reported that one national chain was about to enhance Uniontown’s business district. “Large Expansion Program Planned By Sears, Roebuck,” said the front-page headline of the Evening Standard. That would be no small undertaking. “The move will give the company a block-long store, from Peter to Penn Street on North Beeson Avenue, with a total of 35,000 square feet of floor space,” said the article.
Two weeks ago, the nation commemorated the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington (or, as it has been officially called, “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.”) But less than two weeks after that historic event, there was also a “Freedom Rally” that took place at Uniontown High School stadium.
It consisted of local civil rights leaders, members of the clergy, local elected officials and even a nationally known civil rights leader.
“The story of the mistreated American Negro was brought to Uniontown yesterday in a message that masked the personal feelings of a man whose only brother was slain ‘fighting for domestic freedom,”‘ said the lead paragraph of the article that chronicled the local event.
“In a sincere but forceful address, Charles Evers, brother of the late NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers, told a predominantly Negro audience, ‘I lost the only brother I had, but not in vain. We as a race are gaining our freedom.”‘
Charles Evers’ brother, Medgar, had been the victim of an assassination just months before Charles Evers paid his visit to Uniontown. While Medgar Evers was murdered on June 21, 1963, it took until Feb. 5, 1994 before his assassin, Byron De La Beckwith, was brought to justice for the crime.
On Sept. 9, 1967, the Evening Standard reported that another new business was moving to Uniontown. “Holiday Inn Ceremonies On Monday,” said the front-page story about groundbreaking for the new 122-unit inn on Route 40.
On this date 39 years ago, there were serious concerns about the potential closing of one of Uniontown’s grade schools that led to a protest. “Black Boycott Grows,” said the headline on the front page of the Sept. 9, 1974 edition of the Evening Standard. There had been an ongoing controversy over the proposed closing of East End School, and it resulted in a committee being formed to fight it.
Concerned Parents of East End met with members of the Uniontown School Board in an effort to keep the East End school open. And on that day, it was reported that as many as 52 black students had begun boycotting Uniontown’s schools in protest. However, the school was closed anyway.
The mostly abandoned building caught fire in early 1997 and was completely destroyed.