Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville half a century ago? It was a different era of history, culture and politics but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made headlines then and today. As interesting as the differences may be, so are the similarities. These are some of the top stories from this week in 1963. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library's periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• The Duval County Board of Public Instruction adopted a record $34.5 million budget to operate the school system for the 1963-64 academic year.
Board Chairman Charles W. Johnson Jr. called the action "begrudging" and said the amount was inadequate.
"It won't do the job. We will try to keep the schools open with what little is available," he said.
Board member Raymond David called the budget a compromise between the absolute minimum needed to educate children and that which was available to finance education.
School Superintendent Ish Brant, who proposed the budget within limitations of the 20-mill statutory tax ceiling, said $3 million in administrative requests had been trimmed to bring the budget within anticipated revenues.
The proposed total expenditure was $2.5 million more than was spent the previous year. Brant and board members said the increase was more than offset by the anticipated influx of 6,000 additional students by the end of 1963.
Estimated revenue included $22,464,646 from state sources, $247,743 from federal sources and $9,831,250 from local sources.
The state total was $3.5 million more than in 1962-63 and the local contribution was increased by $500,000, but $1 million in federal money was absent from the 1963-64 budget.
"For five years, we have warned parents a crisis was coming. This is the year we've been talking about," said board member Martinez Baker.
• A corporation headed by Bob Kroner, a Jacksonville motor-court operator, took over ownership of The Innlet Resort Hotel at Ponte Vedra Beach.
The 60-room combination hotel and apartment property was purchased from Frank Rogers for an undisclosed sum, Kroner said.
The Innlet was built in 1941 and apartments were added in 1948. The resort was along Florida A1A about a mile south of the Ponte Vedra Inn.
The Innlet catered to guests who desired a "less formal atmosphere" than the Inn.
Kroner also operated the Jamaican and Arlington motor lodges on the Arlington Expressway.
• Borden Hallowes was appointed law clerk to Chief U.S. Judge Bryan Simpson of the Middle District of Florida.
Hallowes was the son of William Hallowes III, state attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit.
The new appointee, who lived at 3669 St. Johns Ave., graduated with honors in June from the University of North Carolina College of Law.
• More Jacksonville University graduates entered the teaching field than any other, according to a follow-up study conducted by the university.
Of the 642 graduates of JU's four-year bachelor's program, 40.2 percent became teachers.
Jobs in government accounted for 5.6 percent of the graduates and 4.7 percent entered military service. Graduate schools accepted 6.7 percent of the students.
The balance included housewives, miscellaneous categories and a few graduates who could not be contacted for the study, said Director of Placement William McCoy.
• The advertising budgets spent by local tourist development agencies were paying off dividends.
According to a survey published by the Florida Development Commission, 25 percent of all cars crossing the state line were headed for Jacksonville. Ranking higher were Miami, Daytona Beach and St. Petersburg. In a comparable survey in 1961, Jacksonville ranked No. 8.
The agency with the largest promotion budget was the Jacksonville Advertising Committee. The committee was created by the state Legislature in 1937 and administered funds generated by a special City tax.
The committee comprised one member of the City Commission, one City Council member and, as ex-officio members, the presidents of the Jacksonville Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Jaycees, the Woman's Club of Jacksonville and Jacksonville Advertising Club.
The 1963 committee budget was $77,000, much less than the 1.5 mills allowed by the legislative act.
Major expenditures were:
• $35,000 for public relations efforts to promote Jacksonville as a "city of culture and versatility and progress."
• $19,600 for visitor advertising, including billboards and ads in northern-market newspapers.
• $17,320 for printing and distributing via direct mail advertising brochures produced by the bureau. The pamphlets ranged from listings of eight mapped tours of North Florida to a listing of all marine facilities for boating enthusiasts.
• $1,410 for advertising in two national publications read by convention planners and managers.
The City of Jacksonville Beach annually invested about $26,000 in advertising for tourists, said Herbert Shelley, executive secretary of the Jacksonville Beach Chamber of Commerce.
Of that budget, only $3,000 was designated for permanent resident advertising, he said.
The balance was devoted to advertising for tourists in southern markets in the summer and northern markets in the winter. The campaign was financed by a City tax, with revenue specifically appropriated for advertising.
"We have wonderful selling points. We emphasize that we have the world's finest beach, and we list as attractions the opportunities for fishing, swimming, beach driving, sun bathing and the boardwalk," said Shelley.
• Authorities believed J.C. Zoro was one of the best prison workers at the Jacksonville Police Academy, but they didn't know his real identity.
Zoro, 25, was serving a 10-day sentence for fighting in lieu of a $35 fine when a call came in from the FBI.
The agent asked Charles Duggan of the fingerprint identification division if Zoro was still in custody. Duggan checked and informed the agent the man had one day to serve on his sentence and was working at the academy.
The agent said federal analysis of fingerprints taken from Zoro revealed he was actually Joe Louis Frazier, who had escaped in 1962 from Saluda County, S.C., while serving a 35-year sentence following his conviction for assault with intent to commit rape.
Frazier was held in the Duval County jail pending an extradition hearing.
• An exhibit of 40 paintings by British artists of the 17th and 18th centuries went on display at the Cummer Gallery of Art.
The paintings were from the collection of Earle W. Newton, director of the St. Augustine Historical Preservation and Restoration Commission.
Before assuming his post at St. Augustine, Newton was director of the Museum of Art, Science and Industry at Bridgeport, Conn.
Cummer Gallery Director Joseph J. Dodge said Newton began his collection while a research fellow at the University of London and over the years had acquired more than 200 objects of art.
Among the artists represented in the exhibit were William Hogarth, Henry Raeburn, George Romney, Joseph Wright, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough and Sir William Beechey.