A Thousand Words
By Jock Lauterer
Every child who ever romped on the old stone walls on campus should thank this man. When I photographed 80-year-old James Blacknell Jr. in 1984, he’d been laying rock at UNC for 66 years. “Yeah, there ain’t too many (stones) around the university campus that I didn’t have something to do with.†As he was laying more Chatham gray granite at a home in New Hope, the master rock mason reflected on how it all started: “My daddy was in charge of the grounds up on campus, and they couldn’t find no mason anywhere. I wasn’t quite 15 at the time…. My daddy give me a liddlebiddy ol’ pointin’ trowel, and I just went to doin’ it.†To borrow a phrase: Now let us praise famous men.
A THOUSAND WORDS
Do you have an important old photo that you value? Email your photo to jock@email.unc.edu and include the story behind the picture. Because every picture tells a story. And its worth? A thousand words.
More “A Thousand Words”
He is my great-grandfather and I’m a student at UNC.
Hey, Ayeshinaye,
I have some photographs of your great-grandfather I’d like to give you. Thanks for responding. Cordially,
Jock Lauterer