A Thousand Words
By Jock Lauterer
During National Library Week, April 8-14, my thoughts turn to the late Helen Peacock, the diva of the Dewey Decimal System at Chapel Hill High School. Ask any Chapel Hillian of a certain age if they remember the school’s longtime librarian and you’ll get an emphatic response. Among the many “mothers†who kept their keen eyes on our every move, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed was both feared and revered – for Mrs. Peacock brooked no fools. She ran her library like an 18th-century man-o-war sea captain and could shush you with one terrible glance from across the room. Woe be unto any smart-aleck teenager who dared to cross Mrs. Peacock! On balance, her required library class taught us the power of books and how to conduct meaningful research in a pre-Google world. I made this photograph for the Daily Tar Heel in the mid-’60s when the new high school opened on High School Road.
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”
As sophomores at CHHS, everyone was required to take Library Orientation. On Nov. 22, 1963, as each student in my particular “class” finished their orientation course exam, Ms. Peacock took each of us aside and told us of the dark events in Dallas on that beautiful fall afternoon. The sharp veneer she showed as captain of the library melted away as she relayed the horrible news.