Program Sunday At Old Henry County Courthouse In Martinsville

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                    

FOR MORE INFORMATION

CONTACT:                                                                                        
Debbie Hall, Executive Director
276-403-5361                                            
mhchistoricalsociety@gmail.com

May 31, 2011

Historian and author Thomas D. Perry will present “Extraordinary Times, Ordinary Man: The Life, Times and Images of Everett M. Bennett” on Sunday, June 5, at 3:00 PM in the Historic Henry County Courthouse and Heritage Center and Museum, located at 1 East Main Street in Uptown Martinsville. Everett Bennett grew up in Spencer, Virginia and served his country in occupied Germany after World War II and during the Korean War. Perry’s sixteenth book, “From Spencer-Penn to Rives Road: The Life, Times and Images of Everett M. Bennett,” recounts Bennett’s life, the times in which he lived and the images he collected along the way including photographs he took and postcards he collected. The book also includes letters Bennett and his family received after famed photographer Walter Sanders’ photograph of Bennett appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1947 propelling Bennett to his own “15 minutes of fame.” Bennett died in 2005.

The program is being held in conjunction with the opening of an exhibit on Everett Bennett featuring personal possessions including his uniform and other military items, his original photographs and his Life magazine cover on loan from his widow, Dora Adams Bennett and his longtime friend, David Minter. The exhibit will also include items from the collection of David Minter on the Korean War, Vietnam and his father, Philmore G. Minter’s service with Company H, 116 Infantry 29^th division on D-Day.  Mr. Glenwood Hankins and Mr. Clyde English, D-Day veterans who served with Minter plan to attend the program.

Historian Thomas D. Perry is the author of sixteen books on regional history in Virginia surrounding his home county of Patrick. In 1990, Perry started the J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace in Ararat, Virginia. A Virginia Tech graduate, he studied under renown Civil War Historian James I. “Bud” Robertson, and speaks all over the region and country. Perry’s collection of papers, books, and images are housed in the Special Collection Department of the Carol M. Newman Library at Virginia Tech.

He is the recipient of the John E. Divine Award from the Civil War Education Association, the Hester Jackson Award from the Surry County Civil War Round Table, and the Best Article Award from the Society of North Carolina Historians for his article on Stoneman’s Raid in 2008. In 2010, he received acknowledgement from the Bassett Public Library Association for his work to expand the Bassett Historical Center and was named Henry County Virginia Man of the Year by www.myhenrycounty.com. Perry also recently received the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Community Service Award from the Patrick Henry Daughters of the American Revolution.