Look Back ... to a young golfing champion retains his crown, 1949

June 27, 1949, in The Star: The H.L. Green triplets, first trio to be born at Anniston Memorial Hospital, turned two months old yesterday and are reported to be doing fine at their home north of Jacksonville. The triplets were born on Southern Memorial Day but are named for the president and his daughter: The boys are James Truman Green and John Harry Green and the girl is named Margaret Jane Green. Also this date: Milton Wigley repeated as Calhoun County’s Junior golf champion here yesterday when he beat Marvin Hester in the second annual county meet sponsored by the Anniston Junior Chamber of Commerce. The closely fought match at the Municipal course saw Wigley emerge as the winner on the 16th hole. Not surprisingly, Wigley and Hester were the top members of the Anniston High School golf team during the last season.

June 27, 1999, in The Star: It’s not just wealth families sending their children to private schools who are fleeing the Anniston school system. It’s anyone and everyone – white, black, upper class, middle class. They are showing up on the doorsteps of public schools in Oxford, Jacksonville and White Plains, anywhere they find what they believes is a better and safer school system than Anniston’s. “That’s been going on for the last 10 years. We lose families all the time,” said Mayor Gene Stedham. Thus begins an in-depth look at how the Anniston system is being drained of a certain group of students, even as the system improved just enough recently to escape takeover by the state.