The May meeting of the Rowan History Club will be held on Tuesday at 7 p.m. with the program by Joel Smeltzer on the 1950-51 Salisbury Pirates Minor League Baseball Team.
Smeltzer, grandson of the late Carl Spencer, will explore the cartoon images of the team, which Spencer published in the Salisbury Post. The program will be an examination of the cartoons, and will present a way to recover some of the attitudes toward the team and will also offer some cultural context.
Smeltzer is an educator with the Mint Museum in Charlotte. He is interested in how the visual arts intersect with many disciplines, especially history. Examining his grandfather’s cartoons within the context of local and regional history has fueled this interest. He hopes to further promote his grandfather’s work and how it continues to inform us.
The meeting will be held in the Messinger Room (accessible by elevator). Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month, September-May. The museum is located at 202 N. Main St. Guests to the program should enter through the rear Entrance.
A roundtable format will allow for a 30 to 45 minute presentation, followed by a question and answer period. The Rowan History Club is open to all persons interested in the history of Rowan County. There are no dues or admission fees, and refreshments are served.
The History Club will not meet in June, July and August, but will resume in September.
For more information, contact the Rowan Museum at 704-633-5946 or email rowanmuseum@carolina.rr.com .