No, I haven’t been in a baseball game recently but had a speaking doubleheader recently. This week I spoke at the Carolina Preserve about North Carolina Farmer’s use of POWs during World War II. I gave the exact same presentation last week to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at North Carolina State University. So, I consider that to be a speaking double header.
One of the things I enjoy about speaking is what I learn from the audience. One of the questions asked last week was if POWs were housed at the Grove Park Inn near Ashville, NC. The Grove Park Inn is a historical upscale hotel in the mountains of NC. One of the audience members had heard that POWs were housed there. I was not aware of any POWs being there and I have done a good bit of research about POWs in North Carolina.
So I investigated and learned that German, Italian, and Japanese diplomats who were in the U.S. when the War broke out were not allowed to go about their daily routines but were transported to Asheville and sequestered in the Grove Park Inn. They had access to all the amenities of the Inn, had great meals, and were treated royally. So they were not POWs in the traditional sense of the word. The image below is inside the Grove Park Inn.
