Joseph Turner Greene Jr., better known as “J. T. Greene,” was born on this day in 1927, to Joseph Turner Greene Sr. and Mervin Blevins Greene.
J. T. graduated from Hanes High School and served in the Navy in World War II.
He graduated from the Winston-Salem Barber School, and worked as a barber in his office in the Nissen Building.
J. T. was very active in local organizations, such as Goodwill Industries, Amos Cottage, Jaycees Boys Home of North Carolina, United Fund, and Boy Scouts, just to name a few.
He was a past president of the Winston-Salem Junior Chamber of Commerce, and was their man of the year in 1963.
The above photo was taken in 1961, when J. T. was president of the Jaycees. J. T. is escorting Nancy Ann Fleming, Miss America, during her visit to Winston-Salem.
J. T. often worked behind the scenes in his civic contributions. For his barber clients, J. T. offered to give the first haircut for their children, at the home of the child, to help assuage the trauma of being taken to a strange place with strange people. And, he would continue this for as long as necessary, until the child was comfortable with other arrangements.
J. T. was married to Naomi Lewis. He passed away in 2009.
Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
He cut my hair the first time in Barber School in 1944 and I stayed with him for 57 years until he retired in 2001