Editing Tabor City, North Carolina (section)

=== 1940s–1970s ===
The [[Second World War]] saw many young men of the town face combat in both the European and Pacific Theaters of war.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?do=q&state=NC&county=Columbus&war=World+War+II&p=1|title=U.S. War Casualties North Carolina, Columbus County, World War II : page 1 of 10|website=www.honorstates.org}}</ref>  The war economy brought prosperity to the town and saw an expansion of new businesses began by war veterans taking advantage of GI Bill loan provisions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.columbiatribune.com/story/business/2009/07/03/gi-bill-created-generation-business/21575189007/|title=GI Bill created generation of business leaders|first=Mary|last=Paulsell|website=Columbia Daily Tribune}}</ref>  During the 1940s and 1950s, the area had at least two movie theaters. There were also several drive-in movie businesses. Gas stations appeared at the town's major intersections.  The first supermarkets also opened replacing the smaller general stores that had previously served the public. Several car dealerships came to the town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.classmates.com/?s=80622|title=Reconnect with friends from high school, find reunions, view yearbook photos and more.|website=Classmates.com}}</ref> The first Yam Festival was organized and held in 1948.<ref name="history"/>

The ''[[Tabor City Tribune]]'' is a [[weekly newspaper]] established by [[W. Horace Carter]] (a [[Stanly County, North Carolina|Stanly County]] native) in 1946. In 1950, after witnessing a [[Ku Klux Klan]] motorcade going through town, Carter began writing a series of editorials and reports critical of Klan activity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://south.unc.edu/programming/editorandthedragon-sources/ |title=Editor and the Dragon – Sources – The Center for the Study of the American South |publisher=The Center for the Study of the American South |access-date=April 22, 2014}}</ref> The Klan began a recruiting campaign in 1950, and were later convicted of [[flogging]] people and other offenses, based largely on Carter's work.<ref name="unc">{{cite web |url=http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/biblio.html?base_file=B-0035&duration=01:19:22 |title=Walter Horace Carter (Oral History Interview) |publisher=docsouth.unc.edu |access-date=August 13, 2018}}</ref> Along with the ''[[Whiteville News Reporter]]'', the ''Tribune'' was awarded the 1953 [[Pulitzer Prize for Public Service]] for its [[editorial]]s against the Ku Klux Klan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.carter-klan.org/Editorials.html |title=The Carter-Klan Documentary Project &#124; Carter's Editorials |publisher=Carter-klan.org |access-date=April 22, 2014}}</ref> The Pulitzer Prize citation stated that the newspapers were awarded the prize "for their successful campaign against the Ku Klux Klan, waged on their own doorstep at the risk of economic loss and personal danger, culminating in the conviction of over one hundred Klansmen and an end to [[terrorism]] in their communities."<ref name="unc2">{{cite web |url=http://www.jomc.unc.edu/sites/default/files/images/carter-horace-tom%20terry.pdf |date=September 21, 2009 |title=The Pulitzer and the Klan – Horace Carter, the Pulitzer Prize, and How a Weekly Editor stood up to the Klan – and Won |author=Thomas C. Terry |access-date=December 6, 2014}}</ref> The newspapers were the first weeklies to win a [[Pulitzer Prize]]. The name of the ''Tabor City Tribune'' was changed to the ''Tabor-Loris Tribune'' in 1996.  The small W. Horace Carter Newspaper Museum in Tabor City at the ''Tabor-Loris Tribune'' offices has exhibits on Carter's life and work.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=863 |title=The Tabor City Tribune Marker |publisher=Hmdb.org |date=February 14, 2007 |access-date=April 22, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.tabor-loris.com/42446/2180/1/this-weeks-issuefpv |title=Tabor – Loris Tribune, This Week's Issue – FPV |publisher=Tabor-loris.com |access-date=April 22, 2014}}</ref> A documentary of the struggles between Carter and the Klan, titled ''The Editor and the Dragon: Horace Carter Fights the Klan'', was shown on the North Carolina Public Broadcasting System in 2013, on the 50th anniversary of the struggle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://south.unc.edu/programming/editorandthedragon/ |title=Editor and the Dragon – The Center for the Study of the American South &#124; The Center for the Study of the American South |publisher=South.unc.edu |access-date=April 22, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.atlanticpkg.com/2021/09/remembering-w-horace-carter/|title=Remembering W. Horace Carter|date=September 16, 2021|website=Atlantic Packaging}}</ref> In addition, part of Carter's story was entered into the ''[[Congressional Record]]'' in 2007.<ref name="google">{{cite book |title=Congressional Record, V. 153, PT. 12, June 18, 2007 to June 26, 2007 |author1=U S Congress |author2=Congress (U.S.) |date=2010 |publisher=BERNAN Press |isbn=978-0-16-087143-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Ju1FH5oagAC |pages=1–131 |access-date=December 6, 2014}}</ref> Carter's death in 2009 was noted in ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name="nytimes">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/us/21carter.html?_r=0 |work=The New York Times |title=W. Horace Carter, 88, a Publisher Whose Paper Challenged the Klan, Dies |date=September 20, 2009 |author=Bruce Weber |access-date=December 6, 2014}}</ref>  Even with the Tribune's crusade against racism and the Klan, now in 2022, there is a business covered with Confederate flags which sells Klan and other racist merchandise on the main road coming into town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yellowpages.com/tabor-city-nc/mip/rebel-shop-27692557|title=Rebel Shop in Tabor City , NC|website=YP.com}}</ref>  Thus, the battle against racism is at a stalemate in light of Carter's crusade in the 1950s.

The Tabor City Methodist Church began services in 1953.<ref name="columbusco.org" />

Due to crimes in the area in the late 1950s and 1960s, especially fights at local bars, Tabor City earned the nickname "Razor City". Even though many of the crimes occurred just across the border in South Carolina, the Razor/Tabor near-[[rhyme]] stuck.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20090901/ARTICLES/909019983 |title=Tabor City becomes center of media attention |publisher=StarNewsOnline.com |date=September 1, 2009 |access-date=April 22, 2014}}</ref>

An economic downturn and severe recession, plus skyrocketing fuel costs, in the early/mid-1970s resulted in business closures and poverty becoming the norm for many families.<ref>Stevenson, Tom (February 11, 2012). "Lessons to be learnt from rampant inflation of the 70s"</ref><ref>Mohammed, Mikidadu (2017). Essays on the Causes and Dynamic Effects of Oil Price Shocks. University of Utah. Retrieved January 27, 2020.</ref>