COWAN, Tenn. (WTVF) — All around us, there are people who have truly witnessed the world change. One woman with quite a story to share is being celebrated.
Downtown Cowan has stories to tell. That includes Franklin House, an 1880s hotel where people stayed who were traveling by train. In the lobby of Franklin House, you can often find a resident with some stories to tell herself.
"I was a sophomore in high school when I learned to knit," Polly Capterton Hughes smiled, quickly knitting.
Polly's always working on something for someone. She tells this one story about her brother.
"I knitted argyle socks for him when he was in the service, and I sent them to France," she remembered. "That was during World War II."
Working on a little something for others just kept being Polly's story. It was several years after Polly ran a flower shop out of Franklin House in the 40s, she called a meeting with friends in downtown Nashville. She had this business idea.
"I said, 'I'm going to open a personnel agency,'" Polly said. "They said, 'if you do, Polly, use your name.' I named it Polly Hughes Personnel Service."
This was 1960. The number of women in the labor force was growing. It'd gone from around 18 million in 1950 to 23 million a decade later.
"There wasn't another agency there that was exclusively for women," Polly continued.
Polly moved her business into a building at 6th and Church. See the street where she helped women in the player above.
"I had the cutest office in Nashville," Polly said. "I placed women in office positions."
It was changing lives. The employment rate for women was growing roughly three percent each year of the 60s. For a lot of Polly's clients, this was a first job.
"You'd send them out on an interview, and you couldn't wait to hear if they'd call and tell you if they got the job," she smiled.
Polly continued her downtown business, placing women in jobs until 1983. She and her husband returned to Cowan. Polly ran an antique store out of Franklin House and has never stopped giving to people.
"I've had a good life," Polly said.
Maybe it was time to celebrate that.
Friends made over a lifetime were showing up to Franklin House on Sunday as Polly turned 105.
"That is true! Isn't that awful?" she laughed.
No, Polly. It's pretty great.
Handing her a special present was friend Diane Murray.
"It's very fitting for the day!" Diane said.
"Oh my goodness," Polly said with a smile as she opened a box.
Diane had found an original Polly Hughes Personnel Service matchbook.
"Look at that!" Polly said. "I used to send these to my clients."
In the middle of a celebration, I asked Polly the most important lesson she's learned over these 105 years. It goes back to how she handled that downtown business.
"To love people, I think, is the most important thing in life," she answered. "Money isn't that. It's the love of people."
"I've never seen so many people," Polly said, looking out over her friends. "This is just wonderful. I never dreamed anything like this would happen to me."
Do you have some positive news to share? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
I LOVE Forrest's stories on the history of NewsChannel 5 as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Here's a story I wasn't familiar with until recently. Eudora Boxley had a live cooking show in the early days of the station. She may have been the first black on air at NewsChannel 5 and perhaps, one of the first African Americans to have a TV cooking show anywhere in the country. It wasn't until her grandson reached out to me that I even heard of Ms. Boxley. Thankfully, I was able to connect him with Forest to learn more about this great nugget in NewsChannel 5 history.
-Lelan Statom
