Weekly Acorn #55
In 1938, two sisters, Gladys Reid Dunnagan and Zelda Reid Taylor, were among the very first residents to build their homes on Idlewild Dr. Mrs Taylor built her home at 135 Idlewild Dr and Mrs Dunnagan built hers further down the street at 175 Idlewild Dr. They have remained in Oak Crest ever since. They are both in their nineties and Mrs Taylor, the eldest, just celebrated her 95th birthday.
After living in Oak Crest for several years, the Dunnagans purchased a lot and built another home at 222 Friendship Cr. The reason they moved from Idlewild Dr was because in those days the street was not paved, and because of the steep hill, whenever it would rain the road became very muddy and rutted out making it difficult to drive up the hill. Mrs Dunnagan told me how the Idlewild residents would sometimes park their cars at the top of the street or along Friendship Cr when it would rain so they would not get stuck in the mud. So, for this reason, the Dunnagans moved to higher ground.
Just after WWII the Dunnagans began to build their new home at 222 Friendship Cr. The detached garage/apartment was built first because building materials were not readily available after the war. Mrs Dunnagan and her husband, Ed, created a living space in the garage and they lived in it with their two children, Sandra and Alan, for several years until they built the house in 1950.
Prior to living in Oak Crest and getting married, Gladys and Zelda Reid opened a beauty shop in downtown Winston-Salem in the mid 1930’s. It was called Win-Sal Beauty Shop. They ran the shop for several years and finally sold it. Mrs Taylor went on to work at Town & Counrty Furniture in Old Town.
Then, a few years later, Mrs Dunnagan opened a small beauty shop in the basement of her home on Friendship Cr that she called Friendship Beauty Shop. There she worked part-time hours and saw some of the clients from when she had the shop downtown as well as some of the women in the neighborhood. Martha Sather (154 Crepe Myrtle Cr) was one of her clients. This arrangement gave Mrs Dunnagan the flexibility to work, be a homemaker, and raise her children.
This house at 222 Friendship Cr is the home of Gladys Dunnagan. It was in the basement of this house that Mrs Dunnagan ran a part-time beauty shop for several years called Friendship Beauty Shop. Click on the photo above to view an expanded version or visit the entire Historic Oak Crest Photo Gallery.
After a few years, Mrs Dunnagan wanted a change, so she closed the shop and went to work at the Reynolda Branch Public Library, where she worked for many years. She continued to work at other jobs over the years until she was well in her eighties. She attributes all of her years of hard work to her father who had a strong work ethic and worked hard all of his life. Her father put her to work at a very early age as so many folks had to do in those days.
Although she is not able to get out and work now, Mrs Dunnagan still likes to help others. One of the ways she does this is to crochet little baby blankets for sick infants in the hospital.