Gill's Grill

Green Book Category
Taverns
Years Listed
1947-1955
Region
Coastal Plain
County
Bladen

Gill’s Grill was listed in the Green Book from 1947-1955 as “Gill’s Grill” under “Taverns” in Elizabethtown. No address was given for the business.1 

Gill’s Grill opened in Elizabethtown around 1938. It was owned by Elizabethtown native J. Cirt Gill, Jr., who operated the restaurant and dance hall from 1938-1948. It is not clear when the business closed.2

John Cirt Gill, Jr. was born in Elizabethtown in 1911. He graduated from NC A&T University in Greensboro in 1938 with a B.S. in Business Administration and returned home to open his own business, described as a “cafe / dance-hall combination.” He married Margaret Anne Boykin, a high school Music and English teacher. The couple relocated to Greensboro in 1948. Gill accepted a position as an “experimental Disc Jockey” at Greensboro radio station Mutual WGBG and became widely known for his radio show, “Jam-A-Ditty,” named for a Duke Ellington song. Gill, who also went by “Jam-A-Ditty,” played popular music and was known for his wit and humor. He was on air six nights a week and was the first African American to work as a full-time disc jockey in the area.3

J. Cirt Gill, Jr. passed away in 1960. He was working toward a master’s degree at NC A&T University at the time of his death.4

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022

Notes

  1. Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 64; Green, 1948 Green Book, 62; Green, 1949 Green Book, 56; Green, 1950 Green Book, 62; Green, 1951 Green Book, 53; Green, 1952 Green Book, 53; Green, 1953 Green Book, 53; Green, 1954 Green Book, 52; Green, 1955 Green Book, 53.
  2.  V. Anthony Horne, Jr., “Voice of Greensboro,” The Carolinian, March 9, 1957, 18, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org; John Cirt Gill, Jr., Elizabethtown, North Carolina, U.S. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1940 United States Federal Census, Elizabethtown, Bladen County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Cirt Gill Jr.” or “Kirk Gill Jr.,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1950 United States Federal Census, Elizabethtown, Bladen County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Cirt Gill Jr.” or “Cort Gill Jr.,” accessed from www.ancestry.com. Note: Gill lived next door to Lena Dunham Turner, who may have owned Liola’s Beauty Salon, another Green Book business; Gill’s mother’s maiden name was Dunham.
  3.  V. Anthony Horne, Jr., “Voice of Greensboro,” The Carolinian, March 9, 1957, 18, accessed from http://newspapers.digitalnc.org; John Cirt Gill Jr., December 18, 1960, Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina Death Certificates, 1909-1976, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Radio Figure Dies at 48,” The Charlotte Observer, December 20, 1960, 11, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Ernest L. Johnston, Jr., “Popular Dee-Jay Succumbs,” The A&T College Register (Greensboro, NC), January 13, 1961, accessed from https://digital.library.ncat.edu/atregister/173. 
  4. “Radio Figure Dies at 48,” The Charlotte Observer, December 20, 1960, 11, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Ernest L. Johnston, Jr., “Popular Dee-Jay Succumbs,” The A&T College Register (Greensboro, NC), January 13, 1961, accessed from https://digital.library.ncat.edu/atregister/173.