We Beg Your Pardon: The Saga of Slow Poke

Connecting the Docs: True Stories from the Old North State

Happy Holidays! We all have heard of presidential pardons for turkeys at Thanksgiving. Of course, we know that since the first state constitution in 1776, North Carolina governors have had the ability to declare executive clemency to people. But have you heard of a governor pardoning a possum? In this episode we are joined by Records Description Archivist Mike Childs to learn about Slow Poke the Possum of Harnett County, the only possum to be officially pardoned from his sentence to be eaten! Slow Poke’s incredible journey begins in 1970, when he was entered into a beauty contest. The winner of the contest would be subject to Possum Pickin’ Day, a celebration championed by North Carolina Governor Bob Scott, who often partook in eating possums, a rural delicacy. When Slow Poke won the beauty contest and his fate was set, public outcry led Governor Scott to make history by pardoning the possum from becoming his next main course. Long live Slow Poke!

Resources:

SR.370.2.242: Governor Robert Scott Record Group, General Correspondence, Governor's File, Political Folder - Releases, Press, January-March: Proclamations Folder (Box 242)

SR.370.2.257: General Correspondence, Governor's File, Statements, E-Q: Folder H (Box 257)

SR.370.2.257: General Correspondence, Governor's File, Statements, E-Q: Folder P-Q (Box 257)

SR.370.17.7: Executive Mansion Files, 1970 Correspondence, August-December; Invitations Declined, January-February (Box 7)

PC.1317: Robert Scott II Papers, 2011 Addition, Scrapbooks