Staff Pick

William Croom Safety Certificate

Source: William J. and Pearl Peed Croom Collection, #434

Staff Member: Nanette Hardison

Description:

The William J. and Pearl Peed Collection is highlighted in this month’s staff pick as a way of honoring William J. Croom and his service in law enforcement. While some of the material consists of family records and information on William Croom’s wife, Pearl Peed, most of the material relates to William J. Croom and his career as a patrolman and later as a Director of Public Safety.

William Jesse “Bill” Croom (1900-1940) led a distinguished career from 1926 until his death in 1940.  He was first a patrolman with the city of Kinston, North Carolina, where he was known to have a reputation for integrity and a no-nonsense attitude. He became an early member of the newly formed North Carolina State Highway Patrol in Greensboro, North Carolina, in the early 1930s. In 1936, Croom, who was by then a Lieutenant in the Highway Patrol, resigned to become the Director of Public Safety in Durham, North Carolina.

During William Croom’s tenure as Director, Durham achieved record lows in traffic fatalities and vehicular deaths. Moreover, William Croom also was instrumental in introducing two-way radios in the patrol cars of the Durham Police Department. Sadly, William Croom died in 1940 when the boat that was carrying him along with two other men during a fishing trip capsized in the Neuse River.

The item that is shown is of a certificate that was awarded to William Croom when he successfully completed his course of study at the Southern Traffic Officers’ Training School at the University of Alabama.