University of Alabama Takes Over Jefferson Hospitals

Well, here we have the beginning of the vast University of Alabama at Birmingham medical center and hospitals that exist today. I found this brief item from December 1944 in my wanderings through old issues of the Gadsden Times saved by my paternal grandmother Rosa Mae Wright. 

Founded by Josiah Nott and other physicians, the Medical College of Alabama operated in Mobile from 1859 until 1920. In that year the school moved to Tuscaloosa and functioned as a two-year basic sciences program until moved again to Birmingham in 1944. The four-year school opened in September 1945. Students who had finished in Tuscaloosa had to leave Alabama to finish their medical degrees. 

As this brief article notes, plans for the medical school and center in Birmingham were already underway. In 1943 the state legislature had passed the Jones Act to establish and fund a school. Location in Birmingham was chosen because the large patient populations at Jefferson and Hillman hospitals offered the greatest opportunities in the state for physician training and clinical practice. Over 670 employees at the two hospitals also provided a large beginning base for the school.

I've added some illustrations and other comments below. 

Gadsden Times 31 December 1944

Hillman Hospital ca. 1929

Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama 

The building is now known as Jefferson Tower on the UAB campus. This card is postmarked December 23, 1958. The building had opened as Jefferson Hospital in December 1940 with 575 patient beds. The county facility greatly expanded medical care in the city. Hillman Hospital was located on the opposite side of the same block. The buildings became University Hospital and Hillman Clinic at some point after the school opened. 

This postcard in my collection has some interesting history on this side. The four-cent Abraham Lincoln stamp was issued in July 31, 1958; first class postage increased to that amount the next day.  

The original The Price is Right premiered on NBC-TV in 1956. A feature of the show was the "Home Viewer Showcase", which Wikipedia describes:

"The Price Is Right frequently featured a home viewer "Showcase", a multi-prize package for which home viewers were invited to submit their bids via postcard. The viewer who was closest to the actual retail price without going over won everything in the Showcase, but one item was sometimes handmade so the viewer could not check the price of all the items."

I was unable to find the lady who submitted this bid at Ancestry.com I wonder if she won....