Alabama Photos of the Day: Two Nurses at Camp Sheridan

In late July 1917 construction began on a 4000 acre site three miles from downtown Montgomery. The facility was Camp Sheridan, one of several U.S. Army bases built in Alabama as the nation prepared to enter World War I. Between August and October 30,000 men of the 37th Infantry Division from Ohio arrived; they left for France in June 1918. The 9th Infantry Division replaced it and remained until their unit was deactivated in February 1919. F. Scott Fitzgerald, author and future husband of Zelda, was a lieutenant in the 9th. You can read more details in Martin T. Olliff's account of the camp here. The camp was named for Civil War Union cavalry commander General Phil Sheridan.

The first photo here shows two unidentified nurses at Camp Sheridan. More comments below.

You can find many photos and documents related to Camp Sheridan at Alabama Mosaic. 

The nurse on the left has a Red Cross pin on her lapel. Is she Florence Birch? See below.

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History Digital Collections

Postcard of the base hospital. Camp Sheridan also had over 300 mess halls, 300 bath houses, a post office, 40 warehouses, a gym and a library. Four thousand tents with wood floors housed the soldiers. 

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History Digital Collections

Nurse Florence Goldie Birch at Camp Sheridan ca 1918-1919. Is she the woman on the left in the first photograph?

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History Digital Collections

Surgeons operating at Camp Sheridan Hospital ca. 1917-19. The anesthetist at the head of the table may have been a male nurse. Is that a can of ether sitting on the table behind him?

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History Digital Collections

Wounded men reading on the porch of the hospital barracks at Camp Sheridan ca. 1917-19

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History Digital Collections

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History Digital Collections

Florence had her nurse training at Good Samaritan Hospital Training School in Lexington, Kentucky. Her Red Cross card is dated July 22, 1918, and misspells her middle name. 

Florence married Royal Edward Lynn sometime after the war; they settled in Oklahoma and had two children. She died in 1984 and is buried in Enid, Oklahoma.

Source: Find-A-Grave; photo by David Schram

Birmingham Photo of the Day (70): Two Nurses at Norwood Clinic

Birmingham physician Charles Carraway opened a sixteen bed infirmary in Pratt City in 1908. Nearly a decade later he opened a larger facility in the Norwood neighborhood. By 1926 other physicians had joined him and the Norwood Clinic was incorporated. A nursing wing was added in 1949; other additions and expansions occurred in 1957, 1961 and 1974. Carraway stepped down as board chairman in 1957 and was replaced by his surgeon son Ben. At that time the name was changed to Carraway Methodist Medical Center. The elder Carraway died in 1963, his son in 1999.

Fortunately, they did not live to see the sad fate of the hospital. By 2001 the physicians' group owner began to seek a buyer, but not finding one had to file for bankruptcy in September 2006. Another group of physicians purchased the facility; it was  unable to keep it afloat. The huge 617-bed hospital closed for good on Halloween 2008. Efforts to re-purpose the site have so far been unsuccessful. 

You can visit photos of the ruin via Abandoned Southeast. A video visit is available on YouTube.

The photo below shows two nurses at what was probably Norwood Clinic in the 1940's. The park bench on the left and the visiting hours sign perhaps indicates an outdoor area at the hospital available for both patients and staff. 

Just for fun I've also included below a number of advertisements for Coca Cola that feature nurses. Most are probably from the 1950's and rely on growing popular attitudes about the competency of the nursing profession.  

A good history is Anita Smith's 1996 book A Culture of Excellence: A History of Carraway Methodist Medical Center. 2 vols. 

Photo by Charles Preston

Source: Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections 

Physicians Medical Center Carraway at the time it closed in October 2008

Source: BhamWiki

Charles Carraway, M.D., about 1920

Source: Wikipedia

This article examines the use of nurses as authority figures in advertising after

World War II: 

Johnson E. "Who would know better than the girls in white?" Nurses as experts in

postwar magazine advertising, 1945-1950. Nursing History Review. 2012;20:46-71

American advertising in the period immediately following the Second World War
portrayed nurses as trusted advisers and capable professionals and frequently
pictured them performing skilled work, including dispensing medicine and
assisting in surgery. Advertisements published in a range of magazines whose
target audiences varied by gender, race, age, and class show that nurses in
postwar advertisements embodied two broad categories of representation: (a)
medical authority, scientific progress, and hospital cleanliness; and (b)
feminine expertise, especially in female and family health. Typically portrayed
as young white women--although older nurses were occasionally depicted and black 
nurses appeared in advertisements intended for black audiences-nurses were
especially prominent in advertisements for menstrual and beauty products, as well
as products related to children's health. Although previous scholarly
examinations of nurses in postwar mass media have emphasized their portrayal as
hypersexual and incompetent, this investigation posits postwar advertising as a
forum that emphasized nurses' professionalism, as well as complex expectations
surrounding women's professional and domestic roles.

The Spheeris Family in Alabama

Ok, here's one of those "Sometimes it's amazing what Alabama connections can pop up" blog posts. Fasten your seat belts.

Our son Amos Wright was in town for Easter weekend and went through a bunch of the vinyl records we have around the house. The Jimmy Spheeris album below, a favorite of Dianne's in college, turned up, and she put it on the record player. In the meantime I checked his entry on Wikipedia because I wasn't familiar with him. And what did I find? Well, let me tell you....

Spheeris was born in Phenix City, Alabama, on November 5, 1949. His parents, Juanita and Andrew A. Spheeris, ran a carnival called the Majick Empire Shows; Andrew also performed as a sideshow strongman. The carnival operated mostly in the South and Midwest. 

The singer-songwriter released four albums before his untimely death in California on July 4, 1984. Isle of View was his first and came out on Columbia Records in 1971. Airplay on FM radio created a following for Spheeris and two more albums followed in 1973 and 1976. The fourth album was released posthumously.

Spheeris had other creative family members. His older sister Penelope Spheeris, who was born in New Orleans, is a film director, screenwriter and producer. Her movies include Wayne's World and a three-part documentary on the Los Angeles underground, The Decline of Western Civilization. Musician and composer Chris Spheeris is a first cousin, as is Greek-French filmmaker Costa-Gavras. 

The family has another strong connection to Alabama. Penelope's Wikipedia page has a summation of the event:

Spheeris spent her first seven years traveling around the American South and American Midwest with her father's carnival. Her father was shot and killed in Troy, Alabama after intervening in a racial dispute. In a 2015 interview, Spheeris stated that her father had come to the aid of an African American man who had been struck on the back of the head with a cane by a white man over a dispute about cutting in front of him in line. The white man soon after returned and shot Spheeris' father dead. She states that her father's killer served no jail time, the man's legal defence apparently resting entirely on the claim that he was justified in murdering Spheeris senior as "he was defending a black."

Andrew Spheeris, who was born in Greece, died in Troy on October 27, 1951. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery. I've included a photo of his grave below. 

After her husband's death, Juanita moved the family to California where the children grew up with a series of stepfathers. Their problematic youth did not prevent Jimmy or Penelope's subsequent successes in their chosen fields. 

I did a bit of research on the Majick Empire Shows and Andrew Spheeris and his murder in Alabama and found nothing more than what is given here as noted in the Wikipedia entries. Perhaps I will eventually find something for a future update of this post.

Jimmy lounging among the lyrics for the album's songs

Photo by Paul Bartley via Find-A-Grave

Alabama's Centennial in 1919

In a previous post I've taken a look at Alabama's sesquicentennial activities in 1969 in celebration of statehood in 1819. I've also written about a few bicentennial activities going on this year. Now it's time to examine the state's centennial festivities in 1919. 

That celebration might be described as a "Marie Bankhead Owen" production. And who was Marie Bankhead Owen, you ask? Let's investigate.

Bankhead was born in 1869 into what became one of the state's premier political families in the late 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. Her father John H. Bankhead was a future U.S. representative and senator. Younger brother John H. Bankhead, Jr., also served in the U.S. Senate and another younger one, William B. Bankhead, rose to the office of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Her mother Tallulah was the namesake for her niece, actress Tallulah Bankhead, daughter of William. 

In 1893 she married attorney Thomas McAdory Owen. Using her family's connections, Marie and Thomas convinced the state legislature to establish an Alabama History Commission and in 1901 the Alabama Department of Archives and History. At their initial meeting ADAH trustees appointed Thomas to lead the department, which was the first such entity in the nation. When Thomas died in 1920, Marie was appointed to the post and served until 1955, three years before her death. 

Marie began publishing in various magazines early in the 20th century, and became society and then features editor and writer for the Montgomery Advertiser from 1911 until 1917. By the time that 1919 centennial came around, she was ready to participate. She ultimately wrote six historical plays and four histories for schools related to the event. 

Below are title pages and links to the full texts for some of those writings by Owen. She would continue to write historical materials after the centennial and in 1927 even published a novel, Yvonne of Braithwaite. Also below is some information on the Alabama Centennial half dollar and a couple of other items. 

I've done a bit of preliminary research into a possible semi-centennial in 1869, but have found nothing so far. Since that was just four years after the end of the Civil War, I wouldn't be surprised if that anniversary had no formal celebration. 

Marie Bankhead Owen [1869-1958]

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History

Source: Internet Archive

Source: Internet Archive

Source: Internet Archive

I don't know how long Paragon Press operated, but in 1928 they published a pamphlet celebrating their silver anniversary.

On February 17, 1918, the state legislature created the Alabama Centennial Commission. I'm not sure what else they did during the actual centennial period except issue Owen's publications. However, in September 1922 the Commission was apparently still operating.

Source: Internet Archive

In 1921 the U.S. Bureau of the Mint issued a half dollar to commemorate the state's centennial. The coin was designed by sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser. 

I wonder if David Holt was the only publicity director the commission had; if so, May 1 seems a bit late to be starting such promotion. 

Pensacola Journal 1 May 1919 via Chronicling America

W.S. Newell HIghway

Recently we made a trip to see our daughter Becca Leon and grandson Ezra who live near Jacksonville, Florida. On the way back to Pelham we ended up stuck for two and a half hours in a massive traffic jam on I-65 just north of Prattville. Unfortunately, the problem was caused by a wreck involving two commercial vehicles and the death of one of the drivers. The backup lasted for more than ten hours. 

Traffic was shuttled off the interstate onto US 31 at the Pine Level exit; the wreck was several miles north toward the Verbena exit. As we crawled toward that exit, I noticed the sign below that read "W.S. Newell Highway". As so often happens, wondering about that individual led to this blog post. 

W.S. "Billy" Newell was a road and building contractor who died in September 2009. His company built portions of I-65 and I-85; the stretch of the former named after him was their first interstate project. Newell also built various neighborhoods in Montgomery and other projects around the state. You can read more about him and see a photograph here. His firm remains in business today. 

Another one of Newell's well-known projects is the large "Go to Church or the Devil Will Get You" sign along that same stretch of I-65. 

Source: Flickr

Exactly 80 years ago you could see this sign along a roadside in #Alabama in May 1939. Found via @Shorpy Taken by Marion Post Wolcott during her work for the Farm Security Administration documenting poverty in the Great Depression. The words are the title of a hymn by Daniel March [1816-1909] based on Isaiah 6:8 

A Trader Joe's Opens in the Alabama Theatre--in Houston

On November 2, 1939, an art deco movie house named the Alabama Theatre opened in Houston, Texas. The first film shown was The Man About Town with comedian Jack Benny. In December 1983 a final movie appeared on the screen, the low budget horror title Mortuary. The Alabama Bookstop opened in the theater the following year. That business, later acquired by Barnes and Noble, operated until September 2009. You can see photos of the bookstore interior at this site. 

Despite several proposals, the facility's future remained in doubt until 2011 when the Trader Joe's market chain announced plans to open its first store in the Houston area. The next year the chain opened that store in the former theater and preserved much of its exterior and interior architectural delights. 

The Alabama in Houston was built in the same year as the River Oaks Theatre; both were owned by the Interstate chain. That company, which operated from 1905 until 1976, had vaudeville houses and movie theaters in Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. I have not found any mention of operations in Alabama. Perhaps founder Karl Hoblitzelle admired our own Alabama Theatre in Birmingham, which had opened in 1927.

The Trader Joe's at The Summit is nice, but we seldom shop on the 280 corridor. If only Joe's had chosen a historic building downtown to re-purpose...

UPDATE 4 May 2021

Erum Salam has written a fascinating article about shopping at this Trader Joe's that includes appreciation of the remaining Art Deco features. 

Source: Wikipedia

Morrione Vineyards in Wetumpka

In cleaning out some stuff at mom's recently, I came across this bottle in a box  of other wines from California and Tennessee. These bottles have been at her house for probably 15 years; she's not much of a wine drinker. They were all purchased sometime before dad died in 2003 and never opened. 

Alabama currently has a pretty robust wine industry. The North Alabama Wine Trail includes six wineries. I found this 2013 posting from the Wine Nomad on wineries in the Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile areas. At that time there were eight wineries in the state. This search at the state's official travel site will pull up links to wineries, wine festivals and wine bars around the state. 

Morrione comes up on none of those searches. If you Google "Morrione Vineyards" you will get some results but all are seemingly out of date and consist mostly of an address and phone number: Location: 3865 Central Plank Rd, Montgomery Alabama Telephone 334-567-9957. Often "U-Pick" is added to the name. You can see that location on a Google satellite view. That phone number seems to be no longer in service.

I'm not really a fan of sweet wines, but my paternal grandparents in Gadsden  had a fence in their back yard loaded with muscadines each year. Whenever I visited for a week in the summer I'd practically make myself sick eating them. Ah, the muscadine days of yore....And did you know there is a community named Muscadine in Cleburne County? 

I presume this winery is now defunct. Anyone who has further information is invited to leave a comment to this post!