27 April 1905: Frightening Accident at the Cemetery

On this day in 1905, the following story ran on the front page of the Athens Banner:

INJURED

Miss Susie Gerdine Badly Hurt Yesterday by Her Horse Falling at Cemetery.

     Yesterday afternoon about seven o'clock Miss Susie Gerdine sustained painful and serious injuries in Oconee cemetery, while riding her horse across teh river bridge.
     The horse wanted to come back towards the city and Miss Gerdine wanted to cross into the new part of the cemetery.
     In attempting to make the horse cross the bridge the animal became unmanageable and reared on its haunches. Miss Gerdine slipped from the horse's back and the animal fell across her body.
     Mr. Edward Bancroft was near by [sic] and went to her assistance and in a moment several ladies were present. She was carried to the residence of Mr. J. H. Bisson and as soon as possible Dr. Carlton was summoned. It was deemed advisable to remove her in her home on Hancock avenue. This was done and as soon as she reached home, the physician made a careful examination of her injuries.
     Below her waist she had no use of her body for several hours, and the indications are that she is suffering from a severe shock to the spine.
     Late last night Miss Gerdine had partly recovered the use of one side of her body.

Athens Banner, 27 April 1905, p. 1, col. 5

Miss Susie Gerdine was, at the time, a teacher in the Athens city schools and a charter member of the Athens chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Her accident occured on Confederate Memorial Day, April 26th, where there were commemorations at Oconee Hill Cemetery for the veterans of the war buried there.

The next news of Miss Gerdine in the Athens papers comes on 3 May 1905, as part of the Society page, simply noting that "Miss Susie Gerdine is very much better." 

In 1908, Miss Gerdine was hired with Anne Wallis Brumby to be co-principals for a three-year term of the Lucy Cobb Institute, of which both women were alumnae. The women gave academics at Lucy Cobb Institute an upgrade, requiring math and Latin in order to graduate with a diploma, though other special certificates of completion were offered for those focusing on music or other areas. Those given demerits had to memorize long stanzas of poetry, with Miss Gerdine picking a different poet each year. They also introduced basketball to the school, and encouraged both mental and physical fitness in their students.

In 1916, Anne Brumby decided to resign as co-principal, and Susie Gerdine chose to follow her lead rather than give up teaching in order to handle the demands of running a large school alone. In June, 1919, they would both be part of the first class of women to graduate from the University of Georgia while continuing to teach at Lucy Cobb.

"Miss Susie," as she was known to the students, taught history, physics, and swimming until 1931, and "was universally admired" by her students. It was Miss Susie who would preview movies when they came to town, and, if deemed appropriate for her students, would then chaperone them on their walk downtown to and from the theatre in two straight lines on the sidewalk. Decades later, her students would remember her as "our favorite" and "the best teacher I ever had...(she) made history live then and it continues to live for me now,"  and that her classes "made the past and its people real."

Miss Susie Gerdine died on 8 October 1932, at the age of 59. She is buried with her family in Oconee Hill Cemetery.
 

Learn More:

• Athens Historic Newspaper collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Remembering Athens by Susan Frances Barrow Tate in the Heritage and general collections.
• Higher Education for Women in the South: A History of Lucy Cobb Institute, 1858-1994, edited by Phinizy Spalding in the Heritage collection.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• 1904 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• These Men She Gave: Civil War Diary of Athens, Georgia by John F. Stegeman in the Heritage and general collections.
• Medicine for the Outdoors: The Essential Guide to Emergency Medical Procedures and First Aid by Paul S. Auerbach in the general collection.
• Medicine for the Backcountry by Buck Tilton and Frank Hubbell in the general collection.
• Fundamentals of Horse Handling: A Guide to Owning a Horse by Barbara Ely in the general collection.
• The Athletic Horse: His Selection, Work, and Management by Carol Foster in the general collection.
• The Oxford Latin Desk Dictionary, edited by James Morwood in the general collection.
• Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women's Basketball by Pamela Grundy and Susan Shackelford in the general collection.
• The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz in the general and children's collections.

18 September 1901: Coach Harry Mehre Is Born

On this day in 1901, Harry Mehre was born in Huntington, Indiana. He would attend the University of Notre Dame from 1918-1922, playing lineman for legendary coach Knute Rockne, including undfeated seasons in 1919 and 1920. After a year of coaching and playing for the independent professional team, the Minneapolis Marines, Mehre was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Georgia by Bulldogs' head coach George "Kid" Woodruff. He started work in Athens on April 1st, 1924.

Former Notre Dame players for Rockne were in high demand in college football at the time, with many schools hoping to replicate the Irish's success using the Notre Dame Box, a variation of former Georgia Coach Pop Warner's single-wing formation that opened the game up for passing. It was, however, the Irish's defeat of Georgia Tech, 35-7, in 1923 that convinced Coach Woodruff to hire Notre Dame assistants, starting with Mehre in 1924, and followed in 1927 by Jim Crowley, one of the famous Four Horsemen.

After the 1927 season, Coach Woodruff left football to return to the business world and recommended Coach Mehre for the head coach position. Coach Mehre would lead the team for a decade, including the inaugural game at Sanford Stadium on October 29th, 1929 versus the Yale Bulldogs, a game called "one of the greatest football spectacles ever in the South." Southern governors traveled to Georgia for the event, and Athens was a city of celebration in the week leading up to the game. When the Yale team arrived, most of the city and student body was there to welcome them to town, and the Yale band marched up College Avenue, playing "Dixie" when they reached the review stand set up at City Hall. Georgia won the game 15-0.

During his tenure at UGA, the Bulldogs became a nationally known and ranked football team. They beat Yale five times in a row, and upset Fordham in 1936 when they were the favorites to play in the the Rose Bowl. A man of many talents, Coach Mehre filled in for Georgia's basketball coach, Herman Stegeman, in 1931, and handed revered University of Kentucky Coach Adolph Rupp his first loss as a Wildcat, with a 25-16 victory for the Bulldogs.

Coach Mehre's record at UGA was 59-34-6 when, in 1938, he took the head coach position at the University of Mississippi. In his first game as Coach, his Rebels beat the LSU Tigers 20-7 in Baton Rouge. During his eight years at Oxford, he won four games in a row over the LSU, a first for a Mississippi football team. In 1946, Coach Mehre retired from coaching and went into business. He later became a football analyst and sports columnist for the Atlanta Journal, and was a popular speaker at Touchdown Clubs around the south. He was known for his self-depreciating wit and ability to tell an hilarious story.

Coach Mehre wrote for the newspapers for 22 years, before going into retirement in the 1970s. He died on September 27, 1978 in Atlanta. On April 25, 1987, Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall opened on the University of Georgia campus, housing athletic offices, facilities, and a Bulldog sports museum that is open to the public.

Much thanks to Loran Smith at the Georgia Athletic Association for his assistance to the author in writing this article.

Learn More:

• Between the Hedges: 100 Years of Georgia Football by Loran Smith in the general collection.
• Dan Magill's Bull-Doggerel: Fifty Years of Anecdotes from the Greatest Bulldog Ever in the general collection.
• Leading a Bulldog's Life by Jack Troy in the Heritage collection.
• Echoes of Georgia Football: The Greatest Stories Ever Told by Ken Samelson in the general collection.
• I've Seen 'Em All: A Half Century of Georgia Football by Charles E. Martin in the Heritage collection.
• History of the University of Georgia by Thomas Walter Reed on the Digital Library of Georgia website.
• A Walking Tour of the University of Georgia by F. N. Boney in the Heritage and general collections.
  
• Rockne: The Coach, The Man, The Legend by Jerry Brondfield in the biography collection.
• Rites of Autumn: The Story of College Football by Richard Whittingham in the general collection.
• Oh, How They Played the Game: The Early Days of Football and the Heroes Who Made It Great by Allison Danzig in the general collection.
  
• Football for Young Players and Parents by Joe Willie Namath in the general collection.
• Football: Rules of the Game by Bryant Lloyd in the children's collection.
• Football Rules Illustrated by George Sullivan in the general collection.
• Athens Banner-Herald, September 21 - October 31, 1978 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
  

19 July 1964: Basketball Great Teresa Edwards Is Born

On this day in 1964, Teresa Edwards was born in Cairo, Georgia. She would be the oldest of four, the only girl, and one of the greatest basketball athletes in the history of the game. She is a member of six Halls of Fame, is No. 22 on Sports Illustrated's list of 100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century, and is "the most decorated Olympic basketball player on the planet, male or female, with four gold medals and one bronze medal in five Olympics."

An All-American and state champion as part of Cairo High School's Syrup Maids basketball team, Edwards came to the University of Georgia in 1983 on a basketball scholarship. She was the first member of her family to graduate from college. During her four years playing point guard for Coach Andy Landers, she led the Lady Bulldogs to three Southeastern Conference titles, two Final Fours, and the team had an overall record of 116-7. She averaged 15.5 points per game and 5.1 assists per game, and UGA retired her number (#5) in 1989.

In 1987, there were no professional basketball teams in the United States, so Edwards took her game abroad. Over the next nine years, she played professionally in France, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Russia. She gave up lucrative foreign contracts to play for the U. S. National Team in 1995-1996, where the Women's team went 60-0.

Her Olympic career, spanning 26 years, is nothing less than astonishing. She joined her first U. S. National team in 1983. In the 1984 Los Angeles games, at the age of 20, Edwards earned her first gold medal; in the 2000 Sydney games, at the age of 36, she earned her fourth gold medal. She is both the youngest and oldest women's basketball player to win gold medals.

Edwards is the United States' only five-time Olympic basketball player, and one of three people in the whole world to play basketball in five Olympic games (the other two, men from Australia and Brazil, have no medals to their names). In the 1996 Atlanta games, Edwards was chosen to take the Olympic Oath during Opening Ceremonies; it was her 32nd birthday.

A pioneer of professional women's basketball with the American Basketball League, Edwards wanted a pro league for women that would not be a sideshow to the NBA. However, the WNBA survived while the ABL did not, and Edwards and the WNBA could not settle on terms. She stayed in shape for the Sydney games by practicing daily with ex-NBA players at a gym near her home in Atlanta. She averaged 6.1 points per game and 3.4 assists per game in the 2000 Olympics.

On June 15, 2010, Edwards was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the Grady County Sports Hall of Fame, the Olympic Hall of Fame, the National High School Sports Hall of Fame, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and UGA's Circle of Honor. She is currently the athletic representative on the USA Basketball Board of Directors.


Learn More:

• Venus to the Hoop: A Gold Medal Year in Women's Basketball by Sara Corbett in the general collection.
• Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women's Basketball by Pamela Grundy in the general collection.
• Grace & Glory: A Century of Women in the Olympics by Jane Mersky Leder in the general collection.
• Olympic Portraits by Annie Leibovitz in the general collection.
  
• At the Rim: A Celebration of Women's Collegiate Basketball by the Eastman Kodak Company in the general collection.
• Play Like A Girl: A Celebration of Women in Sports by Sue Macy in the children's collection.
  
• Basketball by Cynthia Fitterer Klingel in the children's collection.
• Teresa Edwards' Olympic statistics on the USA Basketball web page.
  
• 2010 Inductees page on the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame website.
  
• Lady Bulldogs page on the UGA Athletic Association website.
• USA Basketball page on the U. S. Olympic Committee website.