3 October 1899: Swearing, Not Snake Oil, Lands "Progressive Tooth Puller" in Jail

On this day in 1899, a local snake-oil salesman was reportedly sent to jail not for selling fake medicine, but for cursing at the man who disputed his claims and demanded his money back.

Cursing in public, especially in mixed company, was a serious offense in Athens, often with large fines attached and/or sentences requiring the offender to attend Sunday School each week for six weeks as a public way to atone for their public sin. Ladies who cursed were often treated more harshly by the local courts, as women were seen as not being properly feminine if they committed such a transgression, while men had merely shown poor judgement.


Learn More: 

• Athens Daily Banner, July 1899 - Dec. 1899 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• The Toadstool Millionaires: A Social History of Patent Medicine by James Harvey Young via PINES.
• How to Overcome Fear of Dentistry by Robert F. Kroeger in the general collection.
• Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language by Keith Allan via PINES.
• The Complete Book of Dental Remedies by Flora Parsa Stay in the general collection.
• Expletive Deleted: A Good Look at Bad Language by Ruth Wajnryb via PINES.
• The Encyclopedia of Bioethics by Warren T. Reich in the Reference collection.
• The Great Patent Medicine Era, or Without Benefit of a Doctor by Adelaide Hechtlinger via PINES.
• Where There Is No Dentist by Murray Dickson in the general collection.
• American Health Quackery by James Harvey Young via PINES.
• The Berenstain Bears and the Big Blooper by Jan and Stan Berenstain in the children's collection.

22 May 1990: UGA Bans Over 700 from Campus

On this day in 1990, 680 students and 60-80 campus employees were suspended and not allowed to attend classes or go to work on the University of Georgia campus because they had not yet provided proof of a current measles vaccination.


The University was acting under orders of the State Department of Health, which had declared  a state of medical emergency at UGA two weeks after measles cases started to be reported on campus. In 1989, the entire state of Georgia had reported just 19 cases, but by May 22nd, 1990, the University had reported 38 cases in the previous month. The outbreak was traced to a Clarke Central high school student and St. Joseph's School student who had attended the April 21st G-Day game events at the Tate Student Center.


The first two campus cases were reported on April 24th, both residents of Lipscomb Hall. New cases showed up regularly, and on May 7th, the State Department of Health declared a state of medical emergency on the campus, requiring all employees and students born after 1956 and lacking proper documentation of having received a booster after 1980 to receive vaccinations. 


Originally, the University had a voluntary immunization plan, but only 6,000 students were inoculated. At that point, the administration made vaccination mandatory: those who did not meet the May 18th deadline for vaccination were banned from campus. Faculty and staff would be suspended without pay; students would not be able "to attend class, receive class credit, pre-register for future classes, or complete graduation requirements." 


Employees who could not receive the vaccination, for health or religious reasons, were suspended from campus with pay; students in similar situations were given "Incompletes" for their coursework and allowed three quarters to finish their assignments to gain their grades. Neither group could return to campus until two weeks after the last case of measles had been reported. 


The University Health Clinic set up vaccination sites at the Tate Student Center and Memorial Hall, offering measles boosters to students from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. In the Tate Center, long lines of students snaked through the building and down the stairs to where inoculations were being given. 

On the last day of classes, June 8th, the state of emergency was declared over, as the last reported case was May 25th. By the end of the outbreak, approximately 193 students had been banned from campus for the last three weeks of the quarter. The University provided 21,000 vaccinations to employees and students. Starting Summer quarter, however, proof of inoculation or a $25 fee to cover a measles shot that could be given at registration was required of all University of Georgia enrollees.

During the outbreak, the Red Cross had to cancel their scheduled blood drives at the University, putting Athens blood supply at risk. According to the Red Cross, their campus blood drives provided "about 40% of the Athens area's needs." The Red Cross would not return to campus until June 21st.




Learn More:

• Athens Observer, Mar. 1990 - Jun. 1990 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Banner-Herald, May 1, 1990 - May 31, 1990 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• The Red and Black Archive on the University of Georgia Libraries website.
• Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver by Arthur Allen in the general collection.
• The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear by Seth Mnookin in the general collection.
• Men and Microbes: Diseases and Plagues in History and Modern Times by Arno Karlen in the general collection.
• Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases by Paul A. Offit in the general collection.
• The Good Old Days--They Were Terrible! by Otto Bettmann in the general collection.

28 April 1899: Pink Pills for Pale People

On this day in 1899, this beautiful ad for Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People appeared in the Weekly Banner:

(click to enlarge image)

This patent medicine, manufactured by a Canadian company, was advertised in mass market newspapers in 82 countries, and was the best selling product for the owner, George T. Fulford. The Fulfords made millions from the sale of the pills after purchasing the formula in 1890 for a mere $53.01.  His family's 20,000-square foot summer home, built around the time this ad was published, is now available for events and tourists to visit in Brockville, Ontario.


Fulford's prime method of advertising was the personal testimonial. Testimonial advertising allowed the company to vary the ad content, depending upon the symptoms the particular ad claimed to cure. It was also an engaging story about using the medicine, anecdotal evidence often being seen as more reliable than scientific evidence,  a useful quirk of psychology that worked in favor of patent medicines with no scientific evidence of their worth.


In this ad, testimonial of miraculous cure is given about "Miss Cora Watrous, the sixteen-year-old daughter of Mr. I. C. Watrous, of 61 Clarion St., Bradford, Pa." The names and addresses in the testimonial were real; if one looks at the 1900 U.S. Census, you find Cora, the oldest of eight children belonging to Ira and Helen Watrous, still living at the address used in the ad. By 1900, she was 20 years old and working as a dressmaker.


The company would publish small books, such as one that interpreted dreams, interspersed with tales of cures for the many ailments the pills claimed to relieve. All advertisements emphasized that a "reliable druggist" would carry their pills, and not offer alternatives.


According to the directions for use, Pink Pills for Pale People claimed that it cured

Pale and Sallow Complexion, General Muscular Weakness, Loss of Appetite, Depression of Spirits, Lack of Ambition, Anaemia, Chlorosis or Green Sickness, Palpitation of the Heart, Shortness of Breath on slight exertion, Coldness of Hands or Feet, Swelling of Feet and Limbs, Pain in the Back, Nervous Headache, Dizziness, Loss of Memory, Feebleness of Will, Ringing in the Ears, Early Decay. All forms of Female Weakness, Leucorrhoea, Tardy or Irregular Periods, Suppression of the Menses, Hysteria, Locomotor Ataxia, Partial Paralysis, Sciatica, Rheumatism, Neuralgia, etc. 

It also cured 

Scrofula, Swelled Glands, Fever Sores, Rickets, Hip Joint Disorders, Hunchback, Acquired Deformities, Decayed Bones, Chronic Erysipelas, Consumption of the Bowels and Lungs, Loss of Vital Powers, Spermatorrhoea, Early Decay, Premature Old Age.

However, the directions also warned, "They are NOT a cure-all."




Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Aug. 1898 - Oct. 1899 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• 1900 U.S. Census in Ancestry Library Edition via GALILEO.
• Directions for Using Dr. Williams' Pink Pills: For Men and Women, Young and Old, An Unfailing Blood Builder and Nerve Tonic.
• The Meaning of Dreams by Dr. Williams Medicine Company, published c. 1900.
• Kansas Historical Society's Cool Things online collection.
• Seeking the Cure: A History of Medicine in America by Ira M. Rutkow in the general collection.
• Drugs and Pharmacy in the Life of Georgia, 1733-1959 by Robert Wilson Cumming in the Heritage collection.
• Medicine: An Illustrated History by Albert S. Lyon in the general collection.
• Victorian Pharmacy: Rediscovering Remedies and Recipes by Jane Eastoe in the New Books collection.
• A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac by Edward Shorter in the general collection.
• Nerve: Poise under Pressure, Serenity under Stress, and the Brave New Science of Fear and Cool by Taylor Clark in the New Books collection.

14 April 1911: New Bakery Opens in the Morton Building

On this day in 1911, Sidney J. Thompson opened Thompson's Bakery at 280-282 Hull Street, in the Morton Building. The Athens Banner even announced the opening and the day's specials:

Most African-American businesses did not receive front page notice in the Athens Banner when they opened, but Sidney Thompson was married to Dr. Blanche Thompson, a stockholder of the E. D. Harris Drug Company, and practicing physician who treated both black and white patients, according to the Athens Daily Herald's Business Supplement from 13 August 1914. She was the first African-American doctor in Athens to perform a surgery, and established her own sanitarium for tuberculosis treatment.


Unlike other African-American businesses at the time, Thompson's Bakery would advertise daily specials, such as 5-cent sweet cream biscuits, in the pages of the Athens Banner, alongside ads for white businesses such as Erwin & Company Real Estate, fire pails from Hardeman & Phinizy, and paint offerings from Bondurant Hardware Company.  For many years, the Thompson's Bakery was included in the Banner's lists of factories when boasting of Athens' manufacturing prowess.




Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Jan. 1911 - Jun. 1911 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• A Story Untold: Black Men and Women in Athens History by Michael L. Thurmond in the Heritage, general, and YA collections.
• Athens: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• 1910 U.S. Census for Athens, Clarke County, Georgia in Ancestry Library Edition via GALILEO.
• Blacks in Science and Medicine by Vivian O. Sammons in the Reference collection.
• A Taste of Freedom: A Cookbook with Recipes and Remeberances from the Hampton Institute by Carolyn Quick Tillery in the general collection.
• The Soul of Success: Inspiring Quotations for Entrepreneurs by Janet Cheatham Bell in the general collection.

24 March 1904: "Corpse" Actually Just a Lady Who Fainted

On this day in 1904, the Athens Banner ran this sensational headline on their front page:

Consumption typically referred to pulmonary tuberculosis, a disease that would cause severe weight loss, fatigue, and pallor on top of the obvious respiratory symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, and chest pain.  


In 1904, there were no antibiotics or other anti-bacterial medications available to treat the disease, and the illness was understood to be fatal. Obviously, however, the woman had not yet succumbed to the disease, so she was not yet a "corpse."


Fear of being buried alive was given the label taphephobia in 1890. Though incidences of premature burial were rare, it was still a commonly used device in fiction of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century, and so remedies were often sought to ease the concern that existed in the culture. 


In 1843, a patent was filed in Baltimore, Maryland for a "life-preserving coffin in case of doubtful death," where the coffin would pop open if any movement occurred inside. However, it only worked above ground. In 1896, the London Association for the Prevention of Premature Burial was formed in England to stop "premature burial generally, and especially amongst members." They managed to pass laws, such as requiring the corpse be held in a mortuary prior to burial, that are still observed today. 




Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Feb. 1904 - Nov. 1905 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Buried Alive: The Terrifying History of Our Most Primal Fear by Jan Bondeson via PINES.
• Buried Alive: The Gothic Awakening of Taphephobia by Andrew Mangham, Journal of Literature and Science, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp.10-22. (pdf file)
• The Sky Is Falling: Understanding and Coping with Phobias, Panic, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders by Raeann Dumont in the general collection.
• Grave Matters: A Lively History of Death Around the World by Nigel Barley in the general collection.
• Buried by Bad Decisions by Daniel Gilbert, Nature, Vol. 474, No. 7351 via GALILEO. (abstract only)
• Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts: The History of Burial by Penny Colman in the general collection.
• The Mourning Dance: What We Do When People Die by Katherine Ashenburg in the general collection.
• Complete Stories and Poems by Edgar Allen Poe in the fiction collection.
• The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens in the fiction collection.
• Collected Short Stories by H. G. Wells in the fiction section.

2 February 1892: 80-Year-Old Man Never Takes Medicine

On this day in 1892, the Weekly Banner took note of a longtime citizen of Athens:

Sadly, Mr. Culp would die in October of 1892, after having "been sick for some time." In his obituary, he was hailed as "an honest man in the highest acceptation of that term, despising all shams or deceits." He left behind his wife of 57 years, Martha, three daughters, and two sons.


Mr. Culp moved to Athens in 1860, and served in the Lipscomb Volunteers, part of Athens home defense during the Civil War. He was an active member of East Athens Baptist Church for 45 years, and served as Warden for the first ward in 1870. 


His son Benjamin F. Culp served with Troops Artillery and Cobb's Legion during the war, and was first appointed to the police force in 1875,  becoming the city's Chief of Police in 1896. 


The Culp family is buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery.




Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Jan. 1891 - Jun. 1892 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• The Blue Zone: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived Longest by Dan Buettner in the general collection.
• Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You're 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge in the large print collection.
• Nature's Cures: The Ultimate Guide to the Best, Scientifically Proven, Drug-Free Healing Methods by Michael Castleman in the general collection.
• Walking for Fitness and Health  by Klaus Bos in the general collection.
• Feed Your Family Right: How to Make Smart Food and Fitness Choices for a Healthy Lifestyle by Elisa Zied and Ruth Winter in the general collection.
• Sitting Kills, Moving Heals by Joan Vernikos in the general collection.

28 October 1918: Athens Quarantine Partially Lifted

On this day in 1918, at 7 o'clock in the morning, the quarantine that had been imposed on the city of Athens and the county of Clarke for the previous three weeks, was partially lifted. County schools, the Lucy Cobb Institute, the University of Georgia and State Normal School, and church services would be allowed to meet, but "city schools, movie houses, theatre, pool rooms, shooting galleries, soda founts and ice cream parlors will remain closed." Sunday schools were also asked to refrain from meeting.

The quarantine had first gone into effect October 7th, when Athens had only a few cases of influenza reported, but wanted to avoid a larger outbreak. Mayor Andrew Erwin had the Chief of Police notify the management of a carnival scheduled to come to town that they would have to cancel their visit, and strict enforcement of the anti-spitting ordinance was put into effect. 

The Board of Health met and immediately closed gathering places such as movie theatres, pool halls, soda fountains, and other "amusements." Physicians or the head of a household where the flu struck had to report the case to the Board of Heath within 24 hours, and city schools were closed. The University of Georgia shut down, and all students who lived off the campus were told to stay at home. The Superior Court also delayed their October session. The only exceptions for meetings were for "necessary war work."

Despite the drastic procedures, the Athens Banner took a measured tone, telling its readers that "there is no need for fear, precaution and proper care from exposure will do more to wipe out the disease than anything else." People were generally asked to stay home, and most were willing to comply. In order for students to return to school, they had to present a letter from a physician stating they had not been exposed to the disease for the previous seven days.

Upon partial removal of quarantine, the chairman of Athens Board of Health, Dr. McKinney, did ask for everyone to "continue to exercise the greatest of care for we are not yet out of danger of a further spread of the contagion." Though only 5% of Athens was thought to have contracted the flu, the epidemic was harshest on those ages 15-34, and was so severe "that the average lifespan in the US was depressed by 10 years." 

By early November, it was news that the Colonial had booked entertainment for two weeks out,  but there is no article that notes the official date quarantine was fully lifted from the city. When Armistice to end World War I was declared on November 12, hundreds of citizens and students gathered in the streets to celebrate the event, with no thought of the flu.


Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Jan. 1918 - Nov. 1918 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Daily Herald on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• History of Athens and Clarke County by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• The 1918 Influenza Pandemic page on Dr. Robert Siegel's Human Virology website.
• History of Public Health in Georgia, 1733-1950 by T. F. Abercrombie in the Heritage collection. 
• This Time of Dying by Reina James in the fiction collection.
• The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry in the general collection.
• Blessing's Bead by Debby Dahl Edwardson in the young adult collection.
• The Good Doctor's Guide to Colds and Flu by Neil Schachter in the general collection.

6 October 1891: Dispensary Rules Published

On this day in 1891, the Weekly Banner-Watchman published the rules for the new Athens Dispensary, which had opened earlier in the week. It also reprinted their daily paper story about the opening with the title "Presto, Change!"

The Athens Dispensary was the city's solution to the alcohol problem in Clarke County. Athens had tried prohibition, only to find that crime and unruly behavior were as much a problem as ever, and corrupted black market liquor was causing health issues and deaths. The Dispensary would both guarantee that only high quality liquor was sold within the county and bring in much needed revenue.  

The law establishing the Athens Dispensary was passed by the Georgia legislature the previous August. By mid-September, Dispensary commissioners were doing "quality testing" for products to be sold by the city, with tests run by UGA Chemistry Department head,  Dr. H. C. White. The Dispensary doors opened on September 29. 1891, at 7 o'clock in the morning. In the first few days, the Dispensary averaged between $200-300 in sales per day, but the level of intake was not expected to keep at the pace of newly available alcohol.

Once Athens was in the alcohol business, fines for selling unauthorized alcohol increased dramatically. Disorderly conduct, including keeping a lewd house, may bring a fine of $5-50 in the Mayor's Court, but those arrested as blind tigers faced fines in the hundreds of dollars, or no fine option at all, just labor at 50 cents per day installing the city's new paved streets, and sewer and water systems, with materials purchased with funds from the Dispensary. 

The Athens Dispensary went out of business on New Year's Eve, 1907, the day before state-wide prohibition went into effect. They had record sales that day, and several frequent disorderly conduct prisoners were given prison sentences that lasted until the Dispensary's 7pm closing time. Georgia would not repeal prohibition until 1935, and even now, some counties within the state remain "dry."

Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Jan. 1891 - Jun. 1892 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Athens, Georgia: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• Chemistry at the University of Georgia by W. H. Waggoner in the general collection.
• Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent in the general collection.
• Prohibition by Ken Burns on Georgia Public Broadcasting.
• Alcohol: The World's Favorite Drug by Griffith Edwards in the general collection.
• Irish Toasts, Curses and Blessings by Padraic O'Farrell in the general collection.
• Battling Demon Rum: The Struggle for a Dry America, 1800-1933 by Thomas R. Pegram in the general collection.
• Cheers! 1,024 Toasts and Sentiments for Every Occasion by Kevin P. McDonald in the general collection.
• Farewell, John Barleycorn: Prohibition in the United States by Martin Hintz in the general collection.
• Alcohol: Customs and Rituals by Thomas Babor in the general collection.
• A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage in the general collection.
• Wettest County in the World: A Novel Based on a True Story by Matt Bondurant in the fiction collection.

18 July 1919: "Blade of Grass Is Responsible for Loss of Foot"

On this day in 1919, the Athens Banner published this article about something that is currently foreign in our modern world of antibiotics:

Antibiotics were not discovered until 1928, by accident, when a petri dish of bacteria became contaminated with mold, and the scientist, Alexander Fleming, went away for two weeks on vacation. It took another 11 years of work by Oxford University scientists Ernst Chain and Howard Florey to isolate and purify penicillin into a medical product.  

In 1940, they announced their positive results curing mice of the strep bacteria in a paper in the Lancet, and in 1943 were able to publish their positive results treating wounded Allied soldiers in North Africa. In 1945, all three men were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Ten new classes of antibiotics were discovered between 1940 and 1970, but few pharmaceutical companies are currently pursuing this line of medicine.

Antibiotic resistence from "misuse" is something Dr. Fleming warned of in his 1945 Nobel Lecture. Today, childhood ear infections, tuberculosis, and malaria have become difficult to treat with the antibiotics we have today, and the widespread of use of antibiotics and antibacterial cleaners in hospitals has led to 70% of all hospital-acquired infections being resistant to at least one antibiotic.

In 1919, Mr. Jones made a recovery after the loss of his foot, and was still listed as the athletic director of the Athens Y.M.C.A. in the city directories a decade after this event. 


Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Sep. 1918 - Jul. 1921 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• History of Antibiotics on the Federation of American Scientists website.
• National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website. 
• The Plague Makers: How We Are Creating Catastropic New Epidemics and What We Must Do to Avert Them by Jeffrey A. Fisher via PINES.
• Immunizations and Infectious Diseases: An Informed Parent's Guide, edited by Margaret S. Fisher in the general collection.
• Miracle Cure: The Story of Antibiotics by Milton Wainwright via PINES.
• Overkill by Kimberly M. Thompson in the general collection.
• The Antibiotic Paradox: How the Misuse of Antibiotics Destroys Their Curative Powers by Stuart B. Levy via PINES.
• Breaking the Antibiotic Habit: A Parent's Guide to Coughs, Colds, Ear Infections, and Sore Throats by Paul A. Offit via PINES.
• Controversies in Science and Technology by Abby J. Kinchy and Jo Handelsman in the general collection.

9 May 1902: "No Contagious Diseases."

On this day in 1902, among other tidbits of brief news covering everything from the weather to church picnics, the following item was included in the Athens Banner:

 

The city of Athens had a full-time Sanitary Inspector since at least 1890, far ahead of its time in the rest of the state. He earned $600 per year in 1890, the same as a "regular policeman" and the city attorney. Georgia did not establish a Board of Health with quarantine authority and the ability to enforce other public health laws until 1903. 

In Athens, the Sanitary Inspector in charge of enforcing regulations that were intended to control any communicable diseases (such as smallpox or tuberculosis), and tested and regulated the milk supply. The Sanitary Inspector also worked with the University of Georgia to provide bacteriological services to the county, such as testing the water supply for contaminants. 

In later years, child health became a focus of local health authorities, with much support from local organizations like the Athens Woman's Club, who focused on early childhood education, proper nutrition, and establishing Athens' first Farmer's Market to bring fresh food to a wider population.

Learn More:

• Athens Daily Banner, May 1902 - Oct. 1903 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• History of Public Health in Georgia, 1733-1950 by T. F. Abercrombie in the Heritage collection.
• A Chapter of Child Health, 1924-1928 by the Commonwealth Fund in the Heritage collection.
• Memorabilia of the Athens Woman's Club: Its Projects and Interests by Marguerite B. Sheffer in the Heritage collection.
• The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood: Ten Ways to Get Your Family on the Right Nutritional Track by William Sears in the general collection.
• The Healthy Household: A Complete Guide for Creating a Healthy Indoor Environment by Lynn Marie Bower in the general collection.
• Toxic Exposures: Contested Illnesses and the environmental  Health Movement by Phil Brown in the general collection.
• Is Our Food Safe? A Consumer's Guide to Protecting Your Health and the Environment by Warren Leon and Caroline Smith DeWaal in the general collection.
• The Infectious Disease Sourcebook by Karen Bellenir in the Reference collection.
• Pandemics and Global Health by Barry Youngerman in the general collection.
• Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver by Arthur Allen in the general collection.
• Goldberger's War: The Life and Work of a Public Health Crusader by Alan M. Kraut in the biography collection.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
• Georgia Department of Community Health website.
• Northeast Georgia Health District website.
• Athens-Clarke County Board of Health website.

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.

11 April 1876: "Fine Wines, Whiskies and Brandies, for Medicinal Purposes."

On this day in 1876, this ad ran at the top of the Southern Banner's back page:

 

The  business was owned and operated by Dr. Henry "Hal" Carlton Billups, Dr. H. R. J. Long, and Dr. Crawford W. Long, the discoverer of anesthesia.

The Longs were brothers who had established their first practice in Athens in 1851. After serving as surgeons for the Confederacy during the war, the three doctors returned to Athens and, once re-establishing their lines of credit with northern pharmaceutical companies, returned to practicing both medicine and pharmacy for the local population in 1866. In 1870, Dr. Crawford's son, Dr. Edward C. Crawford, joined the practice.

Dr. Crawford Long kept a medical office at the pharmacy, as well as being active managing the retail side of the business. He would typically stop at the store prior to his morning rounds, visiting his patients in their homes. As a retail manager, he expected the staff to exhibit "promptness, neatness, and systematic observances." In the 1870s, the partners added a soda fountain to the business to attract the patronage of college students.

Much like the modern drugstore, non-medical items were available at Longs & Billups: hygienic items such as brushes and soaps, some sweets, and household goods such as paint and varnishes that would now be found in home improvement stores. 

The alcohol sold as medicine was common at the time; often the processes for creating an alcoholic beverage would destroy any bacteria, and it became somewhat associated with health. Most patent medicines had approximately 20% alcohol content, but frequently would also contain opiates such as cocaine or heroin. Plain whiskey or brandy was, in such instances, a more gentle medicine.

In 1877, Dr. Billups left the practice, and the business changed its name to C. W. & E. C. Long. Dr. Crawford Long died in June, 1878.  The firm name then changed to E. C. Long & Co., and by 1880, was doing most of its business in retail and wholesale building supplies for a booming economy.

Learn More:

• Southern Banner, Jun. 1875 - Oct. 1877 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Banner, 28 September 1880, p. 3, col. 1, in the Athens Historic Newspaper collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Dr. Crawford W. Long: The Distinguished Physician-Pharmacist by Jos. Jacobs in the Heritage collection.
• Prelude to Fame: Crawford Long's Discovery of Anaesthesia by Ruby L. Radford in the Heritage and juvenile biography collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• Athens: A Pictorial History, 1801-2001 by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• Crawford W. Long: Proceedings in Statuary Hall of the United States Capital Upon the Unveiling and Presentation of the Statue of Crawford W. Long in the Heritage and general collections.
• "We Have Conquered Pain:" The Discovery of Anesthesia by Dennis G. Fradin the Heritage and general collections.
• The First Anesthetic: The Story of Crawford Long by Frank Kells Boland in the Heritage and biography collections.
• Frontier Medicine: From the Atlantic to the Pacific, 1492-1941 by David Dary in the general collection.
• Timetables of Medicine by Gill Davies in the general collection.
• Western Medicine: An Illustrated History by Irvine Loudon in the general collection.

21 November 1843: Two Marriages in One Family

On this day in 1843, prominent local builder James R. Carlton attended the weddings of two of his children. In the morning, his oldest son, Dr. Joseph Barnett, married Thene Emma Moore in Jackson County. Reverend Alfred T. Mann, the minister of the First Methodist Church of Athens, performed the ceremony in Jackson County, then returned to Athens to perform a second Carlton wedding.

The second wedding of the day was for Mary Anne Carlton, who was marrying Dr. William H. Felton, who was about to graduate from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta after attending the University of Georgia in Athens. The couple later moved to Cass (now Bartow) County, where Dr. Felton gave up being a doctor to become a Methodist minister and farmer.

The two couples faced very different futures. Joseph and Theney (as she is listed on her Jackson County marriage certificate) remained in Athens and had five children, with two of their sons also pursuing careers in medicine. Jospeh would serve as surgeon  for Toombs Regiment during the Civil War, and represented Athens in the Georgia House from 1853-1856 and Georgia Senate from 1857-1858.

William and Mary Anne had only eight years together before she died, leaving a toddler daughter, Annie, who was born in 1849. William would marry future suffragist Rebecca Latimer in 1852, and both would have striking poltitical careers in Georgia and on a national level.

Learn More:

• Athens, Georgia, Newspaper Clippings (Southern Banner) Volume V 1842-1843 by Tad Evans and Elizabeth Evans Kilbourne in the Heritage collection.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• Clarke County (Ga.) Ordinary. Marriages. Books A-C, 1805 - 1867 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia by Ernest C. Hynds in the Heritage and general collections.
• History of Bartow County, Georgia (Fomerly Cass County) by Lucy Josephine Cunyus in the Heritage and general collections. 
• Clarke County, Georgia, Marriage Records 1803-1909 by Faye Stone Poss in the Heritage and general collections.
• Jackson County, Georgia, Marriage Records 1805-1910 by Patricia Freeman Hardin in the Heritage collection.
• The First Methodist Church, Athens, Georgia: Some History and Recollections, and Its Trustees by John P. Bondurant in the Heritage collection.
• More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Georgia Women by Sara Hines Martin in the Heritage and general collections.
• Rebecca Latimer Felton: Nine Stormy Decades by John E. Talmadge in the Heritage and general collections.