Mary Minor Photos Newly Acquired

Mary Minor and Daughter Mimi

This newly acquired photo of Winecoff fire victim Mary Minor comes to us courtesy of her daughter, Mimi Minor Duncan, who was four years old at the time of the fire. Mary Minor and four Thomston Youth Assembly delegates perished in room 1430. Mary Minor was 31. More photos are here.

Thomaston Plaques Re-dedicated

A crowd of seventy people filled Memorial Hall in Thomaston, Georgia to re-dedicate the plaques honoring the Youth Assembly delegates and their faculty advisor who perished in the Winecoff Hotel fire. Friends, family and classmates of Mary Minor, Earlene Adamas, Patsy Uphold, Christy Hinson and Virginia Torbert were among those who gathered to remember the five young women, who when faced with certain death, showed uncommon faith and courage.

Patsy Uphold's Bible was recovered from room 1430

Firefighters found evidence of panic throughout the hotel. But not in room 1430. There they found this Bible on the bedside table, opened to this page containing the verse: "Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled..." Beside the Bible, the five suffocation victims lay peacefully, side by side, on a double bed.

Ed Cliburn

Reverend Edwin L. Cliburn addressed the crowd calling the Winecoff fire a "defining moment" for Thomaston. He called it, "a time of supreme sorrow." But one that inspired a spiritual rebirth that eventually "had a good wholesome impact" on the city.

Thomaston-Upson Couny Archivist Claude Burgess stands beside the newly re-dedicated plaques. He often fields questions about the Winecoff fire.

The re-dedication was organized by Donna Auth.
The Thomaston Times' front page coverage is here.
Also see: Thomaston Girls Remembered.

Big Bets

Winecoff Fire co-author Sam Heys never undertakes anything small. The former Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter has completed another epic book. Big Bets: The Decisions & Leaders That Shaped Southern Company.

The lights didn't come on in Georgia all by themselves. Bringing electric power to the South took vision, strong backs and nerve. Heys and co-author Dub Taft tell the century-long story of powering the New South.

Sam Heys' newest book is now available from amazon.com.

Rick Roberts

The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department has announced the passing of retired Battalion Chief Thomas H. "Rick" Roberts.

In 1946, then Private Roberts was summoned to the Winecoff Hotel fire on the first alarm. Using ladders and nets, he and his crew rescued many hotel guests from high windows along the Peachtree Street side of the 15 story building - at extreme peril to their own safety.

Roberts went on to serve a long and distinguished career in the Atlanta fire service.

Thirteen days before his passing, on the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Winecoff fire, Roberts and two other Winecoff firefighters returned to the hotel for a special luncheon. There they were honored personally by Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran and three of the fire's survivors.

"Rick" Roberts was ninety-four.

More here.

Winecoff Firefighters Reunite

Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran welcomes Winecoff firefighters R.B. Sprayberry, Rick Roberts and Jim Smith

The sixty-fifth anniversary of the Winecoff Hotel fire was marked by the return of three heroes to the scene of the fire.

Winecoff fire firefighters R.B. Sprayberry, Rick Roberts and James Smith were the honored by Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran at a special luncheon hosted by Winecoff Fire co-authors Sam Heys and Allen B. Goodwin at the Ellis Hotel.

Also on hand to express their gratitude to the firefighters were three of the fire's survivors: Margaret Foster, Connie Foster Broom and Richard Hamil as well as eyewitness George Goodwin.

Margaret Foster and daughter Connie Foster Broom greet Rick Roberts, the firefighter who in 1946 rescued them by ladder from their fifth floor room. Photo by Donna Bowman

The three former Atlanta firefighters signed autographs for an impressive turnout of well wishers and gave interviews to local media outlets.

Firefighters, Survivors Mark Winecoff Hotel Fire Anniversary: MyFoxATLANTA.com

The fourth living Winecoff firefighter was unable to attend for health reasons. Raymond McGill, 94, explained, "I'm in no shape to go up there." He sent his best wishes.

Last Letter Discovered

Robbie June Moye with her mother Eva Moye

The last letter that Winecoff fire victim Robbie June Moye wrote to her mother has been discovered by a family member.

The letter was written on Thursday night, December 5, 1946, two days before Moye, a Youth Assembly delegate from Donalsonville, Ga., perished in the Winecoff Hotel fire.

Handwritten on Winecoff Hotel stationery, Robbie June tells of her bus trip to Atlanta, an unexpected travel delay, a fun night on the town and her plans for a safe trip home.

(Click To Enlarge)

Judging by the date on the letter and the postmark on the envelope (Dec. 6), the letter could not have reached Donalsonville before the news of the fire did on Saturday morning Dec. 7.

Imagine the emotions and thoughts Eva Moye may have experienced upon receiving the letter, including possibly the brief hope that her daughter was somehow still alive.

Imagine assimilating the cruel irony of the “Hotel Winecoff” letterhead, with its printed, unfounded boast “Absolutely Fireproof” and the drawing of the building where her daughter died.

What a bitter piece of mail it may have seemed like in those first few moments. Then, after re-reading it, she may have come to see it as a final gift from her child, arriving in her all-too-familiar handwriting with its “all is well” tone.

This much we know: Eva Moye kept the letter safe for the rest of her life. It was recently discovered by her Great-Granddaughter, Winecoff Fire reader Kristy Moye Griffin.

Appeal For Information

Winecoff.org is seeking to locate family or friends of two soldiers from Ft. Bragg, N.C., whose names appear on the December 7, 1946 Winecoff Hotel guest list above.

Capt. William C. Wilford and Lt. Frank Johnson were both registered in room 1128 at the time of the fire. Though that area of the hotel was heavily burned, neither soldier was listed among the dead or injured. More than 98 percent of all other guests were accounted for during The Winecoff Fire book research.

If you can help us learn more about Winecoff Hotel guests William C. Wilford or Frank Johnson, please contact allenbgoodwin@yahoo.com

Thomaston Girls Remembered

Patsy Uphold

Winecoff Fire reader Mary Marsh has written a lovely remembrance of the Youth Assembly delegates from Thomaston, Georgia and their faculty adviser who perished in the fire. In it she examines their high school yearbooks, the lives they led, their final night and the fire's dramatic impact on the Middle Georgia town. Click here.

A Mother's Poem Discovered

.                                     Mary Lou Murphy

Winecoff Fire reader R. Michael Murphy has shared with Winecoff.Org a poem his grandmother wrote after the loss of her fourteen year old daughter, Mary Lou Murphy, in the 1946 Winecoff Hotel fire. The poem offers a rare glimpse into a mother's heart. Pearl Murphy tells her daughter's life story but writes in the first person. Click here.

The Fortunate Ones

.             John, Betty Jean and Virginia Miller

Army Air Corps pilot Lt. Col. John Miller had planned a fun weekend in Atlanta. He'd be reunited with his family and stay in a first-class hotel suite downtown. But his plan was interrupted – just in time.

While his wife and daughter were in flight to Atlanta from Louisiana, Miller slept alone in suite 310-12 during the hours before the fire. The wake-up call he'd left with the front desk never came, but he woke up anyway in time to get to the Atlanta airport – and to leave the Winecoff Hotel.

Miller traveled to Candler Air Field. There, he picked up his wife, Virginia, and their three week old daughter, Betty Jean, who had just landed. They never made it back to the hotel. As they approached, they saw that the streets surrounding the Winecoff were blocked with fire trucks and the hotel was ablaze. They were fortunate. The airport rendezvous had saved Miller from being trapped in the burning hotel.

Later in the day John Miller responded to Grady Hospital's emergency call for blood donors. Six months later his shaving kit and partial bottle of scotch from room 310-12 were returned to him. The shaving kit still smelled of smoke.