Travel Tuesday - Hi from The Sanatorium Postcard

My recent run in with Mr. Robert from Texas, the man I previously wrote about that not only came upon but sent me original letters and a sermon from my 4 x great grandfather, he also sent these to me. I love looking at old things, old pictures, imagining what it must have been like to live in that time, those days and conditions. I treasure these new found goodies from Robert! Thank you again for your kindness and going way above and beyond!

From Alma Smedley at the State Sanatorium to Mr J H Smedley in Mansfield Arkansas.
Stamp dated Feb. 10, 1937.


  

             This is the postal side of the card.

This is the image on the opposite side of the card (it took me a minute to figure out what was going on in the image).

The bottom says "Keeping flies off the Mellon, State Sanatorium, Arkansas" 

The following images are the buildings on the Sanatorium grounds. These are the flip cards inside the actual post card itself.

Nurses Home

                    Administrative Building

                    George B Brown Building

                       Meriweather Hall

                       John Stewart Building

                         Office Building

Bird's eye view of State Sanatorium, Arkansas

Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium The Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium was established in 1909 about three miles south of Booneville (Logan County). Once fully established, the sanatorium was the relocation center for all white Arkansans with tuberculosis. By the time the facility was closed in 1973, it treated over 70,000 patients, and in time, its main hospital, the Nyberg Building, became known worldwide for its tuberculosis treatment. With the passage of Act 378 of the General Assembly, a board of trustees was created to oversee the search for land to build a sanatorium. This was a very vital start to create a facility that would, in fact, quarantine a highly pathogenic disease. Tuberculosis, which caused scarring of the lungs and led to many deaths, was spread by the fluids of the respiratory tracts of infected persons; the bacteria that caused it could become airborne when those fluids dried. Before the sanatorium, the mortality rate of the disease was eighty percent. The sanatorium helped to reduce that rate to ten percent. The search for land began in March 1909, and the site south of Booneville was selected by October. The first patient was admitted in August 1910; by year’s end, the population at the center had reached sixty-four. In 1924, the Belle Pointe Masonic Lodge in Fort Smith (Sebastian County) constructed the Mason’s Building for children, and in 1927, a school was added for the young patients. In 1938, the legislature passed the Nichols-Nyberg Act, which funded the construction of a new hospital building on the grounds. The act was promoted by Phillips County Representative Leo E. Nyberg, who had tuberculosis and lived at the sanatorium, and by Logan County Representative Lee Nichols. The hospital building, probably the most notable on the grounds, is 528 feet long and five stories tall with a full basement and housed 511 patients. The building also housed doctors’ offices, X-ray facilities, and the employee cafeteria and kitchen, and while it was not common knowledge, the sanatorium morgue was housed there also. The building was named for Nyberg, although he passed away before it was completed in 1941. The facility became known worldwide for tuberculosis treatment as it was one of the most modern and successful facilities of the day. Today, half of the first floor is used for offices, and the rest of the building is closed. Besides the Nyberg Building, the facility had many structures, including dormitories, staff entertainment buildings, a chapel, a laundry, water treatment plant, and even a fire department. Today, most of the structures are used, and in fact, the fire department still operates within the grounds, and until recently, the Benedictine monks of Subiaco Abbey and Academy (Logan County) operated the chapel. The complex was self-sustaining, housing nearly 300 staff members at the height of its use, and the total population of the center at the time was greater than that of Booneville in the valley below. In the 1950s, new drugs to treat tuberculosis had resulted in a decline in the center’s patient population. It was decided by the sanatorium administration to operate it as a children’s colony as well; this continued until the facility closed in 1973. In 1971, the General Assembly dissolved the sanatorium as an independent agency and created the Department of Health to oversee it. At the time, the health department was also left in charge of the sanatorium at Alexander (Saline County), which was the relocation center for all non-white people with tuberculosis. On February 26, 1973, the last seven patients were discharged, and on March 13, the legislature approved Act 320, authorizing the facility’s closure and the transfer of control from the Department of Health to the Board of Mental Retardation. On June 30, 1973, the Arkansas State Tuberculosis Sanatorium officially closed, and the main gates were left unlocked for the first time in more than sixty years. Today, the facility operates as the Booneville Human Development Center and is classified as a historic site. While most people who were condemned to live at the center considered it the equivalent of a death sentence, in actuality, the outdoor air on the top of the mountain benefited patients. Treatment—consisting of fresh air, bed rest, and drug therapy—usually lasted from ten months to two years, although some people did stay longer.   PAGE INFORMATION

Thank you for stopping by again!

Happy Hunting,
~Alisha

Slaves and Freedmen of the 5 Civilized Tribes - Burials

Some posts are fun to write, about our journeys and my lack of direction. Some posts are of a more solemn nature, when posting about loss of loved ones, especially children. Then there are posts, like this one, that NEED to be written.

I by NO means claim to be an expert in this area, I have since encountering the below photos, read up more and I will include some links here to people who are experts in this area, and historical documents to back up information that I put forth. Again, I am not claiming to be an expert in the topic but what I am an expert in is human nature, and when something I see just about brings me to my knees.

I am becoming more an expert in Native American studies, particularly Mississippi before the move west, Oklahoma (where I am born and raised) where the Trail of Tears ended. I have read about Freedmen and Native Americans who owned slaves prior to the civil war, but again, my area is the Native American and only reading with brevity about the slaves they had among them. I have since changed that way of thinking and am more studying the WHOLE of the Native American life to include those they enslaved. SLAVERY

I was interested in going to the site of Skullyville, the point at which the Trail of Tears was the destination and the Agency for them to check in and receive their land grants was. There is a Choctaw Nation Burial site with purportedly hundreds of 'only' Native American peoples. I did go there and photograph and see people who were on the Trail of Tears, absolutely fascinating and another blog post! 


Now, BEFORE anyone gets too stirred up, I am of Native American descent, I do comprehend the idea of the things they faced being forced to move from their homes, the lands of their people and what that must have been to them, this is not about them. There will be a post about them, this is about those they enslaved and their resting place.


What I also saw, and had briefly read about, was this...."Outside the formal confines of the Choctaw National Cemetery, at Skullyville, there is an adjacent area of burials, which, if not actually part of the present entity of Skullyville Cemetery, is obviously associated with it historically. It is apparent that some of the earlier burials are freedmen, and that some of the more recent burials are descendants of freedmen. "

A Fence? After all these years, after the prices they paid, the families paid, why still a fence? Why separate them in death as they were in life?

Well seeing to the other side I had to find a way in to see it. I could see that it was mowed but my finding the entrance was less than easy. There is NO entrance from the Choctaw side to the Freedmen side, so there must be a road, there must be a marker, there must be a sign!

Around the corner from Skullyville, I found a dirt road that veered off into the direction I knew the Freedmen Cemetery to be, so I took it. That sign you see is for a Chicken farm, not the Cemetery itself.

Down a dirty dirt road, about .4 of a mile, still no sign, no nothing to tell me or a visitor they are heading to the resting area of loved ones. Only the now wafting smell of chicken houses looms in the air, sighs... (If you are from this area you know and cannot forget that smell once you have had it once in your lifetime).

FINALLY....I Made it???

Those posts? Yeah those are to keep the semi-trucks hauling feed and chickens from hitting those 5 precious resting spots at the front of this cemetery.... Still, no signage!!! DOUBLE sigh....

I have to say it had in the last few days been mowed, but I also have to say, not weeded, and there were, of the supposed 100 or more once headstones that were visible, now about 20-25. Unfortunately a good 5-6 flat ones had met the wrong end of the powerful mower blades like the below photo. 

I was able to clean off and get photos of about 25 headstones with family information that can be of use historically for families. I also included above a link to a page someone, 10 years or so back, photographed the stones when there were around 100 still visible. 

This post is meant to be informative, to remind people that equal treatment in death, is just as important as it is in life. Dignity does not die at the grave, it lives on in these resting places, in the families and friends left behind, in the legacy of the lives they lead, the lives they touched, the history they formed. It is my HOPE in posting this that the next time you, or someone you know, goes to a resting place, treat it and the people in it with the dignity they so richly deserve. Their lives, their deaths, their resting places are to be treasured, no matter who, what tribe, what nation, what race, or what label they have had attached to them. 

Happy Hunting,

~Alisha

Below are some informative links to information regarding this population of people. 

FREEDMEN

FREEDMEN

SLAVERY

The 100

To Clean or Not to Clean...

I have recently seen a few 'debates' on cleaning versus not cleaning old headstones. I can see both sides, when the cons side says it changes the 'old feel' the antiqueness of the stones, the tone of the cemetery changes, apparently someone in a northern town went beyond pulling weeds, dusting off headstones, but basically "power washed" headstones and brought them back to as close to pristine as they could be.

Now, some might argue messing with the integrity of the already weathered and aging headstones, while others would say that being able to read the information and enjoy them for many more years is better. Some believe that these aged cemeteries gain a character in the aging of the stones and changing that 'look' changes the character of the cemetery. I am still out on that whole line of thinking, maybe because I can see it both ways.

What I do is allow my experiences and photos maybe show you the side of one way of thinking and let you decide if 'harm' has come from what was done here in the following photos. I have to think that families would be happy they can see the stones once again, find them, and know that someone who didn't have to, did care enough to straighten them out a bit. Enjoy the before and afters, leave me a comment on what your thoughts on the subject are, help me see more your side to the thinking!

In this first set of pictures I walked upon the first photo and knew there must be a 'few' people resting here. Count the names and tell me how many I ended up with! I was even a bit surprised!

Did you end of counting 4 names? Just a bit of uncovering, weeding, troweling with a non-metal trowel as a few were covered in several inches of dirt, these beauties were resting underneath!


Now, these next two, I used a soft bristled brush to brush off some of the nasty mold growing about it, yes I have my mouth covered, being a nurse I definitely know not to breath in unknown mold and dust spores! ICK! SO let me know what you think of the before and after!

So, what do you think? Was the extra 20 minutes or so worth it? Would you if you saw either of these settings? Just a thought and an action can change so much! Let me know your opinions!

Happy Hunting,
~Alisha

Genealogists D.R.E.A.M Headstone!

First let me say sorry for being absent for a few days, Ward and I have been working on a 3000 Plus family tree, each name typed INDIVIDUALLY into Ancestry, full of twists, turns, families with 10 plus kids who have 10 plus kids each WOWZA! So, needless to say the cemetery work has set to the side for the few days it took us to whip that tree into shape. Let me say that on Ancestry, as of today there were almost 2610 waving leaves! HA! Yeah, still gotta go through the leaves, BUT the people are on there YIPPEE! Now, back to our regularly scheduled programs....

I came upon the following headstone and it was one of those Genealogist Hallelujah moments! It is a Genealogists dream stone if there ever was one. There are some family members we spend hours, days, WEEKS, even months trying to find. Now, this is a bit elaborate for everyone but oh me oh my!!!!

This also happens to be one of my Paternal surnames so it was equally exciting to see this and see if these wonderful people belong on my tree! ( number 4 thousand 7 hundred and 82 on my to do list HA).

Happy Hunting,

~Alisha