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

Photographs, Paper, Pen, Clipboard and COPS, OH MY!

Well as the title eludes I am still working, in the heat of this wonderful Oklahoma summer, on photographing, documenting all the cemeteries in Le Flore County. Now, that might not seem too large a task when you visit your local cemetery, but on average cemeteries here have around 200 internment's that are identifiable. Those have to be photographed, some require a few shots to discern the writing, then there are making all the notes (thus the paper, pen and clipboard in the title of this blog) because sometimes no matter how you turn your head, stand on your tip toes, down on your knees in the ant piles, leaning down looking under leaning stones looking for clues, pressing yourself into bushes and thorns, you just cannot make out what those precious things say...sigh

As I was bending, twisting, turning, writing this very morning in a local cemetery, I hear a vehicle (Ward's favorite word I say HA, British think we use funny words here lol), behind me which isn't all too unfamiliar a sound. I normally wait and hear someone walking then make sure I am not in a place that they are trying to get to. Sometimes I am asked what I am doing, I take a minute to explain. Usually to the tune of a smile and a nod, a time or two it has been an "Oh, that's wonderful", followed by the quizzical look of, hmmmm, what is she thinking?

Today, however, I hear the vehicle, I listen for footsteps, none. So I just turn slightly to see, no matter where you live you still have to be aware of your surroundings, and there looking puzzled in a uniform, badge, GUN, is a local police officer. Now, I have no issues with police in general, as with any position (even in nursing there are people who get a big head and think they are WAY more than they are) there are some that go a bit overboard. I was greeted with a sorta smile and a "Good mornin." I returned the "Good morning" and turned back around as to get busy again and then I heard the footsteps. So, I turned again to him, and his now partner getting out. I am thinking, "ummmm, am I REALLY being talked to by the police"?

He goes on to say that apparently some neighbors were concerned as there was a car and someone with something in their hands walking around the cemetery. I smiled and explained what I was doing, then I showed him my business card, which I keep one in my pocket just in case. I showed him my papers that I had been working on and he was pleasant enough with me and said that I was doing a good service for the community and to carry on. Like I wouldn't have anyways, but hey, I suppose it made him feel alright giving me permission to do what I was going to otherwise!

I sent Ward a text about my little run in and I think we both had a great laugh! Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed, some days interesting things happen that turn into blog material! HA

Since you all know I am doing cemetery work, I can't go a blog and not introduce you to one of our recent discoveries!

Native American Burials

Happy Hunting,
~Alisha

Tombstone Tuesday ~ The Stewart Family and The Reed Family

I come across headstones, obviously, on a nearly daily basis, some are beautiful with elaborate writings and pictures, signatures, photographs, nick knacks, and little trinkets left behind signifying they are loved and remembered. Some are left with little bits of humor, in a funny epitaph or cute little picture. Then, there are those that are 10-20 years old that still have the little tin or plastic cemetery marker, some with a stone and no name, some in cement with hand drawn names and dates, folks doing the best they can with what they have to make sure their loved ones are remembered. Then there are some, usually small children or someone whose family has moved away, who are alone in the cemetery, no family close in the cemetery itself, no flowers, overgrown weeds and what not. I feel for them, being left behind or no one around that remembers or takes time for them in this busy old world.

Then there are ones like the Stewart and the Reed families, as seen below. Now, death is sad, please bear with me on that sentiment, but it is a part of living, the dying and the leaving people behind. I have faced great loss at a very early age, as have many, so I do understand the impact that losing a loved one has on a person, on a family, even the dynamics of a family can change when certain people are no longer a part of their everyday routines.

I love that not only are they buried together in the same place, but they share a resting spot. I find that somehow comforting that as in life, in death they are surrounded by the people that meant the most to them and that they will never be left. Maybe that sounds a bit silly seeing how they aren't really aware of that fact, but maybe it is my own comfort knowing that those people had loved ones, ones they in life were beside and also in death. Having people in your life that mean so much to us, who we would give our lives for, resting next to us is somehow very peaceful to me.

It is my fond hope that each of us have at least that one person in our lives that no matter what we can count on them to always be there, and in death beside us in our final resting places.

Meet the 5 Family Reed's

I would love to point out all the little trinkets and flowers left for this precious little family. It really makes my heart swell!



Meet the 4 Family Stewart's

This BEAUTIFUL monument for this wonderful little family stands out among the ones around it. The single red rose to let them know that someone is still coming to visit and love them.


Happy Hunting,
~Alisha