Winecoff Fire Remembrance Page

Mary Stinespring

2012-01-29T20:56:00.000-05:00

Mary Stinespring, 58, Cornelia, Georgia. Room 1628. Accompanied neighbor and close friend, Louise Brown, to Atlanta on shopping trip. Widow and mother of five children. Active church worker.

Louise Brown

2012-01-29T20:51:00.000-05:00

Louise Brown, 46, Cornelia, Georgia. Room 1628. In Atlanta for doctor's appointment

Dr. Carl Rasmussen

2012-01-21T04:31:00.000-05:00

Dr. Carl Rasmussen, 49, Des Moines, Iowa. Room 1620. Small-town Midwest physican who joined Veterans Administration in May. Transferred to Atlanta in November. Staying at Winecoff until home ready. Scheduled to move out following week. Wife, Helen, survived the fire.

Joe Goodson

2012-01-13T21:33:00.002-05:00

Joseph Arthur Goodson, 35, Clay City, Illinois. Suite 1202-1204. Geologist for Pure Oil Company. Graduate of University of Kentucky. In route to Florida to recover from pneumonia. Husband of Gradys Goodson.

Gladys Goodson

2012-01-13T21:32:00.003-05:00

Gladys Carlson Goodson, 29, Clay City, Illinois. Suite 1202-1204. Native of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Met husband when he was Gulf Oil scout there. Had resevations at another hotel but the room was given to someone else.

Joe Goodson Jr.

2012-01-13T21:31:00.001-05:00

Joseph Arthur Goodson Jr., 4, Clay City, Illinois. Suite 1202-1204. Son of Joe and Gladys Goodson.

Barbara Goodson

2012-01-13T21:01:00.002-05:00

Barbara Beck Goodson, 1, Clay City, Illinois. Suite 1202-1204. Daughter of Joe and Gladys Goodson

Frank Hale

2011-12-12T17:57:00.000-05:00

Frank Hale, 31, Nashville, Tennessee, Room 1426. Machinist for United Shoe Machine Corporation. In Atlanta on business. Father of four year old daughter.

Jack Sheriff

2011-11-10T12:39:00.001-05:00

Jack Bowen Sheriff, 32, Atlanta, Ga. Room 720. Owner of Jack Sheriff's Theater Restaurant, a night club next door to the Winecoff Hotel. Father of four childern. (Photo courtesy: the estate of Martha Ewing Manning, the club's manager.)

Harriett Strickland

2011-10-11T07:09:00.000-04:00

Harriett Strickland, 16, Iron City, Georgia. Room 930. Youth Assembly delegate. President of Seminole High School senior class. Attended first Youth Assembly in March 1946.

Jeannette Riley

2011-10-11T06:45:00.001-04:00

Jeannette Riley, 16, Donalsonville, Georgia. Room 930. Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Seminole High School.

Jerry Jenkins

2011-10-11T06:38:00.002-04:00

Jerry Jenkins, 15, Donalsonville, Georgia. Room 930. Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Seminole High School.
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Dorothy Tyner

2011-09-17T14:43:00.000-04:00

Dorothy Marie Tyner, 16, Columbus, Georgia. Room 730. Youth Assembly observer. Senior at Baker Village High School. More photos: click here and here. Her parents' photo: click here.
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Nell Sims

2011-09-15T06:14:00.001-04:00

Nell Zorn Sims, 33, Barnseville, Georgia. Room 1504. Photo circa 1931. Secretary at Aldora Mills. President of Business and Professional Women's Club. Came to Atlanta at the request of a friend who was buying a trousseau and meeting her fiancee.

Herbert Swanson

2011-09-01T23:32:00.001-04:00

Herbert Edward Swanson, 38. Chicago, Illinois. Room 522

Rutledge Minnix

2011-09-01T18:53:00.000-04:00

Aubrey Rutledge Minnix Jr., 15. Columbus, Georgia. Room 1116. Youth Assembly delegate. Junior at Columbus High School. Member of student council and debate club.
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Cleve Sisk

2011-08-25T09:19:00.001-04:00

Cleveland Dillard Sisk, 48, Asheville, North Carolina. Room 928. Bus driver for Smoky Mountain Trailways for 26 years. Staying in room permanently rented by bus company. Winner of safe driver award. Personalized belt buckle recovered from fire.

Grace Winecoff

2011-07-12T12:29:00.002-04:00

Grace Smith Winecoff, 76, Atlanta, Georgia. Suite 1010-12. Wife of the hotel's builder, William Fleming Winecoff. Resident of the hotel for 31 years.

Mildred Boschung

2011-06-25T21:25:00.009-04:00

Mildred Chandler Boschung, 23, Cullman, Alabama. Room 1208. Newlywed. Married exactly one week earlier. She was spending her honeymoon in Atlanta. Her husband, Charlie Boschung, survived the fire.

Robert Fluker

2011-04-14T21:16:00.003-04:00

Robert Alvin Fluker, 41, Thomson, Ga. Room 702. Georgia Tech Graduate. Safety engineer for J.A. Jones Construction Co. Stopped in Atlanta for a dentist appointment before going overseas to rebuild Okinawa air base.

Sara Miller

2011-03-13T22:38:00.003-04:00

Sara Baggett Miller, 34, Gordon, Ga. Suite 1108-1110-1112. Widow and mother of two children. Made bags for kaolin mining company. Came to Atlanta to shop with sister, Catherine McLaughlin, who survived the fire.

Irene Justice

2011-01-29T19:13:00.004-05:00

Irene Delores Justice, 27, East Point, Ga. Room 624. Pictured here in 1934. Worked for firm in nearby Candler Building and attended law school at night.

Florence Baggett

2011-01-24T16:06:00.004-05:00

Florence Allen Baggett, 43, Claxton, Ga. Room 1110-1112. One of best known auctioneers in Southeast. Came to Atlanta to see doctor about enlarged vocal chords.

William Winecoff

2011-01-22T01:46:00.005-05:00

William Fleming Winecoff, 76, Atlanta, Ga. Suite 1010-1012. Built the Winecoff Hotel in 1913. Turned operation over to Robert Meyer chain in 1915. Sold hotel during Depression but continued to live there.

Bill Todd

2011-01-19T10:29:00.004-05:00

Willian Barr Todd, 39, Columbia, South Carolina. Room 1214. South Carolina director of Civil Aeronautics Administration. In Atlanta to attend meeting at regional headquarters. Father of daughter born six weeks after the fire.

Anne Smith

2011-01-15T01:29:00.003-05:00

Emma Anne Smith, 14, Valdosta, Ga. Room 1502. Overcame 80 percent deafness sufficiently to attend public school. On shopping trip with her mother, who survived the fire.

Ann Walker

2011-01-15T01:24:00.004-05:00

Phoebe Ann Walker, 16, Albany, Ga. Room 822 Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Albany High School. President of Bookworm Club.

Marianne Scherle

2011-01-15T01:16:00.002-05:00

Marianne Scherle, 16, Albany, Ga. Room 822 Youth Assembly delegate. Assistant editor of the yearbook. President of youth fellowship at church.

Julia Hall

2011-01-13T20:35:00.004-05:00

Julia Nell Hall, 16, Albany, Ga. Room 822. Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Albany High School. Student council member. Homeroom president.

John Irwin

2010-12-28T19:42:00.005-05:00

John Newton Irwin, 23, Long Island, New York. Room 422. Salesman for the Luxene Corp. Father of three month old baby.

Elmer "Spike" Conzett

2010-12-09T13:47:00.009-05:00

Elmer Andrew Conzett, 32, Dubuque, Iowa. Room 1230. Pictured here at age 18. Later became Navy lieutenant commander and war hero. Sank Japanese destroyer at Guadalcanal as dive-bomber pilot. His 1942 Scouting Squadron pictured here (Conzett kneeling, 2nd from left). In Atlanta on one night stopover while ferrying Navy planes from Norfolk, Virginia to Long Beach, California.

Dr. Irene Tollett

2010-12-07T23:16:00.005-05:00

Irene Harris Tollett, 44, Atlanta, Ga. Room 824. Librarian at Russell High School in East Point. Earned Ph.D. in library science in 1942. Spending night with sister, Lena Harris, who was visiting from Tennessee.

Virginia Torbert

2010-04-10T00:18:00.004-04:00

Sarah Virginia Torbert, 16. Room 1430. Thomaston, Georgia. Room 1430. Youth Assembly reporter. Senior at R.E. Lee Institute.

Patsy Uphold

2010-04-09T23:52:00.004-04:00

Patricia Anne Uphold, 16. Thomaston, Georgia. Room 1430. Youth Assembly observer. Senior at R.E. Lee Institute.

Christy Hinson

2010-04-09T23:46:00.003-04:00

Christine Adams Hinson, 16. Room 1430. Thomaston, Georgia. Room 1430. Youth Assembly observer. Senior at R.E. Lee Institute. Scheduled to enter Agnes Scott College in 1947.

Earlyne Adans

2010-04-09T23:38:00.003-04:00

Earlyne Adams, 16. Thomaston, Georgia. Room 1430. Youth Assembly Delegate. Senior at R.E. Lee Institute.

Elaine Sullivan

2009-12-07T01:09:00.005-05:00

Elizabeth Elaine Sullivan, 20. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Room 1028. Working internship at Davison-Paxon's Department Store. Senior at the University of Alabama. Photo courtesy: Hoole Library-Special Collections, University of Alabama.

Gloria Riemann

2009-11-26T10:34:00.007-05:00

Gloria Tess Riemann, 20. Gulfport, Mississippi. Room 728. Working internship at Davison-Paxon's Department Store. Senior at the University of Alabama. Member of the Delta Gamma sorority. Photo courtesy: Hoole Library-Special Collections, University of Alabama.

Jean Pruett

2009-11-15T17:33:00.003-05:00

Jean Pruett, 21. Fort Payne, Alabama. Room 1028. Working internship at Rich's. Senior at the University of Alabama. Fifth grade teacher in 1945-46. Photo courtesy: Hoole Library-Special Collections, University of Alabama.

Robbie June Moye

2009-11-08T22:23:00.003-05:00

Robbie June Moye, 16. Donalsonville, Ga. Room 930. Youth Assembly delagate. Treasurer of the Seminole High School senior class. Cheerleader.

Peggy Cobb

2009-11-07T11:31:00.006-05:00

Martha Harriett Cobb, 21. Fayette, Alabama. Room 828. On internship at Davison-Paxon's. Senior at the University of Alabama. Member of the newspaper staff.
Photo courtesy: Hoole Library-Special Collections, University of Alabama.

Sarah Aldridge

2009-11-03T11:49:00.007-05:00

Sarah Aldridge, 28. Eva, Alabama. Room 1028. Working internship at Rich's. Junior at the University of Alabama. Leader in women's intramurals program. Worked with USO during World War II.
Photo courtesy: Hoole Library-Special Collections, University of Alabama.

Eloise Buck

2009-10-13T00:00:00.008-04:00

Eloise Evelyn Buck, 40, St. Louis, Missouri. Room 1124. Graduate of the University of Oregon. Masters degree from Wellesley College in 1929. Vocational counselor for the Katherine Gibbs School, New York. In Atlanta on a speaking tour.

Margaret Nichols

2009-09-14T17:49:00.004-04:00

Margaret Wilson Nichols, 30, Atlanta. Room 720. Press agent and hostess at Jack Sheriff's Theater Restaurant, next to the Winecoff. Former Miss Atlanta runner-up. Nicknamed "Lucious".

E. B. Weatherly

2009-09-14T17:04:00.006-04:00

Ernest Benedict Weatherly, 63, Cochran, Ga. Room 1026. Macon, Ga. attorney who moved to farm during the Depression and became one of the South's top cattlemen. Former chairman of a federally appointed committee on the beef industry. Father of six children.

Dwight Morrison

2009-08-19T11:49:00.005-04:00

Captain Dwight Lane Morrison, 26, Lumpkin, Ga. Room 1026. Pilot of B-26 nicknamed "Tobacco Road" during World War II. Flew sixty-five bombing missions over Europe. In Atlanta looking for a job. Father of a son born two months after the fire.

Ethel Stewart

2009-05-06T19:26:00.007-04:00

Ethel Stewart, 20, Ralph, Alabama - Room 1228. Senior at University of Alabama. Working internship at Rich's Department Store. Worked at her father's country store. Engaged to be married in 1947.

Maxine Willis

2008-11-25T12:34:00.006-05:00

Betty Maxine Willis, 16, Bainbridge, Ga. - Room 920 - Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Bainbridge High School. Recently selected "Miss BHS" candidate. Daring horse rider. Click here for full portrait. More photos are here and here and here.
Full biography at Winecoff in Depth.

Sue Broome

2008-11-25T12:25:00.005-05:00

Dorothy Sue Broome, 16, Bainbridge, Ga. - Room 920 - Youth Assembly reporter. Voted "Most Popular" by Bainbridge High School senior class. President of the Glee Club. Frequent church soloist. Cheerleader.

Ruth Powell

2008-11-25T12:16:00.003-05:00

Ruth Powell, 16, Bainbridge, Ga. - Room 920 - Youth Assembly delegate. Bainbridge High School Glee Club member. Selected "Best Mannered" by the senior class.

Mary Alice Davis

2008-11-25T12:08:00.003-05:00

Mary Alice Davis, 48, Bainbridge, Ga. - Room 926 - Advisor to Youth Assembly delegation from Bainbridge High School. Youth director at First Methodist Church. Graduate of Huntingdon College.

Patsy Griffin

2008-11-25T12:00:00.006-05:00

Patricia Ann "Patsy" Griffin, 14, Bainbridge, Ga. - Room 926 - Youth Assembly observer. Sophomore at Bainbridge High School. Daughter of Georgia adjutant general - and future governor - Marvin Griffin.

Earl Gragg

2008-11-25T11:55:00.003-05:00

Earl Carr Gragg, 14, Bainbridge, Ga. - Room 924 - Youth Assembly observer. Sophomore at Bainbridge High School. President of Junior Hi-Y. Pianist for church youth group. Boy Scout.

Clarence Bates

2008-11-25T11:52:00.005-05:00

Clarence Floyd Bates, 14, Bainbridge, Ga. - Room 924 - Youth Assembly observer. Sophomore at Bainbridge High School. Memmber of school band, basketball team. Boy Scout.

Mary Lou Murphy

2008-11-25T11:32:00.007-05:00

Mary Louise Murphy, 14, Bainbridge, Ga. - Room 926 - Youth Assembly observer. President of Bainbridge High School sophomore class.

Paul Lain

2008-05-08T23:52:00.006-04:00

Paul Douglas Lain, 54, Birmingham, Ala. - Room 1428 - Broker. In Atlanta with wife Grace S. Lain on business. Sold surplus goods through the War Assets Administration. Photo submitted by Bill Wells.

Gertrude Knox

2008-01-18T20:52:00.000-05:00

Florence Gertrude Knox, 68, Thomson, Ga. Room 1218
Prominent citizen of Thomson. In Atlanta to undergo treatment by ear specialist.

Peter Knox

2008-01-18T17:43:00.001-05:00

Peter S. Knox, 78, Thomson, Ga. Room 1218
One of Thomson's leading citizens. Longtime member of both city council and school board. Retired from successful lumber business.

Will Dickerson

2008-01-04T21:38:00.001-05:00

William DeGraffenried Dickerson, 38, Douglas, Ga. - Room 1630
Washington & Lee University Law School graduate. Survived the Battle of the Bulge. Director of unemployment compensation for Georgia's labor department. Perished along with wife Mary, 34 and children Mary Melinda, 6, and Bill, 3.

Clair Williams

2008-01-03T21:51:00.002-05:00

Clair Williams, 8, Coldele, Ga. - Room 1520
Daughter of Boisclair Williams. Wanted to come to Atlanta to see the film: Song of the South.

Fred, Mary & Dotsy Smith

2008-01-03T21:49:00.000-05:00

Fred Smith 14, Mary Smith, 4, Dotsy Smith, 12, Fitzgerald, Ga. - Room 1530

Dorothy & Mary Smith

2008-01-03T21:47:00.000-05:00

Dorothy Kiker Smith, 36, Fitzgerald, Ga. - Room 1530
Former court reporter for Cordele circuit. Came to Atlanta on shopping trip with her sister, Boisclair Williams.
Mary Smith, 4

Boisclair Williams

2008-01-03T21:45:00.000-05:00

Boisclair Willimas, 40, Cordele, Ga. - Room 1520
On shopping trip with her sister, Dorothy Kiker Smith.

Bill Bryson

2008-01-03T21:44:00.001-05:00

William Edgar Bryson, 28, Asheville, N.C. - Room 928
Bus driver for Smokey Mountain Trailways. Father of two daughters. Former Navy sailor, carried wife Vera's photo during World War II.

Dr. Robert & Billie Cox

2008-01-03T21:41:00.001-05:00

Dr. Robert H. Cox, 33, Murphy, NC. - Suite 1002-04
Former staff doctor with TVA at Hiwasse and Fontana dam construction sites. Chairman of hometown's polio fund drive.
Billie Crawford Cox, 31, came to Atlanta to go Christmas shopping and take 3 year-old son Bob to see Santa Claus. Little Bob (also pictured) survived the fire thanks to his father's final & courageous act.

Laura Miranda

2008-01-03T21:39:00.001-05:00

Laura Bell Miranda, 36, Atlanta, Ga. - Room 826
Beautician at the Loew's Grand Theater Building across Peachtree Street from the Winecoff Hotel.

Mary Minor

2008-01-03T21:37:00.000-05:00

Mary Smith Minor, 31, Thomaston, Ga. - Room 1430
Advisor to Youth Assembly delegation from R.E. Lee Institute. Organized Tri-Hi-Y chapter there in response to student requests. Mother of four year old daughter.

Hedy Metcalf

2008-01-03T21:36:00.003-05:00

Hedy Helen Metcalf, 15, Columbus, Ga. - Room 730.
Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Baker Village High School.

Gwen McCoy

2008-01-03T21:34:00.001-05:00

Gwenelda Carol McCoy, 17, Gainesville, Ga. - Room 1130
Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Gainesville High School.

Sue Mitchum

2008-01-03T21:33:00.002-05:00

Ella Sue Mitchum, 16, Gainesville, Ga. - Room 1130
Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Gainesville High School.

Frances Thompson

2008-01-03T21:31:00.001-05:00

Frances Louise Thompson, 17, Gainseville, Ga. - Room 1130
Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Gainesville High School.

Suzanne Moore

2008-01-03T21:26:00.001-05:00

Suzanne Morene Moore, 16, Gainesville, Ga. - Room 1130
Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Gainesville High School.

Charles Keith

2008-01-01T13:02:00.002-05:00

Charles Wilkes Keith, 17, Rome, Ga. - Room 1030
Youth Assembly reporter for Rome High School. Senior class historian. Older brother was first person from Rome to die in World War II.

Lamar Brown

2008-01-01T12:59:00.003-05:00

Dallas Lamar Brown, Jr. 16, Rome, Ga. - Room 1030
Youth Assembly delegate. Senior at Rome High School. City badminton champion. Avid stamp collector.

Billy Walden

2008-01-01T12:53:00.003-05:00

William George Walden, 16, Rome, Ga. - Room 1030
Youth Assembly delegate. Senior ay Rome High School. One of the best football players in history of school. President of Hi-Y and Sunday School class.

Buzz Slatton

2008-01-01T12:43:00.001-05:00

James Earnest Slatton, 16, Rome, Ga. - Room 1030
Clerk of house for Youth Assembly. Senior at Rome High School. Member of the band. Planned to be governor of Georgia.