My mother, Maggie Eloise Cliatt Spaeth was a student here in #1950. Grady Hospital Archives, I hope you see this post.
My mother got her nurses' training in Cuthbert, GA at Patterson's Hospital in 1936 when she was 16.
Dr. Martin was one of the doctors at Patterson's Hospital.
The old Patterson's Hospital burned down in 1946. This is where my mother had her first year of nurses' training.
Mama dated Don, but when she went in the WAVES in 1943, she met my father and married him.
World War II was the Big Adventure, and many of the boys Mama dated sent her postcards from far away.
And, I suppose they were too busy to write about them.
There were some secrets in Mama's old photo album. Daddy was jealous.
Mama dated a lot because fellas found her attractive.
This is Patterson's Hospital Ambulance Drive.
The Iris Garden is a beautiful park in Cuthbert, GA that is still there today.
Mama grew up on a farm. Here's Granddaddy with his mule and one of the Jack Russell Terriers he raised and trained for farm work.
The top pic is Patterson's Hospital.
Mama went to Columbus and entered nursing school there, but decided to join the WAVES, the Women's Auxiliary of the Navy. I'll cover that part in another post.
I should add that nursing wasn't something 'nice' girls did because you had to bathe patients, including men. Granddaddy got in a huge argument with his brother, Uncle John, who was the head of the clan. He said Granddaddy shouldn't let Mama study nursing. Granddaddy got mad at Uncle John about this. Just before the argument, he'd been ready to make Mama quit, but now he argued that Mama would go to nursing school! The brothers didn't speak for 5 years because of this argument. Mama did go to nurses' training at Patterson Hospital, and she lived in the dorms at 16. She had finished high school at 11th grade as a lot of young people did. So, at 16, she began her nursing career.
After the Navy, she came back to Edison where her parents lived and worked in a doctor's office. Then, Daddy decided to move to Chamblee to go to school, using his GI Bill from the Navy.