Like the headline says, turn to page 38 of the Summer 2009 MCG Today Magazine and you’ll find an article about my Great Aunt Jane. MCG Today is the magazine published by the Medical College of Georgia.
Jane had a lot of tragedy and sadness in her early years, some of which is documented in the article. But she persevered through it, and it’s been exciting to see her receive recognition for the interesting life she’s led. And if you’re looking for a new media success story, MCG Today found out about Jane’s story after watching this video I posted to Youtube:
(I’m still a little embarrassed I forgot to stuff the microphone cable in my shirt)
I have a video of her telling the story of when she found out her parents died, which is one of the topics discussed in the article. I’ve been debating whether I should post it or not, as it’s intense and personal. Maybe I will since the story is public now.
Both of these videos with my Great Aunt Jane were shot a little over a month ago and I just now got time to go through the footage and edit it. For now, I’m only posting videos from her which contain information that I think is interesting to a broader audience outside my family, but I might post more later.
Great Aunt Jane reacts to photos from Grady taken the night of the Winecoff Hotel fire
I’d always heard about a group called The Skullbusters from my mom growing up, as her dad (Jane’s older brother) was a member. I never had a grasp on exactly what it was or what they did, but I did know a lot of people who were in it went on to become influential figures in politics, sports and business in Atlanta. Jane answers some of my questions in this video:
I’ve been trying to make good on a goal I set more than a year ago to record more family history. My mom and I went to visit my Great Aunt Jane this past Saturday to shoot video of her telling stories about her life. We knew she had been a nurse, but we didn’t know until Saturday she had been a night supervisor at Grady Hospital in Atlanta on December 7, 1946, the night of the Winecoff Hotel Fire.
The Winecoff Hotel Fire was the worst in history at the time, and remains the worst in U.S. history, with 119 fatalities. In this video, she recalls her experience working in the morgue.
