Column: A date that lives in shame: Ceremony in honor of the fire victims of the Winecoff Hotel

The four Gainesville Tri-Hi-Y members were in room 1130 in the Winecoff. Their bodies were so badly burned that the dentists Dr. WH Miller and Dr. It took Charles Brice of Gainesville several days to identify her from the dental records.

Gainesville High’s 1947 yearbook, Radiator, was dedicated to the four burn victims. Their pictures were featured on a special page, but they also appeared on upper-class photos. All of them were active in other organizations besides the Tri-Hi-Y.

The fire is said to have broken out on the third floor, apparently from a cigarette on a mattress. Some of the guests jumped to their deaths from windows.

A Gainesville couple, Mr. and Mrs. WR Robertson, were among the survivors. Mr. Robertson, manager of the Princeton Hotel in Gainesville, told the Gainesville Eagle that they did some Christmas shopping in Atlanta. He was woken by Rauch at around 3:40 a.m. on Saturday morning, entering her Winecoff hotel room on the 16th floor. They wet towels, hung their heads out of the windows, and waited to be rescued. Two others joined them in their room. It would be an hour and a half before the fire department rescued her and led her on a ladder to a neighboring building.

Although the Winecoff applied for fire resistance, it came under severe criticism for a lack of safety measures, including sprinklers and fire escapes. The tragedy caused the demand for increased fire protection in all buildings. The Gainesville News pointed out several buildings in Gainesville that needed improvement. A fire damaged the Brenau College gym days after the Winecoff fire.

The public is invited to the ceremony on Tuesday, especially any classmates or others who may have known the four deceased. “To borrow a familiar phrase, December 7, 1946 is our own date that will live in shame,” said Sammy Smith, referring to President Roosevelt’s famous quote after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor .

Johnny Vardeman is retired Editor-in-Chief of The Times. He can be reached at 2183 Pine Tree Circle NE, Gainesville, GA 30501; 770-532-2326; or johnnyvardeman@gmail.com. His column appears weekly.

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