A Veteran New Orleans Firefighter Writes

The book was wonderfully written and I couldn’t put it down. You guys did a great job on the book and I will definitely let others know about it. --Captain Ronald M. Beaulieu

Winecoff Fire Safety Lessons Still Valid

Hi Allen,

I’m thinking about the Winecoff Hotel fire today – as I know you are - and all of the people who perished and those who’s lives were forever changed. Interestingly, when I was earning my degree in Fire Science and graduate degree in Fire Protection Engineering, we never studied the Winecoff Hotel fire. It wasn’t until several years ago when I was working with Hyatt Hotels on improving their fire protection systems that I learned about the Winecoff Hotel.

But, equally as sad, I never read your book so, I’m going to make that right. I order it yesterday via Amazon and I’m looking forward to reading it over the holidays. Hopefully I order it from you – I want to make sure the authors are getting the profits.

Thank you for everything you’re doing to keep this important story in the forefront. I’ll be mentioning it today during my monthly training with my folks.       

Regards,

David Combs, MS, CFPE, CFPS, CSP, CIT 

Risk Control Specialist 

FCCI Insurance Group  

David,

 

Thanks so much for your e-mail. I'm pleased to see a young fire protection engineer such as yourself take an interest in the Winecoff story. There are so many lessons to be learned from the tragedy. 

 

I hope you'll enjoy our book. It was eight years in the making and it seemed at times we would never finish. There was always some new aspect to be explored. After it was published in 1993 more new information began pouring in and has never completely stopped. Hence, the creation of winecoff.org in 2003.

 

All best,

Allen Goodwin

Family Mystery

Hi Mr. Goodwin,

My name is Ashley Webb and I am contacting you today because of your website and research regarding The Winecoff Hotel fire. My great-aunt, my maternal grandmother's sister, died in that fire. 

Her name was Ruth Powell and she was there on what I believe was either a school or church chorus trip from Bainbridge, GA. That is unfortunately all I really know. My grandmother would never speak about it because it was such a traumatic time in her life. 

I wanted to reach out to you to see if you had possibly, on the off chance, learned any more information about her or the group that she was with through your research. 

 

I see that you have written a book and I am looking forward to reading it sometime soon. If there is anything other information or groups to join, please let me know. 

I look forward to hearing from you. 

Best, 

Ashley Webb

 

 

Ms. Webb,

It's good to hear from you. Ruth Powell and the other Bainbridge victims were attending a Youth Assembly sponsored by the Hi-Y and Tri-Hi-Y, parts of the YMCA. She was a delegate to the assembly which is a mock legislature held yearly at the Georgia state capitol. The tradition was only in its second year in 1946. The assembly still meets every year. Students play the roles of legislators, introduce and vote on bills and generally get to know the legislative process.

 

Ruth must have been a good student to become a delegate. She was also selected "Best Mannered" among her Bainbridge High School senior class.

 

In all 30 student attendees (seven from Bainbridge) and two faculty advisors (one from Bainbridge) perished in the Winecoff fire. They came from all over Georgia. This only compounded the tragedy and spread much misery across the state. 

 

I'm not surprised your grandmother refused to talk about it. That was a common reaction. Most of the delegates had brothers and sisters and my co-author, Sam Heys and I have met many of them over the years. Most were left in-the-dark and curious about the fire, like you were.

 

Our book will fill you in. If you can't find it in your local library there are links to Amazon.com on our website. Also, if you type - Bainbridge - into the search box on winecof.org several posts will pop up. Ruth Powell's photo appears on our Remembrance Page.

 

Once you get familiar with the fire I can put you in touch with a woman who knew Ruth Powell.

Thanks for writing to me! Where are you writing from today?

All best,

Allen

 

 

Hi Allen, 

WOW! I am overwhelmed with emotion with your response. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so thorough and detailed in your response. I have learned more about her from you than I have in my 35 year life. She was always a person that I knew existed in time and died in the fire and that was about it. It wasn't until 2 years ago that I saw her picture for the first time while going through my grandparents' things and had to ask several family members who this person was because I had never seen a picture of her before that. 

 

It's funny that you have on record that she was there for a Youth Assembly as what my family has always told me was that she was in Atlanta for some sort of chorus trip, they never knew whether it was for school or church, and clearly they were wrong on both ends. 

I will look into getting the book from Amazon tonight as I always want to have a copy. I am very anxious to learn more about the fire. After I have gone through your website and read the book, I would love nothing more than to meet the woman who knew Ruth Powell. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking that someone out there still remembers her and can speak about her. 

I am writing from Washington, DC. I have lived here for 12 years now and lived, believe it or not, in Atlanta, GA before that. I was talking to my husband and telling him that in my 23 years of living in Atlanta my mom never even took us to where The Winecoff used to be or any of the memorials for it. I think my grandmother's trauma was passed down to her. But as I am getting older, I want to remember Ruth and keep her memory alive for all of her many great nieces and nephews. 

I truly cannot thank you enough for your response and look forward to keeping this conversation going. I think it is absolutely wonderful that you and Sam have provided some much needed answers and history for families seeking this information because nobody would talk about it with them, including myself. 

All my best, 

Ashley 

Ashley.

Thank you for your kind words! I've arranged a three way phone call between you, me and Sara Parker. Sara knew your great-aunt, Ruth Powell, well. Sara's looking forward to speaking with us.

All best,

Allen

 

A Winecoff Fire Survivor Writes On The 75th Anniversay of The Tragedy

Dear Mr. Goodwin

As I was three years old at the time, I don't remember the night but have gathered many stories and met people involved in the fire event. I want to recall the Winecoff story today and thank you and Sam Heys for all you have done to bring it to the attention of those of us who want to remember. 

I hope you will post your thoughts of today's moment of history. You and Sam have kept the story alive and we who read your work appreciate all you have done.

 

Bob Cox

Winecoff rooms 1002 and 1004

son of Robert and Billie Cox who did not survive

 

Thank you Dr. Cox!

In Georgia, today we honor your parents and the other 117 victims of the fire as well as the brave Atlanta firefighters who, thankfully, saved you and dozens more.

Allen B. Goodwin

Goodson Family Remebered in Pictures

Mr Goodwin,

Recent news reports of the tragic building collapse in Florida made me remember my family stories of  the Goodson family who perished in the Winecoff Hotel fire in Atlanta in 1946. When my mother died in 2014, I found photo negatives (2 3/8 x 4 inches) of the Goodson family in a box of mementos in her closet. She never threw anything away. I wonder if you might like to have those negatives for your memory archives?

Mr Goodson had been a geologist with the Pure Oil Company, living in the company camp in Clay City, Illinois at the time of the fire. My father, Fred Pampe, was a young geologist hired by the Pure Oil Company at the end of the war in December 1945. Because of the housing shortage, my parents, my brother and I were living with my grandparents on a farm near Parkersburg, Illinois for a year until a house came available in the Clay City Camp in December 1946. The house had been occupied by the Goodson family, parents and two children,  who died in the Winecoff fire.

My parents bought some of the furniture left by the Goodsons and moved to the house in Clay City. I recall two full size beds, a sofa, coffee table, dining table and buffet which my parents kept for decades. The sofa and coffee table are pictured in one of the negatives. The photo prints were probably given to surviving family, but the negatives were left behind, probably in a desk drawer or something. My mother, Mary Louise Minkler Pampe, never threw things away and the negatives survive today in a paper envelope from the Speith’s Photo Service in Olney, Illinois with a note written in my mother’s handwriting saying “Goodson’s Negatives”.

If you would like to have the negatives, please advise where they should be sent.

Regards,

Cheryl Pampe Fowler

Lake Jackson, Texas

Ms. Fowler,

Well, YES! I'd be honored to care for the negatives. I'll share your find with our readers. I expect you learned reverence at an early age, moving into a home where tragedy had struck so recently and so completely. I'm sorry about the loss of your mother in 2014. I think it's really sweet that she held on to the negatives all her life.

Thank you,

Allen Goodwin 

Update! Negatives received & processed. The Goodson family photos are here.

 

An Atlanta Reader Writes

Hi Allen,

I want to let you know how much I am enjoying reading your book about the Winecoff Hotel Fire--the level of detail in the research is meticulous, and you and Sam really paint a picture of what it might have been like to have been there on that terrifying night.

What an incredible story--it is clearly devastating because of the loss of life but also inspiring because of the drive of the survivors and family members to go on, and the resolve to use the event to change fire codes and make buildings safer for everyone. I wish more Atlantans knew about this story

Alana

A Georgia Reader Writes

Hi... I really enjoyed your book, and have passed it on to my daughter. It came up on my FB page. I grew up in Warm Springs GA and just love anything about our great state.
Thanks,
Belinda

An Ellis Hotel Visitor Writes

Dear Allen,

Your book arrived in the mail yesterday and I am well into it. In my eagerness to acquire more information about the fire, I didn't even take note that I had ordered it from an author! Only when I opened the book and saw the signature AND the date, did I realize it was from you!

 My only connection to the fire is that my wife and I just spent the better part of the week of Dec. 12 at the Ellis Hotel, room 1110. While touring the Georgia Capitol, we saw an exhibit regarding the Winecoff fire and a photo of a survivor, etc. While I was in high school, I participated in a similar mock government experience as some of the victims.

I had never heard of the Winecoff fire and was a bit disappointed in myself that I hadn't. After being at the Ellis several days, I happened to swing around the corner of the building to read the plaque on the south side. Holy crap, THIS was the Winecoff! I then had a very enlightening conversation with one of the managers (I believe). He did seem a bit concerned that I felt safe. I did.

Regardless, it's a tragic story, but it served as motivation to build structures smarter. My thanks to you for preserving this story and committing to the task. This involves time and work and should be acknowledged. I am greatly enjoying this book and already recommending it to friends.

Ric Frambach

Dear Ric,

Thanks for writing. The Ellis Hotel is rigged out with all the latest fire safety technology today. But in 1946 there were no fire escapes, no fire alarms and no sprinklers. The hotel's operators are well aware of the building's history as are the men and women of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department. Everyone minds their Ps & Qs during routine inspections. No one cuts any corners.

It's amazing and heartening really, seventy years after the Winecoff fire, those responsible for fire safety there today are so inspired to do their best.

All best,
Allen

A Fire Service Reader Writes

Hi Allen,

I read your book "The Winecoff Fire" and it was excellent. I enjoyed the thorough and meticulous research that you and Sam did and all of the very detailed info that was included in the book. What an absolute tragedy that people thought there was such a thing as a "fireproof" building. While reading other stories about the Winecoff and Cocoanut Grove fires when I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to work in fire prevention, which is what I do now, so hopefully my contribution is somehow saving lives.

Thank you again for writing such an excellent book.
Sincerely,
Kathy Woofter

Thank you for your kind words and good work, Kathy!
All best,
Allen

Broken Hero

Mr. Goodwin, 

My father, J.C. “Bill” Lawhon, was a firefighter at Station 4 and responded to the Winecoff.  I’m traveling to Atlanta with my husband for a business meeting and his firm has booked him at the Ellis Hotel (formerly the Winecoff).  I read your book a few years back and appreciate your attention to detail and historical information.  My father was best friends with Rick Roberts and in fact my parents, Bill and Pat, introduced Rick to his second wife, Daphne.  The often socialized together. 

After the fire my father struggled to come to terms with what he witnessed.  He once told me he was left standing once the fire cooled and thus was among those sent in to recover bodies.  This haunted him.  He left the Department about a year or so later and went into a business his brothers had started, Refrigerated Transport.  But, he was plagued with alcoholism which set in a few years later.  His time in the Army in New Guinea where he saw too much death was coupled with the Winecoff memories and this made for a hard life for him.

At times he would mention a particular scene that haunted him.  This was his phrase “that poor child had her head stuck in the toilet trying to get air and was there just charred”.  Please understand this phrase was often uttered when he was in a drunken state but I heard it often as a child and knew he’d seen things that affected him greatly.  He was a strong, tall man and once told me that had he been smaller and less strong he’d have succumbed to fatigue and dehydration the night of the fire and would not have been able to do body recovery.  He seemed to regret being tall, strong and broad shouldered. 

Now, here is my question.  I know there is a plaque at the Ellis because I took a trip and asked to see it a few years ago.  But, are there any other notable areas of the hotel I might show my husband?  Any other artifacts anywhere?

Thank you so much for keeping this story alive and relevant. 

Peggy

Dear Peggy,

Thank you for writing to me. The plaque is now on the South side of the hotel.

The 2007 renovation was very thorough. So, the interior is all modernized, although the hallway configurations remain largely the same. The exterior remains mostly the same as it was when the hotel was first opened in 1913.

Thank you for sharing your story with me today, Peggy. May your father's soul rest in peace. As a hero's soul should.

All best,

Allen Goodwin

Marietta Firefighters Remembered

This Marietta, Georgia  fire engine saw service at the Winecoff Hotel fire

Hello Allen,
I've got the names of the firefighters from Marietta who fought the Winecoff fire: Verlin Wilson, who drove, Louis Nix, Gene Hughes, Captain Fred Addison and Chief Howard Schaffer. They were requested at 5:00 a.m. that morning. When they arrived they assisted with aerial operations and search and rescue and were there for five hours according to newspaper accounts. No official documents exist.
Chet Wallace

Dear Chet,
Thanks for these names. The Atlanta Fire Department issued the maximum, four alarms, "all men and equipment to the Winecoff Hotel," then called for help from other Georgia cities. Years later the arrangement was formalized into Mutual Aid agreements between the area's fire departments. Descendants of the brave Marietta men are urged to submit photos of them to be included in this space.
Be safe,
Allen

A Reader in Atlanta Writes

Good afternoon,

I've been reading about the Winecoff Hotel Fire for a couple of weeks now. I've been living in Atlanta for 5 years and never heard of this event. I stumbled upon your website and the facts about the Winecoff fire after hearing about it at the Ellis Hotel. I was visiting a friend from Tennessee who was staying there and we were both floored. I work at a law firm and have read about similar fires at The Station Nightclub and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and could not believe something this scale happened here in Atlanta. I stopped to look up at the building as I left the hotel and shivered.

I will be purchasing your book from Amazon this week. Thank you for your detailed and respectful website. I wish more Atlantans knew about this sad, pivotal chapter in our history.

Take care,
Ash

Dear Ash,

Thank you for your kind e-mail. Please write again as you learn more about the incredible tragedy that occurred right on Atlanta's most famous thoroughfare. For books click here.

All best,
Allen

A Reader in Philadelphia Writes:

Dear Mr. Goodwin,
I received my book yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to note that you were thoughtful enough to sign it for me.
(Always nice to have an autograph.)
I started the book last evening and was immediately engrossed - you're not one for preliminaries.
I've been a Casualty Claims Representative for various insurance carriers for the past 35 years and take an interest in these type of accounts.
I've noted that in most cases of horrific loss of life from the Coconut Grove fire to the Station nightclub (would direct you to John Barylick's"Killer Show") the root cause is usually greed.
Again, I thank you for your courtesy and wish you all the best in the future.
Sincerely,
Paul Bidus

Thank you for your kind e-mail and useful observations, Paul.
All best, Allen

Salvation Army's Role Remembered

This photo page from The War Cry
was recently discovered by Jeff Jellets
(Click to Enlarge)

Dear Mr. Goodwin,

First, let me just congratulate you on a superbly researched and grippingly told history of the Winecoff Hotel fire. As an emergency manager and disaster responder, historical disaster events have always fascinated me and your book was one of the very best in terms of documenting what happened, the aftermath, and the investigation as to whether the fire was intentional.

Reading those chapters sent a bit of a chill up my spine -- as I live in Fayette County -- and am familiar with many of the place names. I also work for The Salvation Army and was intrigued by your mention of them in the book.

Thank you very much for shedding light on an event that should never be forgotten.

Jeff Jellets

Dear Jeff,

Thanks for your kind words. The Salvation Army played a crucial role in the emergency response to the Winecoff Hotel fire.

Hotel secretary, Nell McDuffie, having barely survived the fire herself, quickly became overwhelmed by the hundreds of inquiries from frantic family members concerned about their loved ones. She asked that all phone calls be routed to the Salvation Army headquarters. There, comparing lists of the guests, the injured and the dead, the Salvationists provided information, often grim, to hundreds of callers.

As concerned people flooded into Atlanta, other Salvationists worked in pairs to assist grieving relatives in locating their loved ones. Salvation Army officers were stationed at Grady Hospital. As the hours wore on, the Salvation Army helped identify many of the most badly burned victims using tiny clues like jewelry and bits of clothing. Sue Mitchum was among them.

As the days passed the Salvationists helped with funeral arrangements and even conducted several themselves for those with no other options.

The vital work of the Red Cross on the fire scene and the Salvation Army rounded out an impressive and compassionate response to Atlanta's biggest disaster since the Civil War.

All best,
Allen

Legend of Courage

Dear Mr. Goodwin,

I am beginning to read your book about the Winecoff fire for a second time. My great aunt, Nell McDuffie, was one of the survivors who was originally interviewed for the book, and her brother, my Great Uncle Walt McDuffie was one of the fire-fighters who responded that night.

I do remember visits with my Aunt Nell and I remember her telling us about wrapping her head in wet towels and climbing across a ladder to be rescued from the great fire. Aunt Nell was such an interesting person. She died before I was truly old enough to ask the right questions and appreciate the stories.

Thank you, also, for having such an interest in this important event and for sharing the stories with us all.

Most Sincerely,

Lynn Dunklin 

 

Dear Lynn,

 

How nice to hear from you. Nell McDuffie was a tremendous help to us during our book research. Since she had worked at the hotel, she helped us picture the day-to-day operations there. She was well placed in the hospitality industry because she was such a likable person! I visited her in her apartment home on Ponce de Leon Ave. in the late 1980s. She was very gracious. My co-author, Sam Heys, got to know her through many follow-up phone calls.

 

We could tell she enjoyed working at the hotel, especially during the era when the Winecoff was one of the Robert Meyer Hotels. She admired the man and his approach to the hotel business. She told me he modeled his hotels after the Statler (now Hilton) hotel chain.

 

Her telling of her miraculous rescue was completely spellbinding to me. The courage of Walt McDuffie and the other fire fighters remains an example to the world.

All best,
Allen

A Survivor's Son Writes

Hello, Mr. Goodwin:

I wonder if you have any Winecoff Hotel fire photographs of my father, Andrew (Andy) Babb of Winchester, Virginia.

He was injured in the fire, but survived.

He was in Atlanta on behalf of the National Fruit Product Co. of Winchester, VA. He was chief chemical engineer with the firm and looking at plans for a National Fruit plant being built somewhere in Georgia. 

Years ago I saw a photo of Andy taken just after the Winecoff fire He was recovering in a hospital. There was a patch over his eye. Ironically, he was smoking a cigarette. Next to him was my aunt Roasalie Oakes of Atlanta. Rosalie and Andy had had dinner that night. She taught at Agnes Scott and rushed to the scene from her apartment after she hear the sirens.

Any information about this photo would be greatly appreciated. 

Yours truly,

Drew Babb

 

Dear Mr. Babb,

Yes, I have a photo of Andrew Babb. But not the exact one you've described. It's a newspaper photo published shortly after the fire. It was republished December 6, 1993 by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the occasion of a gathering of the fire's survivors. (Click to enlarge).

All best,

Allen

Guided by God, Gregory Vojae Escapes

Mr. Goodwin,

I have a copy of your book and enjoyed reading it. It is an excellent account of the fire. My dad was not in the fire, however it occurred on his 37th birthday. He and mom lived in Dahlonega at the time and had to go to Atlanta the next week on an appointment. They passed the hotel "remains" at that time and were overwhelmed by the scene.

 

I found out about the Winecoff fire when I was in the 5th or 6th grade from an article in Guideposts magazine in 1965 or 1966. One of the survivors wrote an article about surviving the fire for the magazine. Are you aware of that article and do you know if I could find a copy of it any where? I would love to have a copy of the article. I appreciate anything you can share on this and thank you for writing a great book on the fire.

Thank You,
Dale Lowman

Hello Dale,

Thanks for writing. The Guideposts Magazine article you read appeared in the June 1965 issue. It was written by survivor Gregory Vojae. His room, 1014, was on the Ellis Street side of the building. His article he tells of his struggle against panic when he realized he was trapped by the fire.

Click To Enlarge

Reciting the 91st psalm he prayed for Devinne guidance. In his article he argues convincingly that it came to him, granting him a sense of calm, and commanding that he not rush his escape. When his moment for survival arrived he was ready and empowered to seize it. Outside his window and ten floors above Ellis Street he swung from a his sheet rope to a manila rope and then to a fireman's ladder.

His story is told on page 73 of our book, The Winecoff Fire: The Untold Story of America's Deadliest Hotel Fire.

Winecoff Furniture Restored

Dresser Recovered From The Winecoff Hotel

Dear Mr. Goodwin,

I have a bedroom suite that I believe my father purchased from an auction of furniture from the Winecoff Hotel. It is the only bedroom suite I remember my parents ever using. The suite consists of a double bed, a dresser with mirror and a chest of drawers. Both chests have marble tops.

I remember when my father got the pieces. We lived in College Park, Georgia. He refinished them in the late fifties or early sixties. As a young girl, I would "help" him from time to time.

To my knowledge, the bedroom suite was refinished only once. The mirror is somewhat wavy, I feel certain that it is original. The hardware is original. The middle drawer still has its lock but the locks are missing from the other drawers. I don't believe there are any scorch marks on the furniture.

Thank you for helping me to learn more about this important event and its significance for my family. It is so sad that so many high school students attending the Youth Assembly were lost in the fire. Coincidentally, as a senior in high school in College Park, I too was a delegate to the YMCA Youth Assembly.

Thanks again,

Beth
Canton, Georgia

Dear Beth,

Thanks so much for the photo. Not every room in the hotel was burned and a variety of furnishings were recovered. It's great to know a complete bedroom suite from The Winecoff Hotel is still intact. I also know of a Winecoff Hotel table, now in Roswell, Georgia and a grand piano in Pine Lake, Georgia.

After the 1948 civil trial, the hotel's furnishings were sold at auction to help satisfy the judgement of the court. It's likely your father bought the furniture at that auction. Please know, his dollars went to those who deserved them - the injured survivors and the victims' families.

All best,
Allen B. Goodwin

Lucky Honeymoon

This Winecoff Hotel Room Is
Believed To Be The Bridal Suite

Dear Mr. Goodwin,

Congratulations on an excellent book. Though obviously a tragic subject, I still found it to be well written and captivating.

Just recently I learned, much to my surprise, that I have connections that go back to the hotel and 1946. I discovered that my parents - from Birmingham - spent their honeymoon in Atlanta and at the Winecoff in September of 1946 and were horrified by the news of the fire in December - apparently so much so that they never discussed it with me. I only discovered this in the last few years.

 

I'm told they felt they were among the "lucky ones" - those who were not in the wrong place at the wrong time later that year.
 

Again, thank you for an excellent book.

Very best wishes,

Dave Robertson

Lexington, Kentucky

A Georgia Reader Writes

Dear Mr. Goodwin,

I just finished your book this weekend. I plan to reread it. It is REAL! It breaks your heart on one hand but makes you marvel at the human spirit on the other. I love the fact that the little boy whose father threw him to safety became a doctor like his dad had been. Thanks again for your book.

Belinda Seaman
Canton, Ga.