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| Maude Whiteman 1885-1971 |
Mrs. Maude Whiteman and Mrs. A. F.
Geele Sr. occupied suite 1608-10-12 on the top floor. Mrs. Geele’s
bedroom was 1608, Mrs. Whiteman was in 1610 and 1612 was used as a
living room. Maude, age 61, was five feet tall and weighed 135
pounds and, according to her granddaughter, was “a little
spitfire”. (6) Maude was the manager of the Winecoff Hotel cigar
stand for the previous four years. People coming into the hotel were
greeted by her smiling face just inside the door.
Maude Whiteman was born May 20, 1885.
She was married to Banks Whiteman, who had passed away years before
the fire, and they had two children. (6)
Maude was spending the night in the
hotel because the Geele men were on a hunting trip and she was
looking after Mrs. Geele Sr. She had probably been staying with Mrs.
Geele for about a week. (6)
Mrs. Whiteman was awoken probably by
the sirens and immediately went to the telephone and learned that the
hotel was on fire. She opened the door and walked the twenty-five
feet to the base of the stairs leading to the roof and could have
easily made it there because the smoke hadn’t reached the top floor
at that point. Mrs. Geele, bound to a wheelchair, was still in the
suite and Maude realized that there was no way she could get her up
the stairs. Returning to the suite Maude stuffed wet towels under
the doors of each room, got Mrs. Geele into 1612 and placed her
between the two open windows facing Ellis Street covering her with
blankets.
Around 4:30am Maude heard Mrs. A. F.
Geele Jr. calling from the room below saying the smoke was getting
bad and they couldn’t stay in the room much longer and couldn’t
go out into the hall. Maude decided to make a sheet rope out of six
sheets tied together and attach it to the mullion between the two
windows of 1612 and let it down to the window of 1512. She helped
with getting Mrs. Geele Jr., her son John and her daughter Esther
Geele into 1612 as well as helping Mr. J. W. Henry, Robert O’Connell
and the Horne couple into the room.
In the process of rescuing this people
she tore back muscles, pulled two ribs loose and twisted a vertebrae
and permanent damage was caused. (1) She had back problems for the
rest of her life as a result. (6)
Mrs. Banks Whiteman was led out of the
hotel by a doctor and a fireman at 7:45am. At one point a fireman
helping her down the stairs slipped. She said to him smiling “You’d
better be careful there, young man, or I’ll have to help you down.”
(3) She said of the whole incident “We prayed – all of us
prayed.” (4)
Soon after the fire Maude Whiteman
would be prompted to start writing her account “by request from
people far and near who have called, written, and been to see me for
information and advice as to what to do in case of fire.” (2)
She intended for this account to be a book about her experience but
ended up never finishing it. (6) In her account she offered ways of
getting out of a burning building as well as her thoughts on laws
that should be passed to prevent another catastrophe like the
Winecoff fire. She wrote “No hotel is absolutely fireproof but
all modern up to date hotels have facilities with which guests could
prevent fire spreading if they would only remain calm, stop and think
now “Just what can I do”. There are fire extinguishers and hose
long enough to reach up and down the halls on each and every floor.
Get out there and use them.”
“The horrible memory of the Winecoff
fire brings back recollections of how very much I would have
appreciated a pair of wings. As the fire was coming toward us it
looked as if I would soon have them. Death seemed inevitable to
those above the 9th floor as that is as high as the
firemen’s ladders could reach. All escapes had to be made from the
outside as the halls were filled with smoke, no one could have
penetrated it and lived more than a minute or two. Only those on the
front of the building who climbed down sheet ropes and met the
firemen on the ninth floor made their escape. Those who remained in
their rooms on the higher floors and lived did it by dogged
determination.” She said of the “many of those who jumped could
have been saved if they had only waited for the firemen to rescue
them. I, again, repeat don’t jump unless told to do so by those
trying to rescue you. It only means sudden death.”
“One more thing that would prevent
fire from giving headway in hotels is sufficient night watchmen
service. If there were plenty of watchmen on the job they would
detect the fire before it had time to spread”.
“It is up to the hotel men to make
their place safe for their guest. There should be a card on the wall
in each and every room with advice to the occupant as to what to do
in case of fire. If your room has this information study it
carefully before you retire. If it does not have it, demand
information as to fire escapes”.
“Our city fathers should make it
their business to see that the fire dept. is furnished adequate
equipment with which to fight fires in tall buildings.”
“One last and most important thing
is have faith in God call on Him. He will guide you through.” (2)
Atlanta Fire Chief C. C. Styron sent
Mrs. Whiteman a letter of recognition in August of 1947. In part it
described her heroic efforts. “Mrs. Whiteman closed the transom
and kept all openings packed with wet towels and poured water on the
door to keep it from igniting. She also made a rope from sheets for
several tenants on the 15th floor and helped them reach
the 16th floor.
It is my opinion that Mrs. Whiteman’s
forethought and heroic action saved several lives in this fire.”
(5)
After the fire Mrs. Whiteman retired,
because of her back problems. Her son-in-law was a doctor and he
took her to his home in Thomasville, Georgia to recuperate. She did
stay active socially and became a member of the Joel Chandler Harris
association. (6) Mrs. Whiteman passed away on August 31, 1971 and
is interred in Greenwood Cemetery in Atlanta.
Sources:
Sources:
- Winecoff Hotel stationary account
- Whiteman account of Winecoff fire experience.
- New York Times Dec. 8, 1946 pg. 29.
- Unknown Atlanta newspaper
- Letter of recognition from Atlanta Fire Chief C. C. Styron
- McCrae/Wallace phone interview 2013.
- Greenwood Cemetery records
