MID-SOUTH MEMORIES
25 years ago — 1995
Charlottesville, Va. – Actor Christopher Reeve is paralyzed and cannot breathe on his own after he broke his neck in a riding accident, his doctor said Wednesday. Reeve suffered “multiple fractures” to the top two vertebrae in the neck and injured his spinal cord, said Dr. John A. Jane, a University of Virginia neurosurgeon. Jane said the 42-year-old Superman star may require surgery soon to stabilize his upper spine. The doctor refused to speculate on Reeve’s chances for recovery or give any other detail on his injuries.
50 years ago — 1970
Dinah Shore sang and Sen. Albert Gore danced to the applause of about 500 at the penthouse of the Holiday Inn-rivermont yesterday as Tennessee’s senior senator staged what he termed “my coming out party.” Most of the crowd was composed, naturally, of Memphis and Shelby County Democrats, but there was a good-sized gathering of out-of-towners and even one or two Republicans who wanted to hear Shore. Gore also set the time of his formal announcement for his re-election. It will be at a press conference this afternoon at his office in the Federal Building. Shore, a classmate of Mrs. Gore at Vanderbilt, said she wanted to help the senator because of “the courage and guts, if you’ll pardon me, that Senator Gore has displayed in his voting record and his attitudes.”
75 years ago — 1945
The first concrete step toward freeing Memphis from a stranglehold of slums in the Main Street business area was taken yesterday with the organization of a committee of 20 to explore the possibilities of the Urban Redevelopment Act passed by the recent state legislature. Edward F. Barry, chairman of the Memphis Housing Authority Commission, was elected chairman of the new group. 100 years ago — 1920
Vaccination is the only effective way of preventing smallpox, said Dr. T.C. Graves, Shelby County health department superintendent, in reporting 13 new cases of the disease in the county last week. He urged every Memphian to get a vaccination. More than 50 cases were reported in the county during May. Although smallpox sufferers are sent to the pest house for isolation, there is still danger of infection from those who are just contracting the disease, he said.
125 years ago — 1895
Two hundred emigrants for Texas will leave Memphis on the Iron Mountain Railroad this morning. They are forsaking their homes in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi to try their fortunes in the big southwest state.