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Authorized by War Department General Order 48, on August 24 1943, Van Nuys General Hospital opened in early 1944 to serve as both a general and debarkation hospital. It was soon renamed in honor of Brigadier General Henry Patrick Birmingham (1854-1932), Medical Corps, U.S. Army. Birmingham Veterans Administration Hospital operated until 1950 and was acquired by Los Angeles City Schools a year or two later for the token price of $1.00. In 1953, Birmingham High School opened as a 7-12 grade school. Part of high school campus was used as an air defense missile battalion headquarters from April 1956 to November 1968. Photograph caption dated May 5, 1950 reads, "Physio therapists give quadraplegic [sic] patients at Birmingham Hospital special underwater exercises in Birmingham's specially constructed $60,000 swimming pool. One quadraplegic [sic] asked, 'How are they going to move the pool if we go to Long Beach?[sic] "
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Birmingham Veterans Administration Hospital (Los Angeles, Calif.) Veterans' hospitals--California--Van Nuys (Los Angeles) Hospitals--California--Van Nuys (Los Angeles) Veterans--United States Men--California--Los Angeles Quadriplegics--Rehabilitation--California--Los Angeles Quadriplegics--California--Los Angeles Swimming pools--California--Van Nuys (Los Angeles) Wheelchairs--California--Los Angeles Van Nuys (Los Angeles, Calif.) Valley Times Collection photographs
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