Conversion of Valley Hospital into school well under way
Alternative Title
Valley Times Photo Collection
Contributor
This project was supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian Made accessible through a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation and Photo Friends
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 the high school campus was used as an air defense missile battalion headquarters from April 1956 to November 1968. Photograph caption dated November 1, 1954 reads, "They discuss future plans - Congressman Joe Holt, extreme right, is shown discussing future plans of the site of the old Birmingham General Hospital with former paraplegic patient, Shegeri Kawahara; Lt. Col. C. M. Allen, C.O. 551st Missile Battalion which is occupying a portion of the property; Maj. J. A. Albright, whose reserve group has headquarters on the property; Mesdames Elizabeth Friend, Myrtle Hawthorne, Catherine Close whose children attend the new Birmingham School, and Henry Veillette, State Adjutant of the Disabled Veterans of California."
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Holt, Joseph F.,--1924-1997 Birmingham Veterans Administration Hospital (Los Angeles, Calif.) Veterans--United States Wheelchairs--California--Los Angeles Paraplegics--California--Los Angeles Women--California--Los Angeles Men--California--Los Angeles Legislators--United States Van Nuys (Los Angeles, Calif.) Group portraits Portrait photographs Valley Times Collection photographs
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