Interview of Emma Gertrude (Linn) Hewitt and John H. Hewitt

Conversations in 2004 and 2006, Personal Correspondence

Interviewer: Phillip Linn

Gertrude Linn was born in Cleveland, Ohio on August 6, 1917; John Hewitt was born on February 7, 1919 in Rochester, New York. They met each other in Columbus, Georgia, in 1943. After a whirlwind courtship of six weeks, they were married at the First Baptist Church in downtown Columbus on April 12, 1943. This is the story of their experiences in Columbus, Georgia, during World War II.

Gertrude Linn came to Columbus, Georgia, in January 1941. Her older brother, Phillip, was an armor officer training at Fort Benning prior to deployment to Texas, California, and then overseas. Gertrude had been working in a dry goods store in Cleveland for five years, and was looking for a major change in her life. With her brother’s help, she came to Columbus to build a new life for herself. She initially was able to rent a room in a boarding house owned by the Boyette family, on 28 th Street in Rose Hill. She found a job as a clerk at the Sears, Roebuck store on Broadway, where she worked for the next two years. She earned $13.00 per week in wages, and paid the Boyette’s $5.00 for room and board. Commenting on her escape from Cleveland, she wrote: “Coming from a large city to a small town was a comfort—a fresh start…I have always loved Georgia. It gave me so much strength…(I) liked the place and the people, I earned their respect and trust and made many friends…”

John (Jack) Henry Hewitt enlisted in the Army in May, 1941, and attended basic training at Fort Benning’s Lawson Field. Assigned to the Signal Corps, he received on the job training at the Signal Property Office on Main Post. He was promoted steadily through the ranks, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant before being reassigned in spring of 1945. His first memories of pre-war Columbus were not always pleasant ones. “The bus station on main post was near the field where retreat and reveille were held. The buses were awful…they seldom ran on all cylinders hence vibrated badly. In fact, one time my seatmate sitting next to me received a slight cut on his arm when the window shattered due to excessive vibration”. The bus terminal downtown was located in the median on Broad Street a couple blocks from the Grand Theater. It housed a couple of benches and had a small rest room “that could not possibly handle all the traffic”. A new bus depot was built on the south end of Broad Street and the old buses were replaced not long after his arrival. “The theater, Sears, and maybe the Greyhound Bus Station seemed to be the newest buildings around…the rest of the part of Broad Street that I saw mostly (were) storefronts selling clothes, shoes, and some military stuff. I did indeed see at least one storefront with a sign in the window saying ‘soldiers and dogs keep out’…After December 7 th, a vast change in attitude” took place. Soldiers were required now to wear their uniforms at all times, resulting in “throngs of military walking up and down Broad Street”.

Gertrude and John met on a blind date in early 1943. By this time, John had been able to return home to pick up his car, a ’39 Mercury convertible. In order to be able to drive to distant locations without having to refuel, he installed a 35 gallon truck gas tank in his trunk, along with a beefed up Lincoln-Zephyr rear spring in the rear end, enabling trips to Tallahassee, Montgomery, and Atlanta. Gas, although rationed in Columbus, was evidently not rationed in Alabama, at least not right away. On dates, although always short on cash, Gertrude and John mentioned several favorite eating places. Firm Roberts on Cusseta Road had “the best onion rings ever”. Pat Patterson’s near Bibb City advertised the “fish you are eating slept in the river last night”. Goo Goo’s Drive-In across from Linwood Cemetery had a “juke box inside and good hamburgers and fries”. Frank Sinatra and the Dorsey Brothers Band were favorites.

After getting married at the First Baptist Church on April 12, 1943, in a ceremony presided over by the Reverend John L. Waldrop, the couple took a short honeymoon to Atlanta, where they stayed at the Ansley Hotel. They were able to rent a cottage in Bibb City at #3 Woodland Circle. After another six months, John was able to get quarters in Baker Village, and the two spent the rest of their time in Columbus at 137-C in Baker Village. Life was good, even with a war going on. There were no laundry facilities at the time, but Gertrude was able to find a black woman, Eva, who did their laundry for $3.00 a week. Eva furnished the soap, but had them provide the starch for John’s uniforms. “Jack’s uniform was so stiff he could hardly get his legs through them…he had the best looking uniform in the Village”.

Phenix City evoked some clear memories. Gertrude went occasionally as a single girl, but only if escorted. Jack recalls: “For a soldier, Phenix City started at the west end of the 10 th Street Bridge (Dillingham). There were several honky tonks nearby (he defined a “honkey tonk” as a juke joint where ‘shady ladies’ hung out). These places consisted of a small bar, small dance floor with booths and/or tables, and of course, the shady ladies. One good point, ‘Beachie’ (Ma Beachie, Beachie Howard Parr) insisted they (the ‘shady ladies’) all carry a card signed by a doctor attesting to the fact that they were free of all social diseases. There was Club Maytag which was a nice place with a nice décor and a band—no shady ladies. Going west a ways, it became largely residential. One side street led to Beachie’s main place, a fairly large barn-like place with one big room with a bar and a few tables, and a smaller room with black jack and poker games and lots of shady ladies. On and near paydays, the place was really crowded; the girls made their contacts here and took the ‘victim’ to one of the close-by houses…(During) busy times, there were guards in civilian clothes carrying guns in open holsters.” Jack further remembers that all personnel who were on active duty prior to December 7, 1941, were authorized a service medal/ribbon. “It didn’t take long before the boys at Benning started to call it a ‘Beachie Bar’”

One weekend, Jack’s unit had to work overtime to prepare some communications gear for a unit that was deploying. Everyone had to come in at 7:00 am on Sunday to complete the work. “One of the girls in the office lived in Phenix City and had to catch the bus to Columbus to catch another bus to post. At 5:30 a.m. a police car spotted the lone girl standing there and pulled over to speak with her. They decided she was a suspected ‘Lady of the Evening’ and took her to the police headquarters. They accused her of being a prostitute. Miss Beachie did not tolerate free lance girls. In spite of her ID’s, they kept her there several hours until Colonel Young, the post Signal Officer, came in person to get them to free her”.

In early 1945, Jack was reassigned to San Antonio, Texas, to be trained in preparation for the anticipated invasion of Japan. Thus the Hewitts were not in Columbus when the war ended. After the war, they returned to Geneseo, New York, raised two girls, and ultimately retired to a suburb of St. Petersburg, Florida, where they live today.