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09 | Christmas Eve River Rescue | Bygone Old Christmas | December 2018 Issue

Release Date: 12/01/2018

13 | Larry Brinton | Cash-for-Clemency Scandal, ‘Marie’ Movie | JFK Visit, Janet March Murder | August 2019 Issue

Nashville Retrospect

Veteran reporter Larry Brinton recalls growing up in Nashville, how he became a reporter, and more of this big news stories, including the Janet March murder, President Kennedy’s Nashville visit, and the cash-for-clemency scandal, which led to his portrayal of himself in the 1985 movie “Marie.” This special podcast, on the occasion of Brinton’s recent death, is a continuation of the interview from Episode 01. The contents of the August 2019 Nashville Retrospect are reviewed.

12 | Early TV, Hermitage Hotel, WWII Marriage | ‘Near You’ and Music City USA | March 2019 Issue

Nashville Retrospect

At 94 years old, Mary B. Williams remembers being a teenager in East Nashville during World War II, dancing at the Hermitage Hotel, and her TV career at the birth of the medium. Historian Don Cusic tells the story of Nashville’s first big hit record, “Near You” in 1947, and the beginnings of Music City USA. And the contents of the March 2019 Nashville Retrospect newspaper are reviewed.

11 | Slavery, Runaways, Fancy Girls | Alex Haley’s ‘Roots’ | African-American Genealogy | February 2019 Issue

Nashville Retrospect

Bill Carey relates how pervasive the institution of slavery was in Tennessee, as evidenced by ads in newspapers, including runaways and fancy girls. Taneya Koonce discusses the novel “Roots” and African-American genealogy. Also hear “Roots” author Alex Haley speak at the state capitol. And the contents of the February 2019 Nashville Retrospect newspaper are reviewed.

10 | War of 1812, Andrew Jackson, Creek War | Richard Fulton’s Country Music Record | Sulphur Water | January 2019 Issue

Nashville Retrospect

Dr. Tom Kanon discusses the War of 1812, including: Tennessee’s rise to national prominence, becoming known as “The Volunteer State”; Native-Americans’ loss of millions of acres of territory in the Creek War; Gen. Andrew Jackson becoming president after a lopsided victory in the Battle of New Orleans; and how a comet and earthquakes helped launch the war. Also hear U.S. Congressman Richard Fulton’s country music record. And the contents of the January 2019 issue are reviewed.

09 | Christmas Eve River Rescue | Bygone Old Christmas | December 2018 Issue

Nashville Retrospect

A woman jumped off the Shelby Street Bridge on Christmas Eve, 1956, with a baby in her arms. Interviews with Harold Hogue, Anne Knox, and Judy Hunt Charest about the tragic yet heroic event and its aftermath decades later. Also, Tennessee folk singers Dee and Delta Hicks discuss the lost tradition of Old Christmas. And the contents of the December 2018 issue are reviewed.

08 | World War I Relics | Gold Star Records | Military Branch Museum | November 2018 Issue

Nashville Retrospect

Dr. Lisa Budreau discusses World War I relics in the Tennessee State Museum, including a German cannon and Sergeant York’s medals. Allison Griffey relates stories from the Gold Star Records, as well as stories about women factory workers, the influenza epidemic, and the Mexican village at the Old Hickory gun powder plant. Dan Pomeroy tells the history of the Military Branch Museum. And the contents of the November 2018 issue of The Nashville Retrospect are reviewed.

07 | City Cemetery | Dr. Lucifur and Sir Cecil Creape | Halloween | October 2018 Issue

Nashville Retrospect

Fletch Coke tells the history of Nashville City Cemetery (established in 1822) and the stories of the people buried there. Jeff Thompson and Larry Underwood discuss Nashville legendary TV horror hosts Dr. Lucifur and Sir Cecil Creape. And the spooky contents of the October 2018 Nashville Retrospect newspaper are reviewed.

06 | Glenn School Integration | 1957 Desegregation Hearings | Brown v. Board of Education | September 2018 Issue

Nashville Retrospect

In 1957, the desegregation of Nashville public schools involved protests by white supremacists, political stalling, and a school bombing. Hear interviews with people who were there, including Lajuanda Street Harley, Sorena Street, Debi Oeser Cox, Joe Casey and Larry Brinton. Dr. Bobby Lovett explains Brown v. Board of Education. Also hear excerpts of desegregation hearings, and a review of the contents of the September 2018 Nashville Retrospect newspaper.

05 | Settlement of Nashville, Indian Wars | Elvis at the State Capitol | August 2018 Issue

Nashville Retrospect

Paul Clements relates stories about the first settlers to arrive in the Nashville area in the late 1700s, including why they came and why Native Americans attacked them. Hear Elvis Presley speak to the Tennessee legislature in 1961. And the contents of the August 2018 Nashville Retrospect newspaper are reviewed. (This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence.)

04 | Dutchman’s Curve Train Wreck | Elmer Hinton’s Humor Album | July 2018 Issue

Nashville Retrospect

Betsy Thorpe tells the stories from the 1918 Dutchman’s Curve train wreck in West Nashville, the deadliest in U.S. history. Also hear excerpts from humor columnist Elmer Hinton’s 1968 album “Down to Earth.” And the contents of the July 2018 Nashville Retrospect newspaper are reviewed.

More Episodes

On Christmas Eve, 1956, a woman jumped off the Shelby Street Bridge into the Cumberland River with a baby in her arms. Host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper) revisits this tragic and heroic story through interviews with people who were there, including Harold Hogue, Anne Knox, and Judy Hunt Charest. Also learn about the aftermath of the event during the decades since. (Segment begins at 04:45)

(Special thanks to Mike Hudgins and Sheri Hogue for their assistance with this story.)

Original caption from the Dec. 24, 1956, Nashville Banner: “Muddy waters of the Cumberland River swirl around Mrs. Milton Hunt (arrow No. 1), who clings to a steel retaining beam, and her three-and-a-half months old daughter, Judy (arrow No. 2).” In the podcast, Anne Knox mentions the two objects floating in the water. (Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives, photo by Vic Cooley)

Original caption: “Jack Knox [III], 25-year-old drafting department employe of Nashville Bridge Co. holds Mrs. Hunt above the water after he had rescued the baby and then swam to where the mother was hanging on near exhaustion.” (Image: Anne Knox, Mike Hudgins, photo by Vic Cooley)

Original caption: “Mrs. Hunt is pulled ashore from the Bridge Company boat. A first aid team worked on her until she could be taken to General Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.” The man in the foreground wearing a watch is Harold Hogue, who is interviewed in the podcast. Virgil Johnson is piloting the boat. (Image: Anne Knox, Mike Hudgins)

Original caption: “Gilbert M. Dorland, vice-president of Nashville Bridge Co., hold three-and-a-half months old Judy Hunt after the tot was pulled form the icy waters of Cumberland River below the firm’s building.” (Image: Anne Knox, Mike Hudgins)

Original caption: “Dressed in the only available dry clothes, a bridge company baseball uniform, Knox warms up after his plunge into the icy waters shorty after 10 a.m. today. He is a former West End High School and Citadel athlete.” (Image: Nashville Public Library, Nashville Room)

The Hunt family (Marguerite, Milton and Judy) is pictured in 1957. (Image: Judy Hunt Charest)

Judy and her mother, Marguerite. (Image: Judy Hunt Charest)

Jack Knox (right) receives the Arland D. Williams Society award at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., on Nov. 12, 2005. He died ten days later. (Image: Anne Knox, Mike Hudgins)

Judy Hunt Charest and Harold Hogue at the reunion at the site of the rescue on Sept. 16, 2015. The John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge (formerly the Shelby Street Bridge), the Nashville Bridge Building (formerly the Nashville Bridge Company), and the pier mentioned in the story, can all be seen in the background. (Image: Allen Forkum)

Harold Hogue shows the watch given to him by Judy Hunt Charest, which she had engraved with: “Everyone needs a HERO. Thanks for being mine. 12/24/56 Love, Baby.” (Image: Allen Forkum)

UPDATE: Harold Hogue died on Dec. 28, 2020.

UDPATE: Judy Hunt Charest died on March 11, 2022.

Also hear folk singers Dee and Delta Hicks of Fentress County, Tenn., discuss the lost tradition of Old Christmas in a 1981 interview by Bob Fulcher (assisted by Sharon Celsor-Hughes). Old Christmas was traditionally observed in some rural and mountainous areas of the south on Jan. 6 and included tales of farm animals kneeling to pray at midnight on Christmas Day. The interview was part of Cumberland Trail Park Manger Bob Fulcher's Tennessee State Parks Folklife Project. (Segment begins at 48:40)

(Special thanks to Bob Fulcher of Cumberland Trail, and to Lori Lockhart and Zach Keith at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.)

Dee and Delta Hicks of Fentress County, Tenn. (Image: Bob Fulcher)

And finally, Allen Forkum reviews some of the contents of the December 2018 issue, including children’s letters to Santa Claus in 1907 and Johnny Cash’s 1976 Christmas TV special. Also hear calls from readers about bygone Christmases in Nashville. (Segment begins at 01:30)

SHOW NOTES

A list of articles relating to this episode that you can find in archive issues of The Nashville Retrospect (archive issues can be ordered by clicking here or on the issue links below):

• “Dives In River With Baby; Rescued,” Nashville Banner, Dec. 24, 1956 (The Nashville Retrospect, December 2011)

• “Love Gives Itself; Jack Knox III and His Heroic Christmas Eve Rescue” by Mike Hudgins, The Nashville Retrospect, December 2011

• “Dives In River With Baby” letter to the editor by Judy Hunt Charest, The Nashville Retrospect, January 2012

• “Dives In River With Baby” letter to the editor by Harold Hogue, The Nashville Retrospect, December 2015

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