Heather South Oteen Collection, PC.7036
Abstract
As the United States became involoved in World War I, existing American military hospitals
underwent renovations, as new facilities were built to train army medical personnel
and to care for soldiers and servicemen returning from the conflict in Europe. Near
Azalea, North Carolina, east of Asheville, "a 1,000-bed hospital for the treatment
of tuberculosis" was built. The War Department authorized an additional $300,000 to
expand the facility, which was first known as General Hospital No. 19 at Azalea. After
the new Oteen Post Office opened in 1918, the hospital was informally referred to
as Oteen Hospital or the hospital at Oteen.
This collection consists of correspondence, newsletters, photographs, and ephemera
about the hospital and surrounding businesses.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Heather South Oteen Collection
- Call Number
- PC.7036
- Creator
- South, Heather
- Date
- 1919 - 1953
- Extent
- 0.010 cubic feet
- Repository
- Western Regional Archives, State Archives of North Carolina
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
Available for research
Use Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendents, as
stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers
are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well
as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Heather South Oteen Collection, State Archives of North
Carolina, Western Regional Archives, Asheville, NC, USA.
Collection Overview
This collection consists of correspondence, newsletters, photographs, and ephemera.
1. Three negatives of "Browns Garage" depicting two individuals sitting in an automobile
with two front ends with individual steering wheels facing opposite directions. 2
3/4 x 4 1/2 "
2. Two photographs of above mentioned automobile. Car has printed on side " Brown's
Garage Oteen, N.C. Don't 'Frown' Call Brown.'" Prints from the negatives, both from
Herd's Photographic Laboratory Pottstown, P.A. dated September 9,1938.
3. Two copies of semi-monthly Oteen-O-Scope, Vol. V, No. 4, 10/15/1952, Vol. V, No.
23, 6/15/1953 from June 15, 1953.
4. Welcome to Oteen, informational booklet for patients at the V.A. Hospital in Asheville,
N.C. Circa 1950, 18 x 13 cm.
5. Matchbook cover, "Veteran Administration Hospital Oteen, N. Carolina." Reverse
has print of hospital building. Universal Match Corp., Baltimore, Md.
6. Postcard promoting amateur radio station W4QJ of Oteen, N.C., operated by R.V.
Nicely. Post marked Feb. 12, 1930.
7. Letter to Miss Katherine Bergsland of Council Bluffs, Iowa, from her sister, Theodora
Bergsland, postmarked 4/9/1919 at Oteen, N.C. Letter discusses treatment at U.S. General
Hospital No. 19 and landscape of Oteen, N.C. Written on American Red Cross letterhead.
8.Letter to Miss Jeanette Griffin of Milledgeville, Ga., from her brother, Bill Griffin.
Post marked 9/28/1946 at Oteen, N.C. Letter decribes "taking the air" in Oteen as
a tuberculosis treatment. Written on American Legion Auxiliary letterhead.
Biographical/Historical
As the United States and other nations became involved in The Great War, improvements
to existing American military hospitals were underway as new facilities were built
across the country to train army medical personnel and to provide care and treatment
centers for the many soldiers and servicemen returning from the conflict in Europe.
Near Azalea, North Carolina, east of the city of Asheville, "a 1,000-bed hospital
for the treatment of tuberculosis" was built at a proposed cost of $1,325,000. Atlanta's
Gude Construction Company received the bid to begin work on the 60-plus buildings.
By the end of the summer the War Department authorized an additional $300,000 to expand
the facility, which was first known as General Hospital No. 19 at Azalea. After the
new Oteen Post Office opened in 1918, the hospital was informally referred to as Oteen
Hospital or the hospital at Oteen. In 1920, a large-scale construction campaign got
underway. Original wooden structures were torn down and replaced with a permanent
campus to administer to all aspects of veterans' health care. Among the first permanent
buildings constructed were 2 hospital wards along the east side of Riceville Road,
known as Wards A and B.
In 1924, the federal government transferred administration of the hospital to the
newly formed Veterans Bureau. Six years later it would become the Veterans Administration
(VA). By 1932, the VA added an additional 4 hospital wards, a dining hall, fire station,
administration building and other support structures. Building #9, built in 1930,
served as the main nurse's dorm. An additioan dorm was built in 1932.
The current hospital, part of the complex now known as the Charles George VA Medical
Center, was built in 1967 in front the 1928 Administration Building. Over time, ownership
of many of the buildings from the 1920s and '30s transferred from the federal government
to other entities. Today Building #13 is home to the Western Office of the North Carolina
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.