Introduction
Dr. G. Russell Atkinson
DR. GEORGE RUSSELL ATKINSON was born in 1897 in New Jersey. He attended public schools in Camden, and graduated from Camden High School in 1918, in the same graduating class as Carl Kisselman, who would become a prominent lawyer in Camden.
After serving with the United States Army during World War I, G. Russell Atkinson joined the Raymond C. Thoirs Post of the American Legion in Camden. Trained as a dentist, he married his wife Frances around 1921. By 1930 two daughters had been born, Vivian and Frances. A son, George Russell Jr. was born in 1934. The Atkinson family resided at 522 Cooper Street.
In October of 1936, Dr. Atkinson, his wife and son were killed in an automobile accident on Mullica Pike (Route 45) about a mile north of Mullica Hill NJ. The Atkinsons were buried at Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson NJ.
Dr. Atkinson had been a member of Trimble Lodge, No. 117 Free and Accepted Masons. He also was a medical corps Captain with the 112th Field Artillery in the New Jersey National Guard at the time of his death. He also had been past president of the Southern Dental Society, was on the Board of Advisors of the State Dental Clinic in Camden, and was a member of the Interprofessional Association’s Camden chapter.
Security Chapter Will Hold Session
Camden Courier-Post —
Interprofessional Association to Hold First Meeting Here Thursday Night
Dr. Martin Steinberg, of Philadelphia, and Mrs. Mary Foley Grossman, teacher and economist, will be the principal speakers at the first meeting of the Camden Chapter of the Interprofessional Association, Thursday night, at the Labor Temple, 538 Broadway.
Florence Frisch Fox, of 1267 Magnolia Avenue, chairman pro tem of the Camden chapter, said the association is a national organization with chapters functioning in all the larger cities of the United States, and with national headquarters in New York.
“Our purpose,” the chairman said, “is social security. Through co-operation in professional groups, our object is to help solve this problem of insecurity which looms greater and darker than ever before.”
Miss Mary Van Kleeck, noted economist, is national chairman of the association. Francis F. Kane, recipient of the 1935 Bok Award, is chairman of the Philadelphia chapter.
Various representatives of the professions in Camden County will attend the first meeting of the Camden chapter, including Dr. Thomas K. Lewis, Dr. G. Russell Atkinson and Arthur B. Gill, it was announced.
Dr. Atkinson, Wife, Son Killed
Camden Courier-Post —
Child, 2, Falls Out of Auto, Accident Halts Hospital Dash
Daughter, 10, Hurt; Playmate in Serious Condition as Car Overturns in Ditch
Victims Die Together 3 Hours After Crash
Many Other Persons Injured Over Weekend Throughout South Jersey
Speeding to the hospital from the scene of an accident, Dr. G. Russell Atkinson, prominent Camden dentist; his wife, Frances, and their two-year-old son, George R. Jr., were injured fatally in an automobile crash near Mullica Hill yesterday.
A neighbor’s daughter was injured critically, but Frances Nancy Atkinson, the couple’s 10-year-old daughter, escaped with minor injuries.
The boy had fallen from the car while Dr. Atkinson was driving on the Mantua pike about a mile north of Mullica Hill, according to Nancy. Dr. Atkinson picked him up and drove a short distance toward the hospital.
Attempting to pass a car on the right, the Atkinson machine struck a tree and plunged into the ditch. Passing motorists rushed the five injured persons to Underwood Hospital, Woodbury.
Died 3 Hours Later
The accident occurred at 5:15 p.m. At 8 p. m. Mrs. Atkinson died without regaining consciousness, followed at intervals of a few minutes by Dr. Atkinson and their son. All suffered concussion of the brain, internal injuries and possible fractured skulls.
Susanna Bell, 9, of 520 Cooper street, a neighbor of the Atkinsons, who lived at 522 Cooper street, was reported in critical condition at the hospital, also suffering concussion and a possible fracture of the skull.
Nancy, who suffered cuts of the knee, told state police the party was returning home after visiting her grandparents in South Jersey. The three children were sitting in the back seat.
George, she said, pulled the handle of the door and it swung open, jerking him from the machine. Her father jammed on the brakes, placed the boy in the car, and had driven only a short distance when his car struck the tree near Mullica Hill, 10 miles from Woodbury.
Machine Demolished
The machine overturned and was demolished.
One other daughter of the couple, Vivian, 12, remained at home with playmates instead of accompanying the party on the auto trip.
Dr. Atkinson was well known in New Jersey dental circles. He served as past president of the Southern Dental Society and was a member of the advisory board of the State Dental Clinic in Camden. He was captain in the medical corps of the New Jersey National Guard with the 112th Field Artillery.
Dr. Atkinson was a member of the Thors Post, American Legion. He took part in many amateur theatricals presented at Masonic programs and was active in Masonic affairs.
Portraits
Camden Courier-Post —
Portraits of Dr. G. Russell Atkinson, Frances Atkinson, and George R. Atkinson Jr. “Triple funeral services will be held Thursday morning for Dr. G. Russell Atkinson, Camden dentist; his wife, Frances, and their son, George R. Atkinson, Jr., who were killed Sunday night in an automobile accident near Mullica Hill.”
Atkinson Funeral Set for Thursday
Camden Courier-Post —
Triple Rites Arranged for Dentist, Wife and Child Killed in Auto Crash
Triple funeral services will be held at 11 a. m. Thursday for Dr. and Mrs. G. Russell Atkinson and their 2-year-old son, George B. Atkinson, Jr., all of whom were fatally injured Sunday when their automobile struck a tree near Mullica Hill.
The services will be conducted at funeral parlors at 423 Cooper street. Trimble Lodge No. 117, of which the dentist was a member, will conduct services Wednesday night. Burial will be private in Lakeview Memorial Park.
Surviving are Frances Nancy, 10, and Vivian, 12, daughters of Dr. and Mrs. Atkinson. Frances was in the automobile, but escaped with minor injuries, while Vivian had remained at home to play with companions.
Teaches 35 Years, She’ll Keep House
Camden Courier-Post —
Miss Taylor’s Fondest Wish to Come True After Retirement Today
Miss Carolina W. Taylor bids goodbye today to the second grade class room at the Broadway School where she has taught for 35 years.
In that time this quiet little teacher has seen the surrounding neighborhood change from a languid residential area to a business center and methods of teaching and even the attitude of the school children transformed.
Now comes the biggest change of all for Miss Taylor. She is going to retire and keep house. And believe it or not, all the time she has been earning the title of a most efficient teacher, Miss Taylor confesses she has longed to do but one thing, keep house!
The scene of Miss Taylor’s homemaking activities will be the residence at 104 Powelton Avenue, Woodlynne, where she makes her home with a sister, Miss Harriet Taylor, formerly a teacher at Central School, and a brother, Thomas A. Taylor.
Attended School Here
Miss Taylor’s experience with Camden schools dates back even further than her teaching career for she was born and educated in this city.
Discussing her education in the old high school at Second and Federal Streets, Miss Taylor laughed as she recalled lapses in class work while the teachers hastened to tend the coal stoves.
She graduated from high school in 1901 and finished the normal school course, then included in the high school, in 1902. Her first assignment was substitute work at Broadway School and with the exception of a couple of months spent at Liberty School, she has instructed second grade there ever since.
Miss Taylor thoroughly approves of the newer methods of education in which more freedom is allowed the pupil. She declares much more can be accomplished with a class and the children do not dread school. “We have no bashful pupils any more,” she declared. “If I can remember how I suffered from shyness when I was the age of these little tots.”
Recalls Many Pupils
Despite her many years in the classroom and her long procession of pupils, Miss Taylor can rapidly recall their names to mind. There was Judge Clifford A. Baldwin, who she remembers as a quiet, lovable little boy; Dr. Alexander Ellis, who she terms her “cutest” pupil; Clarence Fuhrman, Dr. Byron Tuttle, the late Dr. Russell Atkinson, Anna Snow, of Temple University; E. Howard Broome, Dr. Everett Hemphill, Dr. Paul Ironside, and Warren Mainak.
Many of her boys, she declares, seem to have become professional men, while few of her girls, so far as she has been able to ascertain, have followed the teaching profession. Miss Taylor’s niece, Miss Ella Ellis, also is a teacher at Broadway School.
Remembered
Dr. Atkinson and his daughter Frances, his wife and small son were driving in a four door car when the child opened the door in the back seat. All were killed except the daughter. I know a huge number of people drove only two door cars after that… and I think it had a lot to do with safety locks on doors. Several dentists each took the surviving daughters, Vivian and Frances and raised them. Dr. Ludlam was one of them. His son, George, was in our CHS class and also became a dentist. He married Honey Thomas and lived across the street from us in Tavistock Hills… and George Savitsky a few doors to the left.
Catherine Casselman Grenhart, Camden High School Class of 1942, July 2009