MARY BRASWELL: Looking Back at March of 1973

As March approaches, here is a look back at what was making the news 45 years ago.

— Camilla decided to abandon its city recreation program. Water customers of the city would see a $1 reduction in their bills starting in July.

— The Albany Area Vocational-Technical School began an apprenticeship program for insulation workers. There was no cost for students.

— Ticket prices to see the Atlanta Braves went up for the 1973 season. Club and dugout level seats went up to $6 (from $5.50), general admission jumped to $2 for adults (up $1) and general admission for children increased from $1 to $1.50.

— Chili dogs at Jimmie’s Hot Dogs at 204 S. Jackson cost 18 cents each.

— “Deliverance,” starring Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight, was showing at the State Theatre. “What did happen on the Cahulawassee River?”

— News came that the first U.S. Marine pilot to be shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese would be coming home. Maj. Orson Swindle of Camilla was captured in 1966 and acknowledged as a POW since 1970.

—

QUIK QUIZ

Which of the following remained on the the American Psychiatric Association’s list of mental illnesses until 1973?

a) Female hysteria

b) Epilepsy

c) Lunacy

d) Homosexuality

The answer is at the end of the column.

—

— While other cities similar in size to Albany suffered from overcrowding at their jails, the Dougherty County Jail census typically ran between 40 and 60 percent occupied.

— Deerfield School on Stuart Avenue was the target of burglars. Headmaster Graham Lowe reported a safe and a 35 mm camera were stolen. The safe contained more than $8,500 in checks and $135 in cash. The camera was valued at $150.

— The Drama Club of Albany Junior College presented “On the Town” at Albany Little Theater.

— Worth Hospital Administrator Ed Johnson reported that the new 50-bed hospital in Sylvester would be ready for patients no later than May. The cost per bed for the construction came in at $21,900 per bed. Another Southwest Georgia hospital (not named) was spending $51,294 per bed for the same size hospital. The modern facility included oxygen and suction in each room, with a generator to back-up electrical needs. Every room also featured a color TV and a telephone.

— Georgia’s Department of Labor began serving Southwest Georgia with a computerized Job Bank, the first outside of Atlanta. Job orders from Americus, Cordele, Tifton, Moultrie, Thomasville, Bainbridge and Albany could be printed on a paper daily for those in search of employment. Georgia Labor Commissioner Sam Caldwell said, “The ultimate goal is to be able to push a button on a console and find the appropriate job for every man and woman willing to work.”

— Located in the Downtowner Motor Inn, The Cubbyhole offered happy hour from noon to 2 p.m. and again from 5 to 7 p.m.

— The Deerfield Knights won the state SEAIS AA boys basketball championship. It was the first state crown for the Knights.

— U.S. Customs agents seized the largest haul of marijuana on record. Found on a barge which had run aground near Steinhatchee, Fla., about 150 miles south of Albany, was nine tons of pot.

— Retired Navy Cmdr. J. Turner, president of Albany Area Museum Board of Directors, told the Citizen’s Advisory Committee that the museum was in need of more space. Turner said that the museum would like to move from its Flint Avenue location to the old railroad station “that has been sitting idle for heaven knows how long.”

— The Dawson City Council voted to purchase standard house numbers for city residents. After receiving permission from the resident, utility meter readers would place the numbers where they would be visible to vehicles traveling in either direction. The move came at the request of the Dawson postmaster.

— The first black contestant in the history of the Miss Georgia pageant hailed from Albany. Miss Albany was Sheri Holliday, a dean’s list student at Illinois State University.

— Albany Junior College offered four Saturday classes for spring quarter.

— Passing narrowly by a vote of 29-22, the Georgia Senate voted to forbid the teaching of evolution in Georgia schools without equal time given to the Biblical approach of divine creation.

— Baker County Sheriff Warren “Gator” Johnson filed legal action against the County Commission seeking an increase in pay. According to the sheriff, the $15,000 salary he was receiving was not enough to make ends meet. Baker was requesting an additional $7,000 annually.

In other news

— Spiro Agnew became the first vice president of the United States to resign for criminal reasons. He was accused of tax evasion and accepting bribes. Gerald Ford took his place and, one year later, President Richard Nixon would resign and Ford would take his place.

— Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” was released March 1. The album remained on the Billboard charts for 591 weeks.

— The 1973 Gremlin from AMC was available with Levi’s denim seats.

— The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that states cannot prohibit a woman from having an abortion within the first three months of pregnancy.

— From Feb. 24 to March 23, the top song was “Killing Me Softly With His Song” by Roberta Flack.

— The World Trade Center in New York City became the tallest building in the world.

— Though not commercially available, the first personal computer (PC), the Alto, was developed at Xerox.

— Former President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) died at his Texas ranch at the age of 64.

— The still popular Bic lighter was new on the market.

— Motorola invented the first cellphone. The contraption stood over a foot tall, weighed 2.5 pounds, allowed 30 minutes of talk time and took 10 hours to fully charge.

— For around 300 years, the Tree of Ténéré was believed to be the most isolated tree in the world. The acacia was the only tree for 250 miles in Niger’s Sahara desert, and was used as a landmark by travelers and caravans passing through. The tree had reached its roots more than 100 feet underground to drink from the water table. Sadly, in 1973, the centuries-old survivor was run over by a Libyan truck driver. The driver’s name never surfaced, but rumors abound that he was drunk at the time that he plowed into the only obstacle for miles.

QUIK QUIZ ANSWER: d) Homosexuality

Each week Albany Herald researcher Mary Braswell looks for interesting events, places and people from the past. You can contact her at (229) 888-9371 or [email protected]. Follow @ABH_MBraswell on Twitter.