By Tom McGehee
Museum Home Director
On Saturday, August 5, 1949, a crowd of 500 gathered for a party at Bellingrath Gardens. The occasion was Walter Bellingrath’s 80th birthday, and a news account noted that the 500 were his “personal friends and acquaintances.”
As he looked out at the crowd, he declared, “I bow my head in humbleness.” The Mobile City Commission had presented a resolution designating this “Bellingrath Day.” A letter from famed columnist Dorothy Dix was read aloud, in which she described Mr. Bellingrath as “a prince among men, a very great man who has done a very great work in the world.”
Judge Ben Turner spoke of his friend’s many local accomplishments, including his founding of the Rotary Club of Mobile, Waterman Steamship, Lerio Corporation, and his successful presidency of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce. Best of all, he said, he and the late Bessie Bellingrath had created Bellingrath Gardens purely for the enjoyment of others. And now, those Gardens had attracted over one million visitors since their inception.
Next, his grand-nephew, five-year-old Walter Bellingrath Edgar, pulled a wagon containing 15 silver loving cups to the stage. Judge Turner read the list of donors, and Robert Edington read aloud the inscription on each of the cups.
The crowd then heaped their plates with fried fish and potato salad and enjoyed a memorable birthday lunch. A makeshift tent covered Coca-Cola employees, who handed out hundreds of ice-cold bottles.
At the close of the party, Mr. Bellingrath announced that the Gardens would be open, free of charge, to the general public on Sunday, August 6, which was his actual birthday. Bellingrath Gardens and Home is proud to continue the tradition begun by our founder 85 years ago.
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