The Invincible Alice
Written and Copyrighted by Alice L. Luckhardt
A Smashwords Edition in 2009
On a Dare
“Coming through … coming through” she shouted over the roar of the Harley as it cruised along at the slowest possible speed. Only she wasn’t traveling an urban highway, side street or country lane; the motorcycle was being driven through the academic halls of the University of Miami by Alice. These were not empty halls but instead filled with students as the University was in full session. She had been dared and if there was one thing Alice couldn’t resist was a dare. So she borrowed a friend’s motorcycle and without a moment’s pause or hesitation maneuvered that cycle through the halls without hitting a single person. Fellow students clapped, cheered and urged Alice on during her relative short run of a few minutes until she suddenly had the University’s administration confronting her.
This dare taker was also a fresh beauty with the face of a model, an All-American girl with a spirit for adventure and always willing to try the unknown. Alice was the oldest daughter of retired US Army Captain Richard J. Walters of Miami. She had her father’s stature with sunny light brown hair and the golden tan offered to a Florida-raised girl. Besides her beauty, Alice had a great personality, one that captured your heart minutes after meeting her. Plus a personal determination to achieve whatever she set her mind to; flying an airplane, deep sea diving, nursing, fashion modeling, or driving a motorcycle through the school halls, she did it all.
During most of the 20th century, Alice Louise Walters seized every possible opportunity to learn and experience everything she could, even when the rest of society was saying it wasn’t proper for a young lady to behavior in such a manner. After all, she was raised during the 1920s and 1930s and becoming a young lady in 1940 when girls were expected to conduct themselves in a certain stereotyped role. However, this particular Miami girl had grown up with parents who were achievers and chartered their own courses and encouraged Alice to do the same. Plus growing up in Miami offered her a fresh, young approach to life, just like the city of Miami offered new opportunities to its many new residents. True, her father, Capt. Walters or her mother, Mae Walters, an educator in Miami, had to bail Alice out of some sticky situations she got herself into, she also had punishment at home for her mischievous deeds. For the motorcycle stunt, Alice was confined to the house for a month and had to maintain an “A” average in all her classes, which she easily was able to accomplish.
It outwardly appears she had an ideal life and yes many aspects such as education, servants, opportunities, travel, adventures she did enjoy and appreciated. However, with the fine wonderful things and events Alice also had a tremendous amount of tragedy and sorrow throughout her life. For this girl who couldn’t resist a dare, how the worthwhile and dire events played throughout her life, is about to unfold.
The Early Years
Her amazing parents were Richard J. Walters of Iowa and Mae Louise Musselman of Maryland. Capt. Richard J. Walters was in the US Army serving during World War I as a commander of the U. S. Army’s hot air balloon division. By 1921, he was commanding officer of the Reconstruction School of Photography at Camp Meade, Maryland. This type of school dealt with the chemistry, mechanics, psychology and art of making pictures of real things with the camera. Included in this work was the making of photographic records of medical cases and patients at the nearby Johns Hopkins Hospital.
One of the young medical intern doctors at the hospital was Dr. George Dewey Lippy, the boyfriend and future husband of Mae Musselman’s best friend, Fannie E. Shower of Manchester. Capt. Walters met Mae one night at a party hosted at Dr. Lippy’s home. He learned Mae was a certified teacher and his school of photography was in need of a teacher to prepare his men for graduation, so he offered Mae a teaching position. She accepted the job. Mae started dating Richard and he very quickly realized he wanted to marry her. However, she refused to marry him if he stayed in the military. Within a few months he resigned from the US Army and Richard and Mae were married in February 1922 in Baltimore.
The first daughter of the Walters family was born December 14, 1922 at 4:45 pm in the City of Baltimore at Maryland General Hospital and weighed 6 lbs, 15 ozs. The following was information written at the time by Alice’s mother in the baby book. Mae wrote, “Mrs. Ack, who was with me and Dr. Borne, took me to the hospital at 11:30 am and Alice Louise being born at 4:45 pm. Her father was at Langley Field, Virginia at the time and did not get to see us until 2 am that night. We were in the hospital over Christmas. Daddy put up a pretty tree for us. We received many visitors and many gifts.”
Baby Alice’s christening was on May 28, 1923 in Manchester, Maryland at the Reformed Church. She had been named for her father’s mother, Alice and her mother’s grandmother, Louise. By July 5, 1923, Alice Louise, at age 7 months, had her first hydroplane ride from Colonial Beach, Virginia to Pope’s Creek, Maryland that lasted about six minutes. Mae recalled that Alice did not even whimper at such an early experience, it only served as a preview of things to come for baby Alice.
By October 1st, the baby walked very well as she held onto her mother’s finger. She was crawling faster than the average person could walk and managed to get into everything. Come mid-November she could walk halfway across a room all by herself. During the family celebrate on Thanksgiving Day in 1923; one of her first words was “duck”. The main entree for that holiday dinner was roasted duck.
The family had moved on October 8, 1923 to #145-16 Newport Avenue, Rockaway Beach, Long Island, New York. The bungalow was only three blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. Baby Alice experienced a couple bad spells of sickness, first December of 1923 and in January of 1924. Doctors weren’t quite sure how or what made her sick, however she recovered after a couple weeks.
In June 1924, the family moved to #116-09 Boulevard in Rockaway Beach and into a 5-room apartment. There were stairs in the new place, but baby Alice managed to go up and down the stairs quite rapidly.
Moving to Miami
While Mae was pregnant with the couple’s second child, Alice Louise was sent to live with relatives, her Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Henry Musselman in Manchester, Maryland. To keep Alice company, Nannie Everhart, her 9-year-old cousin was also sent for 2 months in the summer to live with the Musselmans in Manchester. So protective was Nannie over her younger cousin she would even carry Alice Louise up the stairs at night to see she got safety to bed.
Capt. Walters had also earned a ship captain’s license by 1923 while Alice was a baby and became a partner with George Risen, a New York City hotel owner, in the Danish sailing barkentine ship, Prins Valdemar. They were using it to transport cargo such as bananas, coconuts and tropical hardwoods from Central American and Caribbean nations to the New York harbor for resale. The large sailing vessel then hauled needed building supplies south to the busy and growing City of Miami on the east coast of Florida.
By the summer of 1925, Richard Walters developed the plan to complete just a few more New York to Miami runs and then convert the massive ship into a floating hotel in Miami. The boom of Miami had created a hotel shortage and there was money to be made in a deluxe hotel with a fine restaurant and entertainment lounge for the Miami area.
After the birth of Alice’s baby sister, Lelah on August 7, 1925 in New York City, the family was moved into a small house in Miami. They were lucky to get any housing with the big economic boom and the thousands of people moving to Miami on a daily basis. Capt. Walters and his young family were looking forward to being a part of Miami’s growth and expansion.
The ship, Prins Valdemar, came into the Miami harbor on its final voyage at the end of October 1925. Over the next couple of months the ship was remodeled and outfitted to be the deluxe showpiece of Miami. The grand opening of this floating hotel was set for January 24, 1926. Yet, there was about to be a shift in the winds, literately. On January 10th, a huge gust of wind, ‘a northeaster’ came up suddenly and toppled the ship, causing it to lean on its side. With its massive rigging it blocked the Miami Channel, making it impossible for any large vessels to come in or out of the Miami.
Capt Walters was never a man to accept defeat, in spite of the odds he faced. It took him six weeks to eventually raise the fallen ship but he did and had it towed to another berth which once again opened up the Miami Channel to ship traffic. It took nearly two years for Walters to accumulate enough capital, especially after the 1926 hurricane across Miami and the economic bust of the area, but he did accomplish in turning the once great ship, Prins Valdemar, into the Miami Aquarium, a tourist attraction. The landmark Aquarium from 1928 to 1950 was not only a huge success for the Walters family but also served as Alice’s personal playground and learning environment.
The September 1926 hurricane with its 150 plus miles per hour winds came across Miami with little or no warning for the residents. Many sections of the city and surrounding areas laid in ruins after the storm. This included the Walters’ small home, nearly destroyed when a huge tree fell across the roof. The only pieces of furniture remaining in its original spot were the family’s baby grand piano and a nearby bookcase. Books from the case were damaged and scattered everywhere except for two personal books belonging to Mae. All members of the family were safe which was the most important considering so many individuals were killed in the storm.
Baby Lelah
In the summer of 1929, Richard Walters was staging an air show of large hot air balloons and bi-planes at various county fairs. That summer, the whole family went on the drive from Miami to the northeast states in the family’s Packard car. It was a large car, so there was plenty of room for the luggage and an area for the two girls, Alice, who was now 7 years old and young Lelah, age 4, to nap and play in the backseat.
At one point in the drive, Alice noticed her sister was not in the back seat but thought she might be up in the front seat on her mother’s lap napping. It was then that Alice become aware that the door on her mother’s side was open. Alice tried to get her father’s attention but he didn’t hear her. Alice then climbed onto the suitcases that were piled on the floor to look over to her mother. This is where Alice observed that her younger sister was not on her mother’s lap. She let out such a cry and a scream that her parents immediately had her attention.
Alice yelled, “Lelah is not in the car!” to her parents. With the car now pulled over to the side of the road they searched for Lelah but she was not to be found. They turned the car around and drove back ever so slowly. They had covered about 5 to 10 miles when they spotted little Lelah on the side of the road. She was bleeding and crying with a deep cut on the top right side of her head. The family then proceeded at tremendous speed to the nearest town to locate a doctor. In the first small town they found no doctor but were instructed to drive to the next town. In that small town the doctor only treated small cuts, anything this bad he suggested they go a large city. The
family proceeded onto Baltimore and to Johns Hopkins Hospital to see the family friend/doctor, Dr. George D. Lippy, who now was a full medical doctor at the Hospital.
Lelah was treated in Baltimore and recovered luckily with no apparent ill effects. Years later, she always seemed to have trouble with reading and math and was left handed, as was her father. She would read right to left. She needed to work very hard at her studies to get good grades. There were headaches that also bothered her but whether her study skills and headaches were due to her falling out of the family car that summer, no one knows for sure.
Young Girls’ Adventures
When visiting Alice and Lelah’s grandfather, Jacob Elwood Musselman, up in Maryland during the late 1920’s, they always followed him around as he did his morning chores. They especially liked to go to the barn with its verified sights and smells and especially to see the horses. One morning the two young girls decided to get up real early and help their grandfather with some of the chores before he got up. They went out to the stable / barn and managed to open the large noisy wooden doors. Then between the two of them, they opened the stall doors for two of the horses. The horses started walking out to the meadow and the girls followed right behind the horses. They didn’t know that their grandfather was in turn following the girls. When the horses saw Jacob, they immediately ran in the opposite direction. He had to spend hours, along with a stable hand, to round up the two horses. Back at the farm house, he would not allow the girls’ parents to punish them but he did give the girls a persuasive lecture on only helping him when he asked for their assistance.
There were other times Alice and Lelah were a little too helpful. Once they tried to milk the cow but could not get the milk to hit the bucket, wasting a great deal of the fresh milk. They also managed to get a good amount of milk all over themselves. Another time, they went into the hen house to collect eggs. However, they startled the hens and finished breaking more eggs than they collected in good condition. The girls did not escape punishment those times.
Their helping was not confined to their grandfather’s farm. Even once at the Everhart house in Frederick, Maryland, while visiting their cousins, they got a bucket of cleaning water, a mop and proceeded to mop the floor. When the bucket overturned and water covered the floor, they were punished again.
The three young cousins: Nannie, Alice Louise, and Lelah always played together whenever the families got together, especially in the summer. Playtime included chores like going into the garden, picking vegetables and washing them in a huge water barrel. However, as soon as the chore was completed nothing was more fun than playing in the water barrel. As the laughter of the girls increased so did the number of children from the neighborhood, drawn by the great fun the children were having with the water on a warm day. Other times, Alice Louise and Nannie could find sweet pleasure along the stream where a field of watercress grew. Eating the watercress and lying on their stomachs was enhanced by the beauty of the flowers all around them and the girls thought nothing could be better.
Sunday visits were a great time to socialize, not just with family but with whole neighborhood. A custom in Manchester on a Sunday afternoon was for families to walk down the main street, stopping at various houses along the way for any refreshments that were being served. The treats included cake, cookies, lemonade or tea. Families took turns with one side of the block serving the refreshments and the other side doing the walking. The next Sunday everything was reversed. Alice’s grandfather, Jacob Musselman, made small rocking chairs for the three girls to sit in on the front porch to watch the parade of neighbors walk down the street.
Capt. Walters seldom had to give serious punishment to his two girls but there a few times that they long remembered. He used his wide leather belt and gave a swat across the child’s legs or their bottom. If he reached for a razor strap in the front hall closet, this action signaled to the girls a major punishment was coming for a serious transgression.
It was Lelah who always managed to stand up to her father. One time when the razor strap was to be used she refused to come to her father when he called her over for her punishment. Instead she stood in front of him with her hands on her hips and looked him straight in the eyes. When ordered again to come to her father, she then said, “When you put that strap down, then I will come and not before!” Her mother had to leave the area (grinning) and her father turned away so the girls would not see him laughing. Lelah did not get the strap that time but a very serious lecture was received. It did not help Alice at that point; she had already gotten her strap punishment for the misbehavior they were both involved with.
The Riverside Baptist Church in downtown Miami under the leadership of Rev. John C. Sims was the place of worship for the family. For baptisms at the church there was a large pool, big enough for two adults to be immersed in. The Baptist preacher’s daughter, Ruth and son, John Jr., became very close friends of Alice’s but they also occasionally managed to get into trouble together. To go swimming in the baptismal pool proved to be too much of a temptation. They always got caught because their clothes were dripping and wet footprints marked their path. Needless to say, they paid dearly for this transgression by having to get on their hands and knees to scrub the church floors and Sunday school rooms quite often.
Sherman - Musselman Bed
One relative that had been very close to Mae when she was a child in Manchester was her grandmother, Savilla Sherman Musselman. She had lived with her parents in her grandmother’s home on Main Street for many years. Another one of Savilla’s granddaughters, Eva Bixler, also lived with her grandmother in Manchester for several years. Eva’s mother, Savilla’s daughter, Mary Jane had died of an illness when Eva was only two years old. This closest of Cousins Eva and Mae continued into their adulthood and then with their daughters. Eva’s daughter was Nan Everhart, the favorite cousin of Alice Walters.
Mae and Eva both loved their grandmother Savilla who was in her late 60s and 70s during most of the time the two girls were growing up. To each of the girls she had promised one of the very old handmade four-poster beds from her home. Each bed had the wood pegs in the top and bottom rails for the ropes that were tied to form the rope springs. These had to be tightened every so often to keep them from sagging. They were made from the massive cherry trees on Savilla’s father’s farm in York County, Pennsylvania and presented to her on her wedding day in 1857.
In 1927, when Savilla died at the age of nearly 87, in her Will, Eva and Mae each got one of the beds. For the first time in 70 years, the beds would not be together but in two different states. Eva’s was going to her home in Frederick, Maryland and Mae’s to her home in Miami.
Grandfather Musselman
Alice and Lelah both so loved their grandfather Jacob Musselman that they were thrilled in early 1930 that he had agreed to move down to Miami and live with his daughter Mae and her family at their big home at 1130 NW 1st Street. Jacob had been a widower since 1921, and now with his mother’s passing in 1927, he saw this as a golden opportunity for him to spend time with his granddaughters and be in the warm Florida climate.
He walked little 7-year-old Alice to school and was there to walk her back home in the afternoon. Many times in the afternoon he had baby Lelah with him so that meant a stop at the neighborhood candy store so the girls could pick out special treats.
Grandfather Jacob had a favorite pastime, that of visiting the entertainers at Miami’s ‘Silver Slipper’. He even invited the female dances to dinner at Mae’s house and to the girls this was such fun to dance with the ladies in their elegant gowns.
When the family moved into a larger three-story home on vast sprawling grounds at 25th and 4th Street in Miami, 2525 SW 4th Street, there was plenty of space for everyone. The girls loved exploring their new home and playing in the yard with their grandfather.
The little girls’ time with their grandfather was cut short but his sudden death on April 7, 1931. It was a bit difficult for the girls to understand why he was no longer around but Richard and Mae did their best to comfort their daughters.
Chicago World’s Fair 1933
Capt. Richard J. Walters was always interested in showcasing his interests, in particular hot air balloons to the public. There were many county and state fairs, such as the 1930 Ionia Free Fair in Michigan, which were perfect to expose vast numbers of the American public to the balloons. A major opportunity became available with the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933. He ran observation balloons for visitors to travel 1000 feet above the fairgrounds. One of the most famous visitors to ride in his air gondola was his aviation friend, Amelia Earhart, on June 13, 1933.
During the running of the Fair, Richard had his family staying in tents on the fairgrounds near the Florida Indian Exhibit. Alice and Lelah thought it great fun to play with Jimmy and Larry Osceola and watch alligator wrestling. The girls would get into the alligator tank and even play with the gators. True, they there only baby alligators, about a foot in length, but there was no fear exhibited by these two girls.
There was a Fair contest held for the child, ages 10 to 12, with the most freckles. The judge was Martha Ray, the entertainer. Out of all the many contestants, it was Alice who was selected the winner with the most freckles. Her parents were quite embarrassed by her winning this contest, thinking as a family member of a fair exhibitor, it was not proper she should enter the contest. Nevertheless, Alice immensely enjoyed the special attention as the winner she received from the audience and her friends at the Fair.
Being in Chicago they were able to visit with their cousins, Lydia and Frank J. Walters. Mae was not happy living in the tents, so come September of 1933, the family stayed with their cousins in town. Lydia and Frank also had two young sons, Russell and Frank Jr., both around the girls’ ages.
The girls did have to take three different buses just to reach their school. They were very unhappy in this strange environment, especially among strangers. At one time there was a disruption in class when Lelah stated before the entire room of children and her teacher that she did not need to study, that her mother was a “big wig” in the Florida School System. Not to hold anything back, Alice piped in with the statement, “We could always get very good grades back home“. It wasn’t long after that incident before Mae and the girls returned home to Miami.
Music
To provide a broad education to their daughters the Walters saw to it that they had a variety of music lessons on several different instruments while growing up. Besides both learning how to play the piano quite well, Lelah also played the accordion, violin and the piccolo. She became so good that she was a member of the orchestra and the marching band at Miami High School. Alice mastered the accordion and the triangle, also for the high school orchestra. With Mae Walters also proficient on the piano, there never was a lack of entertainment either for the family or for their guests at the house.
Awkward and Adventurous Alice
Girls always seemed to grow up faster than boys do but in Alice’s case she shot up and towered over the boys by the time she was 13 to 14 years old. Added to her appearance, she was very skinny and flat-chested. She was referred to as “Alice the Goon” for being so tall and rail-thin. She tried her best to look more acceptable even to the point of stuffing her bras. To make matters worst, her sister, Lelah, as she grew, matured into a beautiful, well-developed young lady.
The place that she felt she could truly be herself was at her father’s Miami Aquarium attraction. When it was closed, she could watch the many turtles, seals, and tropical sea life play freely in the various tanks. When a manatee was added she was allowed to swim alongside this gentle creature. The times the Aquarium’s divers took their boats out in the ocean in search of aquatic life, she jumped at the chance to be on board and help wherever they allowed her. Nothing frighten her, instead everything was an adventure to Alice.
Mae Walters nearly always had domestic help with the large family home, especially with meal preparation. Over the years Capt. Walters sponsored several South American women who wanted to live permanently in the United States. They worked for the Walters household. Besides having the opportunity to learn English they also taught conversational Spanish to Alice and Lelah.
With Capt. Walters having vast aviation experience, both father and daughter were very anxious for Alice to start flying lessons. So even before she could drive an automobile, she was learning how to pilot a small plane. Besides her father as an instructor, Alice had the opportunity to be given a few personal flying lessons at the Tamiami Airport by the world famous Amelia Earhart, a family friend. Miss Earhart was in the Miami area many times and did enjoy attending the Miami Air Shows that Walters sponsored in Southern Florida.
One of the first major purchases Alice made as a teenager was her own small plane, a Kinner Bird By-Wing open cockpit. It was only $300 in 1937 but the deal she made with her father was that she did have to earn the money. What a thrill it was for Alice when she was able to make her sole flight in her own plane. Yet she wasn’t totally on her own, she always took her favorite stuffed panda bear as her co-pilot.
Special Birthday
On December 14, 1938, Alice’s parents planned a big surprise sweet 16th birthday party. All Alice was aware of was a family dinner planned at a nice restaurant that night. On the drive there, her father first made a stop at the Miami Aquarium, which he often did in the evening, to collect the monies taken in that day for deposit at the bank. After they parked, Alice commented to her father, “Dad, why all the balloons and flags on display at the Aquarium?” His quick reply, “There is a special private party for some out of town guests. Come in with me and check out that everything looks in order.” Immediately, her mother and sister, piped in, “Oh, we want to see the decorations also. We’ll follow you.” As Alice walked up the gangplank entrance with her father alongside her, a musical band on board started playing, “Happy Birthday”. She grinned from ear to ear at the wonderful surprise just for her. Even more surprising were all the people already in the Aquarium, all singing happy birthday to her.
Approximately 100 friends and family were in attendance with plenty of food, refreshments and an enormous birthday cake. A special wooden dance floor had been laid down and with the band playing, everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. After everyone had danced for awhile Richard Walters got up and announced there was an extraordinary surprise for Alice. He called her up to stand alongside him and then motioned for Frankie Rentz and Frank Pendergast to also come up to the stage area. Walters announced, “Now to the best of my knowledge, Alice has never been kissed by a boy, however, now it was time.” Standing as if she were a statue and with beet red cheeks from embarrassment, each of the Franks kissed her on the cheek. Here she had just been kissed by two of most popular and handsome fellows at school plus they were even older than her by a couple years. There were plenty of hooting and howling from the party crowd over this but her Dad quickly quieted everyone by stating, “That was it until she turns 18 years old.”
He then loving turned to Alice and presented her with a beautifully decorated box to open at once. With her hands shaking, she gently tore back the paper and ribbon. Inside the box was a magnificent pearl necklace. With tears streaming down her face she embraced her father, as her mother came over to help place the necklace around Alice’s neck. She was the princess at the ball and had a wonderful birthday party, one not soon forgotten.
Alice loved to travel and took every opportunity to see new places especially when her father had to make business trips. One of her most favorite places was traveling to nearby Cuba in the late 1930s. She loved the Cuban cuisine and especially the Latin dancing. As a very cute 16, then 17-year-old young lady, she was also very popular with the Cuban boys. Capt. Walters had his hands full watching Alice. It appears former President Theodore Roosevelt and Walters had something in common with Roosevelt’s profound statement, “He could control the affairs of state, or control Alice, but could not possibly do both!”
Stand Up
The Riverside Baptist Church had been like a second home for the Walters family. Many hours were volunteered for various church functions throughout the years. Alice became a Sunday school teacher and loved working with the very young children of the congregation.
In high school, besides her many activities, she always managed to find time to befriend anyone in need. During her senior year, three different younger fellows had come into the school and because they were non-white and non-christian they had a very difficult time making friends. So Alice stepped in to welcome them, show them around and help them adjust to the area. She also made a point to assist them to socialize outside of school and even invited them to attend church services at Riverside.
On one Sunday morning service, the Walters family was seated in the pews and Alice’s three new friends had joined the family for the service as they had even expressed interest in joining the church. The sermon that day, given by the associate minister, then began to rub Alice the wrong way. The Minister spoke of the Negroes and of the Jews and how they needed to know their ‘station’ in life, all spoken with a very demeaning mannerism. Finally, Alice could not contain herself any longer. She stood up right as the Minister was talking and questioned him, “Do you call yourself a Christian?” His stunned reply at this sudden outburst, “What do you mean Christian?” Alice repeated herself, “Do you call yourself a Christian?” He still did not understand her question. Alice in her calm clear voice then said, “You are not a Christian! You are the devil! Only the devil would speak so poorly of fine individuals, three of whom are seated in this very congregation and have professed their desire to join the church. I will not sit by and let you speak of them or any person as if they were not worthwhile individuals. I can no longer remain with this church, especially as long as you remain here.” With those final words, Alice, her three friends and her family walked out of the church. Within a minute several other members of the seated congregation also stood up and walked out. Others joined the procession exiting the church until only half of the very large congregation remained.
Within the week the head minister, Rev. John C. Sims, contacted Alice and tried to convince her to return to Riverside but she refused. She knew she had to remain true to her beliefs and not embrace a church which supported such bigotry. It was an enormously courageous stand she made and one she has never regretted. Alice was especially pleased by the show of solidarity not only from her parents but from many of the other church members.
War Clouds on the Horizon
In the late 1930’s, Richard Walters was always welcoming the day’s famous celebrities and influential people into his home at 2525 SW 4th Street in Miami. Many of the individuals had connections to the military and / or aviation. One such visit included several admirals from the U.S. Navy, generals from the U.S. Army and Mr. Howard Hughes (an expert in aviation). They wanted to speak to Richard alone, so Alice, her sister, and her mother retreated to the master bedroom upstairs. Mae’s thoughts circled on the probably of Richard being requested to reenter the military service from which he had already retired. There were all types of speculation especially as the hours passed with the men talking downstairs. Four hours later the military personnel along with Howard Hughes left the home. Richard spoke to Mae privately at first and then tried to explain the situation to his daughters. The U.S. Government and the military did want Richard back into the service and for a special mission. Mae was against his returning to the military. As a compromise, she agreed he could do the special requested mission but as a civilian and be highly paid for his efforts.
This mission involved the United States and England in spite of the fact that the U.S. had not entered the war in the late 1930’s. Richard, as an expert on balloon deployment, was to instruct the British military on how to set up the balloon barrage over London and other areas. Balloon barrages were walls of cables to stop incoming dive-bombers. Anti-submarine barrages were walls of netting to stop submarines. He was sent to England between late 1937 and early 1938 in a submarine and was gone from his family for weeks at a time. Assistance was provided to the British in developing the Low Zone Kite Balloons for the Balloon Command of the Royal Air Force. They would offer additional protection to heavily populated areas, factories, dockyards and ports in England. The mission was a success in giving the British the latest necessary knowledge on these defense balloons. On a return trip to England in 1938, he traveled on the ship Scythia from New York City to Liverpool, England. He was inspecting the completed British barrages and felt confident they would help in the protection of London. The British awarded him a medal for his efforts, personally pinned on him by Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty in 1938. Richard continued to assist the US military as a civilian even after the United States entered World War II in late 1941.
With Alice’s love of aviation, she was a natural to join the Women Flyers of America, Inc, a national flying club open to any female interested in aviation. This organization formed in July 1940 and its members paid a $5.00 membership fee. In turn they helped and supported each other and other women in the varied phases of aviation. The organization established local chapters in the major cities across America.
One of the major programs of the Women Flyers of America was “Give Her Wings”, to assist women financially to get flying lessons. As war loomed greater across the world from 1939 to 1941, more women pilots were needed to haul supplies and cargo short distances. Alice worked with the famous female aviator, Annette Gipson, to help promote female pilots across Florida. Annette made her home in Coconut Grove, Florida, so Alice and Annette remained close friends for many decades.
A Young Beauty at the University
However, Alice’s time was not all spent around aviation. By 1939, she had blossomed into quite a beauty. Her tall, slim statue served her well now and with a pure fresh face and captivating smile she was a natural model. Working with the Powell Modeling Agency in Miami, she modeled ladies’ fashions. Most of her appearances between 1939 and 1940 were for print ads and publications.
She kept very busy with various school activities at Miami Senior High, including various beauty pageants, working on the Miami High Times newspaper, along with joining several service clubs on campus.
With graduation from Miami Senior High School in June 1940, Alice was extremely anxiety to strike out on her own and enter the academic world that Duke University in North Carolina offered. In preparation, right after graduation she and her mother, Mae Walters, went to Maryland to shop for winter clothes, visit relatives and a hometown friend of Mae’s, Fannie Shower Lippy in Baltimore. Fannie’s husband was Dr. George D. Libby, the chief of surgery at John Hopkins Hospital and the same couple who had introduced Mae to Richard Walters back in 1921.
It was warm summer weather and Alice and Mae were having a fabulous time visiting people and eating all types of Maryland seafood. Suddenly, Alice was experiencing some very severe stomach pains. She had similar pains several months earlier and had been checked by a doctor in Miami but nothing was found to be wrong. At the most it was felt to be a problem with her monthly cycle.
While at the Lippy home, it was when the pain became extremely severe again. Dr. George Lippy thought it was appendicitis and that she needed surgery at once. Alice did not want to have the surgery in Maryland at Johns Hopkins Hospital and insisted on returning to Miami. Even if it meant enduring intense pain and possible eruption of the appendices, Alice insisted she wanted to be back in Miami.
Alice’s father sent his seaplane, which was located on Long Island, NY, to pick up Mae and Alice at once. With Alice in extreme pain she was given some mild pain medicine and was wrapped in a body bag filled with ice and dry ice to slow down the pain. The family doctor, Dr. Sam Chambers, in Miami had arranged for Alice to go directly to Jackson Memorial Hospital on returning home. She was taken into an operating room once she arrived at the hospital. As the doctor was operating to remove the appendix, it burst and the poison started to spread to other organs. She was cut open quite a bit to see that every area was thoroughly cleaned. She was a month in the hospital recuperating and it took all summer for her to heal and recover from the surgery. This prevented Alice from entering Duke University as scheduled in the fall.
The family home was 3-stories tall. She was not allowed to walk up and down the stairs in the house, so her bedroom was moved to the first floor to an enclosed front porch. Since she was not attending Duke, it was decided it would be best for her to enroll in the University of Miami. The University was located in Coral Gables and she took classes that first semester solely located on the first floor. These special arrangements were possible due to the influence that Mae had with the Dean of Women, Mrs. Merrick, a close personal friend of Mae’s.
A few months into the semester she had so improved health wise, she even preformed her motorcycle dare stunt in the University of Miami halls. She made herself known in other ways. Just as she had been very active in high school organizations and beauty contests, she continued those activities at the University. She was one of the selected princesses of the ‘Freshman Court’ beauty pageant. There was the debating club at the University that kept her very busy. However, she especially liked all the handsome boys on campus and they certainly loved her. Alice was not only a beauty, but witty, versed in many different subjects and adventurous. Plus as her father had jokingly referred to Alice countless times, “She was boy crazy”. For those reasons, her father had to keep a keen eye on all of her many suitors.
Her First True Love
It was while she was a sophomore at the University of Miami in 1941 that one special young man did gain her undivided attention. Alice had two classes across the hallway from the Army Navigational students’ classroom. Her desk was at the doorway allowing her to view who came up and down the hall. She could also look directly into the classroom across the hall. There by the doorway was Lt. George K. Snyder seated at his desk. Prior to George taking these Army navigation classes he had been an Associate Professor of Economics, with his degree from Duke University. George was originally from Sunbury, Pennsylvania and raised in Williamsport. He was a very handsome 25-year-old, fair-haired fellow, highly intelligent with a fantastic smile. He noticed the beautiful girl watching him from across the hall. They winked at each other, smiled and managed to pass notes to each other. The notes were folded into the shape of airplanes and glided across the hallway. Before long they were meeting up and talking for hours on end after class.
The Walters family had made it a practice to invite most of the Army students to their house for dinner. George was quickly included in that list. Alice only had eyes for George and as the weeks proceeded, it was only George who was invited over to the house for dinner. She loved watching George hold his own on any subject or topic her parents discussed during and after dinner.
Alice was eager to show George her flying skills, something they had in common. He was very proud of her ambition, even as a ferry pilot, flying short missions carrying needed supplies as America entered World War II. Due to her great aspirations, he even thought she may become famous one day.
They always managed to have very special dates going out to dinner together or to the movies. Her parents set a curfew of 10 pm on weeknights and midnight on the weekends for their 19-year-old daughter. One night she was late getting into the house as they were parked in the front of the house kissing each other goodnight. Her father came out, banged on the car, instructed Alice to immediately go inside the house and informed George he was not to come back for one full week. The young couple decided they did not want to be treated as children. George proposed marriage to Alice and her reply was a definite “Yes”. Knowing her parents would not be in favor of this marriage they felt their only solution was to elope.
The United States had now been at war with Germany and Japan for three months. George Snyder knew his navigation training was near completion and he would be stationed at a military base in the very near future. They figured they could marry now and then George could send for Alice as soon as he was settled in his new assignment. The secret elopement was planned for Saturday afternoon, March 21, 1942. They had already arranged for their marriage license in Broward County, some twenty miles north of Coral Gables and they would be married that Saturday in Ft. Lauderdale. No family members were informed of their plans but after the deed was done, Alice became very fearful of just how her parents would react to this news. George convinced Alice that they did need to face her parents.
Hand in hand they entered her parent’s home and had her parents and sister gather in the living room. After breaking the news to them, there were ‘fireworks’, needless to say. Capt. Walters felt Alice was too young to marry at age 19. Alice reacted with her declaration saying, “If you don’t accept our marriage than I will not return to the University of Miami, I will drop out of school !“ Capt. Walters pulled George aside and the two men talked for some time. An agreement was reached to calm the immediate situation. The Walters granted that the young couple could have a room up stairs in their home until George was transferred.
Alice and George only had about a month together as man and wife before he was reassigned to San Antonio, Texas to train new aviators needed in the war effort. In a tender and passionate farewell, George promised he would send for her as soon as he secured quarters for married couples on the military base. That last passionate farewell kiss warmed Alice’s heart.
However, as soon as George was in Texas, Capt. Walters used the legal system of Florida to have annulment papers drawn up immediately. It wasn’t that he disliked George, he found him most intelligent with a great personality. The two men had spent many hours over the last few weeks talking about planes, politics and world events. He was having the Snyder marriage annulled on the grounds that Alice was under the legal age of 21 years and had not received her parents’ permission to marry before the wedding.
Possibly, Capt. Walters was attempting to spare his daughter any future heartache if George were to be wounded or killed while serving in the military. When George was presented in Texas with the preliminary annulment papers, he contested the action but his hands were legally tied. Walters had the law on his side because of Alice’s age, so even with her protests, the marriage was dissolved on June 11, 1942, just ten weeks after the elopement. All contact was lost between Alice and George at that moment but her first great love and its memories endured.
Read the 2007 Special Addendum to Snyder-Walters Marriage at the end of the book.
A Visit from Cousin Nan
During the summer of 1942, Alice’s favorite cousin, Nannie (Nan) Everhart came to Miami to visit. They truly enjoyed each others company and Nan was of great comfort to Alice at this time. Nan had just completed her law degree at Eastern University Mt. Vernon School of Law in Baltimore, Maryland. Her next big step was to join the Women’s Army Corp (WAC) that fall. However, for the time being they spent carefree hours together on the beach and flirted with all the fellows. Miami was teaming with young men from all over the country as many were stationed at South Florida bases for various training procedures.
Alice always had the young men interested in her. One fellow, George Staples, from Texas was crazy for her and sincerely wanted to marry her. Alice really liked George but just was not in love with him. So many male hearts were broken that summer.
The War Effort
To clear her mind about losing George Snyder, Alice threw herself into the war effort. As a pilot, she volunteered for the Southern Division of the Emergency Ambulance Corps. This time, besides cargo, she flew medical supplies, nurses and doctors to their needed destinations in South Florida, Central American nations and the Caribbean Islands. One of the female aviation leaders of the Corps was Annette Gipson, who became a close friend and confident of Alice’s. There were many fund raising events that Alice was involved in to provide flying lessons for women, a very necessary skill now that America was in the war.
The military commander of these civilian flights was US Army Lt. Jacob Bern, a native of Colorado and with the US Army Intelligence Unit. While having several opportunities to meet with him in reference to the Ambulance Corps, she soon learned he also played the piano and especially the classical pieces, which Alice just adored. They spent hours with a piano, Alice practicing on some simple musical pieces and Jacob excelling with the classics. Jacob was single, extremely intelligent and very much attracted to Alice. She in turn found great comfort in Jacob because of his calm yet confident personality.
They dated for a few months during the last half of 1942. Once Jacob realized he would be sent overseas in the near future he asked Alice to marry him. With her headstrong will and determination she said yes right away. Figuring her parents would not approve of this marriage, although she was now 20 years old, an elopement again was necessary. In mid-December 1942, they secured their marriage license in Ft. Lauderdale and were married by the Justice of the Peace. They then drove back south into Dade County and attempted to register at a large hotel on Miami Beach for their honeymoon. They were refused a room in the plush hotel because Jacob was of the Jewish religion. This came as a total surprise to Alice. She had no idea and he had never told her. The ugly face of bigotry surfaced again by the actions of the hotel clerk. Alice let the employee know she did not approve of such a policy and how unfair it was to all individuals. With her point made, she and Jacob left the hotel. Jacob’s religion didn’t matter to Alice, she loved Jacob, the person. Of course breaking the news of the marriage and his religion to her parents was another matter.
A Son is Born
The Walters family did not welcome this new marriage of Alice’s, for the same reasons they didn’t approve of the Snyder marriage, the groom was headed overseas in time of war. However, Alice approached her parents with another offer. She wanted to begin US Cadet Nurse’s Corp training in Colorado, Jacob’s home state and would help in the war effect there while Jacob was oversees. In no uncertain terms, Alice expressed to her parents, “This is my decision and my life. This is what I’m doing, being married to Jacob and becoming a nurse. Accept it !”
One of the last leisure-time activities Alice and Jacob did together in Miami was go horseback riding in the Redland’s area of Dade County. Jacob was a fine horseman and Alice was fair but not as experienced as Jacob. After they were several miles out from the stables, Alice’s foot came out of the stirrup on the right side. She called to Jacob, “Wait up a minute; I need to get my foot back in the stirrup.” He replied, “Don’t lend to the right! Lend forward.” However, she had already proceeded to bend right to get her foot in the stirrup and down she went, falling off the horse. Her spooked stallion took off in a gallop in the direction of the stables. Alice called to Jacob to help her but instead his answer was “I told you not to lend over, you can just walk!” Off Jacob went riding his horse and leaving her behind to fend for herself. Alice realized she was physically OK, no broken bones or cuts but just could not believe Jacob wouldn’t help her. So dusting herself off Alice marched back the 3 to 4 miles to the stables wearing her borrowed riding boots. The further she walked the more streamed she became at his behavior. There Jacob sat on a bench looking smug when she finally arrived. She had already removed the boots since they were killing her feet and threw the boots in Jacob’s direction. Later they made up over the incident but it did provide her an early glimpse into her new husband’s character.
So as quickly as each could gather their belongings, they headed for Colorado to begin their new life together. Alice felt she had finally been able to break the parental ties totally. She deeply loved both her parents but she was ready to truly be her own woman.
Once reaching Colorado, Alice then had to face the disapproval of her new in-laws. They definitely did not approve of Jacob marrying outside the Jewish faith. The shock of the marriage was very soon replaced with news that Alice was pregnant. Jacob was overjoyed with the news of a baby. Within a matter of weeks, Alice had several new issues to confront. Jacob was being sent overseas to India in the spring of 1943, she had her beginning Cadet Nurse’s training and she was expecting a baby. As a cadet, she lived in the nurse’s dormitories after Jacob left with little or no support from her new in-laws. Her mother, Mae, did come out for a visit to see that Alice was OK.
However, she felt very lonely and isolated from any family during those summer months of her pregnancy. Fortunately, she did have the assistance and companionship of the fellow nursing cadets to lean on leading up to her due date.
At the Denver General Hospital on Thursday, September 16, 1943, Alice gave birth to her first child, a son, that she named Benjamin Walters Bern. Jacob’s parents did come to visit Alice and the baby in the hospital but were still very cool in their attitude forward her. They did not care for the middle name of ‘Walters’ and Alice’s mother did not like the given name ‘Benjamin’. Since she had done this on her own, she named the baby what she felt was most suitable for a mixed marriage.
With full responsible of baby Benjamin after leaving the hospital, Alice also had her nursing training to continue. She saw that a couple photos of the baby were taken and sent to Jacob. Once home, the baby began to have difficulty breathing. After a couple days with no improvement Alice returned to the hospital with Benjamin. The doctor’s diagnosis was not good. The baby had developed pneumonia. Within hours, the baby died. Little Benjamin was only two weeks old and this tiny bundle of joy was now suddenly snatched from her arms. The heartache was unreal, almost to the point of being surreal. The Bern family immediately blamed Alice for not properly caring for Benjamin. Jacob followed suit and wrote to her and his family that Alice was irresponsible and the baby died due to her lack of concern. He furthered ‘injured’ Alice by completing all the paperwork while overseas for an immediate divorce.
Alice’s thoughts and feelings were more confused than ever. Her short marriage to Jacob was over, her baby was dead and she was virtually alone, hundreds of miles from Florida. But she knew she couldn’t go running back home a failure and have her father forever hang that guilt over her head.
The one thing she was good at was nursing. Her training was processing and she felt she still had a mission to accomplish. So she would stick with the Cadet Nurse’s Corps, complete her training and help with the war effort.
Sister Lelah
Just a month after Alice lost her new born son in Colorado, her sister Lelah was about to repeat events that Alice had experienced with her marriage to George Snyder. Lelah had recently turned 18-years-old and had always been the most rebellious child in the family. She wanted out from under her parents’ influence and the young man she was dating at the time seemed to be her ticket out of the house.
Clifford R. Richardson had known Lelah for a few months and was very infatuated with her. At the first opportunity that he mentioned marriage, Lelah jumped at the chance and suggested that they elope immediately. So they drove, without her parent’s knowledge, up the east coast of Florida to Flagler County to secure a marriage license. On October 22, 1943, they were married by Rev. Nichols of the First Baptist Church of Daytona. They returned to Dade County immediately afterwards to break the news to her parents.
Lelah thought she could stand up to her parents as a married woman with Clifford by her side. However, Capt. Walters prevailed again in having the marriage annulled within five weeks, by November 30, 1943, on the grounds that Lelah was under 21-years-old and did not have her parents’ permission to marry. Clifford contested the annulment but Florida law again was on the side of the Walters family. Another daughter’s first marriage ended before it began. The news of Lelah’s short marriage was never told to Alice because of the difficulties Alice herself was going through in late 1943.