To Save Three Lives

Tuesday, June 14th is World Blood Donor Day, so this Photo of the Week takes us to a scene at Kings County Hospital on October 22, 1948. According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle caption, eight firefighters donated four quarts of blood "To Save Three Lives." The firefighters knew the three girls for whom they were donating blood: "Dolores Johnson, 4, and her sister, Eleanor, 2, in the institution with critical burns after fire destroyed their home in South Brooklyn Tuesday. Blood also will help another sister, Lillian, 9 months old, in critical condition in Methodist Hospital" ("To Save Three Lives," 1948/10/23, Brooklyn Daily Eagle; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History).

The origin of the fire in the Johnsons' apartment at 110 2nd Street is unknown ("3 Tots Fight for Lives, Burned in Blaze that Killed Sister," 1948/10/20, Brooklyn Daily Eagle; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History), but it is an example of a perennial problem in Brooklyn at this time. Another 1948 Brooklyn Daily Eagle article published a few weeks before the 2nd Street fire reported "nearly one-third of all New York City fires occurred in Brooklyn in 1947." And Brooklyn had "more false and unnecessary alarms" than Manhattan that year ("Brooklyn Leads Boros in Fires During Year," 1948/10/07, Brooklyn Daily Eagle; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History). This photograph is a reminder of the importance of both blood donation and fire safety. 

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