A BUMC mystery: A teenage girl died in 1957. There is a memorial to her at our church. Who was Gail Frazier, and what does her memorial mean?
by Wayne Wood
Belmont United Methodist Church has many memorials and honors within its walls to distinguished members from the past. Examples probably come to your mind: Parker Hall and the Iris Room, maybe, or our plaque honoring members killed in military service.
But the most mysterious memorial at BUMC is to a teenage girl who died in 1957.
I’ve walked by it many times; you may have seen it: A simple white, glass-topped display case containing a beautiful fabric with a gold and black design. On the front of the case is a small, engraved metal plate, tarnished over the years but still legible, reading simply: “In Memory of Gail Frazier/Sept. 15, 1937 – March 10, 1957.”
For several years the case honoring Gail Frazier was just inside the back entrance from the parking lot to the church, between the exterior door and the elevator. Recently, it was moved to the Administrative Hall for display.
So, the question began to eat at me: Who was Gail? Who was this 19 year old girl who was clearly beloved enough at Belmont that this memorial to her was dedicated and kept on public display for more than a half century — yet her memory has now faded into the mists of time.
Answers in an obituary
The answer to some of the mystery comes from an obituary published in the Nashville Tennessean on March 11, 1957.
Headlined with commendable directness and brevity, “Gail Frazier Dies; Peabody Sophomore,” the item begins, “Funeral services for Miss Gail Frazier, 19, sophomore at Peabody college, will be at 3 p.m. today at Ferguson Memorial chapel, Belmont Methodist Church.
“The Rev. John W. Rustin will officiate. Burial will be in Woodlawn memorial park.
“Miss Frazier, of 3507 Belmont Blvd., died suddenly yesterday morning in an ambulance en route to Vanderbilt hospital. A brain tumor is believed to have been the cause of death.”
The obituary goes on:
“She was born in Nashville, daughter of Homer T. and Mrs. Emmilou Fenker Frazier, and was graduated from Hillsboro high school in 1955.
“Miss Frazier was a member of Belmont Methodist church and sang in the choir there.”
The item lists survivors, including a sister, Katherine Frazier, and two brothers, Timothy and James Frazier.
So, that solves a lot of the mystery. Gail, and almost certainly her parents and siblings, were members of Belmont in the 1950s. She sang in the choir and it sounds as though her death was sudden and unexpected, although the business in the obituary about the brain tumor doesn’t list a source and sounds a lot like hearsay.
But we can infer that, in the grief that followed this young woman’s death, her family and church community wanted to create something that would remind those who came afterward of her life.
Belmonters from 1957 wanted to honor her and make sure that future Belmonters remembered her. That’s us — we are those future Belmonters. It’s good to know of her life and to pass along the word: Gail was loved and those who knew her thought she was special and that her name should not be forgotten. We are talking about her today, so it has not been.
A continuing mystery: the meaning of the cloth
Presumably, the significance of the black and gold cloth so lovingly displayed under glass at the top of the memorial would have been obvious to those who knew her. That significance is a mystery to us now. I’d like to know what that cloth means, and right now I don’t. Maybe someone who reads this knows, and can tell the rest of us.
A photograph from years earlier: finding true north
One more thing. I wanted to know what Gail looked like. I had thought about her and read about her; I really wanted to see a picture of her. And I think I found one. A feature by photographer Joe Rudie from the Nashville Tennessean of July 17, 1953 (less than four years before Gail’s death), has the headline, “Various Activities Keep Girls Busy at Scout Camp.” The photos show girls engaged in several camp activities, such as canoeing, fishing, and preparing bedrolls. One of the pictures shows a group of girls “prepared to travel by map and compass to Camp Sertoma.”
One of the girls, fourth from the left according to the caption, is Gail Frazier. If you look closely, you can see she holds a compass in her left hand and looks toward the horizon as the counselor demonstrates how to find true north.
She has long dark hair and is wearing a scouting kerchief and a serious look on her face — as one would expect from someone learning to find her way by compass and map. In this picture she would be 15 years old; a smart, young girl with her whole life ahead of her.
Anyone who remembers Gail Frazier, or her family, may know what the cloth means and why it has a place of honor in her memorial. If that is you, please contact me.
Photos, top left to right: The Gail Frazier memorial displaying the gold and black cloth and the photo from the Nashville Tennessean, July 17, 1953: Gail Frazier is fourth from the left. Bottom: The plate on the front of the memorial.