Alice Gresham Dodd, the mother of Corporal James Bethel Gresham, and her husband stand outside of their new home with a Belgian banker who traveled to Evansville in 1921 to pay his respects to the fallen soldier’s family.
A native of Kentucky, Gresham was a resident of Evansville when he enlisted for service in World War I. On November 3, 1917, he became one of the first three American soldiers to die in combat during a German attack in northern France.
The Evansville Courier sponsored a fund drive to build the home as a memorial to Gresham, and his mother lived there until her death in 1927. Used for different purposes over the years, the house still stands at 2 Wedeking Avenue and will soon be converted to temporary housing for veterans.
