Charles Henry "Speedy" Atkins (1875–1928) was an American tobacco worker in

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern Unit ...

. A pauper at his death, he drowned in the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

. The city turned over his body for a pauper's burial to his friend A.Z. Hamock, the only African-American undertaker in town. Hamock preserved Atkins' body in an experiment with preservatives, and occasionally displayed it after his death. Hamock's wife had custody of the remains for 45 years, during which Atkins' mummy acquired increasing notoriety. His body was finally buried in 1994, 66 years after he drowned. The event was covered by national media and TV.

Biography

Charles Atkins was born in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and, as an adult, moved to

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

to find work. Not much is known about his life. He settled in downtown

Paducah Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern United States at the confluence ...

as an hourly employee at a plant with ties to the

tobacco industry The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies who are engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any ...

. He gained the nickname "Speedy" at work because of his speed with handling

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. Single and without known relatives, he befriended A. Z. Hamock, an African American who owned the city's only

funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary is a business that provides burial, entombment and cremation services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared visitation and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for t ...

for blacks in the segregated city. In May 1928, Atkins went fishing and fell with his line into the

, where he drowned. The city transferred his body to Hamock's Funeral Home for a pauper's burial. Having created a powerful

preservative A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or ...

, Hamock decided to experiment with it to preserve Atkins' body. The mixture transformed the corpse into a wooden-like

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

. While Atkins' black skin was altered to a reddish color, his facial features remained recognizable. Hamock put the preserved body of Atkins on occasional display at the funeral home; he mostly stored it in a closet. He did not charge a fee for viewers. Washed away by waters of the

during the Paducah flood of 1937, Speedy's body was recognized and returned to Hamock at his funeral home. After Hamock died in 1949, his wife Velma took over custody of Atkins' body. She kept it for another 45 years before burial. During the 66 years that Atkins' body was preserved, awareness of the mummified corpse became more widespread. Mrs. Hamock planned to bury the

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

in 1991 on her late husband's 100th birthday, but waited until May 1994. About 200 people attended Atkins' 1994 funeral and burial in

Maplelawn Cemetery Maplelawn is an historic house and former estate located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The house was built between 1831 and 1834 as the centre of a farming estate by the Thomson family. In 1877 the Cole family bought the estate and lived there un ...

in Paducah."Embalmed 'Speedy' Is Laid to Rest – Finally"
''Chicago Sun-Times'', 6 August 1994

Representation in other media

Because of his body's unique condition, "Speedy" Atkins' mummy was featured in national media as well as ''

Ripley's Believe It or Not ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals with bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' ...

'', the TV program ''

That's Incredible ''That's Incredible!'' is an American reality television show that aired on the ABC television network from 1980 to 1984. In the tradition of ''You Asked for It'', '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' and '' Real People'', the show featured people ...

'', and the ''

National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays Source (journalism), sources for tips (chec ...

''.Sceurman, Mark, ''Weird Kentucky'', Sterling Publishing Company, 2008. P. 220. Retrieved April 17, 2009. His story was also told on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Charles 1875 births 1928 deaths Deaths by drowning in Kentucky Mummies People from Paducah, Kentucky