Anna Louise Tittman Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

University of Illinois at Springfield
Norris L Brookens Library
Archives/Special Collections
Anna Louise Tittman Memoir
T539. Tittman, Anna Louise (1884-1977)
Interview and memoir
15 tapes, 1350 mins., 3 vols., 202 pp.
Tittman, member of the 1906 graduating class of nurses from Springfield Hospital
Training School, discusses her nursing career: nurses training and certification,
postgraduate work and duties at the Boston Floating Hospital and Columbia
University in New York, duties as a public school nurse in Springfield, inspector
of nursing schools, and executive director of nurse placement in Chicago. She
recalls in detail her Red Cross duties in San Francisco, Japan, Russia, and China.
Also discusses her early education, employment, and family members.
Interview by Barbara B. Herndon, 1974
OPEN
See collateral file: interviewer's notes, photographs, articles, and memorabilia.
Archives/Special Collections LIB 144
University of Illinois at Springfield
One University Plaza, MS BRK 140
Springfield IL 62703-5407
© 1974, University of Illinois Board of Trustees

T m OF CONTENTS
Childhood
Elementary education
Early eqloyment
Cedar block road paving
Father's Civil War service
Christmas customs
Secondwy education
Medical. training
Nursing certification
Gradmtion fmm nursing school
Night duty
Hospital duties
Private duty nursing
Postgraduate workat Johns Hopkjns Hospital
Duties on the Boston Floating Hospital
Schoo1b.g at Collwnbia
School nurse ,duties .' . . . >
Duties as schools of nursing inspector
Springfield Avonian Club
Red Cmss uniforms
Red Cross duty in San FraneSso, Japan, Russia and China
' (extensive quotes from dally ,journal included)
Description Boston Floating Hospital quarters
Smallpox vaccination
Jane Addams
Departure from China and Russia

This rnayluxcript was made possible by a grant fromthe IllinoiE, Bicentennfal
Conmission. It is the product of tape-recorded interviews cwducted by
Barbma B. Hemdon for the Oral Hstory Office in the spring nf 1974.
LaDonna Monge transcribed the tapes and Barbara Hemdon edit the transcript.
Anna Louise Tittman, born in Springfield, Illinois on Sep
and was a m e r of the 1906 graduatjng class of nurses
Hospital Training School, the predecessor of Memorial Ho
Nursing. After completjvlg the two year training course
she continued with post graduate work in pediatrics at J
Boston Floathg Hospital, and 13ellevue Hospital in New Yo
for five smrs on the Boston Floating Hospital as a pos
ward head Wse, instructor of post graduates, assistant sup
nurses and admitting officer. In June 1923 she received her
and certificate of Organization and Supervision of Public He
fmm Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.
3
Six years of private duty, both general a3nd pediatric nursi , were
followed by responsible positions in national nursing organi tions in
Illinois and New Ymk. h spite of the many honors she rece ed, among
her fondest memories is an early job as public school nurse Springfield.
Her nursing career spanned a long and important era in the pr@fession, and
took her around the world on interesting assignments.
!
Readers of this oral history rnerno~ should bear in mind
transcript of the spoken word, and that the interviewer,
editor sought to preserve the infcrrmal, conversational
Inherent in such historical. sources. Sang;aman..St$te
responsible for the factual accuracy of the memoir,
therein; these we for the reader to judge.
Q
The manuscript my be read, quoted and cited freely. It my pot be
reproduced in whole or in part by any means, electronic or whanical,
without permission in witing from the Oral History Office, marnon
State University, Sprhgfield, Illinois, 62708.

Anna Tittman, March 28, 1974, Springfield, IlUnois.
Bobbe Hemdon, Interviewer .
Q. Wss Tittman, would you tell me first when you were
1
b rn?
A. Septe&er 22, 1884. Now September 22 is Ehmcipation
f
ay and as I
say now, I have not been emancipated yet. (Lawter) I w born on West
Washington Street and the house is still standing, and th refs no copper
plate on it saying Anna Tittman was born here.
Q. Maybe we should do something about that. ( a t e rider on
West Washington? Do you remendoer?
b
A. 305 [West Washington]. It was across flwm a big old emtery that was
all hills, and that was our playground. A man had put up a swing for us in
a big tree and it swung out over the valley. And little e, she got in
the swing one time, and they pushed rn up and what'd I do I was kind of
scared and I fell. I lost qy consciousness for a while arjd the kids ran
home to w home. poor mther was sick; w mother diedwhen she was 39
[yeam old] of cancer. We're a cancer family--not me and ,not father,
but all the rest, four. And itfs gone to the second enemtion. So ny
poor mther carfie running over and they said I was dead. Wll, the kids
didn 't know. And the womn heard her
they cam.
Anyhow, they took care of her and they got
and the doctor got there, what was I doing?
You know, one of those little things.
to get m well. Wasnft that sweet?
Q. So you had no bad effects from your fall?
A. No, no, no.
Q. Is there a cemetery there still?
A. Well, no. Tne Internal Revenue building is there But; [when they
were buildhg] they tore it [the cernetergr] all up and piled up the bones
in stacks, like so. (demmtrates with her hands)
Q. Oh, really!
I
A. Yes, and the stones were gathered together. They we
and all that sort of thing. But them were names on
that becam-they didnft disturb that mtil the Board
it for a high school. And the,hfgh school was built,
was a young child; that's whe* I went to high
the atreet fmm E then, but w$ had mved over
could wa&k thm@ our neighboGt yard to st
1

Anna Tittman
I 2
I had a hard childhood.
called himelf an
he rmde cornices
put them up. [We
he was just a
ill two years.
father was a tinner, we'd
Q. You were talking about your youngest brother.
I
removed and he's
85 years old, but he's getting along nicely. But got three nurses
stubborn, and yet he's a good Christian man.
who was on duty the first tim, she sdd,
"He's a doll.
he was my first baby, that I took can of.
Q. How mamy brothers and sisters did you have?
A. One sister who was thirteen years old when rq~ mther She was in
school still, grade school. She cam horn one
died] and found . . . well, q father had
us, and she had a boy, a little fellow
hone from school one afternoon and
to know what was going on, but she
ri&t then. And Rose quit school
b e d when she was seventeen.
Q. What was her name?
A. Rose. Rosa Christina, Rosa. We had a German backp
you mi&t tell by q name. My pmnts were born in this
ry grandparents were born in the province of Saxony in Ge
folks landed in New Orleans; she was born there. l'Q fath
and he was born there. He used to play in the churchyard
ket , you know. When I was stuwing Fn New York . . .
Q. Down near Wall Street, the church that's down there?
-
A. Yes, that Is ri@t, that's fiat. And he often told u
another nice thing father would do for us, we'd beg fa
pictures, "Would you get out yaur pictures?" They were u
in a trwlk, his trunk. And thw were-he'd t&e a Leslie
a mnth it ca~, Leslie's Mont Magazine-and he cut ou
pictures, and we loved them. then he had relatives1
~d, of course,
~.~ntry, but all
my. b@ @her1 s
1.8 fk&s i/n &W York
lown by th mar*

Anna Tdttman 3
I rem&gr about Uncle Tony and so forth. We never saw o
his side. I never have seen any of them, but
down into Kentucky where the family had
Q. Wen did your parents cone to Springfield? Did they !met, here n
Springfield? 1
A. Well, no. No, they mt in Cincinnati. story &bout,
"How did we three get together.ll That
Cincinnati; rry brother, Hamy, was next
P@ sister died of abdominal cancer when
was 64, Harry. He was born here; I
next. There was three years apart;
the one who's h~ Florida-was two;
old when ny mother died.
Q. HOW many years younger than you did you say W i l l was?
A. Just this one.
Q. He was only a year?
A. C& no, he was four years.
Q. Four years younger.
A. Then when my brother Hamy was. . . . Well, I can't tpll exactly. I was
just trying to figure out our ages when ~QI mother died, yOu see, but I don1 t-
she just had, well, she had the three children here. P@ gister the thirteen
year old one was not, (pause) well, 8he was born in C
was born here. And ny father's f&ly migrated to Indi
left home. Herd had a stepmther. He never re
his childred to have . . . . He didn't want his
because he'd run flwm horn. Well, you how stepmthers, t it in the
neck anyhow. I man no matter what they did, if th
why you know, often it ' s that way. And a&n, [s
It's quite a burden for som women to take on, I think.
And so, well now, I was born, (lams) and then I was ened in Grace
Lutheran Church. lQ father had a Bible; herd get it o
Ehcouraged us to go to Sunday School; we had to go to
I rerremer studying catechism, and I -shed the book
to get conflmd. It hurt my feelings, but it didn't
I went to Sunday School and, oh, I liked it really.
made m quit. Oh, yes I do, because when I hadthis
would sit and waLt for the pencil to be rapping on t
sat at the underwear counter; it was in the back of
aisle.
Q. Tnis is at Hemdon's Departrrlent Store?
I
A. Yes, on Flfth and Adam. &anwhile in between, the w who took c a ~
of the undernee-this was worn's and children's underwe

Anna Tittm
counter, her departmnt ri@t there Fn there. And the of ce was right
here, then. The elevata~ going up there and the cashier f I*&t hlre,
then there was another side door on Adarm Street door.
Q. The cashier was in the back of the store?
A. Yes, yes. Cashier and the bundle wrapper were all
little caged up place. And 1 used to eamy love
down to the baserent. (lawter) And oh, and
would give you their--he would every once in a
of the hankerchiefs that were lost there and
get--he told me which package to take, you
and so forth.
Q. What did they call your job in the store?
I
A. Cash @rl.
I
Q. Cash girl. And you were hcw old dLd you say when you teed?
1
A. I was twelve, but age didn't &e any difference.
I
Q. Did they ask you your age when you started?
A. I don't think so, I don't think so. I was recomnded before I &new
anything about it by Sue Trotter, who was the milk womanTs dawter. She
had a big family of boys and girls. She'd sit on her back porch and call
them home to dinner, "George, John, L;iz and Lou, Alec and bank, Beth, A1 and
Sue, corn horn to dinner. " (lawter) "George, John, Li and Lou, Alec
and Frank, Beth, A1 and Se." So she had a big . . .
Q. So you could all tell when the Trotters were eating dinner?
A. They were a block away, but we got our milk from them.1 We'd have to
go down with our little bucket--we had a tin bucket--and &t it. And she
had her cows in the pasture, well, several blocks away. BOt there was space
there, T!X house was on Washington and kwis, on the come , and it still
stands.
Q. This is the Trotter house?
+
A. Yes. Southeast comer, and it was still there the 1 t tFrne I was
along there.
Q. But there was enom open space that they could have COWS just a block
OP SO down*
A. Oh, they were there all night. She'd go over to the p ture and [the
cows we=] iP1 the pasture all ni@t. Because she didn't h a barn enom.
I don't how how rmny [caws] she had.
Now to iqr births, we had addwife, you see. MiMfes we
then, very much used. But our family doctor was Doctor J
cam to the horn and they didn ' t charge $25 then. (laws
f I
I
I

Anna Tittm
Now I remrher rrg mther1 s f'un~ral very well. We ' s see I +as just
six. We all went.
Q. You were six years old?
A. Yes. And the Grace Lutheran Church then was
and Madison. It was on the nort;hwest corner and there
neiabors at the funeral, very few little carriages
was buried in Oak Ridge and I will be buried beside her.
lot, rry brother bowt a lot. I was just a little girl.
wtherfs grave] was and I could find it now because
her grave and went out and watered them so often.
chmh was do dark.
!
i
So we got along, but I can -st say that I h m support nyself since I
was twelve years old because in order to go back to schoo -you see, n-f~
father allowed ~IE to do that. He said, tfDonft you think ou owt to stay
in school?ff I could twiddle w father around rqy finger, u know, because
I was the youngest @rl.
Q. You were six you say when your mother died?
A. Yes. t
Q. So you stayed in school until you were twelve?
A. Oh yes, I went to the sixth pad^. Until the sixth grlade and thqtts when
I was eleven yeam old and I quit. I *aft quit without py father1$ consent
though. But the school didn t do anything about it, you I ha@ gone
[to work] one s m r to the Reverend LJrlzn, who was OLE to their home
which was back of the F'irst Christian Church, which was
the YWCA
[Young Wmnf s Christian Association] building is now.
YWCA] I go every Tuesday mrning. So I don't see Mss
m3erl so rmch. Shef s been around lately on accomt
mrtS3emhip drive.
Q. What did you do at Reverend Lynnls?
A. Well, I took care of their child, EZnerson Lynn.
ter too, Rachael. Mr. Lynn's balth failed so they
I thlnZc later, California. But Eherson when he
a pwr over in Iowa somwhere. Ifve forgotten
old. So well,
book. The book was
it at the city
they let m have them anyhow.
Q. m, there was an age lirriit on gtting books?
A. Well, you had to be old enough to be responsible to the book4 back
and all, that sort of thing. qese
%y were really for adults.
P
I
I
I
I
1
1

Anna TittM 6
Now when I went back to school I should have been finishi
grade, but I was &mst thm@. This child [Fmerson
and in June school was out, you how, so I didn't miss
grade. But they put me in the seventh grade and in two d
and said, 'We 're going to put you in the eighth grade. " W
percentages [in mth]. The principal, Mr. Ed Anderson, e
that the ei@-ith grade was a review of the seventh grade.
anything. Well, the flrst thing was percentage. I hadnl
and I had to take a test in it ri@t off. And I got 22.
I finhhed, not the head of the class, but third.
Q. Now this is when you went back to school again?
A. When I went back to school.
Q. How many yews did you work?
A. Two yem.
g out the
1
ixth
1 was born Pky 31,
much of th sixth
ys they came back
11, I hadn't had
plained to IE
Q. First for the m s
and then at Hemdon's?
A. Well, I just got board and room at Lynn's, you see
Q
You were kind of like a mother's helper?
A. Yes, well, I--they had a mid, but I took care of the rbaby, the kittle
fellow, and I took him out and all that sort of thing wheq I had time, you
know. And oh, I did help with the dishes and things like that. But you
see, I learned a lot in those horns, too.
i
For Fnstance, our table [at home] was in the kitchen and
t
e all sat wound
it, jumped up if we wanted somthing and so forth, you kn . mere Were a
lot of mers I picked up along the way. Well, then the churchwomo--oh,
I had joined the Christian Church. There was an evangeligtic meting .
and.. .
I
Q. You never were confirmed in the Lutheran Church then?
A. No, no. This Mrs. Knotts who was the underwear wow . . .
&.
Mrs. who?
A. Knotts, Alice Knotts. She-was very deeply religious q d it was throw
her+--she had a Sunday School class d m at the I
went to the Christian Church. And she talked
And so I was all for it, you know, all for
But I wasn't above trying to fool the
the rose bush because it didn't bloom
by woad-well, I have said
I've been fooling them ever
w bia&~- "Oh, you roses
1
Q. bhere were you living then

Anna nttm 7
A. That was on Washington Street. And we had a lot of t @;s in o ymd.
Our front yard was deep and our back yard was deep. We hpckenl we
had a grapevine that ran f'mm the house to the rear, the ar where e went
for our bathroom. (lau&tex,)
Now q father only whipped IE ace and I remrnber it.
wanted a dr%nk of water. We were out on the back
big back porch. And the well was ri@t here and
the well. And Wfllie wanted a drink: and my
I was eager to get out and play with the
got the drink and I held the cup for
&ink fast enought to suit me, so I
father got after me. He chased
I
Q. Well, it probably didn't ham WilUe too mch.
A. No, it didn't. But he had a hard tlrne. But now when
m, he calls m llAnnie . l1 I was christened Annie Louisa.
yeam old I didn't like it. So I changed it to Anna. I
Dutchy. And Louisa, now I wish I hadn't changed the hui
Louise is what I m d rrgself and that ' s what I am in all
and father didn't object.
Then I graduated fromthe ei@bh grade while I was still $ the Lynn s. I
was staying there all the t%. Now and then I was calleq in when a 1 couple
fk.om out of town or somplace-well, it could be right in tmm-cam to the
pastorate to be married. Then I was called in as a witne .
Q. Oh, nqr. At age twelve?
I
A. Yes, well, I was getting along then to fourteen. You ee, I had my two
years at Herndonl s.
P
Q. When you worked. at Herndon1 s , did you live at horn? I
A. Yes, yes. And then rrly sister was keeping house. She mamded when
she was seventeen, you see, four years after my mother
Q. Weren't you too young to be working at Herndon1 s?
A. I was, but nobow said it mtil this lnvl came along. be work wasn't
hard. 1
t
Q. What did the man do? The nl&n who cam Slong.
A. Well, he brought suit on the fimn for hirlng xombody
young]. Well, I guess they wew fhed; I don1 t how.
not to scare me by it. dnlt quit on account
cause I wantedto go 001. No, I couldlve
picking the hots [f'rom the of] lW. Hemdon's
i

Anna Tittm
I
Q. You told m that story earlier, but we weren't on tapq. You
tell it to again?
A. Yes. Well, Mr. Herndm was the proprietor, owner
the Hemdon's Dry Goods Store where I worked when I
old to fourteen years old. And at the age of
the store and said, "How old are you, little
And he said, "How long have you worked here?"
now.
Q. (chuckles) Very bri@tly and happily?
A. Yes, yes. And he never said another word to re. thought I was
sombody. I'd worked there two years. But another was not
Mr. Hemdm who told m; it was the bookkeeper when
PW*
Q. Oh, did yau?
I
A. Yes. Well, they had m? clerking. I was clerking at a big table, they'd
put by the f'mnt door and they" have five-cent hankerchiqfs there. ]Well,
anybody could sell a five-cent hankerchief, you know. Yo" catch as
they went out mstly. And then at Christmstinrt they had do work in the
basemnt where the children's toys were, clerking. I cdtt remmbe whether
I made out the sales slip. I don't believe I did there irl the base nt; I
don't think I did. I think I was a combination of cash @1 and I'd go up
the steps with the goods--althou& there were little wagow and carts and
so forth. You couldn't expect a cash girl to carry d m tlo the basement.
Q Did you get your raise? I
A. No. Oh, I got $1.25.
Q. Well, that Is a 25 percent Talse. (laughter)
A. Yes. (laughter)
I
Q. That's not very much mney though, and that was for a
you were paid for the week?
reek? That ' s what
A. Yes, oh, yes.
Q. How mch were the clerks making?
A. Five dollm and that was another reason why I quit.
I'll be a clerk someday." &, they were all nice young w
nice. A lot of men clerks were there; in the goods by tb
and the satins and the velvets. And I can see that count)
They were nice mn and not ki . They were, oh, up in th
'If I stayed here,
EL They were so
yard, the woolens
up there now.
.r forties and older.
Q. You mt've been the youn st employee. Don't youthi
littlest?
; you wwe the :.:

Anna Tittm 1 ?
A. Yes. But you see, I was little
rn . But I brag now about never having
job. I had eventually to make out an
instance, when I was a school nurse. But the
education knew me, knew that I had specialized in
and so they cam and asked rn would I like to
( lawter )
Q. Af'ter being out of school for two years, you said back and
they skipped you a grade. So you really hadn't lost
you?
A. No, no. I didn't lose the whole three years.
Q. Wh5& school did you go to?
A. Trapp, Trapp School. It's now the Ambruster storage lace, I think.
It was for a long time-tents and so fo&h.
Q. Had you mved from Washington Street at this time? '
A. Yes.
Q. And what was the address of your next home?
A. 229 West Jefferson. .-Ik was jmt back of where we
had the nicknarre of lXmest and was a I can
remnJ3er seeing the secretaw's book--the
what you call them now-for the
worked at the Frwlklin Ldfe--he
an old policy that
he just dim1 t pay
anything. He was
thing.
Q. This is the house on Washington Street?
A. Yes.
Q. So it was sort of a shock to you all to have to move.
A. Yes, it was strange. He built on a kitchen and a bat We couldn't
have the bathroom work, but ev~rythi~ was ready to link
and the sewerage cam along that street. The street
know, that's what it was like then. Then another
to pave, they paved with cedar blocks.
Q. c&, they dl&?
A. Yes. This big around. (d{mstrates )
Q. Rowd blocks about, about
t
i&t inches in dlamtes??

Anna Tittm
A. A little rough, little rough, you know. They wexen't
but they were roundish, like so. And they were about so
Q. About six inches high?
A. And one of the thin@ I wanted to do when I "drowned1'
and build houses out of those blocks.
Q. Because they were paving the street at that time?
A. Yes, they were paving the street and they all lay on
of the house.
Q. What year would that have been? Have you any idea? 1
A. a, I was about six, I guess.
Q. So that would be about 1890? I
A. Yes. I think so, maybe a little older. i
I
Q. Were they using any brick for paving?
trictly round
2%
Yllie was go out
~r lawn Fn front
A. No, not then. Just the blocks. And I can't
tween them. I think it was tar or something, I'm not s
been sand. I don't how what it was they--but
the flat end up, you see, and the flat end down, and then "they'd have those
c m s to fill in.
Q. That must ' ve been a big improvement. Did they build
t
dawaUs af the
s m th?
I
A. No, the city never built sidewalks then. No, we before
we had paved streets. Yes, we did. That little old
who was riding along, it was a country mad. Pkybe
If you haven't 1'11 just give it to you. He was and he saw
a hat in the road. Do you knm that story? And he
it up and a voice sad, %n't take rqy hat off.
a horse under me. " The mud was so bad, you see.
Q. (lawter) Do you ren"~rrd3er getting stuck in the mud time you had
to cross the street?
A. Well, it was bad and we didn't have?-well, we had ove hoes 3.n the
winter and we had long underwear and thattd go down there and your stockings
would corn up over that. And you had garters that w t around this
way and cut off your circulation. (laughter) And we bat d in the washtub.
Q. Where was the washtub? In the kitchen?
I
A. Yes, oh sure, in the That's before my fathe
room. When we had the could have the tub Zn

Anna Tittman
had to heat the water on the stove, a little cookstove.
Q. A little wood stove?
A. No, it was coal. Now when mther was no longer
father could cook. He really cooked well. I remlrber
he would bring horn. J3e didnft shoot them himself. I
father ever went hunting. I know he didn't; he di&n1t
had a revolver all locked up In his trunk. We'd get to
while. On the Fourth of July he Id fire it off, that's
father--I'm getting back to hh now--he clabed that
War. He was born in 1850. His father was head of a li
a musician. And even when he was over here--I don't h at he was before-I
guess he was [a musician] over h Germany. See,
I tell you, fk.om the provLnce of Saxony?
I
Q. Yes. I
A. I told you. So I think rry father was a drunmr boy
I often thought I would write to Washington and find out
in the Amly. We didn
blue suit wlth the
Q. You man like an Army mifarm? 1
A. Yes. So he wore that when he dressed up, cleaned up, :you know. Q)f course
a tinner gets very dirty. Now some mre about nly father clams to nly mhd
about when I was nine years old I remmber this. You
younpr then. I think later he didn't have work
be clb-bing around. But he always had the job
be done to the dam of the State House.
got. He worked for Henson Robiinsonfs,
a swing with big heavy ropes. And
could lift that seat down and he
rope when he neededto be mved.
beforehand, when he had to go
tance from the State House,
ner over in his ther
so hi@. And he had
in; no thems bottles those days. ,
Weld put the hot coffee in that and everythhg for a six owe dinn$r,
(chuckles) somthing of that sort. I would camy it over 9 to the Sta e
House, go up the elevator to the winding stairs, go up thdt and come r out
where it was all Hat. It was dark on that stairway. Aiad where the stairway
was banging, a hanging stalruuay , really--I donf t it 's like
now, I suppose it still is that way--I walked up
&Inner pail
up to the top of the dom. And qy father had his
w-&it and take it horn again.
END OF SIDE ONE

Anna Tittman 12
Q. That's quite a trip for a little girl up all those st;
you scared?
A. No, no. No, there were guards around, you how. Eve:
friendly, you how. In fact-ah, am I talking now?
Q. Yes.
A. Now you want m to tell that over?
Q. No, no. Weq-ve got it. It [tape recorder] just pops 1
is done. We used to have to tim our tapes and it was so
A. Well, am I spending too much tirne?
Q. No, no, n ~ at t all. All these details are inte~stinl
A. Well, he'd put the pulleylone tim the pulley got m
of the flagpole and my father climbed up there and put it
what we were told. I believe h,im about his work. He made
used to make tin things for us; a tin doll we had. And r
sew; w mother couldn!t sew onv a machine. He made-I can
dress now he made for the doll. - It was blue calico with w
white dots. It had a belt on it and that was bound with 1
low the belt and around here.
Q. Around the neck and mund the sleeves?
A. The sleeves, yes. And at Christmastime, we had a tin
tube like this that went up and then it cam out this way.
We had a cedar tree in ow yard; he would cut off branches
ips. Weren't
ybody was
? when the tape
JlstractFng.
mg on the top
m. Well, ,that's
kite, li€tlL tiny
sd ahow be-
€2. Stick them in?
A. Yes, and we had a Christmas tree. That would do even
Oh, he was good to us at ChristmastQne. We had oranges; t
special, you know. And we all hung up ow stockings. I 1
you know. And I think now what could I have done to have
different. But [he was ] so generous, you know, giving awz
Q. Of course, your mother's illness musttve been hasd on
A. It was; I'm sure it was. Oh yes, and after she died,
the hotel for Sunday dinner.
yew for us.
at was something
ved ny father,
3de the situation
irn too.
?'d take us to
A. Which hotel?
Q. Now the hotel was on Third md Jefferson. And a famil
one of the worm, the daughters
i
waited on tables and it h
style. It was all put on In di hes there and you helped 5
took us there for dinner. Then we'd get on the streetcar
Washington Park where they had ce cream. Somthing happ~
time. I had a little brown hat it had quite a rim; it wa
of thing. And it had a plaid r bbon on it; it went ammc
-1 know that
3 served family
melf. &
zd go out to
:d there one
a lacy kipd .
;he cmwn

Anna Tittman
down here. And they had a mnkey in a ca#p this high for~me. I wen
to look at the mnkey.
Q. Just about your chin hei&t?
A. Yes.
throw and grabbed
and chewed it; got
taker and he got
back on the hat.
Q. Well, dhner out and ice cream and streetcar rides so@& like a lovely
day. What was the n m of the hotel? Can you remember? '
A. I cannot. No, I'm somy. And I should. It wasn tt N lson, but it
was something as comn as that. No, I can't remertber. 1 t was across from
Vredenbwgh' s , across the street frm the railroad. The
Here was the railroad station, the C. & A. [Chicago and
C. & A. then on Third Street, and here was the railroad
building, I ~ mber, painted pay. Then this was
was Washington Street, here was Jefferson Street.
[Jefferson and Third Street] the northeast comer,
fYom the railroad station.
But the da&ter who was the waitress-bmmt the food irX and so forth--
she was a mmber of First Christian Church which I joined, And throw my
Sunday $&ad, sehg there in Sunday sehaal, that's how the Lynn fdly
got acquainted with m. And the church women were nice . There was
a worn named MaYy Coleman who lived in a horn where the
Hospital, is built. And that's now the Memorial Wdical
where I graduated first. No, I didn't graduate there.
Springfield Hospital which was the forerunner of
on Fif'%h land North Grand Avenue. I had two years
t
Q. We don't have you out of hl& school, Miss Tittman. laughter) I'm
not s m we have you out of grade school yet. We've got ou as far as
the eieth grade.
A. Yes. Well, I graduated that one year. I
Q. From the Trapp School.
A. k e year. Then I was ready for high school and I sti
home, but no father, no father. And
Q. What happened to your father?
I
A. Well, he didn't corn home.
I
Q. He just disappeared?
A. Yes. Once in a while we h' d a little mney from him,
So finally, I had to @t Underfangerts to corn and take
1
I
t
1
j

Anna Tittrran
r
7
We had som good furniture. Ply father was out for good t gs, and it
was a good walnut bedroan set and all that. These thing3 ere storeg
In Un&rfangerls and I let him know that he would have to pay for the
storage. He didn't.
I went on to high school. You see, I'm going to have to t a little
ahead now. I was a sophornre then when this happened in i@ school. But
I was at h o became ~ I had little brother, and sis er had to leave
to go out to Bissell, Illinois, to live because her husb d had a job
out there. So her child--well, she [eventually] had thre boys. The other
two were born out at Bissell and the one was born in Spri field. This
is when I quit school.
Q. She and her husband stayed on and took care of you? '
A. Yes, they did until I was in hi& school. No, they ved out there.
They had to mve out there to work because he was a mine pector tven.
!That was the job. So she took brother then when I had to break up [the
house]. She took little brother, Will, and so . . .
f
Q. So that left you all by yourself?
A. No, no. I went to--I1ve forgotten now what home I we t to. But then
I was in high school, you see. Oh, I went to Mr. Magilly 4 . Jk. Magill
was nly sophomore teacher; he was our mathematics teacher.' Hugh StewarSt
Ikgl11 was his nam. His wife was not strong--she was a lovely person--and
I went to their h m to help. A little bog was there, thqir son, Roswell
Magill. He became somthhg in Washington; I can't reme er what it was.
I think he was an attorney first. But Mr. Magill beta senator here
in the . . .
Q. Your math teacher becarre a state senator?
I
A. Yes. Then he was national secretary for the Sunday S Association.
They were quite religious which was good.
Q. Did the Lynns and the Magills pay you as well as pmv/de you with board
and room?
I
A. Oh, I got about a dollar a week or sorething like tha$. But I had a
lot of things given to m, too. Now for example, the Kre der girls who are
now so lovely to E are the g-anddaughters of Mrs. Pasfie d. The Pasfield
Place, you know, was [named after them]. You how about hat? Their father
the Kreider @rlsl father, was an outstanding surgeon. B t he married a
Pasfield daughter, you see, which was the only daughter. Their pardfather
was a doctor to begin with, but he didn't practice here. He got into real
estate.
Q. That Is Miss Masy Kreider?
A. Maxy and Rma KTeider.
Q. How did they help you? !
I

Anna Tittman 15
A. Well, now. Now, they give me rides to the doctor the YWCA and
all that. And that's one thing they do, but there's
dentist. They picked rn up at the dentist recently.
had
been ri@t at noonth-e and they had an early lunch
and I had a little shopping to do. And they said,
to go out to Penneyls?" I said, "Oh, I've never
I'd never go there anyrmre; once is enough.
to hunt around. I don't know whether you've
Q. Yes. I
A. You haue.to hunt. Now if you once get used to going,,I think then, you
know where to go. But when you get there, then you don'tfind what you want.
Now for instance, stationery. I had a lot of home statioqery things. I do
a lot of fiddling with papers, you know . . . (tape twnedl off)
Q. Did you know the Kmider girls as a child?
A. They were just being born then. We were nei@bors. I man their home,
their family home was on Firth Street. Jackson Street pr
f
ctically r@~ into
their how. It was a lovely big hoe. You see, their fa her was a bell-todo
surgeon and he studied in &my, too. And one of the r sons stwed
in Genrany. And it was throw the church that I knew thd pandmther. [It
was] mother who came in and saw the underwear when there was a sale [at Hemdonts]
and she'd buy it up and give it away. So I knew hqr then. And this
Mary Colem that I spoke of a while ago, she saw to it that I had a winter
coat and so forth. I was at another hone, Schermerhornls, Ann Wgpret and
Won worked for a long tim in #he First National
Marion [Schemrh.om].
Bank. kaaret married a man in Aumm who died later, a
Now the two girls are together at the Franklh Life Ap&
there a year and that was hard. Oh, I had to scrmb and I
furnace. It was (ahuckles) on account of the father being
who had to be out of town all week; South Bend, Indiana,
quarters were.
And that was hard, but the girls, they st
And mion, she wouldn ' t let my biehday go by or CWistrr
that go by without gettlng me something.
Q. Heavens, Mring the furnace for you would be . . .
A. And carry out the ashes.
Q. Oh, my word. That 's heavy work!
A. Scrub a big kitchen floor.
Q. Your1 re only what? About flve foot . . .
long time later.
lents . So I was
had to fire the
an insurance naan
ras where his head-
. love . (lau@;hs)
ts or anything like
A. Itm not Mve feet. I'm four
+
feet nine and three quar
Q. Gracious. Didn't they ha a hired man or someone el re who could help?
A, No, no, that was it. a residence. I had a li tle room. Then
I-QI last- senior year, I the home of a woman, al o in our [church].

%e was a niece of a man namd Smiley. Pk. Robert
pretty sure his flrst naxle was Robert. I'm not too
fairly &ue. His wife died and this dece who was,
her thirties, went and kept house for him. And I
dishwasher, and that sort of thing. They were
Of come, everywhere I was, I was a mrnber of
easier for m. But that home was near the high
ri@t along until, oh, I had to run to get to
of blocks away. See, the hi& school then
to live. And that's the hi@ school I
of honor in high school.
Q. Good for you. What year &kd you graduate?
A. 1904, and then I went ri@t into training.
Q. Where did you start . . .
A. I was on the program--yout 11 be interested in this, I
nencemnt exercises were held In Chatterton's
the program and I had the whole--it was a symposium on
"Humor in hrican Oratory. " It was a poem that I
remnber it was about Bill Nye and so forth. Bill
awkward-well, I can1 t remmber it. Then I ended up, I lalaw. "But none we
welcome as we do the fmus Chauncey M. %Pew. And then I told something
about him.
Q. For paduation did you wear caps and gowns?
A. No. 1
Q. What did you wear?
A. Wore a white dress. And uy graduation dress was givf
Kreide~ girls1 panmther. Ch, she was a dressy person,
little curls, those little ripples, -you know, down here.
you like my hair?
to ne by the
zr hair, those
2w they--do
Q. Yes, I do very much.
A. Well, it ' s a wig, you know, and I just got it Saturdz
it ?
Do you like
Q. Yes, I do. Do you like it?
A. Well, I have to get used to it.
Q. Ch, it looks so natural; it looks just lovely.
A. Well, thank you. I wanted
i
it whiter because ny own k.
white on top, but I had a bald spot here and a ba3d spot
mde a French roll but it woul slip down.
r was real
;re. And I

Anna Tittman
11
Q. It s mst attractive. It really is.
A. Thanks. (laughs)
Q. Tell a little bit more about the graduation exerci;
Fn the evening?
A. Yes, in the evening.
Q. Was it hot?
A. I don't remmber it being hot, dontt rernerrberthat.
Q. About how many of you were . . .
's.
Was this
A. I was khen staying at the Mley horn, you see. Mr. *ley and his
niece. While there I had a sick spell. It was the flu,
left IIE with a bad earache. But we cured that up. But
little-I 'm a little hard of hearing now. I find it diffi~ulto hey public
speakers. I can hear everything in a conversation li& this and over
the phone I can hear. Well, Itm not so very deaf yet, but I notice it. I
have 71 hearing, 71 percent hearing in one ear and 66 in me other when I
had the test with Doctor . . . Well, it doesn't make any difference who it
was, I guess. (laster) EIe wanted m to have a $350 heqring aid. That
was his main objective was to give IE an aid. And I dmtQ think I'm badly
enough off. I am not able to go to much public speaking, you how. I go
to the YWCA and Lucille Dmcan, our teacher, she is-I siq ri@t down in
mnt and her voice carries very well in a room llke that.
t
You owt to
caw and visit our class sornetim. Now have you got any re questions on
that ?
+
Q. Well, let's see . . . I
A. But after high school then you want me to start on th ? Well . . .
Q. Did you start ri@t In innurses training that smr? 1
A. Well, that fall, the first of Septerrber. No, it wasnlk the first day;
it was the fourteenth of September, 1904.
Q. That s a remarkable, accurate rreory.
A. And gmduated that day. Now you see, if you lost any
f
ln~, you had to
make it up. But I didn't. Apparently Imde uprriy time s way. I~dm't
know. Anyway, I paduated the fourteenth of Septerrber.
Q. And you started the fourteenth of SeptenS>er?
A. Yes, two years [later]. 1406. Now then I did privat duty nursing.
Q. Tell m a little bit about our training.
P
I
ei E

~nna Tittm 18
A. Well, it was very different than it is now. Your
not your books. You had class, but if there was an
where you were needed, the ems would be put off.
about ny basic trainfng as it goes now, with college
Of course, I wanted to go to colleg, but I couldn't
college in mind, and it [nurses traSlling] was only
I was going to take a year of post graduate course
in seveml places though. matts how I landed at C
the six years of private duty nursing, among the fl
tell you about it. If 11 j wnp quite a ways and tel
smr. I'm always kind of lomsorne on Sunday aft
kids around the neL@borhood corn in and see me
are busy and the house is empty, and this is empty and th$tts empty [points
toward other apart;mnts]. I man theylre all gone and it 4s qdet and so
forth. But the doorbell rang ad I went. There was a niOe looking gentlem
th-.. He was not too y q and not too old. Not as o d as-J ? by any -.
And he said, "Are you Miss ma Tittman?"' I said, ''1 m1.3 He sad, 'k
you knowh re?" I said, "1 don1 t remember ever having r ~ OU. t And he said,
"Would the n m Jams A. Anderson man anything to you?" I said, "Does it
mean anything to me? Come ri&t in."
Q. Who is Jams A. Anderson?
A. Well, he was IQI first obstetrical case on private duty; he was the
baby. And he was 66 years old when he cam last smr. And the baby was
born in a big old white two story fixre house out on West I Jefferson Street,
way out near Fanringdale, just this side of Farmingdale. 'He s the son of
Hemy Anderson and Lena Mmter. They were both
Now the
sad part of the case was that there was a country
patient developed-the baby was fine. He was
Ballard, a very fine man who was a farmr out
man. He and his brother and his sister; his
lived out on an adjacent farm. They're all Christian Ch people.
Q. What happened to his mther?
A. %e had phlegrmia albaddens . That is mlU leg. 1% ' s a clot that
makes the leg swell, you see. And it corns from the blooq-there's a lot
of blood when there Is a birth, you know, and then you ha* to keep it f'mm
t~aveling, if possible. They tried to dissolve it, you see, with mdication.
She lived three weeks with that leg and it was get$ing better it
seerred. And one evening, as she was sitting up in bed, s
i
e was allawed to
sit up in bed-now the baby was getting along just Mne. And the husband,
Henry--well, I left out the fact that the mther had seve a1 brothem here.
One was in the Anbruster awning business. Another was d ing sowthing
else, Julius, that was . . . And I think Rudolph was a j weler, I'm not
sure now.
But Rudolph had phoned out to how she was and so fort;
!. Whatever he
said was fumy; they were among themse23es. ut when he cam
[the husband] into the , the telephbpne was way back in
the kit &en, you know,
dining mcpsn maybe, and he

Anna Tittman 19
cam up and said, ''1 cam up to tell you what Rudolph had to say. He
called. " And whatever he said, it was flxnny. She threw d er head ba& to
laugh; she died. The clot had gotten to her heart or to Qer bmln and it
killed her and that Is what they tried to prevent. I now that if
that patient had been in the hospital, she n-dpj-it
didn't 'hnm too much then. I think they have
tion now. ,
L
I want to ask doctor about it but rely doctor is Dr. l!&.s rs and het s so
professional that I don't get off into rry own subjects. laughter) I sald
to him one th, "I 1ie-W on the table, not much on rn and look at the
back of your head, the desk and table. But I'm telxng -the back or
his head--how I have been since I was there last and so oq. But he [Jms
A. Anderson] cam in and I told him all I could remember $bout it and all.
But he said once, he sad, "You saved my life, didnl t youql'
Q. Oh, this is MP. Anderson?
A. Yes. I sald, "1 didn't save your life. Whatever gave you that idea?"
I said, "I wish I could've saved your mother Is life. " I ad everything; I
had a hypodemLc, and I had strychnine, and I gave her a kXypod.ermic, but
it didn't do any good. She was gone. But I could tell h@n about her when
she was that age, you know; she was fill of flm. Then he had an aunt nmd
Rose Mmxster who was a missionary jln China. No, not QLna, Japan. And
I went out to Siberia in a Japanese boat.
Q. I want to have you tell IIE about that. Maybe we o@tl to wait until
we get there, but that sounds very Interesting.
i
I
A. Well, I did private duty nursing for six years.
Q. During your training, did you live at the hospital? f
A. Yes, yes, on the top floor.
Q Oh, you did. And thls is the old hospital, you said, the old Springfield
Hospital.
A. The old Springfield Hospital.
Q. Then you flnished your tra3rhg in that ald hospital?
A. Yes, the basic training.
I
Q. You never worked at kmrial or St. John's? Your tr&ng was all done
at Springfield Hospital?
I

Anna Tittman
A. No, no. Oh, no. It was caring for patients, you see
was most inportant. They made it more important there th:
although I-well, we were just out of school and I liked 1
so I mde very good grades. I remember I got a hundred or
hgdon, old Doctor Langdonl s bmk on obstetdcs , I man :
stetrics.
Q. He1 s husband's great-grandfather, Doctor Langdon.
A. Oh?
Q. Yes, husband's name is kwis Langdon Hemdon.
A. Oh, -don Hemdon.
Q. Well, tell m a little bit about Doctor Langdon.
A. Well, he was the obstetrician, that's about all I Icnm
the training was mnial. What you might call mnial, altl
menial if you-you, like getting things clean.
Q. You did lots of that?
I
and your *ark
1 your books,
3 study anyhow,
the-Doctor ,
?ctms on ob-
about him. But
3U@;h no work is
A. Did a lot of that. The ni&t before I graduated, I swbed the operating
mom floor on hands and bees. But even the nurses, sore of t;he
older nurses-and I was too little to do it, couldn't reacb it--cleaned the
elevator up here (points to ceiling). And they were scwinpywe scrubbed;
we mpped the floors of our patient's rooms and all the thflngs like that,
you see. Even had to clean the toilet and so forth.
i
Q. D i W t they have my other help to clean? Did they j&t use student
nurses?
A. They had one m that would sweep, sweep the halls wLlth a brush. And
he was-see, Concorida college professors cmstituted the board, not the
medicd. I don1 t how if they had a medical group or not, just the staff.
There was old Doctor Dixon, too, and he gave us our surgi 1 nursing and
took us hto the operating room one the and shawed us a1 $ the instruments
in this big glass case that; stood this high. And he pointpd out an instrument-got
it out and showed us. It was an lnstmnnent thatc-now this is the
story-an instrument that he could remove a flshbone from p man's throat.
So at one time he was called- he told this story; he to1
1
thls experience,
that he was called to the St. Nicholas Hotel to a man who ad a fishbone
cawt in his throat. And he had this instmnt with h' . I guess maybe
he was told beforehand to bring it or mwbe he just cmie it around, I
don't know. He took out the fbhbone and the ran said, " w much do I
owe you? It "Five dollars . that's an mf'ul lot to p for such a
little time that it to&."
'Wow let me see i I got it dl."
He put the flshbone back
"Now Ill1 take it out for ten."
(laughter) He told this story elf.
I
C
Q. Do you think it was a true tory?

A. I donlt know. (lawter) Oh, golly. But he told thqt hinrse1f.j
Q. Did you have days off during training?
A. Yes, we had one-half day on Sunday and one-half day dhng the wee
And the-streetcar, as a matter of fact, cam ri&t past o$- door and took
us down to Broadtwellls Drugstme. There we got out and wq did our shopping
or whatever we had to do. And Stuart's Ice Cream Stc@ was rfL&t next
to the Broadwellls Dmt@tore, and we patronized that. We
f
ot--now let's
see. We got two dollars a mnth while we were in trainin Of course,
they don1 t get that now. But you had to have a sum of mo y , and I got
quite a little mney for graduation,
Q. Oh, you did?
1
A. Yes, gifts.
I
Q. Did you have to pay tuition for the nurshg school?
A. No, no, no. Your work was your tuition.
Q. Tney worked you so hard.
A. Your work was your tuition, actually. Then ni@t duty; on ni&t duty
various thin@ happened and weld have them. For instance, there was a
legislator who had deledun tremns, and he was so irratianal they had to
put him in the basement, kind of in confinement. Nm I ' t have to go
down, but the older nurses the ni&t that happened, had ta go down and
take c m of him. - That was bad. You see, we had no man qrderly or anything
like that. Then when I was on night duty one--well, I wafi in w second
year because I was left in chage; we had no night super or*-but I was
left in charge for the night and we had . . . 4
Q. As a student nwse? As a student you were left fh cwge for the
night?
A. Yes, yes. Now ow surgical nurse was Kathryn Matt
duate of Springfield Hospital] who worked for Doctor [
elder Doctor Patton, for many years and took care of t
them, too, and so on. That waa Kathryn; she was our s
children for
Q. Would she do sonre of the trahhg, too?
i
A. Well, in our surgical, when we had our term in the s departmnt,
in the operating room and dressing room. And one tim
.press ry dress and I was on night duty. I wanted to go
day and I decided everything was quiet, the patients
pressed my dress on the the operating table.
room, but in the
And I heated the
and I pressed ry it to chmch.
And that next~~~>ming
I
was Sur-19;
I had to go on duty at poon, or shortly
I

after dlnner, and Miss bktthews didn't say anything to m bhen. Oh,
was so dear. The next day she said, "Did you iron here 1+t ni@t?I1
said, "Yes, I did." She said, "Well, come in. I want to show you s
thing." I didn't take into account, you see, that there rrgs a pad o
table and there was glass underneath that. So I cracked the glass.
said, "It Is all ri&t, but just don1 t do it agaln. " And T said, "I
won't ,I1 of course. Another incident that happened when I Ws on nip$
Student nurses di&ilt have what we thought was enom for lour supper
had the keys. Thatts when I was boss. I had the keys to $he
and I sad, 'mat do you want?" So I got sane nice-I f t was danned
fYuit. I don't know what it was now, but it suited
d I locked up
again. I didn't say anything to anybody, anybody in char in the daytime.
It seem that they missed the cat. That cat had followed7 in and I had
locked it In. (laughter)
I
Q. So they mew. (laughter)
Q. Yes, they knew. They asked me if I had gone into the pupboarrd. I said,
"Yes, I did." I think it's better to uwn up as long as y re going to
get found out anyhow. (lawter) 9"'
i
Q. P&Lcdarly when you let the cat In. !
A. Tnis Jams A. Anderson, had a picture of me and I c q
purse now. Would you like to see it?
Q. Cefiainly. (tape turned orf)
it around in
END OF TAPE ONE
Q. You were telling rre about the early nurses train4ng e at Springfield
Hospital. I wonder if you could recount for me what -your trabing
consiskd of in those days.
A. Well, Tt was divided into the practical phase--caring of patients--and
that included cleaning of the moms and of the bathrooms ~&d so forth, even
to the extent of mopping the floors. Then we had our themtical side.
Q. What did that consist of?
A. Tnere were courses. We assernbled in the classroom and some of it was
conducted by [Miss Hansw] the director of the hospital aql nursing service.
Her sister [Kss Selma Hanser] worked with her, but she w
keephg affairs. She [the dimtor] ta@t the practical
tice of nursing. Much of this we received ri@t mil
the [hospital], for instance, w to make a bed. We
rent inourclassroomat that t
$-
topracticeonan
see. An artificial patient [is a] big doll. I think
mean they do have them namd n But we'd get it [tr g] while we were
working on a patient. Then Ms Matthews took part in of that kind of
teaching.
I
j

= p
Then there were lectures. There was the study of the actL)al nursing
procedures, and then we had a course of kct-s. We doctor tvin"
us lectures; old Doctor Langdon gave our obstetrics. got a h dred
on that and I was s--I was held up an an example.
I
Q. A good example.
A. (laughter) We had obstetrics as a lecture. Miss Hansr was our
teacher for the practical end; we studled materia mdica. 1
That's a big title. What is materia mdica?
A. It's the dosage and the different medicines and so
taught the practical end of it, too, that you must
but the other side of the label on the bottle and
would just never occur to a girl that hadn't been
see, we had sore pediatric nursing.
Q. Who tau@ that? Was there a doctor in charge?
A. No, we had no pediatrician in town, but Doctor Munson was the doctor
who took care of mre patients, children patients, during trahtng and
during rqy practical work, private duty nursing. He'd @ways hunt for
E and I can tell a little story right here. No, I'm getthg over to the
graduation. RemLnd m later. Then that would be how Pk. Wdds cam and got
me. Surgical nursing, Kss Matthews ta@t.
Q. Was there a doctor involved in that, too?
A. Yes, old Doctor Dixon. He's the one that told the stm about the instruments;
the time he took the bone out of the man's thrmt. So that's him.
So that I s what I remrrber of his teaching, but he taught bandaghg, too.
He said, 'Where's that nurse naw?n So I was gotten and I 7 ad to go 3n the
dressing room. There was a maa? with a foot that maybe ha a toe over here
and a toe over here and mybe none [in between]. Well, tNn you had to
rmke a decent looking bandage aa? it.
Q. You man he'd just lost thme toes in between?
A. Yes. Well, I'm just making that up. Maybe that woul&'t be, but it
had to come out and be a nice txmdage. You're ping dong this way and
then you swftch and switch again to rrake it smaller.
Q. You're switching your gauze each time you say that.
A. The bandaging, he taught m that, Doctor Dixon. I tol&lhctor--that
story recently and told him about the bone, too, in the t at. Well,
really there wasn't so much Now when I caw to postgraduate
training, that was mx-e
collegiate if you want ko call it that.
But not so [with the early tr g]; it was mstly practi@al.
Q. Did you have to pay
I

Anna Tittm
A. Not In training, no, the basic trahing. CPI, I forgob the other
day to tell you haw I supported wself. I borrowed the ey and paid it
back when I was graduated. It happened this way$ during";t:gh school tim,
I went to hi@ school in the mrning and I worked in the qfternoon. And
when I was working in the mers Building, there was a man
i
pho tuned pianos.
I stayed there in the office Fn the afternoons taking his alls and writing
them all out. There was a lady dentist on that floor and he was a close
f'riend of Miss mntgomery who was the head of the teacher training school.
And I said to her--this was when I was a senfor, I guess, high school--
I said to her that I thou@Slt wbe I would have to teach ' order to get
some money to go into-training to be a nurse.
She said, "You don't have to da that. You can bomw the
11 Oh, I have no place to go and bomw mney."
out and see Miss Montgo~ry , the head of the teachers tr g school."
I thought I could teach. I had said to her that I thou&& rnaiybe I could
tgach in a country school or sawthing l&e that to &e rrpney. I bow the
requirements were not very high then. I mean if you were just out of high
school you could [teach]. So I went to see PEss Montgom~ to ask her about
teaching. She said, "Don't do it. You rfii@t becore sidetracked and conthue
Zn teaching, and you will not cbtain your real, eager, e est vocatian.
And she said, ?I'11 lend you the money. And she did an?$ did. And I paid
it back, the first thing I did [was pay the mney back] elqcept to buy a silk
petticoat. A silk petticoat gat In there. (lawter)
Q. What was lWss Ibntgomryts flrst nam?
A. I can1 t remenS3er. She was a beautiful woman, and her losest friend
was Doctor l%tthews, a woman doctor.
Q. Was this a worn doctor or a worn dentist?
A. A woman doctor, this was a woman doctor [Dr. Matthews and she was
mannish; the worn dentist wasn't rmnnish. 4
Q. Doctor Phtthews.
A. Matthews. And she took care of one of the religious npn in the Episccpal
Church. Where the museum is now, the State Museum, tkre were som big
old red houses, brick houses [set] way back in the yard, v@y back. This
man lived in one, and I think it was a Reverend Spaulding. I'm just guessing
now. But she [Dr. Fktthews] carried her gloves-she wove a horse and
buggy and she drove the buggy, too, you knowbut she had
She ' d corn in with a lllannish mat, she
today-and as I say, she carried her
But everything about hep-her MT was short;.
Q. DO you think that the male doctors wwe a ~ttle jealQ of a female
doctor?
F
Q. They did?
so;
perhaps they
that;
A. my I think so. Now in Johns Hopkins, where I had onei of post/-
I

Anna Tittmm
paduate , acqxpUa., they honored the women.
Q. Well, 1904 is early to be a worm doctol?, and that's &out the date
we're speaking of here, I believe.
A. It was in the big cities and the big hospitals, you ST, where tGey had
the infomtion that they dould do somthing about advanc* training.
Q. What was the nam of the warm dentist?
A. I should remrrber. Seem to me it began with L.
I
Q. Well, it may corn to you later. I
A. And I tried to think of that the other day.
Q. I'm amazed that there was both a wr~man doctor and a wcpm dentist in
Springfield at that time.
A. Then I saw my first car, autormbile, and that was an eflectdc--when
I was in training. And that was the first one that cam to the hospital,
you see. And it was electric and it was owned by a Ibctoq Trapp. He was a
young man, very nice.
Q. About what year was that, do you think?
A. Well, that would be-I was there, I was in training lgD4 to 1906. Now
as I developed--1 told you, didult t I, about [when I was] the ni&t superintendent,
I Locked the cat up?
Q. I loved those two stodes. Do you have mre of those? Your ironing
board story and the cat story I just loved.
I
A. I don't bow. I think I had a story then, so maybe it111 come.
Q. You'd always wanted to be a nurse, hadnlt you?
A. At twelve years old I realized that there was such a thing--this nurse
who was in war, you see, f'rom that book. And then sick people wound me
and I didn't how what to do. b@ father cam home and threw himelf down
on a bench on our back porch, sick. I was horn alone when he cam how from
work, and I didnl t know what to do for hlim. I just got s water and bathed
his Pace and tried to get him to drink water and so mrthOPeI don't how
now what was ailing him. It wm probably indigestion or s@mthing because
I don't remen-ber father ever staying in bed being sick.
Well, that was part of it. Then this birt;h of the baby, sister's baby,
that mant a lot. mother's death before that meant--it was Doctor Jams
with the long beard; he used take care of her. It was cancer of the
rectum which was difficult. I didn't bow mything abmt nurses except
there was an Arnly nurse in book. And when I w&e ~IJP thesis in the
ei&th grade--did I tell
1

~nna ~ittm I 26
Q. No, no. I'm amazed you mte a thesis in the ei&th grade.
A. Well, I call< kt a thesis. (laughter) It was an essd mybe. But a
man from Chicago University, I suppose he was getting his doctorate's
degree, was interested in w8dt)lg a rhetoric. And the rhatoric need~d to
have differentsaqles of ekhth grade--I suppose
So I had the title of '%hat I qould like to be
all I knew
line in that paper who went to Louisiana and worked as a qwse in the war.
Q. Which war was it this nurse was vadting about?
A. The Civil Wm. So, ewer after--and then when I was wa-king at Hemdon's
and living-well, when I lived at the minister's, tWng @re of their child,
the mhlxter~s wife had wanted to be a nurse, so that helwd build on my--
that I could do it, you see. I didnl t know much about n-y &thing traning
or anything. She told m that. Oh, that definitely settwd it, and I was
going to be it or else. So that has made a difference in @he fact that I'm
single and not a grandnother or a mther and a grandmthen and a great-grandmother.
I'm just a great aunt and a grandaunt. Well, is /there anymre about
that ?
I
Q. If you think of anything else you want to tell me the old Springfield
Hospital or other doctors that you mt or other
A. Well, I did tell you about the cleanlag that the nu& had to dO and
how a group would clean the elevator up in there and so fvh. And I was
too little to reach it, so I didn't get in on that.
Q. Sounds to E like they used you student nu~ses as sc
you and I discussed the other day, too.
I
maids which
A. Yes, yes. Then I told that I had scrubbed the floor the night before
I graduated, the operating room floor, didn't I?
Q. Yes. You were going to tell me about your graduation dress, about how
you mde your dress.
A. Oh, that was from the training. I had to have a whitel miform.
Q. Was this graduating from nurses t rw?
A. Yes, the basic co~&~e, I caJ1 it, because I was defieely going to
it was only a two year cowse; that was accepted
for state
first. That was later th8t there was a
law, even, or offering registrationi. It was not cornpulsory
mtil later.
9. So you never had to pass stbbe e m ?
I

Anna Ektlaan 27
A. No, I cam in on the period in which you were practicwg--now ifiyou -
weren't making a_-living that way [it didn' t apply] ; but arl~ybody who was
making their living at nursing, even if it was practical quming, they
were accepted for state registration c&ring this [waiver] pe~iod. until
a certain tk they could do that. There were 54 of those who had no training-they
were practical nurses--but they were [accepted as] registered
nurses.
E
Q. You would have been considered a real nurse?
-.k-
A. Oh, yes, because I had rry degree; I had my diploma an everything. That,
with two years training, was all that was required then. d there were no
standards for nursing schools, and the Boand of Examiners ad to rrake them.
And I was appointed on the boaud. I was not on the very 'rst board, but
I cam along later. That was ane of the requiremnts [to e on the board]
they had to know what they were doing, of come. I th there was one board
before rry board-the board that I was on. What changed tvt, I 'rn not sure,
but the governor mde those appointments. Then we conducted the staf;e board
examinations. After that period of prepamtion, well, tha probation period
we'll call it, they could get in with what they had when the law first cane
into effect. [This was changed later].
Q. About when was that? I
A. Jme, 1913, . and then I was. reappointed' in June, 1915. i
Q. Which governor appohted you?
A. Governor Dunne . I wasn ' t Catholic, but I was downst a* and I was from
SpringfYeld. You see, there's always that competition between Chicqo and
downst ate. And that s how I was appointed.
I
There wm an executive Board of Examiners of Nurses, as s Mary C. Wheeler,
before m. She established an office, or the board did, $ Chicago, and
they flazctioned fYom there for quite a while. Then when the board that I
was appointed to came, why, they thought we should be, as J1 ve probably
said before, a visible part of the mchanism of Illinois mlic activity.
Well, then I was appointed in lQ12. No, that was school wsing. I had
school nurnfng until 1914, In 1914 I was appointed as the executive, but
that wamlt my title. title was secretary and treasm of the board.
State Board of Nurse Examiners, and Governor m e appointed E. And because
the nurses Ln the State Nurses Association wanted IE and ey wanted a downstate
nurse, or they wanted the office to be downstate, ad to establish
the offlce, too, when I was apppinted. But I left my 1 nursing job
pretty soon; two years wasn't very long to do it. The nurses could do
it and they didn't seem to be able to think they
So I had this office. Our exqining boards, our license practice boards,
were all separate. The departnpn'c of state registration, Registration and
Education, br~rc&t them all to
$
ther. But I think I told you about the registration
and about the lawye who wrote the law and who y~as promtiulg ithaving
one big organizaf.Lon. cam to for infomtio~, you know, about
the practice, what went on, wh& our place was, what our bDa;rd was required
to do, and so forth.
I
I
1

Anna mttm 28
Q. You were already on the board at this time? You were appointed $0 the
board in 1914?
A. I' can't tell you.
Q. That's when you were secretary of the State Board of Wse Examiners?
A. I established the office, you see, then. But the StaF Board of Nurse
ExmLners had been established. I got iqy certification I was--7lst
nurse regLstered. So,:-well I'm lost now.
Q. You were going to tell me &out the lawyer who was wilting the law.
b t s his nanr;?
A. Well, I don't remnber, but he cam flmm a little tw, Morris. Is
there a town m d Pbrris, Illinois, over by-well anyhow, I said, "Your
mm is wrong for this organization you're promoting. It $odd have the word
education in it because the boards are required not to acwpt candidates for
registratim unless they c m fMm an accredited school. @d we, the Board
of Nurse Examiners, we establish a list of accredited schcmls. We make our
standaylds and we go and visit them. I' I -inspected schoolS of nursing in
Illinois, that was one part of job, and then working ta form the examinations
and being one to correct som of the papers. Each rpf the five] mm
ber of the board was responsible for subjects that were wiped to them for
writing the questions and grading those questims for which they were msponsible.
Examhations lasted one *ole day. Then they lasteq two days. They
were held in Chicago and Springfield.
Q. The papers that you were correcting were the nurses emnation papers
is that correct?
A. Yes, that ' s ri&t, that ' s fiat.
1
9. Md he get his legislation passed to combine registratiiion and education?
You were telling me about the lawyer that had come to you.
A. Well, he cam just while tk law was in the process of' being passed and
corrected, and that's when I had a chance to say it needed education in
there--in the title of the new departwnt of registration that they were establishing.
And he did give me credit publicly for that. I don't think
many people know that. &t wasn't it good that I got that, in there? (lawter)
Q. It certainly was. Good for you. i
A. Then we still had a two year course requiremnt, en I was school
nurse, you see-it was after I was school nurse that in this [board]
and I haven't . . .
Q. That's all right. WelPl ga back to your tire as a schpol nurse.
A. Letts see, what was I gohgto say? I1mnot so good today.
Q. I think you're peat. This was the second state bo of nurse3 exams?
"P

Anna Tlttman 29
I
A. Yes, it was the second. And instead of me going to ck$Lcago--and I
probably wouldn't have been appointed if the office had continued in Chicago,
but because I lived here and they wanted to have it here I! said then that I
was elected on q residential qualitie~. (laughter) But 4 was trying to
think when we revised the law. I was school nme then am I had been school
nurse fFom 1912 to 1914, when I left. I was called by om state nurses
association to corn in to the legislatm and promote why we should have a
three year course. I had begun to take postgraduate co s. [I addressed
the legislature] in that little sailor hat that could en just above the
rostrum, the what-cha-call-it, this . . .
A. Yes. And so I was addressing the legislature, the Ho$e [of Representatives
1.
Q. What year was this?
A. In 1914. [I told them] that it would all need to be *vised and /we
should-the board had wanted for sorne time to establish a three year Jcourse
in place of a two year course. And why? Because you coul@n't get all of
the phases of nursing, departments of nmsing, into that t$me and get spekialfzed.
Now we had just one affiliation, but many of the twO year schools
didn't have the clinical mterlal to have a three year coqe. If they had
graduated fm a two year course, they'd have to take a ye 's postgraduate
training; or if they becarre a three year course and the
the character
of the work, like pediatric nursing or obst&rLcal
why, they would have to send the nurses away where they toad get it-like
to the Children's Hospital, Chicago UP St. Louis, and so on. Well, anyhow,
what I said then I don't remember, but I tbld them. (la@ter)
.
Q. Were you scared?
I
A. No. It wasn't like when I made the speech in the Ch.ic&o University
when I was there for a sumrner course, don't you how.
A. I haven't heard the story of your speech.
Q. Well, the title was-well, I took a surmmr course at %he Chicago School
of Phykic and Ph$lmthropy atad that was six we&. -
I
1
&.
What year was this?
A. I think that must have been 1912, because it was SepteFer, 1912, that
I star%ed the school of nursing; not school of nursing, st ed school nursing.
Then I went to University of kicago for the other s
we ' re coming to Jane Addams.
Q. Well, first tellm the stolpy of your speech.
A. The story is that one of th
1
subjects that I was taking was social science,

Anna Tittman
I 30
another was public speaking. The professor sat down in t* auditoriwn
that had the seats built up this way. (demnstrates with her hands]
Q. Up to the ceiling?
A. Yes. And the class was up here. It was w turn to speak.
Q. The class was on the stage?
A. No, the class was above the stage, up here. And here was the stage
down below. And the professor sat over here, and as I we& by [he was seated
at his desk on the platform] I had to give hlm an outline d q title. I
told about the Children's Bureau, it was just being estab in Washlngton;
that was to be ry title. As I left w paper outlin4
was, I said, "I'm scared to death. 'I Did I tell you?
Q. No.
A. And he says, 'The lady says she is scared to death. Wll you please
pay close attention while she proceeds to disappear in thq hole in the platform."
It was a little auger hole about so big. Of corn, it made me
la@ and p.W m at horne. !they all lamed and I gave speech on the
Children1 s Bureau. Julia Lathmp was in charge of it [the Childrents Bureau]
you know, the first one.
Q. Maybe we should Jwrrp back to your graduation?
A. Oh, 11 -!t got that graduation dress out of the way. (lamter)
Q. Your graduation from nursing school.
A. This was qy graduation. That dress in the picture-di you show anybow
the picture?
Q. I haven't yet because I haven't been out to school.
A. Well, anyhow, I had trouble with getthg the gat,heri.n@? rip$$. You see,
they wore big sleeves; they were timt down here and then up here it was
gathered to the armhole. Well, I had sore trouble getthgl that in just
ri@ so it would look like this one. I made the dress Melf and I was no
dressmaker, but I had to. I dichtt have enough money. Yo
i
couldril t go
downtown and buy a dress already ma@ those days. This 6 year old baby
of mine [James A. Anderson] you how, Qe noticed what look d like a pin in
my collar. You can see it. And he sdd, 'What is that?" I diltntt remember
what it was. Then I remmbered that the collar was loose here, and I had
to pin it. I had a little pin that woqld go through and hook. It's the ,
stone on this end that shows an one doesn't, so it looks like a pin
that you just jab thmugfi, you
Q. Through your neck.
A. Yes. (la-ter) I don't about that at all. But it had the
hi@ collar, you see.
t
i

Anna Tlttlllan 31
Q. It looks like a beautiful dress. Did you have any help picking out the
fabric or making it?
A. Oh, it was just ducking; ducking I think we called it.
Q. Did you sew it by hand? '
A. NOW, we had a machine at the hospital. It was in--weu, it was a little
reading room before you went into the kitchen. It wasnl t pur dining room,
it was just more of a little wating room or something 1' that, where the
machine was. I worked on hours off, usually at ni@t%n it. 1 had
sewed at horn before because everybody made their own cl
And so-Say, have you ever tried to put a lining in a ski
to wear with the brush tape at the bottom and clear down
wore off, you know. When I was a jmior in high school I
long, [ankle length]. Well, so now what?
9. When you were in nurses training, ad you all eat meals 4Eq@ther,
you student nurses?
I
A. No, we had to go in goups. Now usually our eating-t- cam in with
our tim that we quit our horn. We went on duty at 6: 30 a.m. and at 12:OO
noon, we rriL@;ht have an hour off duty, if conditions on the floor permitted
our absence. After we had our d5nner we'd go off duty. T)latls what it was,
6:30 a.m.. to 6:30 p.m. . But you'd have Just enom tim/for your meal, .
then you'd go back on duty and the others could come off. You always had to
have som workers on. And at nighttine, there'd only be owe nurse on a
division. For instance, one side had patients on each si* of the hd1, a
big hall and a wad usually at the end. You were alone there because your
patients would sleep and so on. They'd manage all ri$-it. But I guess some
patients had to wait for the bedpan, I don't know. And the thing that was
always wrong and I suppose is still wmg is waking up
to get
them ready for breakfast. But it was f'un. One old
keeper, she had a grocery store. I can't tell you
this or not. I went in to her in the morning, she
new customers last night?" (laughter)
END OF SIDE ONE
A. There were four halls that ran from Fifih Street to alley-two on
. each Elcod. There was a mnfs ward that cam off here. we were three
floors. On this side were all nurses; there were
and nwrsesl
moms up on third floor on the north side. On the
rics and that's it, nothin@; else. The obstetrics
reasons. We had waylds at the of these two wings, and then there was the
hall and a stairway going up. led you to the office, the kitchen, and
the dining room. Then you here and you had this @tkr hall. These
moms o m here were big,
the wards.
4. Were they private rooms? I
A. Yes, they were private mow. There was a big ward [of six or e y t beds]

Anna Tittman 32
for injured men. mere used to be so many railroad En g& hurt; have
their foot cut open and so forth. They were hurt badly.
Q. How about the coal miners, too?
A. Well, I don't remmber that being inportant. Then thal; hall only ran
back to a little yard back here. They had a tent out there where they'd
put a TB [tuberculosis] patient. I don't ~mf3mber any ot&r kind of patient
being there. Then this hall ran half a block; no, not quibe. I'm trying to
think. The wards were about six beds and I don't think thpm were more
than two wards in the whole place. Most of them were priv@te, private rooms.
Very small on the north side, little rooms. But oh, you t so attached to
the patients, you bow. And one nurse did the whole th at night while
she was on duty; twelve hows with that hour off. You dnrt go if they
were too busy.
Q. How would they call the nurses?
A. I donlt how. I think we just had to get up. A l m c/Locks and things.
Q. No, I meant how would a patient call the nurse?
A. Oh, they had a bell on a wire or cod to their bed fropl the wall and
they just pressed the button. You had to leave it where tpey could get it,
you see.
I
Q. Was it an electric bell like they have today? 1
A. Yes, the si-1 was out in the hall, these crosshalls, and the register
was there as to which room it wm. And you hurried to get to them; it's
like Funning, (refers to earlier job) . (la@ter) But whep you had a very
sick patient-now, of course, an anesthetized patient comipg back to the
room, one nurse had to sit right there, then afterwhile, got so the
family could call you. If they couldn't, then you kept you just kept
watch .
Then when you're an night duty, you get sleepy somtimes w en it's so quiet.
I 've sat down to record what had been done and pen woul k go whwrq?. (gestms)
But you overcom that, too. You do everything. Nbwadays, one
nurse gives the medicine and one nurse does this and anotlq~ does this and
all the way around. Now that isnlt as friendly as having pne nurse do everything
for you. You had four or five patients and your bathing had to be
done. You didn't bathe every day. I
Now at Johns Hopkins, when I had post paduate work theb, there was a
bath every day and you had a whole line. One nurse would bay to me, "You're
giving a very good bath. "They don't do like that. " I sad, "What do they
do?'' 'Well, you just wash face and their hands and their feet." Well,
nevertheless, I kept on always late, because I fid a thorough job .
Six patients I'd have
Q. Now this is in Johns ~o~kinb'?

Anna Tittman 3 3
A. Yes.
Q. But in Sphgfield you told rre forL night duty, thereld be one person
on...
A. On a hall.
Q. How many nurses would that be total during the nfght?
A. Well, there would be floor nurses. We had soma speci graduate private
duty nurses whomthe patients paid $25 aweek, but they w % already graduate
nurses, and they would be msponsible for maybe twentpfour horn. If
the patient was sick enough, well, there might be two s ion-one morning
and one nigbt. Now [today] they have three, you see, have full-time
graduate nursing care.
Q. ht the patient paid extra for this like private
A. Oh, yes. Yes, yes. It is private duty nursing, but
i
e does It in the
hospital Fnstead of in the home. Now I didn't have any o that kind of work.
Mine [graduate private duty] was all in the hone and twent -four hour duty.
And I never had another nurse on with me. I'd sleep when could. That's
the way we all did. Well, I'm getting ahead. I'm graduatmg wself before
I'm thmu@ here. (laughter)
Q. About how many nurses would be on during the day in t hospital here
Fn Springfield?
A. Oh, 1 don't haw. There'd be maybe three functioning pn a floor at a
t*.
Q. So thererd be nine?
A. Of course, the ones who worked at night--there were o
those days . . .
Q. You worked twelve hours?
A. Twelve hours, yes, except when you went off duty in thli: afternoon. You
didn't do much scrubbing in the afternoon. You got that wne in the mrning.
By that, I man scmnbbkg the patient as well as the floor! and the baths,
but we didnlt bathe every patievlt every day.
Oh, I don't think there were mxe than something like thi*y nurses. There
wouldn't be that many on at ni&t, very few at ni&t. Just one for a hall.
Q. When you rotated your shift rylom six-thirty in the morning to six-thifiy
in the evening on day duty, an
1
then did ni@t duty, would you have a half
day off in between there?
A. Yes, yes. I
Q. How would they accomplish that?
I
I

Anna Tittm 34
A. Well, you had a half a day off duty every week and a hlEllf of Smd3Y.
Q. And is that when you'd switch f'rom nzorming to nip$& d#y?
A. No, it just happens when the ni&t duties coming to ar/ end for one
person, mybe she's sick and they have to put another one pn. Tnen they
take them off the day duty shift.
Q. They didn't work you twenty-four hours, tho&, in the! hospital, did
they?
A. Only when you had your obstet~ical specials.
patients .
Each had to special six
And when I had first obstetrical case, I had to sit in the room where
the patient was and wash the baby with the superintendent pf nurses. She
always was present at births, watching. She sald (mimics )i "Oh rw, you've
bathed a baby before." And I looked up kind of guiltily q d I said, "Yes,
I did. "
Q. You'd bathed the baby before?
A. I had bathed a baby before. That was nephew, you se, that I quit
school for.
Q. Were there many obstetricdl cases at that time? Weredlt more babies
born in the horn?
A. Well, we had an obstetrical departmnt of, I thW, Etlrput six patients
at a time.
Q. Why would they come to the hospital?
A. Because they would get better care than they'd get at or they didn't
have anybody at h~m to--and they stayed in bed nine days
got up the tenth day, whether or not they were able. Oh,
Q. Tney get us up now the day after, whet he^ rrr.not.
A. Have you had any children?
Q. Four. (lawter)
A. Oh, I' d 1lke to meet them somtim, Four. We were a&ays four childrentwo
boys and two girl%.
Q. Would the doctors be expecting problems? Is this why they'd send some
of these womn into the hospitql do you think?
I
A. Well, they weren't $ping t the doctors beforehand as much then as they
do now, no. They waited mtil ? almost tim for the baby to be born, and then
theyf d get a doctor or somthwg like that. That's the wqy it was. I don't
say for all patients; I guess r&my did have care at the bqginning, but they
had their grandmothers and their mothers to tell them what to do and so
forth.
I

Anna Tittman
Q. So most of them would be in labor by the tine they &ved?
I
A. Oh, yes, yes.
35 i
Q. Then what was your procedure as a student tralnee for astance with a
woman in labor?
A. Well, the babies were born right In the room where thq were going to
stay, not in a delivery room, during my period. The deliewy mom care
along pretty quickly after that. You got the patient fnta the room and
made her as comfortable as you could until her pains becar@--she didn't leave
horn until the pains were pretty regulw and pretty hard, especially if it's
her first baby. Then the doctbr had to cq. Miss Matt ws had somthlng
to say about that, t 00.
it to her and so forth. See, we didn't have floor supervlisors. But we'd
have older nurses working with the younger nurses, and we ask them what to
do. It was just a basic training, but it wasnl t any worn4 at our place
than it was at others.
She ' d kind of be looking out for % hat and we reported
Now St. John's cam along with their school later, and I klped establish
that with Sister Magdalene, who was in chmge. But that1a ahead now. That's
when I was secretary of the State B o d of Nurse Examiners.
Q. &at kind of pain killers did you use?
A. I don't know.
Q. Maybe none?
A. I don't bow of any, no.
Q. Did they practice the episiotow?
Q. The cutting so that the bi&h canal is not tom?
A. No, they let them get tom in those days. They mended them afterwards
and got another fee out of it.
Q. You mntioned the tuberculosis patients. Would they be out there
s m r and winter in their tents?
A. Well, there wasn't aombody there all the tim. It w+ put up special
for this one man. He was there dmingthe smr periods and I dimtt have
his care. There weren't so many TB sanitariums in those Ms. We didn't
have our county place then; we didn't have one in Sangmrt County. But,
otherwise, they stayed at home and got everybody else infected. You see,
now whole families--1 guess yay know that whole families, if they have a
patient in one family-have to ,be watched year after year until they're better.
So many of the boys came horn? *om the AT, you see, with TB. They nay have
had it before they .left home athout knowing.
Q. You mentioned that you didn't bathe patients every da . How often did
you change linens?
T
I

Anna Tittman 36
A. When we bathed.
Q. So every other day or approximately, theretd be a clew patient
and clean linens?
A. Yes. Or if they soiled the bed, they got it changed men. Now the
beds those days weren't hi*. You had to stoop, you know., Well, it was
easier for me than it was for som others. But the bed w+ a little bed,
not way down, but kind of like little chairs. But now [tc@ay] you don't
have to bend and they have beds that will go up and down Wd so forth,
you how.
Q. Did they have my way to ra,ise the head of the bed? 1
A. Well, we had a [backrest] that we could put back behw 'che person; it
was a lift le fllam. It would have one stick coming down *re and then a
fim here that you could put a pillow on for them to leq against. And
then this would be like a chair that you open up. It W O go ~ into these
notches on the piece that went back here.
Q. Against the head of the bed. Would the nurse have to pet this up for
the patient?
A. Oh, yes, it would be easy.
A. Yes. It would be li@t wood, yes. Oh, well, you'd be glad to have them
have the chance to sit up.
Q. But then you1 d have to run back when they wanted to lie down again.
A. Yes. Well, you'd probably tell them that they'd better lie down now.
( l aws
Q. It's the for you to Lie down now?
A. Well, mybe itfd be their suppertim pretty soon, then you'd get them
set up for their supper. Maybe you got them up for their wals, that is,
you propped them up so they could feed themselves.
Q. Did you as nurses deliver the trays to the patients?
i
A. Yes. Yes, indeed; cxmied them in. They were put up the kitchen and
we could carry only one at a time, we didn't have carts to
Q. But that would sometimes mem carrying them to one or hwo floors. Did
you have a dmbwalter?
A. We mustlve had. No, we hadb I think we had a little eGra diet mom
where the trays, where they can-+?. That msttwe been it. nat isn't clear
to E. They must 've been sent up.
Q. Well, you girls worked so hard co-d to the way thq work tom.

Anna Tittman
I
A. I know, and of course, we older nurses, we 've never liked some of the
thine that they do today. For instance the thing I spoke pf a while ago,
the patient having one nurse do everything for her. In o* day, if me
nurse answers ilnd sees that it ts Room 10 that's ringing, *etll tell you.
She'll say that mmber ten wants you. Or if you're busy in another mom,
she my stop long @no& to find out what she needs [the mtient], maybe
help out there. But it was that way; you just owned your patient, as it
were. 1
q. Do you think our hospitals today are forgetting that *y they're in
business is to cure a patknt?
A. Oh, I don't think so.
Q. Sometimes as patients, you almost feel as if you're ixposing on them
for being there. From what you've told m, it sounds likq it was a little
rnore compassionate .
A. Well, that ' s what we nurses, alder nurses, have. thougIIt for a lag' time.
But long as they were keeping on in;tneir nursing care ofipatients in the
hospital, they did pretty much what the hospital establiskd as regulations.
I haven't been mund hospitals much. I don't go to visftt patients unless
it 's sombcxdy who's lonesome. If they say, "Well, why don% you corn and
see m.I1 Well, I don't go now; I'm not fit to go, I man* go in there
hobbling with a cane. No, I think the patient needs-she goes to get well
and not to have company coming all the ti=. At nap tin~q, if she gets to
sleep, and is not a good sleeper, of course, they give heq sorething now.
They do that in nursing hones a great deal; give them sowthing to keep them
quiet so they won't get up and prowl amund. I prowl if I want to; always
have. Well, I'm somy I don't remember so much about it. Letts @ on to
the postgraduate courses, shall we?
Okay. We ' ve got you coming out of nurses training in 1 1906.
No, I came out in 19--yes, I cam out in 1906, yes. @re, Septerrber.
Now what happened next?
What happened next? I did prfvate duty nursing.
How did* you get into that?
Well, we had a good f'riend in Pk. Richard Ibdds who h+d a drugstore on
the corner of Fifth and Monroe, the northwest comer. That was the meting
place for mny people who were going to spend the evenin@; together or SOEthing
of that sort-go places together-and that's where Ehey ca@t the
streetcar. Mr. Dodds agreed to have the private duty nur$es register so
when people needed a nurse, a
E
paduate registered nurse, $hey would get it
either k.om the hospital or fk, m kPm. You'd report to him when you carre in
off af a case and then he woul give yowl name out and yowr telephone nmber,
as you report in. And if you d any special things that you elmwted--
for instance, one might say, can1 t go out of town, thgn he would be careful
about that.
Now he hew that I cared.
I1d+worked ln his fdly too.
I took care of

Anna nttm 3 8
Mrs. Fred Dodds for quite a while in private duty. Thqt was early in
cazleer. And he mew re by comLng into the drugstore. 1 remrrber making
a remark one tLm to him, ''1 donSt think I'd be any gwd at all, of
use to anybody, if I ha&' t been a nurse. " "No, you would've been. That 's
your nature. " Well, that set rrvt up, you see. When I want@ pediatric
cases, nuw I was a pioneer Fn that, specializing in rg prwate duty in one
phase of nursing. Well, a woman cam to the registry. "Nr. Dodds?" She
said she wanted a nurse to take care of their baby. They bad a new baby,
brand new, from the hospital, who had bad eyes, infected qes . That was
before even the days of the drops Fn the eyes at birth.
Q. I was just writing silver nitrate down.
* A. Yes. So anyhow, he said, "You should have Miss Titt*." He phoned
q hoe and found I wasn't the=; found that I was at a &inee with a friend
fkom Harrisburg, no Harristown, up the line here a little bit, and that I
was going to go horn with her. Mr. bdds cam down to thq theatre on Fifth
and Jackson and stood outside waiting mtil I cam out arid said, "There' s a
womm up at the drugstore. I'm keeping her there until--st.le wants a nurse
for the care of this baby." I said, 'Well, I was going ta go out of town."
I was going h a with Mend, you know, for the weekend. But I sad,
"All ri&t, 1'11 go on the case. You want to take m, tabtR rre up?" So I
turned to my Mend down and went on the case. I had to q home and get into
a uniform and pack. V& bag was always packed ready to go and I went. It was
twenty-four how duty, but there was plenty of tim to sl+p when the baby
slept, I slept in the chair.
Q. In a chair?
A. Yes. Sure, ah, a nice
comfortahJe. chal-r. (laughter)
Q. Couldn ' t you have had
a cot oor a bed?
A. Well, it wasn't convenient or sonrtthing. I somtlms slept across the
end of the bed if the patient's legs dZdnvt corn ww down.
Q. Good thing you were little.
A. Yes. (laupj-iter) Well, I think I got into a robe too, because one . . .
I don't know whether to tell you this or not, but . . .
Q. Oh, sure.
A. One tim-I alwgys had breakfast when it was convenient f'rom the
babies standpofnt-Grandma was there and there was a windm between the pantry
and the djning room, and she was serving breakfast. She had served
it and as I was eating I put q' finer on the little glasq milk pitcher to
feel if it was real glass, you know, if it was cut glass a d she was looking
at rn through the little Adow from the pantry. So 3 was oh so ashamd
to think that I was caught feeling it, but she didn' t say anything.
normal
to; do.

Anna Tittman
A. I got caught. (lawter) I got camt. Now that bm, I was in
touch with for a long time. But now I see nams in the paper and I canft
tell how mre there were of that nam.
Q. That was one of your first cases, then?
A. Yes. Then when I first graduated, I lived in the horn of one of rqy
obstetrical patients that I had in the hospital because I graduated soon
after she left the hospital. And in the matter of months, our friendship
was kind of warm then. And Helen, Helen c m to see wbn I was working
ln Chicago, cam to ~QY office there, but that was years laer.
Q. Was Helen the baby's nm? 1
A. Helen was the baby.
1
Q. What was her last nam?
A. Oh, which baby are we talking about now?
Q. The baby that . . .
A. Where I lived? Koehn. They were German. It was a Getman name, but
not the Jewish. C-&H-N. The father worked at the First fJationa1 Bank.
Q. When you lived with them, did you live with them as or$ of the family?
A. Yes, but he'd often take me on the-he had a horse an@ b-, and he'd
take me to case often when I got a new call. Otherwise* I thhk I'd
have had to take a t d ; no, I donft think there was a ta$. Howld I get
there? Well, sombodyfd pick E up, I guess. There were borne cars those
days, you see. But Charlie Kmhn had 2 horse and buggy. Ii remmber they
even had--in those tb~s
there was a &mg of us. There we* four girls and
four En and we each had owl special beau; and wef d go aropnd together; just
hang together. So it was rq~ twn to do some entertainhg
put on a dinner for us, the whole outfit, you how.
Q. I was going to ask you what kinds of things you did fc
course, you didn't have too much tim.
A. Well, we dfdnft have much time, no. You had to get rr
after a case. You didn't stay on a case after the family
cause it was too expensive for them mostly.
Q. They were paying you how much a day then?
A. Well, we got $25 a week and your mals,
: recreation. Of
;ted up usually
:auld manage be-
Q. And that's a seven day weekp
I
A. Yes. ?hen, of course, you baid for your own lamdry; you sent your
laundry out and paid for it. You paid the wife and she ' d put it in her

Anna Tittman 1 40
I
purse and it was the husband who really paid the bill. (laughs) I
had cases In Jacksonville, Pawnee, Taylorville, all amund. And that was
interesting, too, to I~Y; as a young nurse. Oh, those peopae always were
friends, you know, then and afterwards and that meant a lot. A11 kinds of
cases, typhoid fever and . . .
Q. Was there lots of typhoid?
A. (31, there was som. Not an epidemic that I know of. 'Then after this,
I used a good deal of tire go- to postgraduate courses.
Q. Now when did you start those?
A. The first one I had, and that cam about-I have to have a preliminary
to it. A f'riend of me, a young woman, married, %d.aftar a few mths of
mamiage, her husband wanted to take a job In Texas. She was happy about
it because she didn't want to gp to Texas. She didn't knv mybow 3x1 Texas;
this was Fort Worth. She told ITE her troubles and she s d, 'Why don't you
come d m with me? Why don't you corn down?" I said, 11, that's an idea.
It ve never been anyplace. " And so I went.
I
A. To Fort W&h, yes. And ri&t may, a dngsto~ there had a registry.
I hada case of a young girl about ten years old, and such a sweet little
girl, Wie, Marie bgan. And she had a Doctor Frank k11. That was her
doctor. She had scarlet fever, and she got somthing her$ in her neck like
a-well, an abcess. We had the operation right there in i3he horn, right In
her bed. And his brotber was a doctor also. He was a smgeon and Frank.
was the medical man. They were both Johns Hopkins graduatles. Well, when
Marie got well and I was ready to go, Dr. Frank said to me, 'What do you
intend to do?" 'Wile I am here, I am taking cases. " "Well, no. What are
you golng to do with yourself?" I said, T m
going to tqe postgraduate
work just as fast and as seon as I can get it. 'Where a3e you gofng?"
"I don1 t know yet. It m going to go where I have the cam of children. " He
said, 'Why don't you go to Johns Hopkins Hospital?" I saild, "I don't know
why I don't. " And he said, "Both my brother and I w ill send ahead of time
and recomnend you. 'l So I went. It cam about that I was !accepted on their
word; they were highly thou@t of. And so I went the s r of 1908, I
think. This is professimal biography. (holds up a T p inted list) I
haven1 t got it finished tho&.
1
Q. Oh, good. I should copy that off so that I can keep with you on
these dates.
A. Oh, okay. Well, that was 1908.
Q. Now you started in there i~ the fall?
A. Yes, 1 had gone in order tcp get $he training for &ilc$ren--they&dnlt
have a children's building, bup it didn' t do m any harm to go whe there
were children treated. I also lhad som surgical work. I was seated, on a
chair where there was going to ,be an amputation of a breat. I was geated
i

Anna Tfttman
to hold the arm out steady and I could see everything. Tlmt was one ;
thing I had to do, but I had park of time there [in sagery] and '
then part in the dispensary, outpatient department. Adul-tls galore, very
few children, but that was interesting. When a man cows $n with his face
all pounded around here, teeth out and so forth, and the
T
xt me cows in
with his fists all cut, you'd think the two had been toge er. You bow,
the f'unny things like that.
Q. You probably saw a little bit of everything.
A. We didn '
k
t have anything like an out -patient departmn here [in Springfield]
you how. They'd corn in [to the clinic at Johns pkins] and then
we'd have all those poor old women with varicose veins th were broken and
having puss fn them all the ti=, smiling lfke everythin+ And that was
another thing that I used bandaging on that Dr. Dixon Fup#~t m. The
other thing was that I had children in the ward duty, and
f
hat's where they
told m I was too particular about bathing. They di&' t the like that.
"You'll never get thro~@," they said. I didn't. (lam )
Q. So you finally did get to your children?
I
A. Yes. And the-well of come, I should say [somthin~ of] nq7 affiliation.
I had one affiliated course and that was when I wag in the basic
training; eye, ew, nose and throat at the Prince Sanitarijum, the old Prince
Building on Seventh and Capitol. Well, that was a sanitauium in those W s ,
and the patients stayed there.
Q. Now this is when you were in nurses tralning here in $ringfield?
A. Yes, that was an affiliated, what they called an affilriated course. But
Johns Hopkins was a three manth course and I took It.
Q. You started there in the fall, did you say?
A. No, I started in the Spring, in May or June. Now let" see, does it
say here? Three mnths, 1908, Johns Hopkins Hospital. No, I don't give the
dates here except 1908, but it was smrtim becaue I lmsw I had strawberries
in Texas and then I had them in Illinois, then I had them in Baltimore.
Q. Thatls a good way to remnber.
A. (laughter) Well, I remnber because I had the hives Len I ate strawberries.
I dondt anymore.
!
END OF TAPE TWO
1
A. Then the next tb-~ I took out for private duty was in41 -909, the smr
of 1909, and that was for two and a half mths. And thati was on i'Q7 bston
Float ing Hospital.
Q. The Boston Float.ing Hospital?
E

Anna Tittman 42
A. Post i=- course, it was a postgraduate course.
Q. How did you get into that?
A. Just applied.
t
Q. How did you hear about it, or what mde you feel like ou wanted to do it?
A. I must've read about it or aomthbg. I don't how ho I did.
Q. Wmlt that an unusual project for those days?
t
A. Yes, it was. It was only active in the smrtime; t
half months. They had, on Wiggelsworth Street, an On the
as they called it and it was not active in the smrtm;
came down to the boat. Then in the wintertime they took
babies in the shore hospital]. They had a superintendent
I had the postgraduate course first. bhy nurses cam
this Dr. Blankmyer I spoke of before, he studied the
one surm~r. Now I wasn't there that summer. The firs
graduate course. The next smmr I went back and I
a w-. I think after two years probably I was he
then I was a teacher to the nurses about nursing.
I
Q. Were these sick children, I man was it like . . . 1
A. Now at that the the city of Boston was so hot; no sue* thing as cold
air anywhere, out on the ocean or on the shore. That's th* mason they
took the b-abies there. There were so many cases of spoilec$ milk or mflk
that didn't agree with the babies. And the mthers didn't know how to
rrake the formulas and all that, so we tawt them.
&.
Did the mothers go on the ship with you?
I
A. Oh, yes. Some went on the ship and some left the babi+s that were kept
24 hours, The boat went out, oh, 15 or 20 miles maybe, drqpped anchor,
floated around and got these lovely breezes. Then it went into shore to
the pier-it had its own pier-at five o'clock and the pm,$nbs were all
there waiting to corn and visit their babies. The doctor, the resident
physician, had been around on the ward and got a report on every one of
the children. When I was head nurse of the ward, QI doeto$, the resident
physician at the th~
I was on, had previously been one of the doctors that
stayed on the board. They had young doctors who M just Wuated or even
post graduates. But he would corn mund, bed to bed, to pt a report
fkom me as head nurse.
Q. You would mve with him fYorn bed to bed?
A. That's right. When he got to be a real ,pod f'riend of imine, he said
[to me as we mved th@ the ward] "Wl11," one bed, "You4" next bed.
Next bed was, "GoFt (chuckle) :We
I

Anna Tittman
weren't supposed to go out; with the doctors and he wanted to take me to his
mtherls how, to his hw. I didn't go the first time, bnnt I went the
next time, and I met him out amy fmrn the boat, He took p-~ to dinner
first, I guess, before he took me to his mother%. And I pemmber things
that happened there. She came down the stairway with a bl@& lace dress
on, floating around her and so forth and I thought, "Oh, 1ly. I dqnlt
know whether this is the place for me or not. l1 (chuckles And then at the
table, there was a little glass, and I didn't touch it. it was
liquor. Doctor Nolton was his nm. He got wise to
"Mother, ginger ale?" 'Why, yes, of mwse." (lams)
Q. So you were safe?
A. Yes, I was safe. 1
1
Q. When you were telling E the story, he said, 'Will," t you at one
patient's bed and then walted wtil you had gotten to the next bed to say,
'Iyou,l1 and then waited for the next bed to say, "cow?"
A. Yes.
Q. Oh, that's darling. I take it it was a@nst company bgulatiom to
date doctors.
A. Yes. So the next mrning, I felt I had broken the rules at the mspital
and I went into the superintendent of nurses to tell her that I had been
out with Dr. Nolton. She said, "You dm1 t have to tell rner hrt 's already
been here. " (lawter) Wasnl t that nice.
Q. Was she mad?
A. No, she wasnl t . And when the end of the season cam d we had a party,
why he sent rrl~ roses; he sent her sm too. So that ww
Q. What was the reason for the rule?
A. I don't know, they mI@t carry on too much on the boat or sorething
like that in the presence of families, parents and so on. I don't know.
In the milk laboratory, we didn't have the cow, but we
big, box with ice in it fastened on the( ceiling of the
very hi&. This is on the lmer deck ~pld it had pipes down different
places. And you send one of the nurses down with the ne
mybe for the feeding of that baby, if it was his first
They could mix formula with different things, like b
fat free milk f'rorn another and so much fat in anothe
There was fat, sugar and proteb, each one in cow's
But in mther's milk, it's thre , seven, one. So t
like mtkrs milk. When I camback f to Springfiel
the doc to^ who had trouble withibaby feedhg, what to give them. Doctor
son was one. You how, I wa$ on the case, and I said, *Do you mind if
I do it the way we do in BostonPll "No, it's okay."
1

I
Anna Tittman
Q. Who sponsored the floating hospital?
I
A. It was an organization.
Q. A private ortanization?
I
A. Oh, yes, private. Fach bed was endowed. It had a
head of it, a little brass plate, with [the name of]
that gave a good backlog [of mey for] repairs for
storage for the boat ;inlLthe winter,
of course, and we had the diaper man. The
put them in pails--held go around and
bag, and away they'd go. The little
Q. Elid you do the laundry on board ship or did he take it to shore?
A. No, we had a laundry on the boat. Q. The first year you went, did you have to pay tuition? I
A. No, no. They were glad to have the service.
Q. How about at Johns Hopkins, did you have to pay tuitiop there?
A. No, no.
I
it and
9. men af'ter your first year at the floating hospital, they paid you?
..,/-y-
1
J
A. Yes, oh, yes. I was paid. It wasn't a big salary, but I just loved
that place. We put into the diapers a piece of linen, old linen, like tom
up sheets [as a diaper liner]. I collected a lot of that or% of thhg
and sent a great big chest, pat big wooden box, to
Q. From Springfield?
A. Yes, f'rom Springfield. That could be put in another pal, you Icnaw,
that little piece, because a lot of these cases were fee- cases, not
all of them. We had to give enemas. We had what we calleg a treatment
mom for that. They were laid down on the little bed and here was a gutter
here md the enema was given to them. It was a high tube I hat went up. It
was very nice. There were a consfderable rimer of deaths,
There were six wards and then there was the upper deck.
could come, bring their other children beside their si
sick enom to be given permanent care in the bed, in
although we had night nurses. Of course, we had to do
upper deck was wide open. Where is that picture (show
You can see it better here. The upper deck was open
and the babies, they'd have chws, each baby would b
the prescriptions prescribed and they [the mthers] were t how to make
these formulas. And then they'd look at each other's
say, "Oh, you've had so many Illlscmiages. I've only had 1 two; you've had
three, I ' ve only had two, " and $0 on. You know, they ' d redd each others
charts .

Anna Tittm 45
Well, bhen at five o'clock thay all got off. They not onl# would bring
their own children, but they1 d bring the neighbor children, too. i, It :-was
very active up there, but it was nice. Then when they goti off, there was
nobody up there except the doctors. The doctors quarters at the end
of the boat back here. this wa~ where:I ta-t, up in he
the nwlsesl rest was up there.
Q. ?"ne top deck in the f'ront?
I
A. Yes, and ny ward was on the other side of this. Here the nurses
office.& the superlntendentls office.
I
Q. The middle deck.
A. Then, well, dawn here was the laver deck where the %c#ill was. (lams)
They jwt had to squeeze the apparatus, with a wire pinchep, and the thing
would open up.
I
Q. To masd the formula each time?
!
A. Yes.
Q. m, that ' s wonderful.
A. And then those fellows down there, they were either q c a l stud nts or
graduates, recent paduates, and they would sing. You kn*, they co b d do
a lot of things. And one of the songs they sang, was--we Wd a little woman
doctor on. and she was so proper. She carried her shoulders back like this,
+ -
fdemnst&es) and her nam was Dr. Chapley and they sang I& song to her.
(narrator sings) "a, Sister Chapley, listen to me. The queen of rw kitchen,
surely you'll be. Som kind of steak, I'm sure you can &e. Oh, Lizzie
Chapley , cone do the cooking for IIE . l1 (lwter) They wad make that up.
But they could sing real good. We would go down on bwin~s and hear them
sln- while they worked. The parents weren't around. 1
Well, 1'11 tell you, we had it arranged so that a streetcar would met us,
would pick us up. We had a special streetcar that
the wharf in the morming, early, and then it would
near the pier--we had to get up to the street
car to get horn. Otherwise, we'd just have to
Q. You didn't live on shipboard then?
A. No, them wasnl t morn there. We lived in the art stu+nt clubhoqse.
They [the students] weren't there in the smr.
Q. The nurses and the doctom, or just the nurses?
A. Just the nurses, just the mes. And that was on--nm it was ri&t
along where the Art Institute @. There was som water bwk of it. I don't
know whether that was the Char$s River then or not, but it was near us.
But we'd have OW parties there. We dldnlt have m y part;$Les. We were
tired and we got home kind of late. We had our supper on the boat; in fact,
1

I
I
I
4
I
1
I
I
Anna Tittman 46 1
i
we hBa all our mals on the boat. We had to get down in txim for our:
breakfast. Oh, and our Fourth of July dinner was just lowly.
Q. C&, tell E about that.
A. It was salmon, all big sliaes of it, and ice cream. 11, we had
potatoes, too, and I guess somt~ing else, I dont t know , but I remenber
that. But it was always the h of July dinner Fourth of Jidy .
But the real salmn, you know,
ri@t there.
Well, you develop very nice friendships there. Dr. Nolto , he married a
girl in lbssachusetts, and she had a nm-ber of children, ur I think, and
died. Her sister was a kindergarten teacher. She cam took charge of
the children. But he found m in Ckicago, years later, came to see me.
He cam there for a convention. He corresponded for a lo tim. But I
mt a nurse later, I asked about him and she said, "He di ." (tape tmed
off)
I was a registered nurse in ~~inois and ~ew ~ork
I
I
I
state. I I no longer am
registered either in New York or Illinois because there w 4 an annual renewal
I
fee. New York, I had deserted, so I didn't need to keep up my registration
there. I dropped renewing som years ago In Illinois in retiremnt because
I knew I would not be employed. In fact, I have notlbeen employed
at anyt- except volunteer things since I retired fmrn ~ynrsing.
f
Q. Why dld you feel you should be registered In New Yo&?
A. I was working there for eiateen years in a position that required a
graduate registered nurse.
Q. Could we go back a bit. We left you last session on the floating
hospital in Boston.
1
A. Well, that was just for smm.
Q. That was the smr of 1910 then 1911 [that] you also worked on the
hospital ship?
A. That's when I was wad head nurse.
I
Q. You were ward head nurse, and then 1913 . . .
I
A. I was head nurse and assistant superintendent. e of a ward and
assistant superintendent.
Q. You were a pretty big gun. ( chuckLes )
A. Shall I eve all the s m
now? Regardless of the +e?
1 Q. That ' s fine. What happened, in 1912, though?
A. In 1912, I went to get read for school nursing. I to* this course at
the ChPcago School of Civics and Philanthropy. That was a six weeks course

Anna Tittman
and I went out to the Chicago Wversity and took another I? iix weeks s
smr come. (whispers) That s when Jane Addm core it I. So that,
is what happened then, and I still had rry smrs, you se
7
the boat. So in 1913 I was assistant superintendent and
the postgraduate students. In 1922-now there's quite a j
Q. In 1913, excuse m, 1913 yau were on the boat?
I
A. Yes, head nurse and assistant superintendent. ,
I
Q. Did lots of the sam personnel corn back smr after I
A. They did. The head nurses and anyone in a job sirnil
they carne back, but the graduates of the postpaduate co
home using it, you know, in their work. No, well, I
was asked to corn back and I was interested. I just love
to go baqk to
lstructor df
nnp there . . .
or mre SO,
re, they were
lack because I
it.
Q. There were familiar faces each smr then?
I
A. Yes, there were. We had different superintendents, t ~ of , nurses. We
called them superintendents then; now they call them dire$ors. I had a
Mss Chipm, durlng w graduate course when I was takin@;Pthe course, and
a Miss Eagen took over the next smr. In fact, one day during Wsa Chipmanv
s term, the went around amng the other students that "Mis$ Tittman
was out there correcthg papers. And of course, that would've b en awful.
It would've been awful to have a student, co-studenk, corzlect l g the
papers, but it was Miss Chipman, and the mm got changed. So I had a hard
tim denying it, but I did.
Then we jump to the swrmer between two years at Colwnbia University, 1922.
Shall we tell about that now?
Q. Sure, that's fine. Before we get to that, though, w M did you do in
the winter, for instance, of lgl2?
A. Well, that was my school. I go here [poin'cs to print& vita] from
1912 to 1914, school nursing.
Q. Where were you school nurse?
A. Riat here in SpringjXeld.
Q. Right in Sprin@;field.
A. I would like to mention what I did in New York City ta ready for
f
that
job. However, to finish w time at b$ton Floating Hospi@l, in 192 I
was admitting officer. I sat m the pier as the babies wqe brought down.
The doctors were on the pier elgiunining them. It was on a pier, on a boat's
pfer. Then I made the records land look after the position of the baby, the
exambation, and so forth, parents, or whoever it was. And that is
the ww I spent that smmw. ng the day I was helping getting those
childreri placed In proper

~nna ~ittm 48
Q. How did the people know about the Boston Floating Hos#tal?
A. Well, it got a good deal of publicity in the
papers. And then there were all these people
that made the little plate that hung on each
of so-and-so, it was dedicated to and by whom.
a
Q. Were these mstly charity cases?
I
A. They didn't pay anything. All of them were as far as how. And the
doctors were the ones who fed the patients to the hospita They would see
them jyl their offices or they would be in a clinic in the ospital sorewhere.
Then they thought of the treatnents they could give them. These were fine
doctors who were Harvard mdical En and one other medicalj scho~l there. I
can't remember the nan~ of it.
Q. Would Tufts be one of the schools? I
I
A. Yes, I think so, Tuf'ts Medical School. Then we, oh, cpce OF twice
a year, we went to som shore, particularly on a Sunday, *ere people would
come and visit who were interested in it as a charity. 14 did require a lot
of mney, you know, It was connected with the on shore h
b-
spital. That was
on Wiggelsworth Street. I can remember that funny nave. ss [Sarah] Eagen
was the superintendent for the rest of career.
Q. On Sunday then, the donors and the contributors would tour the &ip?
A. Yes, and their flriends, to get more, such as they had in the past, too,
get mre people interested. And then I had r~ postgradua* work, in w
teachers college work. I had field work, I had two mntha general duty on
the Fast Harlem Nursing and Health Serivce which was a der@nstr&h. That
is, not just m, but it was supported by big foundations; funds f'rom them.
Just proving certain things. 3 had a student experience m that in carrying
the bag, and so forth. It was public health nursing. Well, we wouldn't
[always] rrake j ust one visit. We would make j ust one visW if that was all
that was necessary. We had our territory in bfie Fast WJem area, and would
take care of it. That was prescribed by Colzrmbia Wvers3ty in East Harlem.
Q. How did you get into that program?
A. Well, that was part of my course, the practical part
pmlic heath nursing--organization and supervision.
Q. Which you were taking where? At Colurrbia?
A. Yes.
Q. And what year was this?
A. This was the s m r of 1922. No, I'm sorry, 1923, it~must've been because
it was after I got my depe. ?hey arranged it thatt way. I got my
depe in June and this was th$ smr following of 1923.

Anna Tittman
Q. When did you start going to school at Columbia?
1
A. Oh, 1921. 1921 to 1923, two yeam I was there.
Q. And your depe would've been in hat?
A. Grganfzation and supervision of public health nwsin I have a special
diplorn for that in addition to my depe diploma. And t is I have here
[says that there was] two mnths of general work at East Harlem Nursing
and Health Service. And that is what they call a health
1
ernonstrat&on in
a crowded ma. Our population was mostly Italian and I oak Italiap? in
Columbia.
Q. Oh, you did? So you could speak the language?
A. Well, I could understand the words. I couldn't do sol mch speaking, I
passed it anyway. But that was the purpose. I didn't
3
w where I would
be landing. Maybe I would stay on in New York and have assipnent from
the Henry Street Settlemnt. That was a dsiting nurse s mice there, that
was the non-public service where they gaxe bedside care. only contact
with the New York City Health Department was when I was ready for
school nursing.
Q. How did you happen to go to ColWia?
A. Well, I made a study of finding out what the different courses qere hand-
1Fng and we didn't have so many public health nursing couege courses. We
had one at Western Reserve Wversity in Ohio, and we hadithis one at Teachers
College. We didn't have one In Chicago or St. Louis or mything like that.
I don't mrnber whether they had them far%her west or n&, but it was partly
because a very dear f rkd of m e, her mm? was ESS Grant. She was
tralned in her teaching at our Springfield teachersf cowe here which was
headed up by Miss Montgomry.
Q. Now this is the course at the Springfield Hospital?
A. No, this is the teachers course. %e wasn't a nursq,; she was being educated
for a teacher. And she had gone to Colwrbia one wmle ye= toward
getting her depe. This tirfe-she had been there [long] enow to get her
basic degree-then this tim she was starting on her Ph.q. in education per
se . And we talked it over and I decf ded to go when she Tnt.
We lived side by side in Whittier Hall, which was a
on the tea&erls college
quite close. Then she mt a man f'mm
*om Vermont, and he was an educator.
gree. So they didn't mamy until
did. %e is retired. Oh, she
ta&t out on
as well as a good
into a f'ratemity, an educatidn fiaternity. [Kappa Delta Pi] She ww there
the two years. No, they ed before they graduated oq got thefr Ph.D. 's
Anyhow, I stayed on in
2n a job when I got throw with this field

Anna nttm
work that I spoke of. And she went horn here to Springfield. We li!ved
on the sam street. 1
Q. Here in Srpjngfield?
i 1
A. Yes, in Springfield. And I can remnber--I was consitlerably younger
than she-and I can remmber as a little girl, she had a pony and a.cart.
And oh, I just thowt , 'Wouldn l t that be lovely to have a pny. " But she
was always nice to me, and her rather was especially nice to m. Theyld go
by house, you see. They lived just a block fmher on Washington, West
Washington Street. Then let's see-I can't remenber too wch about her
life.
Q. I'm really more interested in you.
A. Yes, okay. Well, that's the kind of f'riends I can speak of. You asked
how I happened ,to go [to Colmbia] and it was partly because of her influence.
Q. Did you attend Colu&ia dmehg the f811 and winter swsions?
A. Yes, and spring.
Q. How about smr?
A. S~nmrer, let l s see, the first smr-I did that field work the qecond
S ~ P . See, after I got my degree--they let nu3 get my &gree befow I should
get it because they knew I was going to get it-and then I got that and part
of field work was up in Westchester Comty.
9. Doing what ?
A. Well, connected with the social work. We had to haw a mnth of social
service, too, because-well, that ' s one thing that used tm be a problem.
Social workers didn't understand the public health nurses, arid the nurses
didn't understand the social workers, but they got together.
Q. Did you have any particulau, problems on your field smvice workwg with
the Italian codty in Harlem?
A. I donlt ~rwn33er a single problem.
Q. Were they nice people to work with? 1
A. Well, I thought so, andthey triedto dowhat yous sted. They were
so courteous to you; they treated you like you were
Q. They appreciated what you were doing?
I
A. Yes, they did. They did that. I
Q. What kind of conditions wsre they living under?

Anna Tittman 51
A. Well, hi@ tenemnt buildings. That was one thing th& was-they all
had to be young to cUrb all those staiks. The streets, tl&y were not
clean; pawmnts werenlt clean and trash was t h m aroun4. I thMc most
of the Italian people were orderly to a certain extent, b~@ they always
wanted to feed you. Of course, we weren't [supposed to aqcept]. We'd
say , "Oh, I just had rp~ breakfast ,11 somthing like that
"3"
'rM you, "
and it was hard to sorrretir~s to reme them because they anted to do it.
Then at the same ti^ we studied the hous&ng conditions, ou see, and that
was smthing. That was where our social knowledge that t4e were gainjulg
would corn in handy.
Q. What were> their livPng conditions? I
I
A. Well, they were very poor. Now they'd have a bathtq in their apart-
~ n t but , it was filled with coal for the kitchen stove. EWell, they were
just hard up, too. (tape ends abrwtly )
END OF SIDE ONE
i
A. They had many opportunities for the children to get oltt; in the surmr,
to camps and so forth. That went through the Harlem centqr, too. And they
would say, "Now be sure you get the ri@t child to the ri&t parent.
Q. This was a problem?
A. Well, we didn't know the child and we'd have to ask. I r e ~ ~ they e r
c m in on the subway f'mn where they got on, I guess, or they would corn
by car or wagons or sorething like that to the station. And then, "If you
have any argwents, l1 we were told, "with parents claiming the wrong child, "
why you would have to say, 'Well, what they did im the Bible, they offered
to cut the child in two. " So then that secured the parentis. Of course, we
didn't have any case of that kind. (laughter) They knew their children,
the children hew their parents. But they'd look so ruddy and all when they
came back. It was wonderful.
Q. Where were these camps that they sent them to?
A. Well, up New York State a ways, not too far and over $I New Jersey,
they do have some canrps over there. I gess som out on Island, too.
Then I was asked to go down and teach--that was just for
girl students in a pubHc school. They wanted
ized in pediatrics, they wanted m to show the
I didn't have the real baby, but the doll. So
process that way. That was just a sideline on
gram that they oulined for me.
Q. Who were these girls you were teaching? 1
A. Well, these girls were jusq students in the school, b the public school.
Just efghth grade girls, or seenth and ei&th pades, I And they
liked it. (pause) Well, it t*es you back. School nurs
on to-school nursing?

Anna Tittm
Q. How did you get your tuition mney for Columbia?
A. I saved it. I worked at my private duty and got w mcp?ey,
f
and 1 :
it. At that I couldnt t go until--I graduated in 1906-1 &It go mi
1921. And of course, I was in Siberia and so forth, and was using rr#
tim that way.
Q. We havenlt gotten to Siberia yet.
A. No.
Q. Well, you go on. Take it the way you want to tell it,;thatfs fipe with
me.
A. Then 1911, we'll have to say 1912 to 1914 is when I a d the school nursing.
I organized the program and worked alone. J
1
Q. Where was this?
I
A. In Springfield, Illinois, horn town. The superint ndent of the schools
was the superintendent when I was a little child. He was there in his position
a long time. He was Mr. J. H. Collins.
t
Q. Were you the first school nurse? I
A. Yes, I was the Mrst school nurse. There were no proparns murid anywhere
where I could observe. So after one of rr~y sumners Jn the Boston Floating
Hospital, I went down to New York City because I hew the Bellevue Hospital
area. We never got that postgraduate course in; that was in pediatrics,
too. I don't how, shall I go on with that? It was in aildren. I had
older children and the little ones. The babies, tiny babtes, were fed breast
milk. And on the Boston Floatbg Hospital, we had a pubuc health nurse who
collected mother's rriLlk for certain babies that had to have it. And in the
Bellevue Hospital, they had a whole series of womn who hpd kiad babies, and
well, a good lrany of them were colored. They had eno@ Wlk to fwd their
own and others if their own were partly on famula beca they nee4ed the
mney. Certain sick babies would nurse these feeders, T t e a pup of them.
Q. They didn't pump the milk from the mther then. She actually breast
fed them?
A. Well, they had to for the woman wouldn't how who-+ , it was breast
fed at Bellevue Hospital.
I
i
Q. Would
babies?
these women cert aln feed their
A. Well, they just had to take the baby that was handed to them, you know.
It wouldn't be always the sam baby everytime. But two ttle incidents or
mybe mre occmd.
We had a boy about ei&t years old on the childrents ward under care in
a pat big section of the ward. The wards were just tmmndous in size,
k

Anna Tittman
i
53 '
i
and he had a doll that, well, it w k a funny one that an +i&t yew bld
boy would enjoy. He would squeeze it and then We som term abo
wing a doctor's term, what it was doing. One day when t$e docto
doing the munds as they call it, the student doctors were all t
along and the young rnen who are on special duty getting tpeir
called field work, practice, before they're really doctoe.
of that mdical man who was doing the bedside teaching, t$ey
the boy needed aspirin and he was to have-well, the young
prescribbg forty grains a day for this boy, and I, being t
supposed to see that he got it. And I just -couldn't gi* it to
went to the supervisor and she checked back to the doctorb and it
And I had to give him four ten pain tablets. He got all
pexicarditis--that would be the covering of the he&--wit
they thought then that aspirin would sort of absorb, in s
that effusion, which would be liquid, you see. Of course
(chuckles)
Q. That's a lot of aspirin.
A. Then when I was on the admitting ward, I was on ni@t duty . . .
Q. Now this 2s at Bellewe still?
i
I
I
1 ept , we11 or
1
A. This is still at Bellevue. I was where there were a ot of lit le babies.
It was winter, and certain babies with chest difficulties their 11 tle beds
had to be pulled out on a in that cold weather. 1
course, I had to keep many hot water bags around them, not against bhem.
They couldnlt bum them, you see. One baby was very ill and I had a nice
resident, they call him-resident physician, he was a pwsician on that ward.
He let m keep the baby inside part of the time, but the* was one who had
blood in her stool She was only two months old, and the doctor thought it
was from the milk that it had had at horn, the feeding, apd the general condition
of the baby--she was a cute lTGtle thing, I can s~ her now. And
he was about to order clearing out the alimntauy canal.
You how a nurse is not really supposed to tell a doctor, so I said, "Dr.
Church, have you tho&t about the matter of telescoped &l?" He said,
'Well, what do ybu know about it?" I said, "Do you feel tmr?I1 And he
said, "Yes, there's a knot there. " I said, l'We11, could be that that is
the overlapping of parts of the Intestine?" He sdd, "*s, it could. What
do they do for it?" I told hiin that I knew of a case Boston Floating
Hospital. He sdd, "at did they do for it?" I
took the telescopic part out and sewed It
[operate]. He care back to m and sald
baby?" And I sad, "The baby was fed nother's dlk. " the baby got well.
Q. So he did operate?
I
A. &, they operated, yes. They operated; that was art
wanted to feed it. You see, if he had given a cathartic,
gotten well. I think I saved that baby1 s life, but he
tive, you see. I couldn't ha* done that with most
I had to know mn.
i

Anna Tittm
Q. I was going to ask you how receptive mst of the doct
have been.
A. That was &ly what I remmber except that on the Boqton Floating
Hospital we had to wear aprons that cane f?om our neck dm, clear down
and.. .
Q. Down to the floor? J
A. No, well, down to the bottom of our skirts. And we disposed of that
[apron] before we left the wards. I man as we were leabg the wd. We
didnl t carry .any germs horn. The superintendent of nurse$, a mss Clara
Noyes, would corn and inpsect sonetims. She later becan& the director
of the Red Cross Nursing Service in Washington, following the death of Miss
Jane Delano, who was our angel; beautiful woman to look a$, too. She spied
this apmn and she said, "That isn't a uniform here. " I' said, 'Well, it's
good when you're bathing a bay on the table, theret s so much splaghing and
so on. So it turned out that they got that kind of apron for (lau ter)
Bellevue in the childrenls wmd.
@P
Q. What was your uniform like on the Boston Floating Hospital?
a
A. Well, we wore our regular uniforms except that our cap covered ur hair
entirely. And it was like a Httle Plymuth &dents cap1 tied with a bow
under her chin, white, washable, imnable and so forth. hen we ha these
aprons that covered ow-well, it didnl t cover our sleeve@.
Q. Were they white?
A. Yes, white, and they were tied, no buttons, no buttor@oles, but they
were tied with little tapes just like these hospital ni&&pms somtims
are.
Q. What were your uniforms made out of?
A. Well, I wore white uniforms after I was a graduate but tqey liked
you to wear your school uniform. school uniform was blue and
white, about, oh I'd say a quarter of an inch, I guess.
quarter of an inch.
Q. Dark blue and white?
A. Yes, it was a nice blue and it faded. (laughter) always dark.
Then when we graduated, we had the wh&te uniform. You black velvet
ribbon around your cap when you're a gaduate. You
youlm a student. Now they have a different cap in
Memrial. [hospital] But we liked those little
llline especially. Our hours were kind of long
Hospital and at Bellevue; they didn't have
At one time in rrly life in New York, I was
the nurses state association. It gave rw an opportunity to do quit
little-I dontt know what I was going to tell you now.

Anna Tittman
Q. Were the caps different for different schools?
I
A. Yes, school cap . . .
I
Q. Your school cap would've been fYom Springfield Hospft
comct ?
A. Yes, that I s rf@t. 1
.s that
Q. Now when you graduated from Colmnbia, would you have & different cap
or would you keep this one?
A. Well, youwore your ~wn cap, unless--+-now in the Bostm Floating
pital you had to have your hair all covered, see. And thpt was goo
when you wore your cap at any other place like at Johns
F
pkLns, I vJo~
just the same cap that you saw in the picture. O w shoes we needed rubber
heels, you know, so they d keep quiet. There wasnt t so ch about bhe clothing.
Our washing was done; we didn't have.to do it. We 'dntt have to do
any of it, but you have all these nurses coming off duty d washing their
undies and all. Not anywhere &id we have to do that.
There was somthing else I wasnted to tell you. At
going back into my postgraduate work--1 told you
don't thinlc there's any special incident. I
in the operating mom there and that
postg~aduak at Johns Hopkins.
Q. This goes back to 1908 thm?
A. Yes, that s ri&t. I went there for childrent s work, but I could only
t&e care of the children who were on the wards because +ey did not have
a separate childrents building. They didh? t have them a U congregated.
Q. You man therefd be a child next to an adult in a w W?
A. No, they had little rooms off of that. No, they were)ntt with the adults.
Then there would be some rooms back where they'd have sp ial cases and wlth
the children. There were so many children with bone culties and hips.
Q. Rickets or congenital?
A. Well, it would be conpniba.1 mstly. But I had a of the outpatient
dep&mnt, no children at all. And that is may have told
this before. A man care in with his mouth all
&.
(laughs) Yes.
A. And I remeuber I told you som other things, too, ab the baths. I
told you about the baths.
Q. What were your hours, were you working twelve hour'&s at Coldia,
Bellevue and the Floating Hospital?
I
I

Anna Tittman
A. Well, at Colmbia University, a student studying
up with field work, except that the= was a nursery,
the college. They asked if we had any student nurse,
had some free time who could corn down and work in the cl
afternoons I went and helped in the clinic. It was
you know, empty storage space. The worn who was
a very close friend, and she later moved to live
Jersey, out about Hagarstown, because her
he needed to get out of his laboratory--he was a chemist. 1 So I used to
spend any few days I had of vacation there and maybe I'd Zake some f"riends
with me. Then when I had several weeks Ifd go.
And so that was a fine thing. And there was a lovely do$ there, buck and
white dog. He was gotten from a lost dog place in New Yopk City, and they
had looked and looked for a dog. He was a black collie, $lack and white
collie, and Mr. Comg was training him. He could go t a lot of stunts
to get a little dog biscuit. But when I went out I did throm
the hills of New Jersey, he'd want to go. He blew
when I got w
Alpine stock, just barked and barked and barked,
was his nm.
They thowt his narne mi@t have been John, but
rnwer.
he answered best to that when they got him. So Dode wovld mul on mead
of me and investigake things. And once I fell. I slipped on a ro
was in the pmd, you know. He knew it. He cam back, tooking
Q. Checking you over.
i
I
A. I said, "I'm all right, bmie, just all ri@t. '' And/ so when he got
satis fled, why, he went off again. But coming home, he j bt lagged behind.
J: guess he didn't want to go home, he just lagged behind F. But when I was
not there, for mnths, why, he would be outdoors a good dpd. He slept on
the platfom of the stars where they twned, but when I was there he slept
with his nose at the crack of IQJ door for fear I'd get awy; you see, and
not t&e him. They never allwed him to get
4
into a car, o they didn't have
any trouble of that kind. But bnnie was p& of educ i ion. I've got a
picture of him somewhere. He was a big fellow.
Q. Was this the first dog you'd had a chance to be close to?
A. Yes.
Q. You did have anids as a child?
A. Well, I had a cat, I guess I had wre than one. We ver had a dog, I
don't know why. And I had chickens--@hickens I fed and t olc care of and so
forth.
T
Q. I can tell that you like animals..
A. Well, I did very much. Well, I Wess I've told you tbat . . .

Anna Tittman
A. Well, just the average length people were wearing.
Q. What length was that?
A. Well, it was I think below ow knees. Ch, I know it va
knees, but when I cam back from my-we havent t gotten to
It was pretty short; it was to the knees, I man just
remn'ber having had a pongee suit made out in China;
plentiful. I wore it back horn. It was nicely
tailors. It was all ri@t, but it was pretty short. I couldntt wear it
for a long time and it was god material. It wouldt ve la$ted.
Q. You man the sult you had made was shorter than they Were wewing in
this country at the tfm?
A. Well, no, I dontt think so. No, they were wearing them, I thi*, pretty
short here, but not anything like they have recently, yay how. (laws )
Q. When you were a student nme, did you ham skirts toi the floor?
A. No, I dontt think--I think it wodd come to our shoetnps anyhow. I
think so. That s ri&t as nearly as I can remmber . But when I wa3 a junior
in high school, it came to the floor. I had a dress thaq had to haye binding
on the bottom of the skirts, bmh binding. It had tp be changdd became
it would wear out. So that showed that it was long.
Q. Well, you certainly had an extensive education in yom field.
A. Well, now 1'11 tell you this, that I did not have twa yeam of college
before I entered ,Columbia Wxrsity.
Q. Had mst of the other students?
A. Well, they @ve me credit for nursing education tmt I had, all
these postgraduate courses in practical nursing. See, Z had very little
theory with som of these postgraduate courses. Some ofkhe course8 were
in the sumer like Johns Hopkins. There wasn't mch thew in connection
with that; then it was mstly practice, mstly practice. And Bellevue,
there's be an occasionaJ. lecture that I could go to but 3 was busy on the
ward learning the techiques, you see.
Q. Mat is the theory of nursing? What wodd those comes cover?
A. Oh,well, Ithimkwetalkedabout thatbefore; that
&en youtre specializiqg then "you have it fn that speci
P
Q. And yours was pediatflcs?
A. Yes. Then I had one class at Bellevue, I got a good
I'd had other experience. But ColwrS3ia gave me credit
oourses and the little smr ,[courses] I had at
the School of Civics and Phil thropy.
two years mre. And that waspce, I thou*t. I didn t peally expect it
I
I

Anna Tittman
when I went. I thought I ' d only stay a year and th
got sonu3 mre mney . But I borrowed money the=, too,
to re? The director of the nursing departrent, herse
always paid back as quick as I got mre mmy. Howe
old. That was Adalade , Nutthg. Just say Miss NuLt
the Smll History of Nursing. It was a large book.
well, soPt; of senis. And long af'ter I had finished ss it was, when
I was working for the state a little later, I receive etter. "Miss
Nutting would like to have you retwn the mney you d, pay the mney
you borrowed. And wasnt t it fortunate that I had the hed checks as]
receipts. And I sent them.
Q.. Sne 'd gotten confused? 1
A. Yes, that's right. But, oh, I was so it. By-t; it just
proved to IE that you have to hoard sane things. You use
i
them.
It's always a pmblem how rrmy years you save yow cancewed checks how
rrany years you should save-the Internal Revenue policies,/well, not policies,
but tax returns. I always saved copies of them, you see.1 So I had a tim
when I was clezlng that out.
Q. When you were at Colmbia, did they pay you somethin4 when you were
doing your practical?
A. I don't think so, I dinlt think so. No, Itrnvery s&. They treated
you like a student. They didn't treat you-well, I mean tbey tried to point
out things that would be useful to you in yow later lifq. Now I guess
we've finished I-I-QT special studsnt work.
Q. When you graduated f'mm ColLanbia, what degree did you receive?
A. Bachelor of Science. And then I got the special cemficate for Qrganization
and Supervision of Public Health Nursing.
Q. Were there many of you in the country at that time w$h this sp cialized
degree?
A. Well, they were coming along, you see. Now while I was in New York
City working for the N.0.P.H.N.--thatts the National Or zation for Public
Health Nursing. I had that after I graduated. I went t to that job.
t
A. Yes. And after I fYnished that f$eld work, I did. t this is all
after I was in Siberia, so I Qctter n& get on that. We 1, we haven't done
the school nursing yet. Maybe we shopd do that.
I
Q. Your school nursing experience here. Yes, I'm very qe~sted tb how
about that.
A. Well, that began-I have it 1912 to 1914 here. (refem to dta) School
nurshg, well, I organized thq prggram and worked alone. There were ei@teen
schools. This was under the Board of Education and not der the h alth
depaY.t;mnf at all. pctor PaVrer was the doctor that I qund I coJd conver
Q

Anna Tittman 59
with. He supported the service very well. But I got sow special
preparation by spending some the, after the Boston Flo
in New York City. I had written beforehand to the doct
in char@--I can't remr&er her name--in charge of the
She was very nice and she assiped me to spend tim
nurse who did everythhg that needed to be done in that
studied even how she kept the records. We had no clin
had plenty of clinics [in lmge cities] around in hosp
could send the children that were poor. Now we have t
and so forth. Some of them are even over here on
are private doctors there just like on Walnut Street,
they1 re not functioning as clinics at all where they [
in. I got, oh, a lot of information that way, you see
credit for organizing it here because that was the
We felt smthing ought to be done, [at least] I did, abol)t the teeth of
the children. Of course, I taught them hygiene, and I go$ them to the
place where I could have little talks with them as a clas . I asked1 them
one th to brfng their toothbrushes. You see, I talked oothbmh., "Let' s
see them. " Well, they cam. At recess the first teacher @aid to me,, "Don1 t
you ever tell them to bring their toothbrushes again.
their hair with them and scrubbing the desks with them." mqy (lau@ter). So
that tawt re a lesson.
But the dentists, then, when the subject cam to them, l1&t can be k om
about children whose parents can't pay for dental work?" \And they thought
it over and a plan was worked out whereby they would eacltake a turn. We'd
have a little, what would be a dispensary, generd dispengary, and there
was a room empty Fn that old Oddfellowls building on the aorner of Fourth
and brim, southeast comer, second floor, I think. We Qad limited equipmnt.
The children that were not in the &aAr had to sit in the sam room
with the children who were being worked on. However, they had to come
after school and I'd have little story books and so f"orth for them to entertain
themselves. I don't think it bothered the dentists Qery much t~ have
them there.
Well, you know, they [dentists] have a stand that swings qack and forth.
Well, we got a big shoebox, wooden shoebox--a dealer woul handle such a
thing, you see--then it stood [on end] about this hi&, j t hi@ enom
for the dentist to spread his instrumnts out.
Q. About three feet off the floor? I
A. Yes, he'd have to bring his own instrmnts because
any. And one doctor-the meting that we had with the c ee that was
doing this, they--my two board memers who were in b
were womn I hew beforehand in life, and they went with nk, too. I didn't
have a regular comittee, but khose two I could discuss tQLngs with. So
the dentists said--well, one dentist, a Doctor Watts, he qaid, "I've got
an old foot engine on ny back porch. We can have that ifthatlll do. It'll
work all right, but it's gettirag kind of mty,ll he said. That's what he
had to put his foot an to get Qhe grfnd to work.
So we were
lwted like that.
R

Anna Tittman
!then the board of education moved into what became the new building
between the Leland Hotel and the Methodist Church. It wa$ called
the Leland Building, I think. They were on an upper floor, and the
was an elevator, but there was also a stairway. There wa$ a door
tween the main offices of the Board of Fducation and
laan all by itself. And that became the dental
the board of education was so sold to the idea
with what we started in the spring. They
equipmnt. And the dentists saw to what they needed, but they still
brought their own instmnts because that; was inportant, t and of course,
useful to them, too, to have that method because they'd
[tools that] they wanted. Then the children waited out
the stahway and had their books and so on. They didn't et in misaief
at all. And that was successful, really successflil. I $ntt know what
they re doing now about that, whether they have a free digpensary . One
reason why this dispensary was established was that they didn't want this
ragtag, bcbtail group of children coming ot their offices1 axing wi'qh all
their own patients, you see. Well, it would be ldnd of dfsturbing, you
haw, too.
Q. How rmny dentists participated?
A. Well, akmst the whole dental society. A few didn't
was because they had other patients, I think. They had t
tim themselves. But their turn didn't core too often.
m OF TAPE THREE
Q. You were telling me about Dr. John Donelan.
A. Yes, Dr. John Donelan was the dentist who, I think mi&t have b
pointed by the dental society to be the dentist with whoa I commmi
in regard to supplying the personnel, seeing that the de@sts got
the dental dispensary [clinic]. They only had to corn abut rmybe
twice a year and if they dihqt cone, he'd corn himelf. He had a
who was a dentist, too, an older brother. I thhk they md their
together as I recall.
Q. How many days a week was the clinic open? i
A. I can't really remrrj3er. I think that we started we st&ed
in the spring and we didn't have mchtime mtil
went every ni@t after school. Then $n the fall
other day, m three days a week or so~thing like that.
t
Q. Did you have any problems getting the children to co to the clinic?
I
A. No, the parents had to handle that.
Q. Tne parents brou&t them?
A. Well, they weren't there, no. I don't bow don't rewwJ3er just how

~nna Tittman 61
I
they got there. You see, we hiad big @rls and boys, too.; Not high
school; the school program didn't include the hi@ school, then, not
during period of employmnt.
Q. This was just for the wade schools?
A. Yes, it was just for the grade school and that real was enou@I to
start out dth. (tape turned off)
Q. We were just saying that the dental clinic was only qr the wade
schools.
t
A. Yes, and that was a demnstration, you see. They la+ had a nurse in
I
the hi@ schaol.
I
We had &@teen schools and they were scattered all mm. I had no car.
I had a form that I filled in only maMng a suggestion of an alh~nt, never
to say absolutely the child has granulated eyelids. Of qurse , you talked
in simple language mostly.
Q. How would you identif'y the children that needed help such as the
granulated . . .
I
A. Oh, we had routine exadnations.
Q. Of each aild?
I
I
I
A. Well, it was simple. The child would stand up. The* were only limited
things that I could report;. And they would stand up and mch around the
room, and as they cam to rre 1 would say, "Let nze see your hands. " And I
would [turn the hands palm up and over and] look for infection in between
the fingers, for any other breaking out on the hands, an4 then have them
hold their hair back this way. And I would look at the Qair to see /if there
were any little visitors there, or nits. And also look qt the ears/ And
then they would open their mouth. I ' d say, "Open your mquth and s
See, I didn't use a stick. That would've Pi@tened the4 for one
the little ones it would. And then they would say, "AhhWh,'' and
see their tonsils and their teeth. I sald of'ten that I mew the
by their tonsils rather than their faces. And their eyea, you
this first, and I could see the eyelids.
Q. Pull the lower eyelid dm? i
A. To see if there was granulation. And we had lots ofgranulation. Whenever
a new pupil appeared who had it, ; they were from out of town, you see,
because we had cleared it out here.
Q. What does granulation corm from?
A. Weal, it ' s a disease and it 's catching, badly. If
and they use the same towel as many families do, they
it. Washclothes, even, becawe there's a kind of

ut the operation is simple. I would write these notes. K had to fill
out the form, ask the parent to came to school to have a talk about
this possibility the child dght have. It would be rra~bei granulated
eyelids. I'd put a question m k after it because I didnlt want to lap
pear to be diagnosing; or (pause) poor vision.
I
!
I
I
Q. I was going to ask, did you check for vision and hehg?
A. Yes.
Q. How would you check them for vision?
A. Well, just that the report from the teacher had a lot to do with it.
Then I would hold up a letter and ask them to read it. 'Iyat was it, ahout
all we ~ d .
Now with the little ones, you how, you had to be careful not to fri ten,
but the big boys I couldn't reach and they had to get dom) like so, fkaops]
(laughter) so I could see Zn their throats. There were q ~me big boys in
the ei@th grade, too. I've often intended to a& Dr. (-udible) if he
was in school when I was looking down childrents throats, but I never have
done it.
Q. You should. lhey could've given you a little box to ?Land on.
A. Well, I miat have fallen off the box and then what?
Q. What was the treatmnt then for ganulated eyelids?
A. Well, the operation.
Q. They did have to operate?
A. Oh, they could do it in just a very short tim? . They gave an anesthetic
and it didn't anount to mything. I think it was just a lpcal mestktic,
as I remrber. And they had an instmnt that scraped that off. lhen they
had drops, you see, that their parents had to put in, too, daring the healing
process. And the parents were ta&t about that.
Now when they didn't c m to school to talk to me, I would have to go to
them. There wan' t transportatian. So Annie [Miss Tittm] she walked
down the railroad out there south, Harvard Park School and the Feitshms
School. 'Ihe families lived way out ., ?hat' s one thing.
Q. You and your little black bag?
i
1
A. Yes,well, I justhadnlyrecords. Ididntthaveany trwnents.
When I did private duty nursing I had i-qq black bag with a1 the where with
all, everything but a bedpan and I could rmke one out of a baking pan. (chuckles)
Now this record is ri@t that it was 1912 to 1914, and tt as then that I
did the school nursing those two years. And I left it on because I was
urged to take this other position in the state.
Q. Was it Dr. Palmer who sort of instigated the idea of a
nurse?

Anna Tittman
A. No, I think the women.
Q. Who were the two womn who felt this was important?
A. he was Miss lbq Colerravl who was very well-to-do
in a house, a big old mslion kind of house where the
is now. She later rrarried Dr. Hugh ~orrisbn,
Reverend because that's what he was. She was a m&er oflthe First
Christian Church, and she was one of backers in lots of thine. Rewrend
Mmrison was cc-pastor of Flmt Chfistian Church with
Charles
kmison and he rrariied Miss Maxy Cole-, who was a very
pWn+sort ~f person, but so nice. Well, he had dtudied
and he beem a doctor.
One of earliest cases in private duty was when I was c led to the King's
Damtern Home for aged women. They had had a big to do July 4th and
they had.watermelon and they had ice cream. Many of them beem ill and
Dr. Pbmison was the doctor and I was the nurse, I had M then. me was
especially ill, but got better. But she'd tell Dr. bmispn things like
this, "That nurse, she took out all hair. She co&ed q hair and she
just took hair. " You how, you hold onto it when you pt tangles loose,
and you don't do all of it at the sam tk. He said, 'Wql, that's just
too bad-that she did that, you know.11 So we understood e other so well.
"Fh
Q. Mary Colem was one of your backers. Who was the othpr woman you . . .
A. It was Mrs. Hanes, that's Wray Hanesf mother. I've porgotten the
first name of the father. He was an architect, S. J. Haneb. I hew her
thma the fact that I lived on Jefferson Street af'ter we moved from Washh@on
Street. She lived on Jefferson Street farther,out. Next door to
the Hanes ' home-it was on Glenwood and Jefferson-was the, Lauterbachs.
Mrs. Lauterbach, was OW neighbor girl before she- gar;. _mrried.
And it was her children that I went over to and said that $e were going to
have a baby now, and my sister was married. That ' s all it took. I just
thought that was all there was to it, you see.
Q. Was Dr. PWrls sanitarium he= at that time?
A. No. No, but he was active in tuberculosis. I think he organized the
local tuberculosis association. Then they had the sanitmum; he wa6
P
active in that. I mean, of course, he was the proprietor qpf that and all,
but he had an office, a pravate practice at the time. Alw@ys he woul listen
to rn and advise m and so forth. Laup$ things off. Par hstanc , one
doctor when I was brand new, was just so against It [schoa
f
nursing]. He
thought I would be p~scribing and all that, you know, tak g their place.
He learned differently. Well, Dr. Palmr would settle him
Also, he looked for contagious diseases, any breaking out they might
have. To the boys I'd say, "Your hands look . . . Well, need a little
washing, don 't they? "Oh, that ' s walnut stain. l1
fun. Mr. Heidler was principal of the McClernand
supervisor of these teachers, byt he fomd out
free the, their own tk and if so-and-so

Anna Tittman
He said, "She was out Saturday evening, and I saw her ha&
the bland Hotel. l1
I
€2. This is one of his teachers? !
dinner at
A. He was so extra clean in everything; in his housekeepbg inl.the school.
He had four mts outside. When the children went out, thqy had to march
in, wipe thefr feet so many tims on each mat and then they could gojin.
It was that kind of thing, it was regimented, you might sqy . He didh l t
approve of m too mch. When I called the first tirr~ on qhe phone to say
that I would like to c m one day this next week.
to help E. " And he says, "Oh, we take care of all that. don't need
it l1 I said, "The Board of Education has assigned m to all schools
and so I will be there." We got along a11 right.
Q. More or Less. (chuckles) 1
A. Yes.
Q. Were the other principals . . .
"1 had yo-and-so assigned
A. Oh, sore of them were just wonderful, just wonderful. And the t achers
would call me up sometimes where I lived. I Uved with t Edward demon
family on Walnut Street at that the. I would be called % the evening about
some child in their classroom by the teacher, or at noon +UP, those that
went horn for lunch. The teachers generally approved of 4t; very mch. And
they'd call m up because I couldnlt get there very oftenN you see, ei&teen
schools and I'd have to spend me day at each school. I'd go through the
school' and have these routine examinations and that was there was to my
testing. But I would say what to do about it, get the pants, get ahold
of the parents, and ask them to . . .
Then one boy was very ill and &om a very poor family. I gpent a weqkend
taking care of him Fn hfs own home. I couldnlt do much of that, youiknow,
either.
Q. You went out to hfs home to take care of him?
A. Yes, he wasn't having the right kind of care and I toad show the famLly
much.
Q. DSd the parents ever act as thou& you were a busybody?
A. Well, I started to tell about one little colored girl mo had had
an injury in one of her wrists, and she went h~m and whatever she told
them, I don't know. The colored man, the father, reporteg to the principal
who came back to me, and to the Board of Education that I bd pulled her
hands, and had broken her wrist. I didn't touch them. They knew that was
my routine. The fdly didn't know that, but; he [the principal] knew I
didn't break her wrist. It cam out then that it was an a~cident some tim
before, long before, and hadn't been taken care of proper
heal. Anyhow, that was one wlhappy tim that I had, but
right.
J
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1

Anna Tittm
Then this matter of the hair. Oh, I had, as New York statements on a
sheet of paper about so big, what to do
infected
with nits--it was lice--and the nits. Ordinarily
on it of-oh, I 've forgotten now. It was som
at all, but it took care of this. Orit
if they put that on a child's head and wrapped the hea4 up at night.
The [the nits] would all be dead in the morning and wash Out of their hair.
Oh, vinegar was what they put on the hair instead of the ~oal oil. The coal
oil was kind of dangemus, too. I think however, that wag more for people
that understood how careful they had to be. But you see,they were poor and
they had to have coal oil for their lqs. Well, I had qsitors fmm other
cities to take around somtimes to see what they thought qf the propam we
had. It worked out nicely. I was really somy to leave t , but I was
wanted for this other work. It was interesthg, too.
1
I
I
Q. You mentioned that the dentists set up a free clinic.
ever set up a free clMc here for the children?
Did the dcpctors
A. No.
Q. Why not?
A. Well, it was easier to get the child in there, get thq child into their
offlces. Once in a while--no, we didn't have such a thi
the doctors were strongly for it. The mider girls
fsther approved ot it. He was an outstanding man in the qdical society
and in his surgery. It just had to get started, it was s-thing new. Fortunately,
I did have a lot of experience wlth corrara~~lcablei diseases of 'patients
in private duty. They'd have to isolate, you see, at how. We had only an
old shack for comrrau?icable diseases out by the camppounds known as the
pest house. Our Illinois Regiment--I1ve forgotten now, mt regiment . . .
Q. National Guard?
A. National Guard, they used to meet out there, you how,,and every Sunday
they'd have a dress parade. We always went out on Sunday pvenings and
with a big shot, the flag went down. So that was very intpresting. There's
a road west of that, that ran way out beyond the camppun@, and that's
where the isolation place was. People who had commmicabl~ diseases, but
I don't think they took many children there. They were kept at home.
Q. Was this a hospital set up out there?
A. Well, it was sort of an isolation place and. that's all I never saw
it, though.
Q. Would this be for diptheria, scarlet fever,
k
those thin ?
A. No, no. Those things were taken care of at horn, for
1
mllpox and
they ' d infect the whole family. But we don1 t have any iso ation place now.
We don't have much now, do we?
Q. I don't think we do. What qtases would they send out t
campgrounds?
ere beyond the

Anna Tittm
i
A. Well, smallpox; that would have to go. Typhoid fever wouldn l t ,g,
that would be t&en care of at home. Measles and scarlet fever would be
taken care of at horn and so on. I think it was
I don't thhk that many children ever went there.
the adults. I suppose maybe som ofthe sex
to that stage.
Q. Would you try to help the people with nutrition at thg
t
sarne tiw?
A. Well, yes, to a cerkain extent you did. Now there we n't any what
you'd call mother% clubs, but the mothers would conr? in omths if they
were called to a special meting-to a little meting In heir district, in
their school. I would talk to them and tell them what so of the problem
were that they ou@;ht to know about and could mention the utrition then. In
fact, I don't think I did too mch about it myself.
Q. Sanitation, boiling water if they had a well? i
A. CPI, yes. No, not the well. It was only when the watw becam (chuckles)
discolored or something like that-then the city--now you ee, the city is
so careful of notif'ying you when our water source is infeclted. "You'd
better boil your water for a certain length of time. It
Q. In those days, probably quite a few of the families h* outdoor facilitfes-toilet
facilities, didn't they?
A. Oh, yes. It was all that.
Q. And often I guess they were quite near their water supply?
A. But you'd be surprised how the people would neglect sqne of their
children's health. There Is a actor, for instance, who wwld have a little
boy in school. Wetll say he's nine years old.
Q. Ms own child you man?
A. Yes, his own child. Defective eyesi@t, never did a thing about it.
You could see then that that doctor didn't like to be showp up by a nurse.
Just that one doctor who was afkaid that I was going to t&e his practice
away from him. (chuckles) Do you have anymre questions myl regard to
school nurshg?
Q. Well, it fascinates m that you were the first one her
early. What happened to the program after you left? Was
A. Well, they appointed another nurse.
, and it was so
t continued?
Q. They probably had to appoint three to replace you.
A. Well, no, they didn't at once. It was quite a long ti
appoint one and before they put one in the hi@ school.
3 before they did

Anna Tittm
1
Q. You had the eighteen grade schools, is that right? 1
A. Yes. I ~ comnded Miss Nky Heitm, who was
nurse when I was in training in Sprlngneld Hospital,
had been a teacher and we were good fl-iends after my
each other a lot. I ~ comnded her and they appoi
that she had been a teacher was a definite asset. She more mature
than I was at the time of starting on it. And she wo for sorm time
and then had to go home. Her home was in Missouri on a fw. She had an
ailing brother, a cripple and she had to go home on the f .
men a Miss Alice Dalbey, also a good *lend, became the
had arrived in the car age. 9R had a car. I think it
thhk it was flumished to her. That was always a great
rural service. "Whols going to have the car and where
use it? Is he going to use our car, our organization
uses?"
;P"
m, I don't
Q. Were both h . Hsnes and Mrs. Morrison, or Mrs. Yhry @lem Morrison,
on the Board of Education?
A. Yes, that l s where they were when they worked up this ipea of hamg a
school nurse. 1
I
Q. That ls amzing that there were two womn on the Board bP Educatim at
that th~.
A. Yes, St is.
Q. They we= elected by the people? The s m way as todayt
A. Well, that I don't how. No, I wouldnl t know. They were prominent
and, of course, iWs. Haws bad a nmiber of chil&en. Mrs.,Momison dfdn't
have any. I was picked without any opposition or anyone ege applying because
they knew rm and cam and asked me. They knew that J was interested
definitely in children, in fact, 1 took care of som of lbq. Hanes children
when 1 was a kid in high school.
NOW I have here 1912 to -1914, school nursing. I'll finish off the school
nursing business by saying when I first cane back to Sprinqfleld after my
tours (chuckles) I wanted them to say of me when they were introducing m
at different places--of course, there were many people I Qdn't know, Springfield
had changed a lot, it seemed like a new city to ~IE $lmst--and!I said,
"You introduce m as Springfield's first school nurse. l1 *yl re stilt doing
it. That was the way I was indentified and I still like th
f
idea. Then I
was called to the position of Secretary of the Board for t St ate Board of
Nurse Examiners. And I was Inspector of schools of numb .
Q. Did this man you had to travel?
A. Yes, but I was also running the office and axrangbg f( the examinations
for licensure.
Q. And the office was here in 2 ringfield, is that ri@t?

Anna Tittm 1 68
-
A. It was in Chicago at first. There was one person re IE who had
the Chicago office.
Q. That s ri&t. I think you told me that when you got jhe j job, the
office was moved here to Springfield.
I
A. Yes, moved here to becom a visible part of the mchaqism of the state
activity. That was the term they used. And thatls when Ifhe reporter flmm
the [Illinois State] Journal, Earl Searcy, c m in and he saw a lock of
my hair. He saw the top of my head up over the ro
the rolltop desk as you entered the door. He sai
visible part of the mchanism is. l1 (lawter) That
he's dead. He was a senator; he was Clerk of the Supreme
Then when he aed, his wife was clerk. Tney were Mst
Now the son is back. He was a boy in the church.
mn and coming ri@t along nicely. I donlt how what i
but he has a nice wife.
9. How many schools of nursing did you have to inspect a& set up licensing
for?
I
A. Well, I think, as a matter of fact, there was a list af sorne accredited
schools when I cm, but there were so many little hospitqls that started
in a residence, a residence maybe smbody ' d willed for q hospital. Or a
doctor would want a place where he could operate himelf, just do as he
pleased, and he would start a little hospital. Ben the mrst thing you
know, they'd pop up trying to have students. Well, they *ntt pay students,
you see, and they got their fke service. They'd have a Wse who was mature
and able to direct the care of the patient, but she1 d be *e only teacher
in the theoretical part, also.
Som of them started a school of nursing. It was so necewary to have
standards for those graduating, who needed to becone regi$ered nurses, so
those standards were enlarged mrnthe little they had at orst. There
was one man; a 1eg;Lslator fhrn Chicago who fought [the hi standards].
That was the tire I had to go and talk about having the c extended to
three years, fmrntwo years, and having at least one
Q. He didn't feel this was necessary?
A. No, no, no. It got so it had to be that the nurse to be a hi&
school gaduate. You could put things up afterwards t their standards
built up to something that was really worth the effort.
Q. When you took over this job, what exactly were the st dards? Can you
remerrber? Was it one ye- of hi@ school?
and som were teachers.
Q. I meant rnhimum standards?

Anna Tittm
A. Yes, yes.
Q. Then how many years of trahing?
A. Well, it was just two years of training in inmy schoo$s. Sore of our
big schools in Chicago like Michael Reese, and Cook Count$ and the Resbyterian
Hospital, they already had their big standards on their own-full
hi@ school. But now that is prevalent entirely now, the requlremnt of
full hi& school to enter a school of nursing. This worn next door is
making up her hi& school so that she can enter the nmiqg course at the
university which will include som practical work. She hqws her way around
the hospital now because she works as an aide in the orth pedic departmnt.
The baard'of nursing from 1913 to 1917 was di~ctly State Board
of Nurse Examiners. It was a separate organization of Pharmcy,
Board of Undertakers, and so forth. Then in
under the State Department of Registration and
been passed. That is when I contributed the words reglstdation and education
to the orgmizatimal title because of our responsibility of establishing
accredited schools of nursing. And the men saw it ri&t way, you bow, that
the others were doing the same thing. I man the pharmacy, the dentistry
and the doctors.
Q. Was the board backed by the legislature? Did the fun* for this board
come throm legislative action from the state?
A. Yes, yes. And there was a fee from the nurses when t+y took the exam
inations, a small fee. I canf t remerher exactly . . .
Q. About how many nurses were there in the state at this time?
A. Oh, I couldntt tell you.
Q. Okay*
A. But we'd have classes of somthing like sixty cm,that is graduates to
take the examination.
Q. And they would have to come here to Springfield?
A. No, we'd have mre exesrdnations in Chicago because of the size of the
territory. Then in Springfield--we'd get the dormstate peqple mstly here--
wetd have opportunities for them or they could corn to Chitago to take it.
Or the Chicago people could corn down here if this ion was more convenient
to them.
I
Q. Where would you hold the em? A. Well, now we held them in the County Building In The questions
I had and the paper that they re to wrLte on and was in a small
trunk which had to be put in frei&t car, of
9
I

Anna Tittm
Q. And you'd have to take ut up to Chicago? I
I
A. I'd take it up. And once 2t didn't arri3e. i
Q. Oh, it dichtt arrive?
I
A. It didnt t arrlve, so we were delayed a half day [the
disndssed in the mo- because they learned they
go on a freight
Q. YOU man he was saying that youlre so smart to give tde exam, you should
know which elevator to get on?
A. Yes, yes. That kind of irked re.
Q. That didn l t help your any when you were feeling so badly anyway:
A. So anyhow, we cam out all right. We just put a littk extra time on
the next day and that afternoon, so that came out all rig&. See, I had
all the questions, papers, to hand them not only to write on, but the questions,
and it had to be guarded, you know.
I
Q. Was this a two day examhation?
I
A. Yes, it was two W s .
Q. So they would go to Chicago and . . .
A. They'd have all the subjects and different mmbers of the board according
to their experience and knowledge. I was board rnerrbe~ and they had to >
correct papers. They were pald ten dollars a by the stete on the examination
days.
Q. The examWng board? The students or the examiners, v$o was paid?
A. The state would pay.
Q. The state paid the students taking the test? I
A. Paid the Board of Exem. Now stihg rqy mmmy here that
1917 to 191, I was inspector. I was no longer the the Board of
Nurse Examiners. I was an inspector of the schools
to take a Civll Service examination. I passed
have because I had done the work and so forth,
the Dep&mnt of Fiegistration and Education.
schools of nurshg, midwives, m e s s healers and doctors
i

Anna Tittman I 71
Q. Drugless healers and doctors? I
A. Yes. I didn't ,do much with the doctor business, no. ~~t 1 had to do
detective work, as it were.
Q. Tell rn about that.
A. Well, that came about as a part of thfs. The Illinoiq State Department
of Registration and Education, SprFngfield, Illinois, is a consolidation
of all boards of examinem. Well, it should say the jexdners for
licensure. Of course, we did mre than that. I
I
Now I kind of would like to have that word '137egistration11
You have that already. I guess the other day you got it.
ble for the word registration being in the title. Well,
all kinds of Inspection. You see, I had to inspect these ess healers.
That would be where I had to go and interview. It d go to
the pharmacies I had to inspect. Well, 1'11 take the othep, first, the drugless
healers. You go to a hone where the patient has been !treated or parent
of a patient that was treated and you ask about the servi* of this dlrmgless
healer. Then I had to get infarmtion that could be takeq to court because
they didn't have a license. So that was my detective work I had a little
star, little police star, which I wore. It said Inspectofl of Bpartmnt of
Registration or somthing like that. And I wove it under the lapel of w
jacket. And then to inspect a drugstore--they would have poung men filling
prescriptions who weren't necessarily-it was required tha& they be an apprentice
at least before they md certain thinp in the ww--and I would
buy, oh baby powder or smthing like that, somthing to dicate that I
was there on sane other rrdssion. Then I'd say, ''Are you T licensed dmggist
pharmicist?" Well, then mybe they' d be an assistant. YW see, a report had
corn in that he wasn't. Then I'd say, 'Well, would you shpw IE your license?"
'I&, I'm an assistant ," he said. I said, "Would you show r~ your license?"
And then I'd say I was f'rorn the state.
I would take that information to the local attorney, or th
1
pblic attorney.
He ' d have to do the rest. Of course, I ' d report back to t e departmnt. So
it was khd of a detective business. I diblt care for th@t too much, not
any. They we= practicing. That's all I had to find out ally, they were
practicing without a license. 9he drugless healers when go to the horns
to talk to . . .
Q. That must have been a fascinating experience. I
A. Well, it wasn't bad.
Q. Were these quack kinds of doctors? Who were these 4 ess healers?
A. They're like, well, say a man whose practicing who doesn't
have a license. But it mi@t not be as clear as
body that is just on his own. He's the seventh
got that a good deal. He was mp~tlc /and could
could heal people, and did treat them. Well,

Anna Tittram 72
well anyhow, or maybe just a msage would do. There wen$ schools fbr
chiropractic. The butcher, the baker and the candlestick~rraker, would
take a six mnths course or something like that and he cops out with a
doctor title. He's not elegible for takhg his license ep.mlnation.
They got the Ikpartment of Registration and Education abol)t that th or
later. They got it so arranged that they were doing the 4ducational part,
too, making schools accredited. They had to be accredLte4 and they had to
I rermnber one streetcar conductor went and came back
be of longer term.
to Springfield and practiced after a very short tim
school over in Davenport, Iowa, which is right on o
got a lot of En. I don't remer ever hearing o
It was just not enough training. They didn't have e
Q. At this tim there was a state exam for osteopaths? I
A. No.
Q. That cam later and chi~opmcters too?
A. Yes, chimpracters were longer in coming. I thhk thq osteopath@ were
not so long. They had a school over in I'tissouri that was quite good, but
that was more for trainin@; and all. They had some kind o# an arrmgqmnt
where they could give them a thorough background, pretty thorough. But they
all had to get up to four years of training.
4. Did you ever get in trouble with the patients who tho their doctor
was fine and you were trying to blow the whistle on him?
A. No, no. They didn't know that I was-I didn't tell twm much about that.
I just wanted to know if he was a good doctor. You just wve to have a
little conversation, you see.
Q. What would be your excuse to go in and talk to a patiqt or a patient's
family?
A. Well, you'd have the doctor's name because it 'd been reported to the
state depart~nt. You'd have where he was. And then you rind out who's
the patient. Often these are ' lit$ le towns, you know, can find
out things like that. Then you get the nams of the
will
tell you the details. In fact, the person who mtes
would be the one that would say that they knew that this was practicing,
and you could get the names fkom them.
Q. But then you would have to go and interview the patient?
A. Yes. Well, it wouldn't necessa,rily be the patfent; it! could be the
parent. It could be the parent or the sister or the brother or somthing
like that that would have to say, yes, it [the patient] wa$ treated.
Q. Well, I guess what I was trying to get at, didn't you ever ma? into a
case where the patient thowt the doctor was helping him @nd was antagonistic
to you.
I
I

Anna Tittman
A. Yes, yes. Most of them
while they would say, ''1 would have
It was that ldnd of thing. Of
I don't read them anymre because rqy eyes won't let m.
Q. Well, you were a little lady detective.
a
A. I remmber going m the train, comLng up from southe Illinois. I
still inspected schools of r~u~ging. mat is, they were ke me, they were
Inspecting everything. See, I had midwives, I had all th
1
t sort of thing.
&. I don't see how you had tk.
i
A. I took a m who was equipped to inspect a barber
baxbers had
to have licensure. He could inspect a barber shop or
he couldnlt inspect a nursing school in our state, in
in ndne. And yet I had to go into som? of these
I suppose it give me information that I could use.
I
Q. You never had to inspect an undertaking establishment?
A. No.
Q. I bet you were grateful for that?
A. Well, I think so. Let Is see, them was a saying that our president had
about a report. Oh, we were sandwiched nurses. We were
in this
report between the barbers and the undertakers.
president who said that, Miss Adalaide Walsh,
That's person. the She last corn I've down seen to the of her.
train in Chicago when I was D
n q way to Siberia.
I
Q. Did you blow the whistle on many of these people? Put them out of
business?
A. Well, I guess the state departmnt did throw its law. I was through
with the case when I reported to the local attorney and to qy departmnt.
Q. Before we leave that, as you were inspecting the nursi
would you look for?
A. Well.. .
Q. They eventually would have to pass an exam, is that cc
you be . . .
A. NO, licensm was not a requiremnt. But they couldnl
And every nurse wanted to be an RN.
Q. I see, You could be a nurse . . .
A. It is compulsory Fn some states, I don't know what it
don't. I haven't kept up with it. But I think they all a
g schools, what
?ect? So would
me the RN.
; now, I really
~t--when they
I

Anna Tittm
I
74
complete a nursing course-they
want to have the RN.
Q. So you were protecting the nurses themelves f'rom
tahlishmnts where they thoat they were getting
weren" .
A. Yes, yes. T"natls ri&t, thatts rigbt.
I
Q. mat kinds of tk.ings would you check In a nursing schdol?
A. Well, the educational and the curriculm of that partqcular school.
Where do they get their pediatric nursing? Where do they Eet their obstetrical
nursing? Hm many cases a year do they hawe
nurses? Well, it wouldnlt be enough. They'd
case, a little small hospital would. And they would
obstetrics at all." 'Well, then you have to provide
All this would be taken to the board, and then the
be discussed and it was decided what to do about it, to ga ahead and offer
our help in the fbll curriculm. We had that typed up for them too.
Then I would examine the records they kept for their nurse&. SOE of them
kept such poor records of the work they did and the mwlC of time they had
jn each division. It was just two years.
1
Q
It was before they were keeping better records?
A. Yes, yes, that's right. But oh, I could get help fmrnithe alumxi; I
went back and tried to build up better records. I suppose j now they have
all they need to have, however, Memorialls giving up its riming school.
Did you know that? It l s kind of sad in a way to me. On t e other hand,
they must have some reason for doing it.
Q. I think they canlt afford to do it anymore.
I
A. Letts see if any other thing comes to me.
I
Q. Did you have the power to close sore of these nursing grogram down?
Your board?
A. No, we didnl t do that.
Q. You usually tried to help them?
A. Yes, yes. If they had som of the material, som of tqle clinical
material, some of the clinical material is what I man, enq@ pediatpics,
obstetrics for that person to stay, or $hat class or those /students, $0
have all of their training right in their school, okay, butl it has to 'be
adequate. If they have everything else but obstetrics, thqy l E sent ~ELY
to a big institution.
Now mmy of the affiliations we had at that time were in pqdiatrics, to
the Childrents Hospibal in Chicago, where they went for a ~ riod of three
f

Anna Tittman ! 75
mnths say, maybe six mnths, but rarely ever that because that ls a big
hole in the three years. And then obstetrics was the sq. Now I remmber
much about a nurse who wanted to have affiliations. She was in one of the
schools, good schools, in Chicago, but she wanted an affiliated course in
psychiatric nursing. Well, now that wasn't required. Yoq see, there was
no psychiatric nursing required of any institution.
hospitals, they were stuck because they had schools
they didn't have eno& clinical material of other
a rental patient who would haw well, B15ght Is
sort.
Q. The girl who wanted psychiatric training, could she . I i. .
t
to have a little training in her own shcool." She wanted o go . . .
1
Q. Everywhere else?
A. Well, then she'd have that and then she'd want somth g else. And they
told her--the director of nwsing said,'"Well, I just told er that she o@t
A. Yes, that wasn't on the propam that they had. Of come, they weren't
a psychiatric hospital. They had enough obstetrics and pematrics, but she
could always thlnk of somthlng else, tuberculosis, for mtance.
Q. She could've gone through that school and then gone on to duties in
other specialties. Is that what you man?
A. Yes. She could've taken a post graduate if she wantea to go off there
and take a job there. I man they'd hire her just as a grpduate registered
nurse. She wouldn't have to be then; nw they have to be 8 registered nurse
to get so many registered nwms either. I man there am not a lot of graduates
&ng loose without an RN. Even the aides, the pr$wtical nmes,
have a license, you know. (tape turned off) I want to ch k on what was
going on, on that revfsion of the nurse practice>act. 7
Q. Which year is this now? ! I
A. Ws was in 1919, just a little while before I was le-g the city to
go to Siberia. A group cam d m f'mm Chicago who were for srraller requfremnts
for entering a school of nursing. The nurses were trying to get--the
nurses, State Nurses Associatim, we're not allowed to cal$ it the State
Nurses Association now, it's just the Illinois Nursing As ciation.
can1 t get the word %taterr into any of the titles. It I s Ft the tef%ow
that youlre covering.
Q. This pup *om Chicago w-ed to reduce the requirem
1
A. Yes, they wanted to reduce the requfpemnts. It was t be a new act.
We put it at the least that we could think we ' d get, and. t at was one year
of hl@ .school education. They wanted it the ei@th grade I know that I
was called off of the school nwsing WQ& previously. An I was asked to
say why I took postgraduate training. I did say it was be use basic
nursing course was two years. I entered it partly because it was here, but
partly because I could then go and get a yearls postgradu
t
e training on
I

Anna Ettman
own, and pick it up, you see. So that I did.
I was called in from travels, visiting horns, visiting the school
parents. As I said, ny sailor hat was about all that woQd show f'rom the
place where I stood on the platform with a big pedestal iq hnt of me.
I told them that I was taking postgraduate courses, and at: that tim I
had had several. I didn't yet at that time have gradme work fbm
Colwnbia hivemfty. But to make up what the two year course couldn't
give m, I took postgraduate work. I don't know how much hfluence that
had, but it passed.
Q. Who did you give your speech to?
1
1
A. To the House of Representatives. It didn't scare m all. (chuckles)
I was so eager to have the law pass. There were many poi#s in it, so that
the middle ground was found between us. We wanted that l* to pass, you
see, and it did pass. We knew if we got one year of high pchool--now that
wasn't enough to please us entirely--but we thoat then that could grow
as the years went along. The sarne way with the length of the course, it was
two years and it didn't become three years then, but later it did. I: mean
everything is going smoothly, it seem to IIE now in legislbti~ affairs at
this th.
Q. That would man that a girl could be a nurse by the ti* she was about
16 or 17 years old with one year of high school?
A. I don't think they would adn-iit a 16 or 17 year old girl. They had to
have a little maturity anyhow. But lots of people droppedlout, you know.
A lot of them didn't carry the hi& schoolwork in those d#ys.
9. Did you see that your old school [Ph-mWd Hospital, S$rlngfield] is
closing its doors for nursing?
i
A. Yes, I ' ve heard that last yew. 'Ihey have made a prorr@e that those who
had entered the school would finish there. I wonder what )lam they are
making. Tne nurses don't all gpt through at one th. Thgy have to put in
the f'ull three years. When they get dm to one or two, hm are they going
to have the teachers? Where a n they wing to get the spqcialized teachers.
They may We sow arrangement with another school for thoqe to join, for
instance, the other nursing school here.
Q. You m~tan St. John's Hospital?
A. I man just for their theory. They could get their prwtice all right.
But I wonder how they are going to fully fill all the need if they're not
training for registered nurses. One of the reasons for closing this 1s because
of the expenses of the scholhl. Well, that remains.
Q. HOW m y years has Memrlal--well, it would've been Sp~~gfield Hospital
at that tb-had a school of nursing when you paduated? Do you how?
A. I know that ours was the only ane here when I padmteg. It was when I
was the secretary and treasurer of the Illinois State Boarr) of Nurse Exm
iners that I helped Sister Phgdalene get their school st-d.

Anna Tittman
Q. At St. John1 s Hospital?
A. At St. John's.
Q. Which class would yows have been? The fifth or the qi&th or the
tenth. HaM you any idea? How many years had the school of nursing been
in existance at Springfield Hospital?
A. It staoted in &-the fint class was in 1904 and I tlpnk they entered
the-wait a ndnute . No, that s not quite riat. I could call up and find
out. I think the first class was 1902, and they had been in existence two
years. Miss Kathryn Matthews who was so pmixinent here a nurse, and a
dear, she was In that first class.
Q. So yours wouldn't been about the . . .
A. And mine was 1906.
Q. About the fourth class then? 1
A. I entered Fn 1904, when I graduated f'mm high school. So I thW that
is all I can tell about the legislation because I was away most of the time
one place and another. I lived in New York, you know, eiateen yeam. But
a person who was very active in nursing legislation was Mi$s Alice Dalbey,
Presbyterian Church, she was a First Presbykerian Church mpmber-. In fact,
she had attended our little law school here after she was nurse. &e
took care of William Flidgely who was elderly. He could sit on his Fifth
Street window-apartmnt on Fifth Street between Capitol y d Monme an the
west side of the street-and see the Ridgely National Bank/ And that was
his main interest in life, you see, because he was not ablQ to function there.
And Mss Dalbey was his nurse. The law school was ri&t n xt door in a
building. The building I think was as close as that. f
Q. Next door to the bank was this?
I
A. No. \
Q. Or to his apartmnt?
A. It was End of a gathedng place for som of the nurse
always welcom to stop in, you know.
Q. Now is this at Mr. Ridgelyls horn?
I
A. Yes, and he had a colored man take care of him, too.
would occasionally get away to go to a mtional conventi
time we went to a convention, we got held up. We were
didn't get back to our train at Cincinnati. We got off,
some postcwds or something, than we got as far as Pitt
tion was in Philadelphia. So we had to pt the rest of t
morning we were on another train and we were way back.
tame to walk beside this long brain, md we were afraid
mLss everything. ht Miss Dalbqy said, 'Now wetre not
Mdgely about this.

Anna Tittm
Q. That you two girls had rdssed your train?
A. I thhk one other person was in the pup. Our baggage was on, you
see, but Miss Dalbey wore a Wonic pin that belonged to ber father.
She went to the station rn when we got left, and we got pll the attention
we needed, get this next train, not to womy, and so on.
I
But when we got back, she was the first one to tell MP.
(chuckles) couldn't keep it. It was a
he would hire an autombile, and I would get an
Miss Dalbey and maybe one or two others.
house for us nurses.
Q. Isnl t that interesting?
f
A. We &Ldnlt go there in crowds at all.
I
Q. He ldnd of eGoyed all of you cute young things stopping in to see him? ,
A. Well, I think he did. He was very good to m. When I was working for
the state, I was appointed by the governor, Governor Dunn, as a mmb$r of
the Board of Nurse Examiners. It was the State Nurses Asgociation that
recomnded me and had decided that a downstate active penson was Important
at that tk. (pause) I forgot what I was going to tell [you]. C41, because
I was not Civil Service and position was not mntioned 1,in the law, the
Nurses Practice Act, salary was withheld. When they diiscovered this the
legislature got busy. llTnose who xe not Civil Service should have their
salary nan-ed in the Nurses Practice Act, in the law of Ill@nois. " It would
concern anwer of people, not just m. Eventually them was an emation
held, but I didn't have the mmy to live on all this perlpd. It was somthing
like eight mnths. Mss Dalbey told
"Well, Ill1 lend her the money. She'll get it
loaned m the mey. I wouldn't have known
a bank, you how, if it hadn't been for-him.
Q. Did he &e you pay interest?
A. No, he didnt t . (chuckles) So well, that's about it.
Q.
I
Where would you go on your drives?
A. Out in the-comtxy.. Out on South Sixth Street usual
was a dirt road then. And I always liked to go past the
cause they had a peacock.
Q. Where was their horn?
A. %re on south sixth street. mey were fmm. matks nly older
brother's wifels home, she's dead. She died just this ye&. Well, I guess
that l s--oh, the story of Texas, do you want that now? Welt, ;the story
was...
r
I
!

Anna Tittman
Q. Would you reflesh q memory again. This was about in which year.
I
A. Well, it was after I graduated. It was early after rqy graduation,
1907, I imagine, something like that.
END OF TAPE FOUR
A. I went to West Texas, way out. I can't recall the n+ of the place,
but it was to one of those hotels that you stop overnight at on your way
to break your journey. The patient was a dry famg expqrt f'rom the state
of Nebraska. He was a big man with a red beard, red hair. He was quite
sick. A doctor met me at the train; he had been drinking./
Q. me doctor?
I
A. Not filly under, but I recognized it. So he took me t@ the patient, and
I was to be the only nurse. Well, he had prescribed the mdicine before.
I guess he wasn't in that condition when he prescribed the mdicfne. I could
give the mdicine and I mew hm to take cavle of a pnemqta case. 5 could
get food for him out of the kitchen, but the next day he 9 s all ri#t. His
wife was ping to come from Nebraska when he was so sick, pf course. And
she believed tn a magic doctor. He was called the rm@c +ctor, and she
brought him along. It was all right. He didn't say the &her doctor must
go, he didn't say that I'd have to stop giving the mediciw or anythbg. He
just, well, he did sow rubbing and so forth as nearly as $ remr&er. That
was about all. I would disappear somtirres when he was ty~, that is, let
the wife be with him. The doctor naybe wanted it that way! for short periods.
But that went on all ri&t. The patient got better.
However, there was a terrible mcket from the geese on the/ hotel grounds.
It was distrubing m, but; it was disturbing the patient, t o. So I went to
the proprietor and I said, "Why do you have those geese re anyhow?" And
he said, "To give the place a dornstic look. " So we o have it. Now
that I thought that was quite an experience.
Q. The magic doctor, was he a faith healer type?
A. I think so, yes. And it was also--he was a nice looki@g man, a qicely
groorned man and polite and nice. There wasn't anything
And the doctor stayed on. He said, "You call me when
Q. So science and spiritualism got along fine? I
A. Yes, they did. (lawter)
I
Q. You said he was a expert in dry farming. I 'm not quit sure what that
means.
t
A. Well, you see, Texas, that panhandle region, is
t
what h was interested
in; mostly because there isnl t $no@ rain there, enough m isture. At least,

Anna Tittman 80
at that th. I dontt know, I suppose there was somtbq. I don't
know what he d-Ld because he was too sick to talk about it. He had some
method of planting, I think, that he tawt the fanners, Qhe he advised
the fmrs to have. He was rraking his livlng that way and I don't how,
certainly sombody bmught him, sorw organization, fmm organization
or sowthing like that.
Q. How did they hear about you to send for you to aom aqd nurse him?
A. In F't. Worth there was a nursest reastry. We didn't have a registry
here when I was doing private duty. We got all our cases fkom Mr. Dodds
at the drug store. In that diary, there's a little story about that, the
one he gave m to take with m. He gave rre the gifts wriven up in the
diary.
Q. Do you want to start on the diary?
A. Well, I'll just try you out on it to see; it beas with the prelimlrmy
here. Of course, you haven't bad the prelinlinawy on how $ happened 'Go be
going to Siberia. Well, during the First World War, we h~@ a peat qeed
for nurses in the and in the Navy. We also had our mtients at,home
4
to think about. I wanted to rrake rqyself available if I WE@ needed f r mllitary
service, but I was soon told that no, I'd better not o. That as at
the time when I was secretary of the State Board of Nurse F' xminers. It was
important; for II~R to go on with work with the nursing sqools and with
the arranging for the exminations for their licemure for4 practice. The
Red Cross was interested in me staying, too. So I went oq to a comn$ttee
where we passed upon the nurses who wmted to go. "Were they essential to
the work here or werent ' they?'' And they called their jobp, frozen jobs.
Just like the men, I guess the unions did too, call their work flwzen jobs.
So in a sense I was in a frozen job and happy to be there pnd do this'service.
It was not ny whole service. I kept Hat on with other work in
trying to keep the stan- up in schools of nursing and have them -rove.
I lose iq,r track, what I was going to . . .
I
Q. Who served on this board, besides you? f
A. There were five. The board was made up of five. It w&, prorated in
the first place by the Illinois Nurses Association. We were divided-and
I lived through that, too. Miss Dalbey was our leader in that. Divided
up the state into districts and we were the thirteenth district here., Then
it took in several counties, so the whole state was dividejj. that way^ Then--
see, I lose track. I don't . . .
Q. You're doing fie. So there was you on the board and , . .
A. Oh, yes. And then Miss-at this t h , MISS Adalaide W&lsh, a
worm, a graduate of &my Hospital, very much of a lady, practical
as well, and she was mre concerned with her family at that time,
a Uttle bit mare leeway of taking a job and getting out, you see.
have to be on a specific job . She had a mother who was very sling
father felt she should be horn.
I

Anna Tittman
I
81 ;
Then there was a Miss Aseltine down from a little town, MQlmls, it was,
i s , 1 0 s %e was director of the nursing school there. And
there was a graduate whose nam I can1 t think of from St. !Maryts Hospital,
nice person. There were Eve of us.
t
1
After this new law cam into effect, we had a representat ve from . . .
that wanted to lower standards. She learned a lot. (chu les ) But she
was nice and all.
t
Q. Youtd mntioned the Red Cross earlier. Were they In this board or
In on the decisions?
A. No, no. They didn ' t have any special--but the nurses b o were--well ,
you made your own decision whether you wanted to belong td the Red Cross
or not, you see, and the Red Cross nursing semi-ce . I am no longer a men+
ber of that. Men you become a certain age-now I did a Wt of--well, I
could leave my job when I was in the state, long enough to go to Charleston
to handle the nurse who helped work on the cyclone down tkre. That was
in 1915. Then another tlime I went to Pekin because the S~day School boat
went down. There were many drawned. There was work to ba done thew. That
was only a few days for me, but we had to take care of tha hones, tocp. When
there was a death in [the] family, we had to gt pmvisiorp for them-towell,
help them make ayrangemnts and so forth.
Q. I didn't realize that those kinds of things were done
i
A. k Chxrleston, we had . . . j
I
Q. In Charleston, which state is this?
A. Illinois. There was another one [cyclone] at Mattoon which was just
down the rallmad from me. I was in cha~ge at Charleston. The hospital
operating room had been hit, and therefom, we built up a temporary hospital
on the second floor of an empty building downtown. The b e turned over the
front part of their building to us to use as an office. It 's very satisfp
Fng kind of work, but you feel the pain along with it. B& you feel that
you're gett- things done and in the Charleston business, for instance,
a worn went out to pick up her little chicks, and she had them in her apron.
And the chickies lived and she didn't. She was struck. Then there was something
else that impressed IE and I haven't forgotten it. On the first holiday
that some rnen had In a distant city, they care in with their
shovels on their shoulders to help clean up. You every day
for a long tb, and the people would 13e found
and trying to dry them out. It was pathetic.
I happened to go to Siberia.
t
Q. How did you get assigned to these cases? Md the Red ross send you
to Charlest on?
A. They didn't send m. If I couldn't go, I couldntt go. They'd have to
get sombody else, but I was in, charge, you see. We were lwlteers . We
didn't get paid for it.

Anna Tittm
Q.'
How many nurses would you have under you?
A. Well, it depends on what the need was. We could alwas get somebody
to help. QI, I had about six nurses down there at Chwlegton, I think.
Then helplng with the f'unerals is a point to me. You to see that
somebody is at horn to take cavoe of the children that
funeral or aren't going to the funeral. You get one
it or a nef&bor. Well, the older people were a
now. ( chuckles )
Q. In what way?
A. Well, they're just at lose ends. They just didn't lux@ what to do and
somtirrues they have a farriily to go to and somtims they c@n;!t. Not every
codty has a retirerent home, or didn't then, where thy could go. Well,
S O . . .
Now this little book here tells about Miss Delano who was lour national leader
of our American Red Cross Nursing Service. She was a beaaiful, beautiful
worn; in spirit, in looks. When I was in Washingbon rry first tim -t;o help
the ---I got a leave of absence f'romthe Departmnt of @gistration and
Education to accept a request fbr re to go to Washington tp help theq get
their Army school records started--the A w school had not, been fowd yet,
but they wanted sombody that was familiar with keeping re~ords for qm3mg
schools
Q. The was setting up a school of nursing?
A. Yes, and we did. So I got a leave of absence for that' and then they
wanted me to stay longer. Tney wmte to the director; we had a director then
of this Departmnt of Registration and Educatfon. I was n/p longer w own
boss, you how--besides my board--I still had board. put I became Civil
Service. So they had the exhation and I came out first! Of course, I'd
done the work and traveled all over the state.
Q. You d96h?'t write the test?
A. No, (chuckles ) but I knew it all. I cam out first. And then a man
who was also an inspector for the departmnt, he was an in$pector of barrber
shops, and he took the same examhation, he passed for bmber shop inppection.
I was supposed to not just confie myself to schools
Board of Registration and Education was established.
the superintendent of--now he wasnl t the director
of Registration and mucation, he was the
for things. I had to inspect midwives
hated like everything heaving of one
There was one mn who did the
bow anything about nursing schools.
cessor to this beautif'ul Miss Eelano.
she was going into her building in
very soft. She was tall, grey
dressed. She died in France.
I
I
I

in regard to the reconstmction, and she died over there.
expected.
I
It was un4
Q. She died after the war then?
A. Yes, after the war.
I
;
Q. And what was her 'title? I
1
A. She was Director df the Amarican Red Cross Nursing %mice. And then
Miss Clara Noyes succeeded her. Miss Noyes sent word to I-@ while I was
still working for the state to met her in Chicago to tau about an assigmnt.
So I went and this was it; she wanted mz to go to *beria. We had
lunch together and it was over lunch that-I think I dimF% eat much. (chuckles)
I probably sat with ngt muth open thou&. I was for it rii@jnt off. She told
me a lot about it, about what I was expected to do.
At the time when I left Springfield, you know, I didnlt krpw that I was
going to be chief. When I got to San Francisco to ,take tk boat--we were
there for days, I got acquainted with all the nurses--I tkpu$-it they'd put
me in charge of this group just for the trip, you see. W@n I got t@
Vladivostok--the director of nursing had been a missionary in Japan, j she
wasn't Red Cross, she didn't know much about it, but that wasnlt thelpoint.
She was a fine person, and I think she mustlve had some eqxutive ability.
She was riding on the train, Trans Siberian Railroad, andbhe was knitting
and the train jerked and she got the needle in her eye. e had to go back
to the United States for treatnutnt which cmldnlt be done ut there and had
already left before I amdved. So I becam chief nurse o the group there.
There were nurses already there who had corrle in a ~reviod pup. We had
eighteen rwn with our [pup]. Well, so that's the way I ptwted. Then
I had this diary, it's on trip across-well, first of @L1, a11 the things
that were done for me here in the way of parties. [narratmr reads and explains
her diary. ]. And one party in particular, the Avodan Club had SOB
very nice little private poem that they made up and they, each one, gave
m a rose. Tney cam and they recited their little poem. Would you like
to hem that?
Q. bat is the Avonian Club?
P
A. The Avonian Club was a literary club that took it s n; *bt from th Avon
River. It; started as a Shakespearean club really, and thf 1 it got 0 r into
prominent pro&;rams, needs and all that. More than just 1: ;erary, it was
mre of a social idea, that is a social service idea. Vat iael mds y - at
one tlm was a mmber of it; he was the only man.
Q. How many ~mbers did you have?
A. Just the one.
Q. No, how many mrrbers, tota3 members?
A. C91, I would say an attendance of ten, maybe twelve, sc
1et;irres maybe

Anna Tittm
not that. We mt around in the homes.
+ 84 I
i
I think we mt about once a honth.
Q. Did Vachad write you a poem?
A. No, he wasn't in it then. I guess he was off on his onliat trip,
you know, where he sold, he paid for his bread with poem Did you know
that? When he made his trip out . . .
Q. I've heard it, yes. You'll have to tell me about Va Lindsay some
time.
A. Well, I only rernenher seeing him at church wlth his mqther. !they just
had their shoulders together like so a llthmw the seqce.
Q. why?
I
A. Just so they wouldn't get away *om each other, I se, something
like that.
Here, this is the way the diary starts: '%y 3, 1919. Avonlan Club
gave m a farewell in honor of prospective mission to aberia, At$ the
horn of MaYy (Millie) Rich after a program on Americanizat$on, each of the
mnS3ers present in twn came to m, presented rn with a Fx$n Ward Rose,
giving a little original poem or a few words to wish me weLl. The president,
Miss Welsh, came last, and with her rose was the beautiful,wristwatch, Swiss
movements, and my narrae engraved on the back. The poems
1
so forth were;
Gn a trip across the sea/I wish you'd be as happy as can b the ocean
glve you rest and your efforts find success. This was lvIol y Rich's oontribution.
Now does this suit you? :
Q. Oh, I'm fascinated, yes. I think you were an awfully $rave little girl.
A. (chuckles) You'll think so later. "In Siberia, I am told, there; are
ni&ts both bad and bold& turn a blank face to the smile$, and len& a deaf
ear to their wiles/And as for doctors and Amy officers, well, just let them
have their say/IVm mighty glad that you are on a contract anyway." That
was Miss buise Crowder. I didn't tell you who that first one was. Well,
that was Wllie Rich, the hostess. She was one of my hi@ school classmates.
We Avclrdans clalm you, Sweet Maid/Of nothing do you seem
off to a distant land/to lend a guiding helping hand/And
in sun or shade. I' That's Addie Elkin Bell.
Q. Eddie?
te*
I
A. Addie, A-D-&I-E. She's passed away. All these have, uise Crowder,
Mollie Mch. Now this is not original, but it was approp "For thou&
leagues divide us/our thoughts can span the widest seas to each Annie
Jack. Amie Jack mrr3ed the pr5ncIpal of the P b r Scho She's not
living either. I'm, Anna, you are going far, far away/Now efore you leave,
there is one thfng I would say/We wish you health and happmess and work that
you adom/But when you've had enough of it, please cane baq to us once more."
I

Anna Tittman i ! 85
Lucy C. Williams. She died not very long ago.
Then Alice Draper who wrote this was a teller in a bank.
f
e bank was
where Coe ' s Book Store is now, but I don't know what bank t was, don't
relllember. "When trekkzng o1re the Russian slops, or ski g fl-om the
hei@ts/donlt let the Cossacks bluff you, or Bolsheviks ght/But when -
you need a passport, there ' s only one thing to do/Just sa , ' I'm an -
Avonian, ' and they '11 promptly let you th-. "
Q. (laughter)
A. "Peoples motley, peoples badly need our ca;r/People si and needy else
over there, over thereflo help them rightly we're sadly a $ a loss/But
here steps in ri&t boldly our Amrican Red Cross/French, klgium, AmEnian.
Slav, Pole, EbhemLadHottentot and what-may-notmear for qur aid will help
you too/We1 11 help to Assyria; we '11 help you to Siberia/Qur God hath all
of them made,'' this is all one poem. %a& one and all oQ service must be
so that we and they live mre happilyhhile many must find their best service
at homdsonu3 can help better when afar they roan& dear &Tend, we know you
peat good can dome ' re proud to be well acquainted with wlsh you
also a good time to see/and in happy circumstances may yoy always be/And
when across you have had a flin@;/may memories of fr-iends back home you'll
brin@;/Thou& best of dl, ray you find the right msu?/and warm by your fireside,
our dear friend, Ann." ?hat was Kate Newlin Barnes, She was a teacher
when she was Kate Newlin. She married Mr. Barnes, a prinqer, had a print
I
shop. They had twins.
And I ~ ~ m bher e r telling entertaining us with a story out the tw$ns. Her
husband took care of one baby at niat, and she took of the other.
Q. Was that all one poem? 1
A. Yes, that was all one poem. One poem. And then the last, when phe watch
was presented, ItToni&t our he-s beat high with pride, in you who4 We hold
very dear/Welre sending to the other side, a messenger of hope and cheerme
little thowt we ' d have a part, in unraveling the tanglea skeins that war
has lef't/But you will bear the Avonian flag to Russian plUns/ We cannot
see you triumph then, but this our gift with you may roafle hope 'twill
watch you everywhere, and speed at last your coming horn. '' That was the
watch, you see. That was Rlss Welsh,
t
Then May 3rd, I have an additional note in l957 on that.
and h erd services at Smith Brothers.It That poem I was
to Niss Graham, her mend who she lived with.
Q. Was Uss Graham [curator of the Vacheel Lindsay horn1 an A~niipi?
1
A. Yes, she was. We don't have it anymore. They're all mst of t em
dead. 'The past week,'' then I go on, "the past week has been an ex eedingly
bwy ax? in preparation for the long journey ahead. Shopping, dent stry
luncheons, dinners, business matters in general, have keprl; rm going constantly.
Wednesday ni&t there was a beautiful mmorial service held at the
Presbyterian Church in honor of Miss Jane Delano, our geptly beloved
i
"fiss Welsh died
requested to @ve

Anna Tittman 86
director of the Amrican Red Cross Nursing Service, who pwsed from this
life April 15, in Eranee. Reverend E. B. Rodgers preached a wonderfU
semn, and the choir sang beautifilly . There were 35 Red Cross nurses
in uniform with the cape of scarlet lining. We wore them with the left
side thrmnm over our shoulder to expose the scarlet lining. Do you know
the cape?
Q. If ve seen pictures of it on posters.
A. Well, a sequel to this story. We had to return the cqpes after our
service was over. But I went to that all day meting a cquple of weeks
ago for the Senior Citizens, for the Codssion of the Senior Citizens, it
was so good. I was only going to go for the morning. Ma@y bider stuck
with re. She wanted to stay too, we stayed all day. But a nurse I know
who married a doctor here-his narne was Hodges, he's not Jiving now, I didn't
bow hfm or anything about him, I think he was a doctor, maybe not--anyhow,
she had this cape on at that meting. She was doing nurswg service there,
she was on call in case there was anyone [who] got sick og fell.
I said, "Why don't you wear it the way you should with thg cape back?''
She sdd, "You how, I'm thinking about taking 'chat red lbing out and just
rraMng a regular cape out of it. l1 Well, it hwt me so. $he didn't have it
thrown back, you see. She had it on [with the side dm],
Q. Was she one of the ones who took part in the ce~m~nywith you or had
she gotten her cape at a later date?
A. I don't know. No, she wasn't listed with rry group. $he might've been
with some other-rnaybe the Red Cross has changed now, but they go on emergency
work like I had a couple of cases of. Why they rmyrbe allowed to
keep the cape if they agree to go whenever they're called4 She had p white
uniform underneath because she was on duty. Maybe she wa$ on the R Cross
duty for my emrgency that mL&t occur at the old people's gather$.
Well, anyhow, "There were 35 Red Cross nurses at this in uniform with the
capes of scarlet lining at the mmrlal sedce. A nunbey of other waduates
and the pupils of Springfield and St. John's Hospital sch@ols for nurses, "-
they were mtRed Cross-but they were there in thei~ unifDrms. "About ninety
nurses all together Thursday night atbended party in my h~nar at the home
of Nillie Rich again. There were present Miss Ballman, P&ss Jenny," something,
"Hllie and maelf. We--?this is
Murray Hanes, We. OIHayla, and Billy Bums, the last
the rest by his splendid singing. We all enjoyed
CharYisma." Well now, Murray Hanes I've known for
used to ask E to corrre and stay with the six
out when I was about twelve ye- old.
Murray wed to want to wrestle with me, and I didn't know how t
so I wamrt any mod. At this meeting, the a11 day i-twtir?g of
Citizens, he received a place in the Hall of F'am of the or@
the c~ssion, and had his nam on a little plate. He axre up
it ; I didnl t get a chance to speak to him directly. It was awf'ul
So that was interesting to see him in old age. He had sqre comic
to make when they gave it to blm. He had a certificate

Anna Tittm
handed him the certificate.
isnl t he?
And this Lindley, I guess he's a florist,
Q. Yes. He was the present florist's father. Were they a singing
pup? Is that what you said? You mntioned that they'd entertained you
with singing. Did the four of them sing together?
A. Oh, no. There was just one, Mr. Burns, who was the swer. He was a
trained singer, and thatls the occasion, I guess. They escorted him the~e.
I don' t remember too mch about that really. I guess I had so mny other
thingJ cm&g on mind. There was a Navy nurse who c m here and was
having her furlough. She gave n-e a lot of informtion about what I should
take with m, what -I should do and so on.
Q. What was some of her advice? Can you remerrber?
A. No. (chuckles)
Q. Long underwear?
A. Well, we got that in our outfitting in San Francisco. But the ftr lined
coats never came. They were sent to Syria instead of Siberia, we newer got
use of: them. But there were a couple of fl*r lined khaki cloth color coats
in our post office--we had a post office in our building for our Red Cross
personnel in Vladivostok-that we could borrow, but we ha8 to sim our
lives away almst to get them. And then, you know, e to bring them
back. We lived right Ln that building where the ce was. At least
our pup dld. Well, that's getting off into Vladivostok. Well, now, do
you want to hear all that happened in San Francisco and thkgs like that?
Q. Yes. How did you get to San Francisco? 1
A. Train. And it took practically three days on the tr&n from Spningfield
to San Francisco.
Q. Did you travel as a group?
A. No. Alone. I went flrst to Chicago and there I had som mre people
at the traln to met re and rece%ved flowers and what not. When I lert
here, diary tells m that family were all there and all these friends.
"Although it was pouring down rain, Dr. Hewlitt took cw to the
train." Also, I was livingwith the knkels at that
Dr. Henkel's grandmother's house. She was a widow
sister lived who was married to Dr. Hewlitt. Dr.
on the northeast comer of Washington and Sixkh
was an elder in our church.
1
We had a male quartet in the Mrst Christian Church. Bow Dr.
Dr. Henkel--the father-and the ppndfather of the prese* Dr.
and a Mr. Anderson, a school principal, and F'r& Drake,
principal, were a quartet, a sh-igFng quartet. It was vem, very godd in
our church.

Anna Tittman
Well, now I told you about som of the presents. Mr. Dod& of Dodds
Drugstore, here it is. llMr. R. M. Dodds gave me a rubber pillow, a
for toilet a.rticles, a box of chewing gum, a box of face gowder, two
of rubber gloves, a soldier's mirror, and a rubber face snonge.
lovely letters from Niss Egan of Boston,11 she was my diregtor
Ed Nolton, who was are of beaus frcm Holyoke , Massawetts , and/ others.
'Triday momin@: I had a wonderful ride over rry native city with a pup of
nurses here attending an institute. I was glad indeed to have a last gliwse
of Ljncolnls lbnmnt and the p&s and suburbs. So beau$iful just now,
sprWed everywhere with blooming bridal wreath.ll This yas getting on toward
May, toward the end of May. llEhjoyed seeing the various $chooIhousep whelre
I labored in the cause of the future health of Springfiela six and seven
years ago. I passed the house where I was born, 305 West Washington Street,
and the old high school where I spent four years in purswlt of a foundation.
Even the old gas works, where I used to chew tar when a tw little girl
going to and fYom school, looked good,to me. I passed the hospital where I
had my first tralning for nursing. The haunted house on West Washington
Street, too, aroused my mmry of the days when neither heaven nor earth
could have made me pass by without protection. I went twough part of the
city where I have lived at various tSmes in my career. I@ fact3 a panorama
of presentation of nly life's history this day and was gld for it." May 19,
now. "It was rather:' well, maybe I o@t not to take so much tim
on this;
I
Q. No, no. It's interesting.
A. Well, you're sweet.
Q. (chuckles) Where were you on May 19?
A. Well, "I was rather surprised to recefve c orders to proceed
without delay this morning. To proceed to
sco to sa '1 May
26 at. . . II (pause) oh, it was mrn Washington, anyhowb, CO~~~LUTLC i tian
from Washington. Oh, "The corrrnunicat%on earlier in the wpek advised me that
unless my passport arrived. Within the next few days, Tnthe next day or
two it said, it would be impossible for m to sail by the1 end of the month."
Q. You hadn't received your passport yet then?
1
A. No, I hadn l t had it, no. But when the; had it, why
telegamto proceed. So well, I had $om time to get re
pack and so forth. l10n Wednew the registration
Association of Graduate Nurses was in Springfield
work in the Senate. And severe1 of the Chicago
Nurses-shall I . . .
Q. NW' this is what you described to m, before when you bde your gpeech?
A. Yes. 'We c m to a second reading and compromised. Well, you don't
want that @, do you? I think 1 ciarified that enom. And thei, oh
here was MLss Walsh and her sister and so forth and so on. Miss McCullough
had m up at Riverton.

Anna Tittm 89
Q. Wha was that?
A. Mrs. Gertrude McCdlough. She is dead. Sne was ente3taining her
missionary club and wanted me to come up and tell about prospective
trip. This is all practically entertahmnt and so on. ?/ow this is
another poem. "Excuse this brief and faulty rhyming, deq little madam
pres$dentw-I was president of the local association. "Tlis hard to mike
poetic cMg, express what in our hearts we t h W e ha= all gloomy
thoughts unspokefle wish you joy," and this is the nursea that are giving
me this, ''And this small token/Our love will always do thq same, accept
it not with cold derision/This magic wand will f'ulfill yo@' need, tdll
make of you a charming vision and prove it is a friend in+ed/[nlhen ycDu
mive in Vladivostok, if wily Huns attempt their spell ad terria you
with their coarse ta.lk/This weapon then my serve you well/All jokes aside,
although seas divided us and we through life's pat march are whirled/the
same good friend will watch beside us the patest rather \in the world."
Now that was written by a Miss Wilbur, who was a secret and nurse to
Nm. Lawden when Governor Lowden was the governor. The rt was a curling
iron, the weapon. "Use it as a weapon." And I never used it because I
was aMd I would blow out the electrl city out" there, and I didnl t use it.
I wasn't doing much curling those days. Oh, by the way, I didn't put on
my other hair. I thought, lWell, we're all hornfolks, and I'm going to
we= this wound home, this is own hair. I like my wh3te hair. (chuckles)
Q. I do too. It l s-very attractive.
I
i
A. Now did I get started about going to San Francisco? ere was a scene
at the station here in Springfield which I want to mntioa to you, my folks
were all there. And ~QI old father, he looked paler than I had ever seen him.
When I shook hands with him to leave the thowt passed
that I may not see him again. And I felt sure that he
sm. And then I stood on the end of the traln and saw
who had been very, very ill, close to death during an
bow, and I took care of him, he was very precious to
that's in Florida now and is going to have a cataract
stood out on the tracks and waved to m just as long asland I waved back.
So that Is in here.
Q. You had quite a contingent to see you go.
A. Yes. And then on the way, another little thing that on the
way to Chicago. I wrote, I was answer4.ng a nice letter,
nice letter I received from Gladys Coffin. She dled l.&t
on the verge of asking the Kreider girls who kept
she was well enough for me to let her know what I read
answering her letter that was in connection with
was ;too ill then.
Now in California, we had quite a good bit of the, actua ly. I left here
the nineteenth, I think it was
1
and it was the thirtieth f May, 1919, that
we sailed on the Nippon Mam. And we had several days, i$ was ten W s or
mre, in San Frmcisco, and we ckidnTt waste..W tw, see- everything
there was to see. We were ea given alittle foot trw?k:thatwwe packed
our clothes in. Then we had to have them fitted, som of them. Then we had
d

Anna Tittman
our suits and a big winter coat. It wasn't fur lined, bu# we wore it over
our suits. We weren't allowed to be out of our suits or uniform off of
ow p~ndses. On the predses we could dress in informal dress or a
formal dress, but not away from the headquarters.
We really had a very good the there. And as I told you, I didn't how
that I was going to be ;iyl charge until I got there. Thed were som old
ladies there f'mm Rhode Island that I thought they'd-theyld been heads
of hosp$tals and all that sort of thing, but we got aloq. Then one of
group was Miss Helen Bridge who was a teacher of nurses in the school
of nursing connected with Barnes Hospital at St. Louis.
Q. How did you go about getting outfitted?
A. Well. the Red Cross in San Francisco had a nursing division and they
looked after us. They told us when to appear and where artd how and so forth.
We were all put up fn a hotel and we knew when we could have som t b to
ourselves. Weld go in a pup so~tims and again just two of us. ;[: tried
to include everybody, you know, that needed to get around* And then1 som
of the local citizens were nice to us. Thme was a Niss glee, I thifllc it
is, who entertained us on her estate. It was lovely up there. And then
she catre and took us to the theatre.
Q. How did you get your clothes? Did they give you mneg to @ out and
buy clothes?
A. No, no. They had them all there. Tney outfitted us. They had the
things and they fitted us, you see. Weld have to have
of us. Pk, for instance, everything was too long for
you asked one th about the length of skirts. That
was clear down to the floor, you see. That was
Q. Md they furnish all of your clothes?
A, No, I had, for instance, a blue silk--we didn't hear yuch about nylon
those days, but it was a stretchy mterial like-well, it wasn't a crepe
efther, but it had a shine to it, long sleeves. Now this \was ~IW awn that
I traveled in before I got the outfit. It had little peapl buttons all
the way down to q waist. And once in Springfield, it r-d and w skirt
was around I-QI feet. It stretched, you see. So they had )o fix that before
I got horn.
Q. What kinds of things did you pack? What kinds of thi
you'd have trouble getting in Sibe~ia? Cosmtics and thl
h mrn Japan that we cou16ntt buy in Siberia. I had pic me
gs dld you think
@p like that?
A. Well, I think we took little suppl;ies of things. We oujldntt take too
much, you lmow. We weren't allowed ta take too much. An we did get things
taken &I
Japan and it was good, I had hat on and n'y full outdoor uniform. Well,
now Helen Bridge bm@t a suit of silk underwear, and that was good when
we were af'raid of insects. She made m take it when I ha4 a trip in the
interior of Siberia. See, the lice were prevalent. I di@ntt get them anyhow,
but she made me take tht along. Now she was s&, and it wouldlve
been a mod idea if I'd had hail one, I guess.
I

Anna Tittm
Q. Why is silk better for lice?
A. Tney can't penetrate it. Wool is what they like, you
I
know. Well,
now that I said that, that's somthing else, isn't it?
Naw about here I wrote that there were eighteen men in o
we got going. And I have all their nares listed here,
was fYom here [Springfield]. They were from all over
as the nurses were.
Q. mat was the reason for their being with you?
A. Oh, they were making up the codssion, an office thai did thin@ for
militaxy who was over there already. They had seven thowand troops over
there at that tlrre, and in a nurher of other countries, tbey had an equal
rider. But I can tell you about that later, I guess, whqn I get there.
So I have the nms of all the nurses who were in it, none mrn here. Now
you were asking nore about the clothes, were you? I bouefft thlneg after I
got down to China, after I was thro- with Siberia. I @ow that I paid
a lot for a party dress to go out with a young man, a foml dress fbr
a fomnal party, because the man I was Interested in was sick. He was one
of the reasons I went down to China. I mt him on the train in Siberia
which yau will hear about. It was a black lace dress, net dress. LSttle
mff1es.this wide all the way down the skirt, and little beads, little
glass beads. Paid a hundred dollars for it, and I wore It after I came
back, foml, of course. The wn that I had mt on the tmin in Siberia,
was a ni@t editor of the Chicago Tribune, Fred Smith. 31, well-and I
can't remn-ber too many other things that we d.id in San Francisco, but they're
r
here. I' m having tmub le reading it.
Q. Could I turn a li@t on for you or somthing?
I
A. I have all the m s here and the aides too. 1 had s@m aides, nurses
aides, and I have their names and the nurses backgrounds. And here I say,
"1 appointed the following officers, Miss Bridge, social and edcuat4onal
director," this is on the boat. "Miss MacInti~, unifom director. " me
displayed her executive ability, smtimes to excess, and she was one of
the older ladies that had taught. And then Miss Iast was
i
plbrarian, Lucy
Last. And the squad captains, I made squad captains, ea one was charge
of a corridor on the boat. It was a amall boat, I can't m&er the tonnage,
but it was considered a small boat. And the squad aptaks ware mss
Ayres, Miss Howell, M3ss McCawley and mss Faye. Now ev body was f'rlendly,
there was no fl&tSng or anything Eke that. '"We sdled t exactly 1: 00 p.m.
waving farewell to a large asse&ly on the pier. Ihe Re Cross ladies and
the mayor's codttee supplied us with flowers, candies d so forth, (pame)
and threw streamers over us. Passing throw the Golden ate was a thrilling
experience. It did not long stay thdlling; however for m y of i us
began to pt seasick. " & too.
Q. Oh, were you? !
A. Yes. % were in mu& water for nearly two days and nearly all on board
were M&tfully ill. I shared a cabin "A" with Miss HoTer and Mss Howell.
I

Anna Tittrran 92
i
Water cam in thrOugh the porthole. Waves dashed over thi boat ."
Q. How many of you were there?
A. I think I had twenty nurses here.
Q. Wenty nurses and seventeen fellows?
A. There were eighteen men. I have all their names, too. !'Our boat- is, "
I'm writing on the boat now, "the boat is very small, only Mve thou8and
tons. There it is. 'This is its 83~d trip, and it has been on the Pacific
for twenty years. !here me many fiteresting passenglrs aboard, mng
them a Japanese, a Russian, a constmzction general, his 6fe and daughter,
Bessie Shaminoff, a Russian banker, Mr. George Jeffersky. Norwe@ans, Danes
and hricans were #on the boat, and one American who has Wen a judge in
the Philippines. The crew and the navigators are all Japq except the purser,
Mr. Chapman."
%aturday, May 31st ,I1 that s our first day out, really. '+The sea is seasick.
Gat up further on deck Late in the afternoon. Suqday, June lst, .
baths beautiful. All on board including n~~,elf improQng. With my
streamer letters today from k1Ue Rich, Miss Dalbey, and f'rom the mmbers
of the Thirteenth District. There were about five of the letters and the
senthnt on each was lovely. Able to go to dining room qt noon. At 5 : 00
p.m. the Red Cross unit held vesper services for fifieen Wwtes. Nr. Rodgers
presided. Dr. Woodbury read a lesson f"rom Romans 6, Fevised Edition.
Mrs. HaLsteadl not of the unit, sang. And Dr. Bower rended a beautiful
prayer. All sang the Star Spangled Barrier. The Red Crosq
a
flag which was
comdeered fYmn the Pacific Division Office was han@;ingb the piano.
The purser was good enough to allow ms to hang it f'rorn th balcony of the
dining room and allow it to remajn.. Many of the other pa engers attended
owl semice .'I Jme ad, 1919, Monday. "I am feeling fin today. Enjoyed
conversation on the deck. Also first Russian lesson fYom iktle Bessie
Shawrinoff, age thirteen. Played five hundred in the af'tewoon with the
Misses Bridge, Last and MacIntire. " You get to know those people. (laughter)
"Had sitting up exercises in the mormhg. At night the bqt c ~ treated w
the passengers to moving pictures. These were reLtcs of tf-~ early nineties."
A. "And the tragedist were of the most hmmus
the womenls clothing were screms . La9,ge
short sleeves and tight waists. The news
Brockton Fair, Massa~husetts.~~ I guess
don ' t know how they got it. Oh, that was in the movie picme .
[it was] very antiquated, of cwse.
together party. It was quite
and state phed on. Pkrrbers
to work out name of the

The June wedding of Dr. Washburn as groan and Miss Thmps as a bride
was very good, November had election day. February did P" he Gearge
Wasldmgtan cherry tree #stunt and so forth and so forth.
lobster race by Dr. Brady and Mr. Hayward.
'Tuesday, June the 3rd, 1919. Setting up aercises
10 :00 a.m. Cards in afternoun. Dance given by unit
Dancing lessons by Miss Bridge at 4:30 p.m. I
Morsemm by Vincent I. Bane2 . Wamlatiuns
repz-d Mss Ireland today. " Oh, golly.
Q. What had Miss Ireland done?
l
Dr. Bankan at
A. I can't tell, I don't rmmiber. kt's see if it's She made up
with a girl named Wss Englmd. They had Ireland and
all the way thraugh.
Q. And these *re their real natres?
A. Yes, &ose ere their real names . (pause) Samething about pos~ed a
-om regulation. (1-) Oh, golly. "Allwed toes and hats off
with lw neck today .It We 1, I posted the unifonn regulat&ms after that.
Thls was sanething that I did.
'Wednesday, JLIW the faueh. Russian lessons began todai arranged by my
group, Mr. Torjeffsky, instructor, assisted by Kiss Paulipney , one of my
aides. Large attendance. Leasun lasted for me half ho*. Fmglish lesswill
be giwn Eb . Torjeff sky in refion for his kinhs4Mr. Torjeffsb,
prarwnxnced Torjuffsky, is the director of the Fhssian
and director of
the Siberian Tamers Association." Tanners Association? a tin^ goes by
very rapidly. Ckme can scarcely find motqjh time in
reading and writing. Tonight we had a concert in the
salon. '&ere was a piano solo by Ws , KCPIID, a
cated in a California University. A flute mde of reed, played by a male
Jap, acccqanied a dolin &layed7 by dining, rocm boy Jq. And another
instnment, sort of a banjo effect, played by Elrs, Matwes. This Jap
wit was vdry mird, indeed, but the climax cam when a elderly qle Jap
8mg a long, old folk solo, aacanpanying himself an a s
of queer deaQp. We also gave a vocal selectim . s
quartet of Mr. and Mrs. bblstsad, Miss Hbover, and Dr.
in otrr group.
"June the fifth; Russian class for an hour today.
fifteen minutes. A tiny little blackbird cam to met
that m are netrhg Zand, Also sighted a four m five
passing us. Qlrite wam~ today. Sent my
of th.e *ican Red Cross Nursing Service,
decorated with flags tonight for the dance.
RLlssh man and three small SQA~S." %y were steerage p4ssengss.
.
1
I
by were tk Russians going back into Russia?
1
A. Well, b y
had interests *re
probaly, -%M mi?? was gbirng on-mre
P
1
i
up exercises

Anna Tittman
perhaps, in European Russia. They got out and they hoped to get back in
that way. We had them coming out of European Russia into Asiatic Russia.
We took care of many, mmy children. You know about that 7 You will know
about that later. There's a book on that.
Q. Were they fearful at all going back into Russia? I'm sure most of them
were disposed of.
A. Well, they were separated from their people and theyrhad prope*y
there. Now this man that had the little girl wanted to @t back. They
couldn't get in back thmw European Russia because of tqe TighCing. Children
were sent dawn by the&? parents, down the Thns-Sibeqian line, hoping
that they 'd be safe. They knew the war wasn l t as heavy oTer there [in Asiatic
Russia]. There was lots of space, you how and all.
Now wetre at Honolulu. "I had a long talk with Lieutenant4Colonel h o ,
airplane expert; who was womded four times in airplane fi$bts. He has
traveled extensively. '' Nbwc "Friday, June the sixth, Honolpu; with-
out a doubt, is the most eventflil and unusual day I have lever experienced.
We all arose early at 5:30 a.m. I looked out then throm the portholes
and witnessed a dew that I shall never forget. There wew the green mountains
of the island of Oahu." Oahu, you haw, that's &* Honolulu is. "Of
the Hawaiian pup. Clouds were hanging over them, and tpe bare outlines
of the peaks could been seen extending above the clouds. The sea was quiet,
but the surf was breaking about the shore. The city of Hbnolulu was, j mt-
I have Honolulu all mked up for the pronunciation, n~hd you, I prdably
dldntt how how to pronounce it, I loaked it up-was just making and st&-
ing its morning fires. " It looked like that. "The smoke fmm which ascended
in such great v o l ~ that s at first one
f
thought the islan was being swept
by fire. The lvIoana Hotel stood out like a great white c tle against the
green of the hills and mountains. At 7: 30 a.m. the q w tine inspector
cam on board and a11 the passengers were assembled on th boat deck. The
examination was very supe~ficial consisting of one look, ne disinterested
glance. " (lawter) "Ladies, as requimd wore no veils or gloves. The
Hawaiian diving boys surrounded the boat, their bronze homes glistening in
the sun. They displayed wonderful ingnuity in diving for pennies, dimes
or quarters, which the passengers threw to them. It was
1
fun to throw a
coin in the center of a circle of them and see them all ve at a given
poht. The legs were flying, resembling the many tails o me octopus."
And those lee were all you saw, they all were arter one ob, you see. Oh,
golly, that was so~thing.
'We went on shore at 8: 3 and inmediately took autos
All the ladies in our dt and many of the
We first drove thm&;the business district past
thence to the residential part, past beautiful
gorgeous. The poinseanna tree, wide spreading,
red, and the shower of gold, a small tree with
like golden bells were the mst attractive.
throw regions of heavy forestry and small
side of the drive, we saw great thickets of a tangled lnesb of tms bout
two to+lthree laches in dieter. We cam suddenly--upon P$. Palli, md I am
sure that I have never seen a mre beautiful view. Stre'whed out farthest
beyond was the sea, the bluest blue and then spots of
7
n and other spots

Anna Tittman
of cre~. Other spots of blue and other posts of crem--3 get them a11
together and I could eat them, (laughter)-colored near the shore. The
variation in color is due to the degees of depth. I was told that lass
bottomboats cruise along that shore Mrnwhich one can sae the cor 8
growing. There were vast mountains all together pen w5ah spots of PHI
loomhg up from the shore on either side of us, while hmqdiately in
front of us were wonderful pinaapple farms." They gave uq a box of pineapple
on the boat to take with us.
'-meir green tops extended above the earth which was reddish brown. There
were little caqs standing out white here and there, withiroads winding
in and out the pineapple fields which were arranged in f cy shapes,.and
were only -red in their loveliness by the word, 'Libby? rnade by an a~rmgemnt
of the @awing f'ruit. Thus Is beauty ever forcqd to include the
stamp of comrcialisrn. I' (laughter) (3-1, dear. I'M. Pala itself is of
historical significance having been the point upon which tjwo hundred people
were in 1739, driven off the precipice by an opposlvlg forqe. And a battle '
ensued between two kings of the islands3." Now n-y wrlting+is clearer here.
I d t had had a poor pen back then. "1 shall always hop4 to have another
I
opportunity to see the view fkasn Palli." I never did.
"F'rom P@lli, we drove to the punchbowl which gave us a view of the
entire city of Honolulu, and much of the island of Oahu, won which it
is situated. We also saw the ship, Nippon Mam, lying at the pee,
We went next to the aquarium, une of the remarkable placed of Honol~~$u."
I've heard much about it. They say that it's the finest we anywhe
most gorgeously colored and remkable shaped fish, the apanese
with it's wonderful fan trailing tail was mng the mst qonspicious .
Such brilliant colors of blue and orange and corhinations bf rose, p b ,
pqlesiand pens. One could not believe such thingp eated unles$ having
seen them.
From there we went to the Seaside Hotel on Waikiki Beach. Here we donned
our bathing suits of the California type. It (chuckles) mt was to put
in--I don't remrrber them. "Made abbreviated. " (laughterr) Oh, .we used to
wear awkzL funny--you're too young to know what kind of bqthing suits we
wore in the beginning. Skirts and sleeves and everything, up to yoy neck.
Q. So what was the California type, do you think?
A. Well, this was a little bit mre up to date. (chuck
sure it had a skirt to it as well as the pants. "The Chi
the beach said, '.Red Cmas no payee, no payee. Double
to realize we were guests of the Honolulu Red Cross. We kpd the pleasure
of rideng the suPf in the outrmr canaes. They were m e d by natives.
This is a most deli@tfd sporti and it f s said that it can be indulged
in at no other place b the
On& of these boats t ed over with
four nmes in it, but ail were saved. We w$lmthe to core
out of the water, but
we all voiced the sentnt that we
never had a more
" There ' s a native at phe head of the
canoe and you're holding on. A great bZg wave is ooming
towa~?ds you. way, The great big ve is forming
ahead of you and you go over down and then youf re al1Tplashy and
j
1
1

Anna Tittm
everythhg until you get onto smooth sea again. So that was an expePience.
There was just two of us in a canoe.
'We were the guests of Red Cross at luncheon at Seaside Qn. The native
pineapple was an important feature and pmnounced delicioys by all. Af'ter
luncheon, 3: 00 p.m. , I permitted, " -doesn't that sound awful, "permitted the
gmup to disperse for shopping, all meting at Young's Hoflel at 4: 15 p.m.
I went with a small party. Mr. Rogers, Miss JThgland, Wsg Ireland, and
Dir. Barnham in the cm of Mr. Waterhouse as his guest to His country how,
then his city residenc~ His country horn was at the top of a mmtab
and it took remarkahile ingenuity on the part of Mr. Wate~house to Mve
his car mund the curves and bends without sending us ovqr the edge into
the depths below. Here we had another wonderfW view, Di4mond Head, the
barren mmtain. It stood out alone in its bareness. It*is barren while
all the rest of the munta9ns and lowlands are mst verdwt. This difference
is due to the difference in rainfall. After puYlchasing a few postal. and
some films at Young's Hotel, I chapemned my group to theiPier 7 where our
boat awaited us. See, we didn' t have so long there, but 1 spent it well.
"At the pier, we were decorated with gwlmds of native ffowers, blue hydrangeas
and, something else." There's a dash there. '"Ih+se~garlands are
called . . . " (chuckles)
A. May be . Yes, that's what It was. Sure, sure, we wed decorated with
that. When we arrived, too, we were. But I didn't get tO say it tl-ysn.
"Many of the nurses purchased beads made from seeds of native plants. Passed
by the Executive Building which was once the palace of wen Ulios
called her Queen Lil , you how-who left her throne when @awaii ask
the United States ownership. We were all on deck when the Nippon + dipped
into the sea.at 5:00 p.m. bound for Yokohama, our next stpp. It's M Japan,
you know. "Again the diving boys hovered around the boat 1 and folloWd US
out for a mile or more. The sky and the sea were never re beautif211, the
muntahs were glorious, and as they faded away in the roaching darhess,
we were conscious of a deep feeling that we were sure 1eaV-i~ our own corntry
behind when the far off li&thouse intermittently fla&hed a fond farewell.
" I guess we just interpreted it that way.
"Satur+y, June' the. seventh; Now, it s just a little a week, a day
over a week, since we left San Francisco. We sailed thirtieth of
lby , Decoration Day. Russian classes resmd. in the
va.rious diversions. Tim passing rapidly.
Vesper semrZce at 5:00 p.m., Dr. Woodbuy in
June the ninth, 1919; PIad court martial,"
Barnham, chmging him with absence from
to ladies, appearhg on the deck without proper miform, snoring, etcetera.
Lots of mmimnt . Tuesday, June the tenth, 1919 ; Tha thee day c d ~ a l
af Jams contests and races began with deck golf, shuffleboard and ~)in@;pOng
in the mrning. In the afterrpon we had the mica1 cha3.p contest. / Cracker
contest and so forth and so ow. Sea is calm as glass." %hat was good for
our sick people.
Whesday, June the elevent4; This is the day we lost a& sea. We cmssed

Anna Tittman
the 180th Meridian, and we got up Wednesday mrning and went to bed
Thursday night. Thursday, Jme twelfth, 1919; &rmival continued.
I was in a hen fiat and. cam out first. " (lawter) ''The cock fiat was
a very flumy feature consisting of a contest on a mat between two mn with
long wooden rods, the size of baseball bats between chaim, lolees and
thi&s. I don't get that.
Q. bhat's a hen fi@t?
A. I don't know, I've fo~gotten. "They held onto these with their hands
and were ruled out if they let loose. The garre consisted in shoving the
opponent off the rrat with the feet and body. Mr. OIReilly won, defeating
in turn a Jap and a Swede. Fi-iday, the thirteenth; How we spoke of this
Fn the BLble Class a few mnths ago in Springfield at the YWCA, was that
they were telling, well, illustrating somthing that was wpresenting sowthing
that you weren't. Well, on this boat going over we had a party when
we all dressed up in sore costunr;; we jwt had to nake, yQu bow, do. And
one fellow was dressed up with a sheet and he had fixed up papers and things
that would make him look like a tombstone. We said, 'Well, what does that
represent?" And he turned aromd and said it representedt the lost day at
sea of the so-and-so mridian.
Q. When you were crossing, the dateline?
A. Yes.
Q. That's cute.
A. So,l:I told that and the Bible Class got quite a lot o enjoymnt out
of it.
f I
Q. kt!s see. Wetre up to June, is it? ! 1
A. It's FMday, the thirteenth that wetre up to.
Q. What happened on Friday the thirteenth?
A. Well; "prizes were awarded by Captaln Ogasaki. t prize turned
out to be a strhg of beads which were seeds of the
I finished readkigthe Fom Horsernen by I. Banez, an
today j wing in the water.'-w, me the fourtee
morning planning the itinerary for our &wit in Japan. We
six days there, but of course, we do dot know that
reality. We land at Yokohoma. I hope to go to Koma
to spend a ni&t. Early on Thursday
miday. Leave Tokyo Friday noon for . . . e m . "From
which the view of Mt. Fuji is gorgeous.
ing there Tuesday morning for our sailin
3-1 the afternoon of June fourteenth, the ocean began to
p.m. I was dreadfully seasick. If I ha
on deck I should probably have fared
6:00 p.m. remaining there mti3. the t
library in my clothes all fight; as I could not endure the
i
stuffy quarters
of the cabin with portholes clbsed to keep out the water. I pedtkd
several of the nurses to sleeplin the library because the r cabins were SO

Anna Tittman 98
impossible.
"Sunday, Jme the fifteenth, 1919; Rdnhg very hard- rn arose. Sea
becam s d t caImer. Very few seasick. Spent h s t entire day
writing letters and cards to folks at hcme. Had our last class in Usian
today. &. Torjeffse responded very all to Dr.
of appreciation. June seventeenth; Everyom packing
lettss fst and furiously, ready for the landing at
At tmight's dhwr, Captain Ogasaki gave an elaborate party. The ship's
dining roan was dewrated with flags of every nation. It was of special
interest to see a very large lhited States £lag cantingat with a Japanese
flag in the center of the front of the roan. There were bwrs for each of
us and all clamed their brightly colored caps. All were pipplied with bright
colored streamrs which soon formed a network aver the t4les. The flleal
was very elaborate and each table was supplied with a bwday cake. Mter
dbmr there were mnring picwes, om of which was a -to parade which
takes place in NiWco every J w 5th.
I casbd a ten dollar brican Express mxley order and M y received nineteen
yen, fifty sen. " See, that ' s nineteen dollars and fifty cents. "Thereby
10s- fifty cents, fifty and mty-five
also d y gave nineteen yen, fifty sen for ten
at a mil exdmge I was able to get
for a ten dollar Arerican Expess
by train, electric car, to Kama ma,
tqles of the Buddhist religim. We
Buddha in Japan. We went inside of this great iron nrmst#z. # wdt
frrm place to place in rickshaws and presented a very in spectacle
as R mde dawn an avenue single file at brealmeck speed.
Q. Haw many of you went on that trip?
A. Lst me see if I have that. Ims counting tihirigs th+ No, I w't
b. 'CLhUrsday, June 19, 1919; Eight of us," one answeg to y m qwestb,
"eight of us at breakfast at NatunacMs Restaurant,
se ladies who were quite curious and had
about cme of us in Japanese to one anather.
'"" ea
J3?=
of the party was," the 'poppa' was in quotation
out Dr. Brady . They regarded us with suspicion when
as the 'Mama, ' I started out in search of Miss RDse
Eran a Mr. Wi.nniesy that she is at lucita, four
Yobhama. As this is such a vest diptame a d other
with the trip to Akita, I haw to aontetzt myself with
her. 1hadanicetalkwithPaulVanMckeatt.h
He is a brother to Mr. Van Heake at Springfield."
Q. Was Rose ABtbmster Eram Springfield?
A. Yes. I 'm glad to have an opportunity to tell yws abpt bse . She was
p a Springfield wanan and a udper of aur church, Fixst &$istian Church.
i
I

Anna Tittman 1 99
%e was a ~ssionauy to Japan, and I thought it would be nice if I could
see her and bring her a mssage and have a day with her. She wrote pie a
letter--I was kind of critical of the Nippon h, the seevice, the cbmacter
of the food and all--she defended every bit of it, you how. So that
was good of her to do.
Q
Md they serve you typically Japanese food on the Nippon Man?
A. No, no. They tdedto serve American, you see, and tmtls where the
trouble cam in. We had so^ Japanese food, yes, but the boat was old and
small. It was not up to date either in its equiprent.
Q. While we 're talking about the boat, can you remmber :
You told me a little bit about your fellow passengers. C;
anything else about them? ?"ne civilians?
A. You mean the nurses?
Q. No, the other passengers.
vthing else?
n you remmber
Q. You've mntioned that there was a Russian father and Ws daughter.
A. Oh, oh. Outside of our whale unit. Why, I ~ mber this little Bessie
and her father and mother. Thw had lcrt European Russia,, cane around
through the Panama Canal and on up. Well, then they were trying to get back
to their origj.mil hore in western Russia. I can't mmmb what our teacher
looked ilke or anything about him except we thought Rmsiq was an awful
hard language to learn, so gutteral . You have to khd of lear your throat
while youvre talking, try to do that.
P
Q. How did your Russian lessons go? Did you learn ~ussi$n?
A. I learned some, but I dldnlt have to because Russians @re very apt with
their music and they're apt with languages. We always hadl interpret rs. I
took Russian after I got to Russia, but I was very busy .xgl couldn't do a
lot, but I could get along all right. Any place you went theretd be some
EYlglish, the sam In China.
Q. At this time, what exactly was your mission over there
F 1
A. This captain of the American ship qhat made the
with American ships every so often, thgre was a
conditions of poverty were terr"jfic beaause people were m
with their beds on their backs. They were great
They had to leave their horns because the war
they lived. Of come, there were the big
I can tell you about the children when we
all the time
There was one character on our boat, Nippon Pku, who was ssed l&e a
Russian officer, military officer. He clairred to be a repper. He was

~nna nttm 100
very good looking, very handsom. When he got to Russia, he was not what
he shouldJbe. He was a fake. He wanted to get into Russ* somway.
Whether it was not having a proper passport or somthbg Wke that, I
don1 t know. But we never saw any more of him.
Q. Did you ever find out who he really was?
A. No, but he talked well, he was educated. I think he %o&t that by
representhg himelf as an officer that he would get throm, you see. He
mi@t ' ve come from Russia, but he spoke clear wish.
Q. As well as Russian?
A. Well, I guess. (chuckles) Mdntt try it on m.
Q. So your dssion was to help the Russian people? Is
A. Well, yes, well, and there were so rmny strays ou see, inmigrants;
people fYam other countries got shoved up
wherever
the war was. And then those two thousand children that we had, we took care
of them. Thev cam down the--well. you'll hew about thaG when I get to
~ussia. And &I our service in ~ussia, we hired Russians. I had a s @ c ~ t q
who was a Russian girl. She could type &glish as well as talk it. We wanted
to help them, give them wo~k. We set up a sewing m m and they mde clothes.
We gave them the clothes, and we fed them. Then later we
back into Russia when the war was over. I was there when
but all this was happening when the war was still going
people, they didn't have horns. We had many in just
forth in and mund Vladivostok that we did VisitingnwsiQg &,.and took
care of the sick ones. That was mostly what the nurses d and the flospital.
Som of them did the visiting nursing some other , I thhk. I think
there was one nurse in Harbin. Now here, [refers to ] I'm still in
Japan.
Q. You'd just mentioned MI?. Hecke when I intempted you while you were
reading your diary. Were you surprised to see him over there?
I
A. Well, I didn't know him. I was working on i-ry money g&ting it cashed.
He knew I was from the states md then he asked where I w@ fmm and, so forth.
And then he saLd, well, he is a brother to Mr. Van Hecke of Springffeld. Now
I
I'm going on to another story.
'1 had a shampoo, a narcelk. I was Wte unused
was done. It was quite succes$ful, hwever. The
time of two person thmu&out.
while another dripped the little drop4 of warm
This dripping conthue rubbing
head being in a won
over a basin, " sounds" took it off, "and A. spr-i&l" can of water
holding about forty turned over rw head. Tne m> PPO@~
was carried on by a
c dryer in the hands of oae Jap oh while
I
I
1

Anna Tittman 101
the other woman const&ly rubbed with her bare hands. The marcelle
was not good. A Jap woman used the irons while a m hea$ed them;' -
alternately. Shampoo cost one yen, and the mrcelle-one yen.!'
Q. That ' s a beautif'ul desckiption. That l s wondemf'ul.
A. Yes. I've forgotten a lot of it.
Q. How did you look when you were done?
A. m, I was looking all curled up. I never did so well in marcelk. I
had a little natural wave. It was not much, but when I w p a small jChild,
rqy hair would curl if they wet it and put it around their finger. Pen it
would dry and stay that way for quite a while. Then as I p w up, af course,
it was braided.
At one tim that's far in the future f'mm childhood, I lived at the
Stevens Hotel in Chicago. I had my hair done by the operntor in the hotel.
The Skevens Hotel just had everything; it was just like a, city. You could
get your railroad tickets, your a%ql& tickets, you co$d put all your
valuables in a safe and they took care of it, but you better not lose your
key because there wasn't any mre. And then they had wha$ they called som
kind of a barber corn, and he cut your hair so--cut litt* lines it it. By
this tk hair was not curly, but it would kind of wave. He put a little
narrow line like that in rr~y hair every so onen to make a, wave, and >it worked,
so I had that for a long time. Well, anyhow, my hair's changed! For a
long th I had short hair in New York, and I parted3t @re and then I'd
squeeze it up here, and then I could swing it mund hem and have a wave
back there. If d press it with n-@ hands. I was wearing hair that ww
when I cam back to Springfield, twenty years or mare agq, twenty-three
years. So shall we go on now? Now my hair1s washed.
"1 had photopaphs taken at a Jap studio. It was dana on the spur of
the mmnt. Pictures cost on@ twenty yen a dozen which is only half that
I paid in Springfield for nly vexy unsatisfactory ones. 2 called upon General
and Mrs. Cabanoff, and dawter, Bessie, at the OrientaE Hotel,'' They were
on our boat, on our Nippon bkru. "They were very graciow and lovely. They
were quite anxious to have me take dinner with them, and
to know what I had read in the papers. Mrs. Chabanoff
believing that all the white people should stand
ri,n qubtation marks. llThe RussianSido not hold
Of course, they had the war in 1904. RemrrJ3er
I don ' t think you were born then. (ehWles)
"In the afternoon re all went* to Tamachhi.to a tea at thq beaatifulthome df
Mr. Asano, the mer and president of the Toyo Kisha W$ha Steamh
i
p Cow
pany. Nearly all the Nippon Maru passengers were there. We were s own wonderful
errbroidered tapestry, wood carving and Japanese mlics of th gods.
'We were seated in an upper room along a long table. MF, Asanots ughter,
a beautiful wornan, and ganddat.u@ter served us with fmcg little c es more
like candies and bright green tea in a little bowl. Thiq tea was ry bitter.
In another long hall which was curiously fwnfshed with brican furniture,
we were semd wtih small smWches, small soft cakes, tea and an opaque
jelly-like substance made Fn a long cylinder, wrapped In palm leave6

Anna Tittman 102
reserhling a hot tamale wrapped in corn husks.
There was a Japanese ran singing and harp playing, both very pecu1iak;-The
perfomce of a Japanese mgician very good indeed. The house was made
of cedar wood and finished with blue lacquer. On a strip of ceiling about
thirty feet long and ten feet wide was solid ehroidery. Mr. Asano and
Mrs. Asano were both In the reception line-they are quite old. Two of
the Misses Asano have attended school in Boston and one was quite e
in her declaration that she prvfemd New York to Boston because t h r 2
mre life in New York and that Boston was slow. @I our way in the station
in Yokohama I saw a Japanese school being dismissed. The children cavried
their full supply of books away each ni@t. Their ink bogtles are suspended
from their fingers by a double string bled about the neck of the bottle.
The boys and girls are freqenKty seen with a baby strappqd to their backs
like a Japanese mther. The babies are taken to school, hd they interfe~
very much with the lessons. An effort is now being made t$ establish day
nurseries in connection with all the schools.
The costm of the Japanese schoolboy is very characteris$ic and is sem
thmugout Japan. It consists of a white cap with black peak, a black
waist with a larger white splotchy design. A daylk gown of grayish white
shirt which on close observation pmves to be a divided shirt. No stockin@,
but wooden sandals. Often he carries a book sack. Tne boys seem to
make just as much speed in the wooden sandals as the Amrican schoolboys
in shoes. Here's a picture of him.
Q. I didn't bow you could draw, too.
END OF TAPE
A. The girls wore their hair combed straight back;tied at the neck. No
hats. They ware red pleated skirts and flowered or plain 'waists, bare feet
except for wooden getto sandals. On this baby's head is 8 hat of China silk,
always bright color. Pink, yellow or golden brown. The gchool opem at
7: 30 a.m. and closes at 1: 30 p.m. Frglish is taught ,In at1 of the schools
in Japan." Notice the wooden sandals. [refers to illustmtion] I $nst
have messed up her mouth so~way. She looks Like she has a mustaches
Q. I think she looks lovely.
A. I1Niss MacDonald, a young worn whoE went with the Sibellian comrdasion to
Vladivostok in August, 1918, and has bken in charge of thq cable service
there for the Fled Cmss ever sbce, c led upon us at
where we lived. "Our passport8 were % c llected to be
Russian consul. And as the cmwd was hll together, I
amphitheater on the hi@ steps of the hospital and
cDonald address
us on the work in Vladivostok and Siberia. She statkd
that there was a very warm seaqon and that we woul
the Red Cross had issued. She claimed that mil
i
1

Anna Tittman 103
poor as they were reported to be. She advised us to get Wics."
Artics, I guess she =ant overshoes. Yes, that's what we didn't get.
"Jm 20, 1919; we all, except about six, ate breakfast a$ the Grand ,
Hotel at 6 : 30 a.m. Went by rickshaw to station, took train to Tokyo.
Went acmss in taxicab^,^ to the railrcrad station where we tmk the train
to Nikko, the first horn of the shoguns, l1 And I have it fixed for pronunciation,
a line over the "otl, shoguns. They rnust9e been a class of
the people there.
'The journey was most pleasant. Mr. Teddy Ywe, a Japanese pntlew
fmmthe International Sleeping Cw Company, accompanied us. We had a reserved
car, half of which was reserved for the second claw and haft for
first class passengers. The Japan ra9lroad also cavries third class passengers
in a< cramped-up carr. The car we had was like this. " [refers to illust
rat ion]
Q. (chuckles) Your drawing are wonderful.
I
I
A. The washroom was in between the two classes, see. Sekond class over
here; first class here.
Q. You traveled first class?
A. I guess. I think so. "The little railroad stations all along the way
were very interesting and even built something like our Wway stat om,
except newer. There was a station man at each station wklo received the
train by calling out the nane of the station in loud mnchonous ton s. When
he decided the train should proceed, he made a flagging motion to t e en@-
neer and blew a shrill whlstle. Then there were always roany native standing
about who seemed greatly armed at the Americans. WE were vendors df
kznit and candies, of flowers and m@;azines.
One thing which we do not see in America was a washhouse iat each station.
These washhouses were not enclosed, but were right on thg station platfomn
like this.!' [refers to illustration] And there's the wqshpens.
Q. You mean they were just out in the open?
A. Yes, they were ri@t on the station; they were not enclosed, but were
ri@t on the station platform like thgs. And the rfilrrom, the sq& things
are the mimm and the round thin@ were the basins, br~t~s-wash b ins.
"The toilets at the railmad station pre not built for &rericans,"% ut for
Japanese >ladies who are swathed in Wnos . The toilet Is a china gffair ,
the shap of an old fashioned cradle pd set into the fl~r."
1
Q. !key1 d have em,&@ skirt $0 protect them?
A. I how this, that the mn\s toilets somtimes had-wqll, the to
b
lets
s o ~ t hhad s a wall, but he was a space like this, am$ you could see
the anatoqy down back here, see, because there?d be 3a wall up ove.
But it would be a back. I know why. Just to air the place, 1 guess,
I don1 t know. (chuckles)
i
I
2
0

I
Anna Tittman I 10 4
Q. Did you use their toilets?
A. No.
Q. You mustlve been unaomfo&able.
A. I think we could get something in the station. I th* that was it.
"If one\iwBhes tea while traveling, they maJ tell the st@ion man at
one station and a little pot of tea with small cups will te waiting at the
next station for the cost of five sen. The teapot and a cup are thus
dropped at. the next station. (chuckles) One may also punchase lunches in
little wooden bbxes. These boxes contain a section of rice, another of herring,
another of stringed beans and so forth. Being Jap @od, the hricans
do not fYnd them very pXLatable. We arrived at Nikkq about 1: 00 p.m.
and were taken inmediately in autos to the Nikko Hotel. @ accomdations
here were very good. The food was good also.
2
We cl-ed up a mauntain four and a half miles after hav ridden six miles
on the trajn. A bad rainstorm came up when we were only If way up, but
we kept on going. !?here were teahouses all along the way here we refreshed
ourselves. Our issue raincoats were initiated and found be quite wo'cthless
as the rain soaked throw to the skin in spite of twm.
We arrived at We Chuzenji at 5:00 p.m., just in tim to b e the descent
by 7:00 p.m. We were disappointed in not seeing Chuzenjion a clew day.
We were somy we didn't see it on a clear day, as the pictpms show it to be
perfectly beautiful. We were a cold be-ed lot when qe reached the hotel.
Most of us took hot baths and went right to bed, having 041: dinners served
in our rom. The little Japanese maids gave us excellen-t; service. When
I got clothes the next mrmjulg, they were nicely pressqd, underwear washed
1
and imed.
At ni&t a geisha party was on. Those of us who could nod have gone because
of wet clothes were supplied with Japanese clothes. Now we geisha party
consists. of tea, dances, and so forth by Japanese @isha. We were
served by geisha girls. It seems that a mixed party as ows was-makes the
party a reputable thing, but It really is mant for a mnrs party an winds
up very disreputable. l'Q costume consisted of a li&t weaght chemls , a
pair of Jap stockings which weE made of whzte material ar$d cam on1 ! to nw
ankles. Then small straw sandals, a blue and a t e stripad kimnno. The
stockings had a separate space for the big toe like this, and the shbe [zoril
had a small strap running through this space. They were Bather painv."
The geisha girls were dressed in the gayest of kimonos. 'They danced the
harvest dance, the victory dance and?,lobhers. Afterwards, We all sat around
the room in a squatting position. A Japanese lady in the center beat on a
drmmwLth her eyes closed while a large rubber ball was passed from ne person
to another rapidly about the room. The. person who held it at th 8 tim--
the drwm~r ceased beating--wad given a drink. The ladlea, of course, drank
Jap cider which is like American soda water. " The ladies 2I guess in our
P U P
-
I
Q. You didn't drink any wine?
I

A. Apparently we had somthing that was like cider. We1 , anyhow, f wess
we didn't have any alcahol.
'IJune 2Bt, 1919; Nikko, Japan.
Soon after breakfast we .8tarted with our
guides to the temples. These particulw temples am the mst famrsus in
Japan, the first shogun prtest named--I can't make out whether that second
lettau? is %", but it s v~ry plain--and a third shogun paest , MLt sus , hamtemples
here cornrated to them. The temple of-I have that nm a m ;
it ' s "rtl, Fxyaso--is the first one ever mcted in Japan. The party had a
photograph taken in front of this temple gateway. The cqst of the shogun
is depicted thus, [refers to illustration] called a C~OV~T and the crest of
shinto is this." This is the shogunis and this is the shbto. That picture
I wanted to show you, you know, with all the group in it? Well, thatts where
it was taken. I had it here all the tim.
'We passed the sacred tree which is said to be 280 years ~ld. We also passed
the stable formerly used for the sacred horses. Upon thi$ stable there Is
a comfce be&ng the original three monkeys, 'See no evit, hear no evil
and speak no evil. ' The flmt monkey is said to be Korem, the secand from
India and the third Japanese. At the fountains all must $rash their lips
after leaving the temple. At the entrance of the main meway are two guards
with two dogs behind them standing guard. One rragdficenk gateway called
the All Day Gate or Yo-ma-e-m has elaborate wood carving painted and tinted
in wonderf'ul colors. Not one group of carved inages is the s m . There
was also a gate built in Chins@ fashion. We were obligerj. to remove our
shoes and enter the temples in our stocking feet. The ir&er;lor presented
beautiful lacquered doors, one hundred panels in the ceiwng upon each of
which was an en'broidezd dragan, no two being alike. He* also hung the
pictms of the various shogun priests.
The waiting mom for the priests and one for the royal p sons had many
elegantly canred wooden panels. We saw the exterior of $e building of
red lacquer where are stored the gowns, banners and syrbals used in the shogun
parade June 5th of each year. Well, we were too labe for that. "We
passed by a stage effect with a shinto dancer perfomdng the dance of the
good health and long life. She was dressed in a brilliqt red robe with
white surplice and a white llnen coronet. At the entrq to the step& --
leading to the Eryaso to&, we passed through a gateway Over which $here was
an hag@ of a sleeping cat which is said to keep all micg and rats
clmed the 207 steps to the torrb which was placed on thq hi@ hill
to be nearer heaven. The tower to l3yaso is three hmWd years 01
required thirteen years to bdld it, One sees marg sated gateways
Japan. These must be passedthro@ ln order to reach tlpe terrrples of all
shrines. It is shocking to see so much of the . . . lt I don't know what
that is. "Sacred gateway, I have a picture, "Sacred gateways both for
ahinto and buddhists mligions ."
I
Q. What was that, it was shocking to see so much. You )rere sayin$ it was
shocking to see so much what?
A. I never made it out properly. H-e-a-, it looks llke heathen, heathenfsh.
Heathenish, yes. I1One also sees these stone lantern in great pmfusion

Anna Tittman
over the country and especially about the temple grounds four feet hi*.
They are listed when special celebrations occur. " There, that ' s the
Goddess of Wind. God of Thunder and God of Wind. [refer$ to illustration]
"In the shinto temples there were seen the God of Money, mddess of Beauty
and the muntain god. There were also the whtte elephant&. The God of
Money with biliLs of a11 denomhations sticking about all over him. The
momtaln god was depjcted in the act of killing a &agon. Guarding the
images at the devills gate were the God of Thunder and the God of Wind.
In, one of the Buddhist temples there were six boxes made pf inlarid Mother
of Pearl. These stood on stools of the sam material. 7$e boxes cantained
the Buddhist bibles. There were brass banners used in the June 5 procession.
The famous candlesticks were here which wish one long lip."
k.
I had a chain that I bo@t there, a little silver chain, very fine, and
it had a th2e on the end of it, another little silver t le and a silver
turtle on top of that. he meant long life, the llttle o on top of the
other one meant long life and the other one meant longer So the little
tw%les must ' ve helped UE to a long life. "In the' museum )there were many
interesting thin@. Tnere was a painting and a reproductlion of the June
5th procession. Very elaborate. There were also swords,; knives and armor
of mmtrous dimnsions. There was a sleeping robe mde &n the shape of a
kimono and heavily padded, as large as a bed comfmter. py far the best
exhibit were two groups of Japanese images mde to repreqnt images at prayer.
Even the veins showed..lYlt,the fbreheads of the images. T"rpir skin coloring
were exactly correct. " They l E artists all right.
I
"On the gr~unds smomding the temple, there were very beautiful trees.
The little red Japanese Maple standing out vividly
deep green.
The Japanese gardens were beautiful. There is a flower which
blooms in pmfusion called the bmtt. One sees
and azaleas.
We just missed the cherry blossom season and have
wisteria season.
After lunch we all went shopping until 4:00 p.m. Then the entire pay
dmve thmw the cryptomria grove in autos. Tnese treq were magnificent,
very tall and very dark green. Our driver called qur attention to one
group of seven enomus trees growing out of one th. We stopped at a
little farm house to see mthods of farming. Japan may te propssiwe in
som matters, but certainly is not in f&g. The rice was being broken
I
mmthe stalk by corrJ3ing it by hand with a f~rklike arr~gernent no mre
than ten inches long. The grain f s tranrped on to loosen the chaff d then
the chaff is fanned out by the crudest mthods. The Japwese raise'some
wheat, barley, but the flelds are not more than an acre q~ two in size.
There are everywhere extensive paddyfields where rice is growing." mere's
the instrument that combs the rice. [refers to illustrat@on]
Q. Looks a bit like a pit chfark, doesnl t it, with more ptwn; on it?
A. Yes, it does. "The paddyfields. are ternaced and are filled with water.
The fmrs work constantly In this water up to their knws. I saw them
transplanting the rice from a very wet section to one a Jittle higher. I
saw them broadcast sawing grain in a paddyfield of water. "' Just throwing
them on top of the water. It was kind of fumy. Fach padyfield has a
I

Anna Tittman
I
107
wall, a mud parbition, separating it Mrn the next paddyf eld. Somtims
these are arranged in fantastic shapes. Only twenty per pent of Japan is
tillable, but every space possible is used. Gne sees no horses in
Japan, cultivating is done by hand. Men pull people
by the thousands, running miles sometlms. lkn, and
laads,that a home riL@t find difficult. The
the neck of a beast of burden, and all of the
the use of the muscle in the neck. Man never
On our trip up the muntain we saw En, wornen and childre sif'ting out
different grades of gravel by mans of hand sieves. It s b ems as everything
in Japan is done by the mst difficult; mans. Labor is very cheap and consequently
mechanical devices for saving labor are not in delnand. WOT carrying
great packs of coal," I remuber that distin~tly , "on their baclQs , in
sacks, receive one yen or fifty cents per day. There m many IittLe stream?,
through Japan f'rom the many mountains. he sees a nLwlber of little water
wheel mills everywhere. A few baby carriages m in evifience, but most of
the babies are st~apped to the back of the mother, brother or sister. It
took us until ll:3O p.m. to get back to Yokohama from Nwo. En mute We
ate ow suppers, dainty little sandwiches packed in small, wooden boxes. Also
cherries and cider and tea. We sang our hflcan songs a/nd the natives
hardly mew whether to be amused, frightened or disgusted as we pawed them
at the stations. It was quite a shock to m to hear Japs singing, "It I s
a Long, Long Way to Tipperary , ' as they walked along no1 sly in the street
in their wooden shoes. The children of Japan seem to be B. neglected lot.
They all have squatty heads and ~ d n noses. g Moreover, there am a great
pmfbsion of tiny babies, smll children and older chil-n everywhere. "
"bday, June 22, 1919; Went to church both morning and wenkg at the
Thion Church organized for all denominations. The congr€gations am small.
Reverend MartFn is in charge. In the afternoon nmes ar@ aides went to a
tea given in their honor at the hom of Mrs. Sneyd, whosq husband is prominent
in YMCA work. Met a Mr. And Mrs. Jurgenson, UMCA workers in ToQo.
Also Mrs. Phelps whose husband is in Y work in Siberia. b. Woodbe~*ry, Miss
MacIntire, Miss Mgaret PhcCawley and I went together to supper af'ter which
we shopped a little . ''
"Monday, June.23, 1919; Went to Tokyo with Kiss Bridge. Got filfst view
of Mt. Fujiyama tom at 5: 30 a.m. It is about a hundred miles away, but
the si&t was wonderful. I went around and wakened all @E nurses qo see it.
Visit with MSS Mishi Kawai at the YWCA. Wonderful work 3s being d e in
this institution. I mt Miss Kawal in Springfield, Illlr@is, somet rn ago
when she was lecturing in AmrLca. She is a graduate of pryn Mawr d a
close friend of Hss Barnbridge, secretary of the YWCA in Bpringfiel . Learned
from.Ws Kmaj, . that the n?glish classes are most popu&w among t e Japanese
ladies, and that the gynnasiwn is least populm as it is difficult o get
the Japanese women to exercise. A Mss Su Yami accompar&d me to a large
department store in Tokyo. Fn mute she answe~d many ingui~i&s
You can tell I asked questions.
Q Wonder what questions you asked her?
i
%
fo
T
me."
I
A. I don't know. But the Y ceY.talnly has Fntemational connection$. It's
just wonderful. ~~ of questions were about the ob4, and she said

Anna Tittman
that the type of it did not indicate whether a woman was @.rcLed or single.
The style of hairdress called rn magi, a festooned ~ ~ indi- ~ n
cates that the Japanese lady is married." I have a pict- here of mura
magi ha rdress worn by a &ed Japanese lady. illustrations were
somthlqg to . . . (chuckles)
Q. They're darling.
A. "1 purchased four fur0 siki. It 's crepe silk sort of kerchiefs of
squares that the Japs carry their pareels in. Tnese are beautiful in color
with wonderm color desip. I pwlchased in Yokohama a arved lacquered
box for ten yen. I am very proud of this. It I don1 t how whatever became
of it. I gave a lot away.
''Secured photos and sent them to Ken and Alice ,"--that 's Ken Dalbey and
Alice Dalbey. He was a brother to Alice and they lived the street
from where I was living. He was oh, kind of a miner out west ; fun, and
could he sing. They used to st mund their organ and dng. It was a lot
of fun. When I got to Siberia, he had subscribed to the LHly Journal.
Q. The newspaper?
A. The newspaper, yes. And then it all came in when the, ship came in. I'd
get a pat big pile of papers, you see. I think they un.@ttve had a weekly
edition. It wasnlt every day, from the way it was sent z~lyhaw. It kept
in touch with haw, you know.
Q. What a nice idea. This was the Ilaois State Jom* newspaper?
A. Yes. 'IOw party mt at the Grand Hotel at 6:45, went to the Yokohama
station for dinner by rickshaw. Then we boarded the trW at nine and set
out for Tsurug;;l. Our train had three sleeping cars and we diner; also one
baaage car reserved for us. We traveled on the hperial Limited. The
sleeping compart~nts in one car were elegant. The corridor ran the length
of the car at one side and sleeping compartments were on "the other side. I
slept in booth thirteen." Lucky nmber.
Q. How mny of you were there in a room? I
4
A. Oh, I don't know. Now there were 22 when we started and we didn't lose
any on the way. the^ were 29 nurses; 22 nurses and sev aides. were were
eighteen mn.
Q. Did each one of you have an individual compaYltmnt far sleeping?
A. Well, I think so. Yes, we did. But I don't think I m t e in a little
experience I had. I thought I1d better not.
Q
Was it that bad?
A. Yes. 'We arrived in Tsuruga about 1:00 p.m. Had lunch on traln. Went
to police station and had passports visaed again. Went Bo money exchange
and post orfice. Had difficult tim making authorities of the latter

P
Anna Tittman
understand. Afterwards a nwnber of us went for a ride ab~ut Ts-, the
park is a desolate place. Trees, but no grass. The shop& here are just
as Interesting as in Tokyo and Yokoham. One is constantw under temptation
to buy and buy proftbely. There were wonderful thhp on Bentcmdory
Street in Yokohama, silks, vases, china, carved wood, so fo&h and So
forth. There is a large comlrcial s&ml in Tsumga calked the Maring
School. Only Ehglfsh is taught there, and a University of Chicago is
ln chaylge. The school boys met every passener boat so 8s to have an
opportunity to use their Fnglish. The harrbor of Tsuruga Ils the mst beautiful
I have ever seen. It is much smller, but the entwce is quite
sImLlar to the Golden Gate. The Standard Oil Company of New York has a
warehouse here. Great barrels of dried fish, herring, aye prepared here by
the women for exportbg. For a long the I watched womn, inmy of em exceedingly
young, mloading coal fmn the barges and camy$ng straw $hacks
on their backs--they were woven like baskets--for a djstapce of twoihundred
to three hundred feet. They emptied it in a boxcar. The coal was being
rermved fYom a larger boat to the smll barges, and a single man us$g a
fish-like paddle ran the large barge ashore at snail's pace. Those pour
womn seemed to be .just beasts of burden. Men also were carrying the coal
in large baskets at-either end of a long pole. At 9:00 p.m. I saw Venus.-
now this is somthing--As bri&t as a lighthouse.--I was on the boat--The
reflection in the water was perfectly beautifid, almost a6 wide a trail as
the mm makes. About 10:00 p.m. the reflection was no lpnger vfsible and
Venus took on a red hue appearing not unlike a Japanese Wtem in the distmce.
She sank rapidly in the west and gradually .pew npre dim. Finally,
she seemd to be struggling for life, giving one flash ar@ then was gone
below the horizon. "
'me Penza is smaller even than the Nippon Pkitw."
now; the boat to Russia.
Q. You didn't describe getting on it for me.
A. We didn't, did we?
Q. No, do you remmber anything about that to fill in?
See, ME were on the Penza
A. No, only I was so busy watching the coal m n and so forth. Oh, I
felt so somy for them.
l!Rx beds were very comfortable. linen sheets and royal. purple
blankets. How I wish I owned one, however, the bath and toilet
are very much below par. Retjred early. Slept the sleeg of the j
~ ~
J I 25 ~ ; Spent
~
today postjylg
z ~
diary. Penza,
~
mat poor
'
rhmsday, June 26; Arrived at Vladivootok, Russian
at 8:00 a.m. Alter going through prelirr;fulaY,1,es of havb4
we went ashore with Red Cross officials who rnet us.
Pinder, a nurse, and Captain Brandhall, the dfrectm
sonnel." That is locally, for our Red Cross. 'We were ttaken in autos to
Amrican Red Cross Basracks Nvmber 17, where all of the hrican Red Cross
Personnel in Vladivostok 250 of them are stationed. "

Anna Tittman
Q. Were all the Red Cross personnel Ameficans?
A. No, no. I could even tell you in list of nurses t
San Francisco, there were som that didn!t have American
Then also, a lot of rdssionary wan were solicited. The
fessional people, people who had some knm how, started 2
way of aid before the captain of the Arnerican boat, repol
lat got on at
:itizenship.
doctors and promthlng
in the
;ed tb Washington
that something should be done. That I s when this aid was
arn~y of occupation consisted of mmy countries. I think
that. You know, I never looked at this f'mm the tire-w
I got horn, I guess, untPl now.
Q. Well, here we are, fifty years later.
I
A. Letts see, therels something written along here.
fomrly Naval. barracks of Russia. Barracks Number 7, 2 of us, was
it&ed. me
I've described
y shortly after
"3
where all the ARC lived. The hospital is at the other e of the building.
We had a luncheon that was real hrican cooking. A greaJt treat as well
as a surprise to us. Our barrack has a large central ao@al hall on the
second floor. *nts quarters are partitioned off around the social hall.
The Dining room-this is where we had our parties and thwgs. Then we had
another place on the second floor, but I haven't corn to that yet. 'ID-g
room, entire first floor mde pleasant-well, the dinl om Was in the
basmnt--made pleasant and harelike by blue printed se and
tableclothes. The third floor was partitioned through center, women
on one side and men on the other.
We have four in a room. momnates are MISS Ethel a refugee worker,
Miss Hilda McClintock, who is a daughter of Professo ock of the
Chicago Uhiversrity. Miss Sarah Matthews, a sister to Mi
t
Matthews, a nwse
friend of mine in Milwaukee. After lunch we sigied our mice contracts."
See, we had to agree to certain things. "After dinner wd had the 'Comn
Cause' in mvfes , followed by an informal dance.
Q. I assume you were being paid for this.
A. Yes.
Q. Was that in the contract that you signed?
A. I guess so. Then we had insurance given us, too, yoy know, for the
period of service.
4. Did your contract state a partic& length of senriqe as well 6s
salaxy?
A. No, no, I think not. Well, there was an agreement that you wo
tain the dignify of the Red Cross and so forth. I was to send
WashFngton and different ,
r
and at the end I had to send
of their service to
"It seemed the mst American
!
hing that has happened, since I left om."
That was what, I've forgotten Oh, I guess it was the friends I ms , you
know, and the connections. I

Anna Tittman
I
Q. What date 3s this now?
C
A. This is June 25, 1919. !'Firi:&y, -June 27; At office t 50 Svetlansakaya,
[I spent ] all day going over %he records , Nursi
departmnt only
establjshed recently. *'Saturday, June 28; went to Russ an Island in the
afternoon to visit the hospital." ~hzk-~s where we had n es working before
ours (~ame, you see. And then they could relieve each 0th r.
Q. That was the nanre of it, Russian Island?
I
A. Yes, and it was--I believe it was said to be seven
Vladivostok. In the winter we could walk across on the
to. I know one tine arls cam over to Vladivistok.
a car, so they walked. And they tho@t they were
bad. But they didn't need to walk, they di&?,t need to "Tne hospital
over them was buiLt in 1914 to 1918 especially
has been used by the krican Red Cross for caring for Czwhs since August,
1918. I1 See, the war was still on. "Dpened by Mr. Fl~ston, an American salesman,
Captain Roach, St. Louis physicim, is in charge. mss Dewar js chief
nurse. Russian Bland is forty minutes by boat f'mm VlaclLvostok on Golden
Horn Bay. If You could see that from ow windms. I later had a room of rry
own. "It is fifteen miles long and ten miles wide, beautgfully adapted to
hospital needs. The scenery, the good air and sunli@t ape excellent. The
hospital is now used for civilians who are browt from Tadisvostok hospital,
a receivfng hospital.. Russian Island is equipped with swthing like four
hundred military buildings. " I donf t think that s riat., I had it in pencil
and then I went over part of it with ink. More likely one hundred
military buildin@. Anyhow, there was an awful lot of "mst of them
red brick. It was the plan of the Russian govemnt no stone m-
turned to wipe Japan off the face of the e&h after
War in 1904. Russian Island, as a result was the
the world. Tne same plan of fortfflcation has been c-d out all around
Vladlvostok. Wst of the rdlitauy building3 in and am@ Vladivostok, excepting
Russian Island, are wed as barracks for the varlpus troops. At
ni@t ARC old personnel wve a- (chuckles) the ones that preceded i.~--'~~dmce
for the new personnel. "
"Smday, Jme 29, 1929; Today the allied forces celebmed the capture of
Vladivostok one year ago by the Czechs from the Bolshevil@. A s
held for them on a widely paved avenue ascending to the qathe
gold do=. Each allied was represented by a goodly sized c
It was quite a beautiful si@t. The blending of the varjsaus uni
the gray blue of the French and the Poles, the khaki of the
the Japanese with their yellowish kh*i and bright red tl?linanin@,
greenish gray, the hamites wlth their flaring brimd hats
sailors with white caps and blue uniform, the Czechs wl* greenis
and violet tmng. There were also the Russians, the &inese, t
the Brittish and the Cossacks, the latter looking like a field of
wfth their yellow caps and stqipes s W g in the sun.
The tmps stood at attention ddng the cerem3ny in @idh priests in
brilliant gowns chanted, and d he generals of the various mmies reviewed.

Anna Tittman
The American dou@boys on municfpal police duty exerciseq their authority
over the bystanders with an almost amusing sense of
importance.
They had to use force with Chinese coolies who were great nuhers.
They are a miserable looking lot, unspe&ahly dirty
with their
long braids dangling down their backs or coiled
faces have no sim of intellignce. During the
drdue poor bedraggled looking horses to carts which match their own destitute
appearance, or they cavry on their backs oases of poultry, sorr&irm a
wardrobe or a heavy packing case, somtinzes a goat or a wlf. These burdens
are placed upon a hornemade chair like arrangement which irp, strapped to the
coolies back. Vladivostok is a dirty mdown city in a beautiful setting.
The Bolsheviks were going to celebrate. A few were frimened at the celebrations,
but nothing happened. We were frightened, I @em, I don1 t know.
Q. It sounds like mybe they were ping to have a demonstation.
A. Yes, yes, I thMc so. That s what we were afraid of. "Hills ascending
as a background and the various bays extending in all directions. I am told
that it is not typical of Siberia. There are a great foreigners from
almost every nation here. And one seldom sees a Russian peasant coStm.
The ref'ugees and coolies an? rmrnerous and add considerabl# to the attended
unattractiveness of the city. Even the Russian soldiers because oftscarcity "t
of mteflals have mmy descrepancies in uniform. The vialet trousees fomrly
worn are seldom seen now. Marly are dressed patly in ci*lian and gartly in
rdlitauy outfits. We have been warned to stay in at ni@$s on account of
Bolshevlki attacks in the near vicinity. " I have a note here. "Tire has
been taken up with buslness and social activities and haq not allowr~d proper
attention to dairy. Therefore, I am obliged to give a nqre swnmary type of
important events occumclng in the past mnth as follows.''
"July 1, 1919 ; 'This was the day we cel&rated the declmtion of peace
following the world war. The office was closed for the afternoon. Miss
Pin&+-I spoke of mss Pinder when we first got there, *e was a nurse who
substituted while the= was no chief nurse there-and I Nitnessed horn the
British massy the parade of the inter-allied forces heed by the hrican
Ih@boys. me Czech headquarters opposite us was beautiifilly decorated
with the flags of the nations as were many of the other $lied headquarters
along Svetlanskaya. " Oh, that was a wonderful thing, juqt wonderful.
Q. You mean the parade?
A. Yes.
1
Q. Well, you describe it well. It sounds lovely.
A. All these different countries and their flags and so fo~h. "The day
was briat and there was a dignified mthusiasm mng the bystandem as
their own boys passed. It was interesting to see variow salutes of the
officers of the different pups as they passed headquartDers. I wa$ much
3rrpressed with the whole thing and tho-t of the contrast with the noisy
celebration of Noverrber 11 signing of the AmLstice, and believed that I
liked this celebration today much mre. l1 Oh, there was quch a crowd. Piat
was on July 1, I have here, but the next is July 3 entry.

Anna Tittman I 113
"I went to Second River and the Sixth Virsta Fortress wit$ Miss Pinder
and Mrs. Cook. Large ARC barracks for re-es are located at these
points." See, we had the refugees, too, that we cared for. They used
nurses a lot in that. "At Second River there are six l q e red brick
buildhgs, built for barracks for Russian soldLem. Everywhere In and
about Vladivostok ones sees barracks which were erected mer the Russian-
Japanese Was in accordance with the plan of Russia to make Vladivostok
the best fort;ified place in the world with the idea of wl@~g Japan off of
the e&h. I' Now you knm that kind of thing, I wonder if that statemnt
now would, if it were read by the wrong persons of that ~ i c u l country, a ~
mi&t not-Washington nL&t object ?
Q. Oh, I don't think so because that was their plan. divostok was one
of their big fortified points.
A. When we arrived we saw t h ~ great--I e haven't mentioqd it--great stacks
with tarpaulin over them. That was cotton they were go* to use in mkhg
armunition. And there were lmds and loads and loads of big rolls of barbwire,
and there were--Ammican car wheels. It turns out they never:fitted
the Trans-Siberian rails. So they were stacked up. (tape turned oaf)
Q. You were telling IW that you've found the list of eqqpmnt that you
were issued in San Erancisco. Would you like to tell m @out that naW.
A. Yes, I'd be very glad to. This was in San Francisco. "I have started
an the mund of gettfng equiQped. The Red Cross certainw is generous with
nice warm clothing for us. holdall, arrived at the hatel, fflled as
follows : One dozen psi* dS hase , woolen; three pair of auting pajamas,
four suits, woolen underwear, one woolen comet.cover, six aprons, six
chmq gray hospital miforms, collars were the same." We wore little
white collars then. ''Tho white madras waists, two blue vaolen walsts, collars
and cuffs. t~ These again, were white, that were attached. "Sleeping
bag, woolen, gray blanket, woolen rubber boots, rubber hqt.'qe felt we
should have had the overshoes. We had no yse for the d e r boots at all.
We needed the w&h for our feet as well as the pmtectWn. '"Two pair of
woolen tiats , cuff links, red crosses to put on our uniBmn. We had a
brassard attached to our shoulders on our woolen
" And
those red crosses were on our lapels and on our
the mlddle
of the band on the hats. '"I'hen there were hat
Many of the gaxmnts needed to be exchanged or
tional sweaters, boots and socks were given.''
"A heavy blue ulster was fitted on me today together wit? one blue serge
Norfolk suit, one belora hat, one straw hat and the wonddrful, dear to
all Red Cross nursest hearts, blue cape with the scmlet lining. What a
pity that a nurse giving service ever has to part with it when her period
of smrfce is over." And that goes on to conferences wi'qh Miss White in
charge. She was our guide in San Francisco. Well, you didn't hem everything
about San Francisco. There was too much, that 's dl. And now
we'll continue on with !'dldy 3, 1919. , .
'Iheir bui1db-g~ house Ruusian and Serbian refugees, but part of one is

Anna Tittman 114 .
devoted to the use of chow. You know that s the food. "It is
served for all. There are two schoolrooms, each accom
3
Ing about
fifty children, mrtling and afternoon sessions. The tea em are refugees.
The ARC gives clothing, shoes, food and housing For these people.
All able-bodied mn are obliged to work and pay for part of the food for
theme-ms and families. The women go to the sewing roo@ where refugee
garmnts are made. They are paid by the garmnt. At Sixth Vimta POPtress
there is a Tlat little building with a Russian GrtWdox cross over
it, used as a church.
"The rear of this-building has a ch;wming schoolroam. The teachers are
bright, clean wholesom women. One is mrried arid teachipg in spite of
the fact that she has a baby. Th& Vimta Sixth Fortress bas a pup of
small buildings for porters, about six or eight families $n each."
END OF TAPE
A. "She [one of the mthem;] insisted upon kissing h-d evem few steps as
she follcwed me &--I, . you " how. didn't want her to c@ that--"The people
are very m h cleaner thanfthase at *&cond River. Many ctf them are Lettish.
Tne Virsta Sixth has a bakery where huge round loaves arre baked far'the refugees
at both places, points about three miles apart. @ere arr s@ll
emrgency hospitals at both places with a Russian sister 5-1 charge Qf each.
I could readily see the necessity for having a public heqlth nurse GPlth expedence
and training assigned to the work at once, as b$ies were $adly
in need of saneme to supervise their reedings.
M
There are m y cases of pregnancy which need watching. me smr wnths
ma the bad sanitation causes mch diarrhea and there a,m abscesses and
sMn emuptions in need of attention. At Sixth Virsta t&re dwells one
native who in his early days was a ra&lmad construction engineer. His hone
is partially used for the hospital. A beaut-ifhl garden munds it. There
is a little smr house on a prominent point f'rom whichlone can see a great
distance in mmy directions.
ll'JfheL natives tell that the-czar (when he was still-a &a
inspect construction of the fortification and spent many
this smr house. I had lunch in it which is as near a
knowing the czar. On our =turn we rdltnessed a troup of
the mat beautirul horses I have ever seen in rrg lffe.
a barracks in this vicinity and are present everywhere,
otheE-aXUed force," I'm thMcing about the war, you se
Japan.
Q. bhy were they still there?
A. Well, they just wanted to just get ahold of them.
Q. Tney hadn't thrown them out yet?
1 Prince) came to
lays sitting in
I w ill ever get to
jerbian soldiem on
kp soldiem have
?n to one of any
, the wau, wtth
I

Anna Ettm 115
A. Well, the world war made a difference, I guess. ''It would seem
that they were over here ready to take possession if
had a chance.
There are nmrous Jap children and women, and one
going to their special schools. The Japanese
violence. They use their sabers on quent cases
of Russian En, womn and children being
tion.
Q. Did you ever see any of thls or did you just see the ffects of the
wounds?
A. No, that was just told to m. July 4, 1919; "While he folks at home
are wonderiw how miserable I am on our national holday, k am having a wond
t . In the morning I went by auto to Cherkin Cape. Found some I
miserable conditions in the Russian barracks there. The* are under Russian
supervision. Dirt and filth. Women feeding their babies sour milk; a child
dy9ng rkwn pneumonia resulting fYom masles, his young bmther of about ten
years weeping over him. We taok him to the Vladivostok PRC hospital. I'
- I
Q. You took the brother or the little boy?
A. The little boy, his young brother, the sick child. 'We took the child
to Vladivostok ARC hospital, but the Russian doctor on day refused to admk
him because of hfection. Child died next day. 'I Well, J+ guess he was right
not to infect the other patients.
"Then went through Russian barracks next to Barracks
Saw rmny lovely children here, and sm very nice fmli
I went to a ball game between the hrican and
was a spLendid game. The band played,
business going on. "The Amy boys wore gray suits tr- in green made by
our ref'ugee departmnt. There were banners mked AmIy md Navy and each
tried to erect their own the hi@est.
"At niglzt the Red Cross persame1 as well as the LJnited States.- and the
Mted States ~avy attended the theatre, Golden Horn, to celebrate All hrlcan
Ni&t. The company gave a comic opera, and it wasn't bad at all. The
company is hrican, brougtnt over here by the Knights of Colmbus. The
dancers' costumes were pretty and freqh and quite in contrast to aiQthing
one sees in Vladivostok in the nature of the dress-up c1ol;hes by wown. The
play was entitled, iThe King of Padesnia.' Between ac* Amrican songs . r
were thmwn on the screen and we all sang at the tops of ~ur voices and
cheered long and loudly. I'
"July 5, 1919; After offke, went to a tea and garden pwy at the British
Ambassador's residence. It was attractively decorated ql the unifqrms of
various allied officers made the decorations
mth of our own Fourth of July celebzlation.
and the Red Cross girls are in great demand.
try, which has its quarters about three miles from ow
send auto
trucks for us every Wednesday and Monday nights.
on Saturday ni&t by the different comes.
I

Anna Tittman
4
evacuation base tonight, July 5th. The decorations were ery nice. Ferns
gathered and placed by the boys themselves. I am making old by imposing q
~self upon the boys for lessons, and they a.re awfully
>
go d about itlessons
for dancing. Many of them remark that I haven't ced with an
American girl for ten mnths. They are a-kromsick lot are crazy to
fi&t or go home, especially since the trouble of Shushan mes which resulted
in twenty-five or our boys being killed. The boys' are furious that
they cantt twn loose on the Bolshevild everywhere. A ce is given every
Saturday afternoon f'rom four to six at the International A hut. Most
of the arls prefer the enlisted mens1 dances to the offi erst because the
fomr do seem to appreciate us so much. The supply corn dance was a wonder.
The boys had AEF inscribed in great letters made o ferns on one of
the white walls and 31st on the opposite wall. White wild syringas and
bough?. of tree branches were in profusion and ammged with great taste.
The boys did it all themelves. Of course, there were fl@g~. The band sat
behind a poup of bou&s, and we had an inprovised dress- room for the
ladies. It was special attraction and it made the tears come to w eyes to
think of their thoughtfulness and desire to make us comfortable.
t
1
A large table was f'ixed up for a dressing table with three or four shaving
mirrors resting thereon. Swesal cans of talcum powder apd a lamp. The
Russki girls whom the American boys have taught to dance, curl their hair
with a tidy festoon at the top. It's a little doily or $omthing Like that.
A peice of fancy work. Heavwl only knows where they got the thingq.
Another large table with blanket covering was manged fop our wraps. They
had about seven long tables with sheets for covers where we all sat down to
sandwiches, pie, ice cream, coffee, candy and fruit prepwd and served by
the boys themselves. A railroad and shipping strike has been on. None of
our AFlC trains could start on that account, and boats canflot be unloadad. .
The U.S.S. Heffrin--the nam of the ship--has been held for a long time.
It will t&e Czech wounded back to their homeland by the "% uez Canal. The
department of nming is sending nurses Dewar and Fitzpatrick from Honolulu
as well as two Czech aides, Mrs. ~aulivlyf and Mrs. Velisek, to accompany these.
Miss Pauliny will rewn in Czechoslovakia as her people are there. On July
LO, the strike on the ~aSlroad was sufficiently settled to start a large
part to Cansk. It Well, Omsk is way out almost to European "The group
was largely made up of the party which cam over with me. on July 10,
a party of 18 nurses and one nurse s aide arrived on the Som of our
group will be going west. That is the unit, the
I was in.
This was not the first dt, by any ms.
''1 had rry picture taken in the mavies greeting the party
1
n arrival; also,
bidding the others farewell. The Penza has been held in ladivostok haulbor.
The new personnel is mamoned in Japan. On July 20, anotper unit started
west. On the 24tth Nurse Anderburg, and nurse's aide started to
Verkhneudlnskio." That's where we had a group
116
"On July 8th and gth, I mde a thorough inspection of
Island Hospital

Anna Tittm 117
of the American Red Cross nursing activities in Siberia. Special cases
for discipline and so forth. Later in the day a cable w
iI
received from
Washington as follows: St. John-now ME. St. John was t nurse who was a
missionary in Japan and her eye injury on the train by t knitting needle
reqded her to go back to the United States. Well, thP %a a telegram
about her. "St. John remains chief nurse. Harrirgton, ttm, divisional
chief nurses. Advise of assi@ng Haxrington western d2$sion, Tittman
eastern division. Clear nursing records thm& Vladiv~sf,ok.~' The western
ones will have to clear throw-Vladivostok, not try to sent fkom where
they were.
Q. You lost me there. I don't quite understand. Who w& being cleared
throm Vladivostok?
A. The records. I1 11 read that again. ltSt. John ~rmirw &ief nmse. H ~ F
ring tor^,^^ that was the one that preceeded m with her wilt and was gone
from Vladivostok when I had arrived [she went ] to the we*, way west, with
her group. "St. John remaims chief nurse. J&rdngtm, !IBttman, divisional
chief nms. Advise assiping Hbrington to western divglsion, Tittman to
eastern division. Clear nursing records throw Vladivostok. 'I That; would
rean not trying to rrall them f'mm out there in the western part, where Mss
Harrdngton was. Just clear their records thm@ here bercause the postd
conditions were better. I think that was the reason.
Q. So she was to send her records back to Vladivostok?
A. That s ri@t. "July 15; P& appointmnt ax chief nme, eastern division
of SiberLa was announced, and I assmd office. I attended q flrst methg
of the finance codttee which is an advisory codttee 101 f'mction and presenting
weekly reports. On July 20, I moved into a shglreA mom in the hospital
side of the building. I surely am going to enjoy the privacy. mom
is quite attractive with an improvised dressing table, awash stand, a becurtained
wardrobe, a long table for books and papers and a small tea table
holding IQ' tea set purchased in Nikko, Japan. My bed is ecomfortable and I
have a nice lfght which I can carry amund about and fastlen over nly bed or
over dressing table. The temperature is very warm, in fact, hot at noontime.
The boys say it is as hi@ as 110 degrees some dm. I have no surm~r
suit and am obliged to wear only one-provided for wear. There is
ice from the storage plant, but this cannot be used
Occasionally
we have ice flmm the United States boat, the
the captain
of the Albany on a previous trip who reported the
the refugees and so:forth to Washington.
Q. He was the reason that you were all sent then?
I
A. Yes, that I s Tj&t.
Q. Do you have his narne in there somwhere?
A. I think it was Phillips. I think it was, but I'm "One ni&t
we had lemnade for dinner. lt Now wasn't that
of msentery -ng the person&l and populace.
be the flies. " Oh, they were awful and did they bite ! ey are present
i

Anna Tittman 118
everywhere in great nunbers. We now have screens, but t
f
y don't seem
to answer the purpose. No fatalities in the ARC. The o ice was mved
to Barracks NLmS>er 7. he entire floor, fome~ly occupi by the hospital,
the ARC hospital, is nm the office on the first fl r. The boys from
the United States battleship Albany gave a vaudeville sh* at the Golden
Horn Theatre. Not too bad at all. The Albany has been hpre since March."
Why, I don't know. "And the jackies are deli@ted to mo* on."
Q. Wo are the jackies?
A. I don't know. Maybe well1 find out later. Well, th€$vfs somebody on
the boat they always call a jackie, I thfnk, Don't you tl@& so?
it's the beginners. "They lert at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, hly 27,
f"rom the allied forces and otbers fmrnthe mny hricam on
3Jst Infantry band played and the Czech soldiers sang a
I
was reported that the Albany was going to Shan@ai. The New
a boat-and the Max are Fn Vladivostok harbor at the pqent
borne very recently. I have begun to work organizing cl-es for Rqsian I
nmes aides and have appointed Ess Helen Bridge to do the instrucqion.
She will teach aides both Fn Vladivostok and Russian Islwd hospitals. These
are the young @rls, most of em taken from the pup of children who cam
fmrn European Russia. They were sixteen and seventeen y w old girls." Oh,
they were just deli&ted. 'The course will be four montb. A Russ$an doctor
will teach Mrst aid. A ward teacher will
work cOn the
hospital floor. Books have been cabled for as
certificates to be &;ranted at the completion
have anything. The textbook we were going to
nursing course, yet, it was adapted to the
Q. Could these Russian @rls speak EhgHsh? 1
A. Well, enom.
Q. The come was given in Ehglish?
A. We had an interpreter, too, you bow. Miss Bridge cc~dd-she
at learning words. She was very quick at it. Of course, a big
I've forgotten how many letters there were in the [Russian]
awful lot. [about 30 letters]
Now this is Sunday, July 27th. "Posted diary mst of thq day.
I took a walk with Misses Plnder and Florence Hoffhm, w
t
ch
a park and passed a bathing beach where men and wan, b s and girls, according
to the fashion in Siberia, were bathing in their are skins. We
passed a Russian horn, wulsually clean, and bought sow giants. Paid fifty
rubles for a good sized f'uschia. Over here rubles are nin@ty for a
dollar. Gne of the girls bowt a plant for a sick We went up to
the British hospital to give it to him. Found him
to him f'rom the window. The Russian lady sold Nlss Hof
so talked
towel, very long, with Imitted lace--1 had one like
the ends of Russian red and black. " That was a
!'Red and black crosswork desips, work which is only don4 by the people
from the interior. " 1

Anna Tittman
!%r@y. Jay 28,. 1919; "Heard officially today that Che
that ' s a town, tlTurnen, and Ekaterinburg, have been
viki. That .Red Cross personnel were safe in Omsk
teen nurses would leave Osrak for I&ut sk. It They
I think. "Expecting that Omk my be taken.
activities in Orrc;k and return personnel there
hopes. "These are very uncertain t-s. "
"July 29 ; Attended financial cormittee meting. It was Very interasting.
Cornnittee appointed on discipline. I was pleased that t& cormnittee report
read that personnel starting on train nwrber 19 to gp to Verkhmudlnsk
includes Xss Anderburg, hrican Red Cross nurse, and Mi@s W i l l i q , aide.
They were in danger on the Manchu~ian border where bandit$ attempte
the town, but Red Cross personnel and guards took refuge Ln a brick
ing mtil Russian Amy eliminated bandits. Mail from Washington,
Xss Dalbey, Will and Hmdett and Miss Xller.
you how. "First dl for several weeks. It
1 3 ; lnfantry dance nighttim. l1 Oh, this is goin@; to be interesting.
"Saw the Sheman come in today--that ' s a warship, you hw, it was a trans-
mrt; ship with 1200 En aboard. It was while I was dres#ng. The wmkg
has fog&, I could see ri&t out to the ocean.
END OF SIDE ONE
'lWtt1e did I think a~ I lifted distance glasses to s+ the boys on the
deck that nephew was one of them." That was nly sister? Rose's oldest son,
Louis Hiclanan. I told her she should have namd him TYtWm Eclanan. "He
phoned me tonieflt , but since he is in quaranth I got a pass and went out
to see Mm." The quarantine was because of the cholera. Tney were all ri@t,
but they weren't allowed to get off at the place where tky docked, and so
we went out to see him. - & had sore HawaLian girl on tw string when we
got there.
'We went over the transport. He is on his way to Manila and will leave in
a few days." Well, we took a basket full of food and niqe things to him.
That was Miss--oh, isn't that awful that I forget names. ms Mary, the one
I mntioned in the pPctures. Well, 1'11 think of it.
Q. How did the Hawaiian @rl get on board the Sheman?
A. I don't know. No, I don't how. So, maybe she Ud gom connection,
you know, with the Army.
Q. Was she living in Vladivostok or had she corn with tqe boat?
i
A. Well, she was going to EZlblla, you see. Now that se funny to rn that
they cam way up to Siberia first before going to MaMla
Q. Where had the boat core mm, do you know?
A. It was a United States boat, it was a transport ship,

Q. It carre from San Francisco?
A. Well, I don't how from where they cam. But it was Vuite a thing,
you know, to have a nephew corn in on a boat. He was a vp~y bri@t boy.
He worked later in the hospital as an attendant. Then st111 later he got
an appointmnt for off'icers camp. That would be in Arkanpas. Then the
war was over.
'@August 1st; 'After dinner took Wss Jessem," oh, she w@ sweet, "to the
transport Sherman and had a visit with Louis. She was sotn?body extra spec1 al.
"Cam horn with Colonel Awlenberger and Captaln,ll @I, I dicb?'t get the captain's
nan~ in here.
!'August 2rid; This afternoon went to the United States transport; Shqm
and saw huis. Took Miss Bethel," there she is, I knew she'd core back,
''withme and she gave him cards to £xiends of hers In Hqila." Now that was
nice. Waw Msses Howell, Cleveland, Hoff"man and Van Wyn$burg. We saw
them nicely settled on the Sherman for their journey to the states. Went
to International YMCA hut and danced f'rom far to six. b+nt to party even
by VMCA girls ," see, we had a group there and they did &ce work, ''at their
horn which is a well to do Russian horn rented for the sqrmr. It was beautifully
furnished, had a 1mly garden and sun parlor, p d pimo, velvet
carpet, wonderful mimrs and so forth. The dbing mm ps used for dancing
and it Is very large. Family had fouPteen children. La@ only knows where
they sleep.1' The family was there apparently.
"Tne guests were Colonel Sargmt, Colonel Lerch, Colonel Archenburger,
Colonel Graves.11 he was the head of all ow Arrerican fomes over there.
"Major Mckan, Mr. Phelps, YMCA, Mrs. F'ray, wife of the Iprican Consul
General who has been here 25 yeam. Colonel Sargent has been in Springfield
and has mt the Hays, the Rid@ys and others. "
"Agyst 11, 1919; Went to an Italian tea at the Italian barracks in Comastar,
a beautiful1'--I think my word 'beautiW ' is in hew enough to sand the
sea--'beautiful trip thr@ the harbor in a Russian boaq, ayly decorated
which docked at a small pier, also gayly decorated and fmt ve with an arch
covered with spruce. We were sped in autos to the fleld of enjoyrEnt, a
beautif'ully arranged garden plot surrounded on one side lqy a white picket
fence with elevated decorations of en-blems of the variom nations and decorated
bandstand where the Italian band played the anthem of the
allied forces. Opposite was a terrace with the
stone in the sod with the steps leading to a
was covered
with the greenest bows. To the leq of
especially
built for the occasion and steps
another terrace where tables were plaeed for buffet lun
The program then includled firat music, then gams and sp z*ts and letter
and flag formations by 120 Italians dressed in green, re and white. These
are their national colors. The tug of war was mst scie ifically done and
the races were very good. The buffet lunch was elaboratq, but there was an
~Wabundance of wine of various brands. Phny of the august and rdlitary
body partaok too,.extensively to the disgust of many of a. 'Ihe company
was made up of representation3 of the United States the American Red
4
f

Anna Tittm 121
Cross, the Italian, French, Ehglish, Serbian, Russian, Czech, Japanese,
Chinese, as well as diplomtic services. There were many Russian officials
also with their families. Many pretty and well4re8sed women were
there with garden party frocks of fim texture. It was + beautiful
affair unlike anythhg one mi&t expect to see in Siberia)" I ~me&er
the pretty parasols of the well-dressed womn. That madeiit more decorative
,=you see.
I
Q. Did you wear your uniform?
i
A. Oh, yes. m, yes, you had to. Oh no, I had a dress 1 could waar back
at .the barracks. That was the dress in the picture that $ went to Francisco
In, with the little buttons all the way down. 111 e@,joyed the lride
home over the hills in a F-sench car with Captain and MPS. Cook,~Ame~ican Red
Cross.
"August 23 to 25; This will record a trip to Razdolnoe, a place about fif'ty
vemt--a versta is about three quarters of a mile roughly-north of Vladivostok
and the point where Corrpanies F and M of the Unite0 States 31st Infantry
have been stationed she last Septerber. "There @re thirty Red Cross
ladies in our party and Major Lyons, director of the milibry relief', " that's
the ARC rrAlitauy relief, "also 31st Infantry band." See!, these boys were
shut off f'mmtheir own relief places so we had to take the party to them.
llOur parby is the very first that these boys at Razdolnoe have had, and they
surely were glad to see us. We arrdved at about 6 : 00 p . and ~ after, a delf&tful
dinner in the officer's mss where we had all OF our meals, we assembled
at an arrazsemnt hall and danced mtil mLdni@t. $?he boys were packed
around the edges and, of course, them was pat vying fop the comparatfvely
few girls.
The next mrming them was a ballgm and here was demonstrated the spltendid
spirit of good fellowship between the mn and the officem. That the men
adored their chiefs was proven beyond a doubt by the intepse cheering and
rooting when an officer came on the field. After the gar@ . . . 11
Q. Is this a football game or baseball?
A. I guess baseball. "The next mormFng there was a bal
f-
." I think it
was baseball. llAfter the @;a, some of us went thm@ e hospital. Many
veneral cases." Oh, dear. ''me physician made a state t to me that s i ~ y
per cent of the En and officers of our Siberian expedit' n are afflicted."
Oh, I donlt how whether that ought to be in there.
Q. C&, sue. That's no problem about that.
A. "With Major Lgons I then took sane pictures. Tried a seation of
the Trans-Siberian railmad showing a cumre as well as of the wide,
wide plains wnhauvested, in v#~ich its dormant
is much wild
hay. Sam of which is reaped, but lack of
and thrift is evident everywhwe.
After another good dinner &y was loaded Into
engine over which the Army has control and by hrican soldiers.
We were taken wuzel about ten verst

Anna Tittm
soldiers are doing gmrd duty. The tunnel itself was buigt in 1914
by prisoners of war, it is reported, and is quite a spl&r@d bit of
stuctural engineering. The czar's coat of arms was once Over the entry,
but Mly a bare spot,wZth a telltale outline was left to it. At
the cay the band played, a canvas was stretched in the
took place, althou@ the boys seemed very bashf'ul and di
the sport particularly well. After a while, some of
up in trench hats, ammition belts and guns proceeded ta have a drill
under the direction of a capta3n who answered to the deswtion of Wild
West Bill. The ladies then had their pkture taken in tlq~ trenches and
going over the top to the keen amusernant of the re& of the party. We departed
fkom the camp after Misses Bridge, Bethel, and I ent upon the hill
and armed ourselves with beautiful white and purple flow-, the fodmer vexy
much like our spirea.
At the tunnel we waited and wxited, then waited some mre and finally our
train cam for us about two hours late. The reason was %at Russian authorities
held the train up at Uphaya. We therefore had to eat ow7 picnic supper
indoors instead of on the lawn as planned. Af'ter swr we attended a
h w American bonfire. Several of the boys sang solos arrd the crowd joined
in the chorus. We lefi for Vl,a&ivostok lbnday mrning azJp-iving at @out 2:00
p.m. The car which we traveled in was so filthy and riden with velrmin that
we had to sit out on the platform. I had to shampoo and~&hower bef6re I was
f'it to go on duty." That's a11 we had was showers, and they were fqmny.
Q. My were they f'unny?
A. Well, they were just so, just so rudimentary , just a box sort of thing
and you had a hard t h gebting the water just right. Then it wasn't clean
or anythhg. But when I wanted a bath I went over to Russian 1s-d for a
tub bath when I could get there.
Q. Tney had tubs over at that hospital?
A. They had tubs over there. "August 30, 1919 ; Haw lpd a busy, and in
sm ways an exasperating, weekfh the office. Have be@ confronted with
s m of the mst serious problems as disdssing a nurse mrnthe se ce,
transferrhg a chief nurse and later accepthg her resiwtion.
r" I
Q. What happened, do you remrher? !
A. No, I don't remmber the instance. I know that them was p e nurse who
was drhkirg all the tim. A doctor told me about it, a young doctor. I
went up to her lorn and found her in a sad condition. 01 come, that was
no t h to talk to her. I went to som of the authoritigs and asked what to
do, but she was obviously lik@ that before she cam in [she ARC]. f don't
know Were she got the liquor, altho* there was a group of American en@-
neers-I'm not on am I?
Q
Yes.
A. oh.
I

. That ls all ri@t, it won't hurt. You didn't nam her,
A. "Attended a dance. It I didnl t know I danced so much. a dance
at the Y. " I really wasn't rrruch of a dancer,
he could whirl m around and I could just follow him
was fun. He was a YW m. "Attended a dance at the
New Orleans, that's another ship.
"On %hwsday Miss Bridge met the ladies of the Russian Cross to present
to them our plan for instructing womn in elemntary
4
hyane and home care
of the siclc. Satwday ni@t the 30th and Sunday the 31st, 5, spent pleasant
tb at Russian Island in conversation with Miss Wcy ," oh, she w sweet,
she was from Massachusetts, "chief rime of the hospital. I was co vinced
that all would be well in this locality now that Dr. N e m had suc eeded
Dr. Roach. On Sunday afternom I visited the children's bmcks a Russian
Island where boys who had core from the interior were staWt;imed. ese boys
are part of a colony which the ARC conducted at Lake Tur@yah, far nto the
interior and which had to be evacuated recently when Bol*evik advances were
. There axe one thousand children all together, but only 272 have so
far arrived in Vladivistok. The eve- and late aftemwn were very happily
spent with Mr. Hank Smith, lW. Teck Wth, both YMCA En, lWss Bridge and
lMss Last. We strolled over the hills of RussiansIsland, built ,a fire, hunted
mushroom and had the best picnic supper-I think we v@uLdlve been afraid
of those toadstools-for many a day. After visiting the fortifications on
the point, we returned to the hospital [on Russian Islmcl].
"3ptder 1s;; Another event rul day. At 8: 45 a.m. , wheu returning from
Russian Island, I learsed that our Red Cross train, nLnnbm 20, was lea*g
for the interior at 5: 00 p.m. Not only was I expected ta get three nurses
ready to go to -in, but was to go myself to Irkutsk. This trah was gotten
ready to take Colonel Toysler, to the interior. He l-pd not yet returned
from Japan. He hew a good deal about the Orient.
I
Q. Was he Russian? f
A. I don't know. It was his nurse that was the chief nurse that had to go
to the Vnited States and is now c o w back?' Maybe I waq bebg sent on that
trip in order to mke.way for her retuun. I had been inyited to go with him.
The train had to proceed without him to camry supplies.
Q. Wt arrqy was he a colonel in? American m, Russia A m ? 1
A. He was an hrican, I'm p~etty sw.
Q. He was probably sent in as an advlsor to the Russianq?
A. I can't tell you.
Q. Phybe to the White Russians? 1
A. I can't tell you. "He will have to cone by express $nd m?q catp the
trah later on up the line. It required som tall, somQhing, to gpt m
1

Anna Tittm 124
off; not only for packing, but to make the reports to Wa&ington, tu~?n
over all instructions to ny assistants. I left the bam?a&s hill at4
5:OO p.m. RLss Pinder rode to the station with rrut.
'7
left the station
at 7:OO p.m. Mss Mills, Miss Bennett and MISS Albers we the three
nurses bomd for Harbin. Now that's where the cholera w worse. ''Captain
Beckley conducted the train. Mr. Pbxley an ARC cherrii t was to go to
Irkutsk. Tney are the offlcem bound for Verlmie-Udhk. Captaln Nash
and Lieutenant Yayton were Amricans and they were just a@ nice as they
could be. Both very nice. "Another Weutenant , Douglas @borne, is in
charge of ten guards accompanyhg a car to the rear of thp personnel car."
This was a supply train. There was sore difficulty gettfng the supplies
onto that train. There was just our Red Cross people really-well, we had
guards on the train to take caxe of the goods and to gmql the train when
we stopped. me dining place was very crude. It was like oh, a j70@
mts, who were working out way off somwhere in a ro lace, just bare
wooden tales and so forth. Our ca is a second e, but it is really
very nice. The cleanliness of it is swcprising c it with other cars
which I have seen. The upholstering is leather. compartmnt to nlyself
.in the fiddle of the car, I am very comfortable. carny, besides
our personnel car and the guard car, a chow car with a crew. Thirtytwo
cam of supplies, drugs oil and so forth. l1
4
"Sept&w 2,; 1919; 'We passed Nickolsk, the division or branching off point
of the Trans-Siberian railmad.
tosky. "
Passed a trainload of Czltch tmups at Lip-
END OF TAPE EIGHT
A. "At 1: 00 p.m. we arrived at Grodekovo. Then we saw .q camoufla@d arrnored
car with a regirent of Cossacks. Two trainloads of Chinqse arrived at Pogmnichnaya
at 4:45 p.m. This is the boundavy between Russiapd Manchuria. The
railmad's rimed Mchuria Ussuri Railroad and ends here a d Chinese Eastern
beghs. One sees m.ny high hills one thousand feet hip$ tbm@ this section
with smaJ.1 gai?dens extending to their peaks. "
,''*pt:der 3rd; ' kfi Win, Manchuria, at 3: 00 a.m. and passed through
Khandaokhotey. At the latter point we were held from 3: 45 p.m. until 2 : 15
a.m.' Septeder 4; 'bdaj*rinQ for an &gin@ to carry us
4
cp our way. We are
obliged to suffer a change of engine &t every division. /Saw lots of broom
corn gmwhg. Chinese bandits, Hunhuai were mported to be at work. No
evilhence, anyhow, we didn't see any. And thank goodness At the division
point there are a group of tracks; from three to seven s gTe tracks come
tomher at the divfsions.ll When you get there it is a lace to stop. Then
the3 got stuck. "Beyond Nikolsk, it was rAkiing. We w ed around about
a pa&.
i
''~.@x&er 4,--1919; -manpo, a Manchwian town with a R sian cololly.
Tnm hours visit. hived in Harbin at 10:OO p.m. hc mct, rdlitary report.
Population 50,000, 30,000 Russians. " Well, the 5 ,000 was incorrect
and the 30,000 was what it is.

Anna Tittman .
i
125 '
Q. This is Rarbin?
A. Yes. "Had only three hours here much to regret as I had hoped
for a day or two in which to observe the work of the ARC $uses in
the cholera epidemic." Now I did get to stay longer them on rrw way
back. ll!!tLss Mlett was in charge there of nursbg at H@in, and she was
a fine nurse well along in years who had worked in an ARC! office in Washington.
The ARC nurses in this cholera epidemic, MLs Ba@l&tt, Miss
Uoyd, Miss Hawley and Wss Judge came to the train. Alsg Dr. Field, Mr.
Roland, Mr. Dawson and others. I went to the railmad engineers barracks
where there is a five bed hospital. Met Mss Doub and Wgs Brandon. Met
Colonel Jones, relative of mss Twitchell--Dolly Twitchelk was a graduate
of Presbyterian Hospltal Nursing School in Chicago-to wh@m I had letters.
A report had reached -in sipped by Major Strong that it was not the
policy of the American Red Cross to allow nurses to serve1
4
in hospitals
other than those over which the hrican Red Cmss p ~ s i d in an authorative
capacity.
Nurses have been serving here in Chinese and Russian hos@Ltals. I infomd
mss Bartlett , Captain Rowland and Dr. F'ield that I had h@d nothing to do
with the detehation of this policy and gave order to have nur$es serve
in Chinese and Rwsian hospitals, as well as to do bedside nursing fn the
horns where this was satisfactorily prearranged. Miss mlett mnttioned
that she had served in France in a hospital not controll@ by the MC. I
infomd the group that I wself and many nurses known tar m had se@ed in
America in hospitals not contmlled by the Amrican Red Qmss. Two American
Red Cross nmes semrjvlg for many rmnths had not at any been controlled
by the American Red Cmss. Captain Rowland is mst anxi* to have an hrican
Red Cmss hospital established in Harbin.
I
I was in favor of it and urged that Colonel Toysler be to stop eu route
west and be infomd of the need. Suggested that lW. also would
give support--see, he was the mm who handled the
had mentioned the need to re. Conditions in the
terrible fkom all reports. IWss Bartlett recorded that die nurses yere cow
fortabu quartered in one roan of the YMCA headquarters, "tat they
experience and were all deli&ted with the opportunity to take
work. The conditions in the Chinese hospital are said
nurses havFng served the Chinese are to be decorated wit9
The work of the nurses has been greatly appreciated, and
rapidly diminishing, it may be possible to release them soon. I gaye consent
to Mss Doub to take a short vacation and asked her to go soon, having
Miss -Lett take her place during her absence.
"September 5, 1919; The character of the country has ch~ged from one of
hills and sdl garden patches to large, very large plaiqs
i
covered with hay.
Anda and Tsitsikar were the towns to reach today. The 1 tter has a populaij
tion of W,000. It lies on the Nod River. With Dr. W t and later with
Captain Nash, I: wued about a little. Saw a little Ort dox church with
much ground about it which seem to be a prevalent condi ion in Manchuria.
One 2s impressed by the substantial and well built fence . The houses all
through the country are built with brick or mud; very th ck walls.

Anna Tittman
At Tsitsikar we mt an Arrerican engheer namd Martinson p conplded of
the lack of appreciation of the Russian people. He is regponsible f4r the
regulation of telephone and telegraph wi~e facilities froq Khailar to
Tsltsikar. The market around the station was similar to a1 those others
seen through the corntry. Chinese coolies of the dirtiest type (chuckles)
sell cigarettes, eggs, live fowls, portions of mat half qooked from dirQ
boxes and baskets. Somt5mes one sees watemlon, but these are of a vew
small variety, about one fourth as large as the smllest united States Melons
Af'ter leaving Tsitsikar we dashed over an enomus plain %here we seldom
saw any mark of civilization. In a few smll patches we occasionally saw
some wild hay reaped into stacks. We crossed over the No4wie River which
is very, very long, on a bridge of splendid construckion. It's cloudy today;
no pictures taken.
I
Saw cities of mudhouses with md walls around. Another nqticable feature is
the abundance of Jap troops through the region. At Anda @nd also at Barirn
we saw the Jap flag over the station entrance." Just v n e , now, putting
a Jap Tlag on a Russian building.
"S_eptember 6, 1919; The cauntry begins to get hilly againc For a 1% tim
we traveled throw a valley about three quar*ters of a mile wide. bk are
rully twenty-four hams behind our expected schedule and ttkg fwther
behind all the tim. The wind is very fast and M o w $ this region and
makes it very necessary for the engine to proceed at a slfm rate of speed.
We took a w&dk over Barim. Found lots of brick houses, ole story, built in
logical order, fences about them, flowers and vegetables
houses were nunbered. It was sorewhat of a swrprlse to
used, as nuber 36 or rimer 38, and .so forth. There were; two parks. One
with an open air theatre and a bandstand. Lots of nice t es about everywhere.
Reached Buchuta about 8: 00 p.m. Remained mtil ten. I r&de on the front
of the engine mrn the point about seven verst from Buchuta and the scenery
was very lovely. At Buchuta, Mrs. Strange, wife of an Arrprican engiqeer,
mt the traln. It seemed good to see an Am~Lcan woman @er two s of
separation k.om them. Met a Czech trxin camying all thelr supplie and
much of their amy tmard VladZvostok. HeaFd again of the starving train
which went thm@ here last Smday--A train full of Bols
i
eviki had een
boarded up, Fn the car, and sent without food for the peo le to die 'of starvation.
This train was opened by the Amrican Red Cross t Nikolsk. * Som
were left to die and others were fed. " Nailed up, a d y u, without food
and everythjn@;. I have a pkctp somepihere, I guess I h it, mere--they
were just sta?ved and in the train persons lying in--one 's face I remmber
Q. Did you see the train?
I
A. I had a picture of it.
Q. Did you take the picture?
f
I

Anna Tittman 127
t
A. No, no. I don't think so. The Bolsheviki did this, ou see. I'm
going back now. "Train full of Bolsheviki had been naile up. I'
$
Q. The White Russians nrust've done that.
A. Well, yes. That's right.
Q. Be Bolsheviki were Reds. I
A. That's ri$-it, Well, anyhow, they starved the-our rican Red Cnoss
tried to do something about it.
r
"September 7, 19L9; Reached Khailar about 10: 00 a.m. and ~ ~ here for e d
a couple of hours, + Had a nice walk with Lieutenant Yeato ,"--that nice
little Amri~an--throu@S?~the ,tam which was very interest g. Saw people
eessed in their Sunday clothes, little girls in white ha s and dresses,
going to church. l1 Now that sounds like civilization. Th old town, swrounded
by a mud wall, lies two miles away.'' Now that's an i a. When they get
tired of a town, just build another one. "At 5:00 p.m. w reached Manchuria
station where we rewined mtil ten o'clock the next m g. Wait due to
failure of milmad to provide an enme and attach two s ply cars. Saw
custom examination of baggage. Many foreiw people, Bfit sh, Swedish and
so forth. Met W. Holland, an ARC trained captain ~tun$ng to Vladivostok
on an express. Bou&tnt photos of Bolsheviki massacre in a1 region. "
Baikal is the name of a wmderful lake there and there a$" great t unne 1s
that go throw at one end of it. And the train goes th$@ those. "Walked
up and down tracks with Dr. Watt. Saw many strange pers
?
ages, many officers,
Japs , Cossacks, Russians, French and so forth. Saw Fren troop and equipment
tra9n going toward Vladivrostok showing withdrawal o Erench. Took pictures
of station. View of Russian Manchuria and some t*c& chwacters.
"Mandgy-3eptder. 8,-1919; l!bnchwia station is not thq frontier bounm.
The actual f'mntier is fowlteen miles, twenty verst west of Manchuria station.
On leaving Manchuria we plunged W s t imdiately into we desert. At Intervals
there was always at least one we11 constructed hwe which $emred
as a place of abode for the railroad official. l?requentw there wep seen
mud houses. After riding all day, 81 miles from Manchur* station,
f'
verst-tha,tls forty miles--we passed Dauria where there *re thirty to fiey
large brfck bdldings. They were built during the world war, used bavracks
for officer prisoners of war.
"
"~noff"--now that was the one that declared himself a dic8ator--f~ememff
under Kolchak troops revolted here a few weeks ago, and qvidences were seen
of the fi&ting. Tom up pund and phattered buildings, At Borz&i we
saw a horrible si@t. A refugpe train bound for Vladivoijtok had about
five or six cars of Bolsheviki prisoners who were sick eth typhus. " Now
that's the disease spread about by the bite of a louse.
I

Anna Tittlllan 12 8
at the telegraph system. Bomai is quite the neatest vil age thm*
which we passed. It has a pretty pwk and som playpun k apparatus which.
surprised me greatly. Water pipes ran on top of the p4d. I saw an
autombile. Saw many wild homes &loping with their r5ders over the
city.
Q. Over the city?
A. Yes. Galloping over the clty. "No paved streets of course, but sandy
roads like frontier towns of our own west. Borzia is the center for the
Chitinskii Cossacks. Tnis is the center for the Cossacks, these particular
Cossacks. 'They were seen in considerable nu-bers, blue breeches,
[Sharovari] the broad orange stripe down the leg, orange band on the cap
and belted-in waist coat or blouse.
1
"Septder 9, 1919; Tassed another Czech troop train go' g towmd Vladivostok
proving withdrawal of Czechs. These soldiers looked lean, healthy and
well cared for, although they have been living in boxc for four years.
They do not trust the Russians now for' although they cam to serve them, they
have been tricked too often. The Czechs have gmrds on t e engine and on
the rear with telephone lines running fmm the engine th u& the cars to
the rear end. So many herds of horses on the wide grassy plain today. "
Just mw?ing, you know, just loose. "Also saw a few cam@. No caravans.
Took pictures of two Buriat priests in xed robes. Also spm childrm woef'ully
neglected like all children in this part of the wodd. Wttle @rls
carry babies in their amns almst as big as themelves. bere are plenty
of dogs everywhere; some of them are beauties, sort of wokfy looking. For
a the our railroad course was l3ke this. (refers tb illpstration) We
could look back over it.
Q. Deep S curves so you could look back to see where yodd been?
1
A. Yes. That was at an altitude of 1298 feet. "This took us up
enormous pa&. Many small white birches seen today. Som fall col ins,
fences built of birches wlth fie brances woven like baskets. Some ay
being cut. No other crops. lbuntainous district and a mst beauti
valley throw which ran the Armr Rivqr which is several thousand [ ,7001
miles long. Saw an abundance of Japs leverywhe~ . A trainload of t m beside
the beautiful river. Saw a teepee where appmntly there dwelled a
smll fmr. Learned later that this was merely a small stack of hay with
poles across it. l1 Well, I suppose they Just threw the ~10th over the pole.
"September 10, 1919; llRode in f'ront of the engine for two1 hours + It was
I
Q. Cow catcher?
A. Yes, cow catcher. And there s a seat fight above it, Dr. Watts and
I sat there. llWonderful roadbed, double tracks throw e
Pine trees in abundance. Little village looked most dese
flwUl sitting on the-what Id we call that thing in fmnt pf the . . .

~nna Tittm 129
"Septder: 11, 1919 ; vJe now see long sweeps for the well+. I' Sticks
way up In the air like this and the bucket's on a rope below. And
then they push this one up at the bottom and get the
there were many of them. They sort of looked like
to m.
Q. Who got the water? Women or children, mn?
I
A. Oh, I guess anybody did. Women did work a lot over tkere. "Rewhed
Verknie-Udinsk--aren't you glad, quite a trip--Where the USA, 27th Ihfan'cry
is located and remained till 2:30 p.m. Met Lieutenant Stbell who is in
charge of the guard at the ridge about eight verst west of Verhie-Udksk.
He remained with us throw dinner and conducted me to the ARC military
hospital for Russian soldiers. " See, our American Red Cmss was taking
care of the Russians as well as -when they could get a place to do it.
?.
"This was an old deparbment store and was gotten ready in a great emrgency
as a trainload of patients cam in from the west and ope tions had to be
started at once. Capacity over two hundred. Patients on mrg cots. '' Well,
I bade Lieutenant Yeaton and Captain Nash goodbye here. ey got off at
Verbie-Udinsk. "lkt Mrs. Ayres and Ma;r-t l'kcCauslin- they were in rriy
unit--Bucklin and Ebwman, Prohe, Rile, MacIntire. All ere surprised to
see me as no mssage had reached them as to codng. "%d a very hded
conference with Kss l%cIntire~she~s in charge-and le*ed that she has
lots of problems due to the close affiliation of nmes 4th the Anw.
Promised Miss MacIntire that I would return. United States Arqy is moving
to winter quarters at Be~sofslg. Much of the day was sent traveling on
the rim of the wonderful Lake Baikal. The day was quite bloudy but the
beautiful snowcapped mountains were quite visible on the Qpposite side of
the lake. ''
f'Then we followed along the Angara River which leads to Ipkutsk. This river
is wide and has a swin cmnt as do all rivers in Siber&a. The ni&ts
had been especially beautiful because of the full moon. pr. Watts, Lietenant
Osbome and I sat up until almst Irkutsk where we ar)lived about ddnight.
'!Saturday, Septder 13, 1919; Captain Prince cam
that he was in charge of this ARC district, including
Irkutsk. Nursing personnel ljsrilted Irkutsk on advice
and General Graves-now see, that is General Graves--United States
to safety. Lunch In Captain P!rincels car." That was his office, b
and so forth.
Now this is "Sunday, Sept&er_ 14, 1919; Irkutsk. Went over to the ARC
hospital with Mss--well, I've written sorething over it, it looks like Kemp
or somthing like [that]--"Chief nurse. Splendid instktub%on of its kind.
Attended tea. Met mny Czech and British personnel. I
''Monday, September 15, 1919; Irkutsk. Visited Russian
of Miss T@le and Mrs. Hunt in dressing station and lar
Russian hospitals are poor in sanitation and equipment.
linen rrade by nurses, supplies, drugs, and so forth.
little to eat. Some have no beds or even mattresses
on the bare floor huddled up in corners. The dead
front door. They are cmied in open c&s
exposed.

Anna Tittman 130
Went to Czech hospital where ARC and Czech aides are doing good work and
helping in maintaining proper spirit. Went to the bazm,at Telkusk.
Miss Hamington--now that was the chief nurse of the westfrn divisian.
See, rqy territory ran to Irkutsk. "Miss Hamington, Nissl Pchle accanpanied
. This is the old mket, otherwise !mown as the thie market. Here
one sees--there are nmrous booths where junk of every
sold--I bought brass buckles, a little Bmss bell. I ha? it. Has an awfully
nice tone. It doesnl t have a handle on it tho@. 'A neckpiece, a
heavy brass affair worn by priests mked 1864. " Well, it1 s twenty years
older [than I am].
"Took pictures of the baxaar, then went to tea with Miss Pohle, Wqs H ~ F
rington and Mr. Maddison. Going acmss a bridge corriing I got $to a
stampede of cattle. Well, what do you know. 'Went to mi6 recital
by four Czech violinists at AFU= barracks, 8: DO p.m.
to the
railroad cam at 11:OO p.m. with Mr. mddison, rry
In the yards. We hmted for that train mtil 1: 15
it because we happened to run across som United States
longed on it. They had been drinking vodka which
an intoxicated man can always flnd his way horn.
trust rr~yself in the hands of a drunken hfican
Now weLcanlt put that in there.
Q. Oh, sue. There s nothing m ng with that.
A. Well, what if the Russains read it, I mean.
Q. They won't md.
A. No, the ones over in Russia. I'm @ng to let the re@ go.
Q. No, I think that's okay. A little chauvinistic mayba!
A. (lawter) I tho@t it was when it happened. I1m mt . . .
Q. I think that ' s a very hwnarn reaction, Annie.
I
A. Well, you know where I stand on the drinking businessr. I
Vednesday, September 16, 1919s Had a busy day today. Wved to
which will proceed to Verknie-Udinsk to join fifty other
r
womn mst of whom are;established there only awaiting
can return to the west for activity. Verknie-Udinsk
location of our USA Infantry 27, is also on the
thmugh which the Bolshevlki would have a very
These tunnels are @ed by Ozechs and Russians.
+
"mmsday, Septder 17, 1919; , Working hard today going ver formiof records
needed in the nming in the western vision. ,Mss
Hamington, chief
now temporarily 'n charge bf the
Irkutsk and Verkulie-Udinsk has been in the west and the xchange of :information
had been quite satisfactory in many particulars. med that Colonel
Toysler will reach Irkutshh and Krasnoyarsk to confer wit Major Manget. 'I Oh,
he was a lovely person. He WE)S out there long before of us< ever got
there. The nurses all loved him.

Anna Tittman I 131
Q. Was he French?
A. Well, yes. See, that French name, I imagine that he as. "Colonel
Toysler will determine the f'uture policy of the AnErican Red Cross in
Siberia. As mch as I would like to met Colonel Toysler at this time,
I feel that it is essential that I return to Vladivostok Soon and Train
17 my be last opportunity for som time exce'plt travel via Russian
express which mans probably flve in a coupe, mn and womn, together, of
various nationalities and with different ideals of cleanlbess. Our train
with Captain Gaston in chmge and with nurses F m r and Pomr and Snlythe,
Blackmar, Kller, Williams, Shoemaker, Bryant;, Reynolds; rimes aides,
Meem, Hall, Vms, and stenopqher Seabri&t, Doctor Hi-. Also Pk. Davis,
pharmacist, ill from typhus. kf't Irkutsk at about rddni@t. " We had
several deaths mm typhus.
Q. You mean mng your own personnel?
A. Well, no, the nurses were fYee fram it. I don't mm@er any nme
that even was sick, the nurses health was good by and large. But typhus
was somthing we were warned against, to be awfilly carew. Well, I guess
Davis,tthe pharmacist, was ill fYom typhus . . .
'Triday, September 18, 1919; We traveled all day to Verkpie-Udinsk arriving
there abo& 10:OO A few nurses were dm to meet US* Also Dr. Bucker
with whom I had a long conference on difficulties of the nursing situation
with relation to the W.l1 See, that was report;ed to me, "He relqbed the
details of his conference with Colonel Pbmw heading the,27th 1nfarrt;ry the
previous ni@t. Dr. Bucker said it was the decision of the American Red
Cross authorities to return certain nurses to Vladivostok, Rode on top of
a car." Well, the nurses had tea up there one tim when the train Was g0ag
along. They had tea; took teapots.
Q. You man on the roof of the car?
1
A. Yes. There's a ladder up on the side of the car.
Q. Tne train wasn't going very fast I take it?
A. No, no. Now, "*ptember 19. Miss MacIntire cam dew to the
Now she was the one in charge at Verkqie-Udimk and she could tell
about what this trouble was. "Cam dpm to the train and we had a
ference. CaptaSn NaSh who is close td Colonel Morrow alw conferre
re. -After I saw all of the personnel and their baggage pff to the camp
where nurses are residing in tents, wqll, constructed an
I
rode to the camp in a droahki and had 1 dinner. Was hqpy
Received conflicting mssages from Colonel Mxrow
Net him at 4:00 p.m. on tmin with Dr. Bucker present. I'
t
class caul, box-

Anna Tittman
compartmnt and this was also our kitchen and dining room, " There's
a picture of the car we were on. "We cooked ow: own malg on top of a
heating stove and had lots of fun doing it.
"Sunday evening we reached Slyudyanka and knowing that we would have a
little tb, we went to the Amrican engineer quarters fop a drink of
boiled water. We had none on ow car. We were greeted by two rotund
Amrican men, Bmer and Healey, and were @ven raisin pi@ as well ag
water. The pie was mde by the elder engineer who was at the the eptertaining
two Russian boys. We certainly enjoyed them. This twentieth day
of Septerrber passing Iake Baikal on one side and the mst beautiful
ash and birch, the latter in pat abundance. ?"ne ash tqes were br Ye at ,
and deep red." It was fall, you know. "All the trees we= especially
small. There does not seem to be any lmge trees in Sibeqia, probably because
of the extreme cold. We rode two niats and one da$, arriving in
Irkutsk knday ~[wrming.~~ Oh, the distances were somethin$, you know.
I
!'Sqjt&)er 222, 1919; 'I@ birthday. @ 35. Met Colonel Toysler and Dr.
lWiget, mdlcal. director, Siberian co~ssim. After spending considerable.
th in the office, met Colonel Toysler in Conference. :(wpe tmed off)
END OF TAPE NINE
"September 23, 1919; Went to the thieves market with Majar Allen and Miss
Harrington. Bowt a paisley shawl for five hundred rmblg~s--they were
seventy far a dollar so I paid only seven dollars--that I gave to Miss
Bertha Kmpp who was the director of nursing in the Weslet Hospital in Chicago.
ll She had @ven me ny carera to take with m .
I
"Septder 24,,.1919; Another conference Showed him
rqy files. Went to hospital for lunch. Vfsited the Then went
to several markets with Miss Harrington
p~ss, failed to come in a.ltho~@ we were
10:OO p.m., then 12:OO p.m., then 3:00 or
one of our managerrent mn--addsed me to
would come tomrrow.
"September' 25, - 1919; Express expected at 10 : 00 a.m. ,
&ved at 3:00 p.m. With the assistance of MY. Gyley,
Major Allen, Captain Carroll and interpreters as well
oners, I was bundled into a tMrd class car alt
a first class
ticket. When it was discovered that I had two men,
companion in the one booth, it caused a great stir on
to get rm properly established. All the first class c were occupied
by men and I would be required to she the coupe with
correspondent for the Chicam Tribune, bk. F'rederic
Major Allen had not corn to the ~.escue. He had a
himself and allowed rw to be mved into it with rrq~
foot trunk, "two suitcases, large bedding mll, t
little Comna, "and a Japanese brief basket of p
a young Canadian, Captaln Rwes , to sleep in t
If an hrican

Anna Tittman
Had dinner with Mr. Wth and Mr. Ray Thompson, who is an Amrican 1
vice consul. We opened a can of freestone peaches which. provision
basket afforded and passed the can around to several hr$canS and Canadians.
When owl bill was presented we were astounded to learn that we
had to pay for our awn compote," that's what they called their dessert,
'because the managemnt wished to discourage travelers frcpm bringing their
own food. Compote was on the bill of fare. I'
Q. So they chaqed you for your own peaches?
A. Yes, that's right. It was on the bill of fare, so tmt made a dlfference
in their charging. They wouldn't have charged it if Zt hadntt been
on the bill of fare. 'w dinner cost 85 mles. I had daiy--that% tea--
consod, steak, potatoes and compote. he pays the bill [ahead of tilnel
on a note for so many rubles and receives a credit sZip
i
m which the price
of each ma1 is subt~acted.~' So you pay in advance, I gu ss, on som of
them. I' d forqtten about that. 'When passing Lake Bai 1 we got into a
snowstorm at a little station which we passed late in the evening, a wintry
scene was presented in the snow on the parid about two ihches deep. Dim
U&ts shining out throw the station windows. 9ho lonety looldn&~ailroad
mn camying lanterns and ducking their heads as they were facing the
flne snow which was being blown hither. and yon by the win@ from Lake Baikal . "
Biggest lake, biggest wind, I guess.
Septeder, you see.
That's the f'irst snow and that was in
"Septaber, 26, 1919; Eaylight found us in a beautiful cqtry of hills."
8ee, the country over there was so pmn, all that Was-piberian road, you
just travel throu& hundreds of miles of flat surface rnnothing living
on a lot of it, then into pine, birch and ash trees. Fast changing color.
Pine trees shed their needles of gold. There were no si of the wintry
night that had just passed throw this area, but an ide fall day. Being
on an express train gives one less oppoultdty to
country and
stops at the st&ions are much shor+,er and we dss
our fast night trips.
Before the end of the day, we emerged into the re@
with azheed of cattle or horses here and there, whi
up by the bigness of things, the distances and all.
ber one and nuher two about 8: 00 p.m. Talked with
who told us that Congress had failed to ratif'y the
able to eve them a bit af new such as the hope
western front of the Rwsalns, non-Bolshevik tm
mval of the Amrican Red Cross activities there
had out in the near Ural Pbmtains, they had to
they were doing. 'Ihat was Miss Harringtonls pup and
Irkutsk. It was m;ed so the Red Cross cod
She was the head there. And the nurses, mst o
t swallowed
"The usual late dinner with social conversation in coupe d dining room
between wself, Mr. Ray Thompson, vice-consul, Edward Th , Ueutenant
Ruggles, and Mr. Smith. We read Stevenson to one anothe for a tim in the
evening. Mr. Smith is very interesting. 'I Of come, a g newspaper reporter
would be to me. That was new in v If fe. I sat peyed witQ
f i
I I
I

Anna Tittm I 134
I
appreciation of his experiences in France and with the q of occupbtion.
He is mting up the Czech incident and hopes to ~@l& it from
Peking. Gave him one of uniform pictixes on request. He offered to
exchange and will mail one of his taken Ln Berlin when he arrived there
ahead of the amy of occupation after the Armistice was signed. He went
by airplane fmm Fk.a.nkfort--that was in Gennmy-He told qe about being
caZled down by General Pershing because he dld that.
the m. l1 ( chuckles ) But they made it up. "There is q te a deliat ful
fat Frenchrran, adjutant chief Guell, who spends mst of Ws tim in the
hall,'' it was kind of a corridor. See, on those trains tbe corddon was
on-one side, and the place where the passenem were were all on another
side. "Most of his time he was in the hallway singing salutes and sbtches
of French son@. He is very shapeless and genial. I' (chu$kles) So tims
they are, you how. Laugh and grow fat. "One of my f'riepds on boa%, Mr.
Ray Tho@son, suggested that he would rrake a good souveni~ to take back
to Spr*Sylgf'ield. I wonder. (Laughter)
"Septder 27, 1919; Mr. Smith and I had lunch in our covpe from the basket
which Miss Harrington packed for us. Wrote letters on Corona at all
odd mmnts to horn folks. Mr. Smith worked at his typewp-lting and we thus
carried on quite an offlce. Read Stevenson in the ew-. Reached Manchuria
today. "
'!September 28, 1919; Lots of Japs everyhex at the statton. Tneir flags
floating f'mm the station door. I got up too late to be Fdrrdtted to the
diner. Nr. Smith got a chaiy, tea mas, the station and m&ed wim what
~~~~~~they accepted our Amx-ican mney. We had potted ham and atrawberry
jam sandwiches in our cape." Tnat carre from the bgsket, too. "Arrival
in Harbin at 9:30 p.m. &t by Miss Bartlett." Ess Ekrtlett was
this elderly nurse who was In charge of the lvhnchurian grpup and got in on
most of the ref'ugee work that we did.
''lvlr. Smith stayed at Red Cross headq-ers all ni&t fo want of a room
in a hobel. Everything very cmded. Many refbgees and 5 ansients in -in
station. Alive with them. Jap, Chfnese, Cossacks and pebple of every description.
He left at 2:00 p.m. for Peking." See, he wat down fmm Harbin,
he didnl t @;o to Vladjvostok. I have a little story that corns
A mr went around that they were going to build another hotel,
ly at Harbin, but his was mng our pup and our w. 1 guess
started it, we blamed everyting on them. But they were Mailding
Well, there were so many mre that they had to have sonpplace
(chuckles)
Q. (&uckles ) So that Is the reason they were building a new hotel. To
put We mrs in it?
1 1
A. That s r@t. "Saw mn and women bebg cared for in
i
the sam room. Took
them to the Central ~ospital--raIlroab hospitd, it was- tow patients only,
Saw little children, som of them up patients. an i ecile in a large
ward where the*~was also a very ill typhoid case. Toe lles were b pat
profision.
During the afternoon, Miss Bmlett, Miss Judge and Niss Lloyd," those two
were British girls and they wrenlt really Red Cmss, y had been working
1

Anna Tittm 135 ;
!
in one of the off corntries Uke China or Korea or smplqce like th t,
''and ~self, visited the city hospital, We first went N o two smal f
bulldings where the patients were crawded close toether. Every bed
had a bedpan under it needing attentf an. The odor kmn test [was dread- -
full and from the bathmom that had no outlet as the windows were double
and sealed. The sister in cha~ge would not open them under slny consideration.
A sick child was stowed away in me comer of the mom and the sister
first said that the doctor would not allow the window to be openpd.
MISS Lloyd was willing to take matters into her own hands and began
5
to
open the windm when the sister, alrnost weepfng, said tha@ if she di the
child would die. Across the street w a ~ the main hospital, a two sto brick
building. On entrance we found a cluttered up hallway, beds with pa ients
and beds without patients, hit and miss, in between which we could s arcely
wind our way. Chinese and Russian patients were in one ward. No in cation
of care. Scarcity of bedding and so forth. A docto7 and siste arrived
on the scene just as we completed our cursory visitqtion, and file
they were courteous, they did not permit us to go to the Becond floob.
They phoned some official for gedssion, and we were tola to return tommw.
We decided the trip would not be worthwhile.
After dinner, we went to the RRS, Railroad Service Hospit$l. Had a nice
little visit with Miss Daub, hrican Red Cross nurse and then to a moving
picture show at hrican engineer bmcks .'I See, we had) a whole X& of
those Amrican engineers over there. They could help wit$ the rikilmad, and
they codd help with this and that and the other. We had a bunch of them in
our barracks once. Piis is another sbory-one of the rimes wasn't well.
We were having a party that ni&t. Sbce the engineers hpdn't been there
for som tim, I said, [to the nurse] 'We '11 put you in there [in me of
thkir room 1. It ' ll be quiet ;" And the engineers care tcp the party and
stmed ri@t into that room and there she was. They were so surprised, but
they were nice and decent. They come out and told rw wha$ they'd dme. But
before we put in the nurse, the sick nurse, they had d a bottle of
whiskey under some of the beddfng and he cam for
And he
got it.
Q. He did get it?
A. Yes, he got it.
Q. Wouldnl t sore of these patients in the hospital here &it Harbin have been
better off at horn?
A. They didn't have horns, so ~llany of them. They were wanderem, you haw,
a lot of them. No, they would only-Wouldn t have any c w at all. And
then the doctor couldn't go to all the horns, you see. Apd we had som doctors,
Russian doctors, that worked wQh us, although we had our own doctors,
too. Not enough of them, and a pod r#mny of them were ov. They didn't
work so fast. We had a party of our mit go bathing in e water off of
a Russian Island.
Q. Now this is near Vladivostok? 7

Anna nttm
.F
A. Yes, very near. It was seven vemt . SO, one got
thing, they didn't how what. So they brought her
practically in convulsions. Now she wasn't a nurse eithep; she was a
secretarial type of person. She worked with the heads, the rn who
did so much of the leading work. And the Russian doctor ltnew rl$-it away
that she'd been bitten by a jellyfish. And she really wa$ spasmdic, you
know, flwm it. He knew what to do, and I don't remmber just what he did,
but she had quiet-she had comtant attention. And we toqpk care of her in
her own room. Ehe wasn't with anybow else, &e was isol@ted in tha&.
They couldn't put her back d m in the hospital with the atients in the
basement. The Fkd Cross was working at that tim in V1 ad! vostok.
Q. Was the pmblem in Harbin they Just didn't have @no& help in the
hospital? To enpty the bedpans, for instance?
A. Well, that was partly it and they were just poor. Thpy coul&'t buy
things, you know, either. The train that I went up on wa$ a train of supplies,
and one carload was full of potties because they didn't have enom /of that
kind of anything in the hospital, their hospitals. Well, see, the +untry
was in such a temible state of poverty, and they .sent those pottied up.
Q. Well, where had they corm Mm? Had they corn from Wsia proper or
from one of the other allied countries?
A. The goods, you man?
Q. Yes, the potties, for instace.
A. That was Wted States and the essential thin@ Eke that that were
needed. Japan wouldn't have enough. Japan, we got some ~f their thins,
but their things weren't well mde those days at all. Then they misrepresented.
For instance, they st out a little container of ointrrmt , cosmtic
otntment for hands and so forth, and on it they put "Pond's Extract ."
Then they put a tiny, .tiny line that you couldn't see, mally, thm- the
bottom part of the "rl', the ta3l of the "r". It looked ake a prescription
that the pharmacist would sell. But it was Pond's Extract in heavy print.
So that now, you see, was sold for somthing American. Apd their silk was
not as good as the Chinese silk. I don't how what it is nau.
there was a shm at the pjnerican engineers' barracks.
September 30, 1919; Misses Bartlett, Judge, and I went to the Chinese
hospital. l1 See, I'm still in Haylbin. "There are said to be -st a 150,000
Chinese la the Chinese quarter of the city of Harbin. We entire population
is 225,000. 1 wonder what it's me now. "The hospettal is pwsided
over by the farmus Dr. Wu Tien Tiang Qf Peking. He's a @aduate of Cam
bridge, England, where he was known as Dr. Tuck. His as late is Dr. m g
who was very cordial. Our ARC nurses and doctors do spl d work at his
place. During the epfdernic," that's the cholera epidemi a hwheon was
given for them by the Chhese officids and they were de ed with cl-&-Ese
msdals." I don't how that I mde a somnt on it. I
had been warded a Russian medal for my work. I wasn't only one, but I
was leading the nurses. The mn got them too, and s
departments. I never got the medal; I got a certifi
statemnt, a typed up staternut. I h&venvt cm ac

Anna Tittm 137
Q. And
A. Yes
was the
these were awarded by the Russian govemnt?
. See, there were all kinds of Russians over there then. There
Red ones and the . . .
Q. Which Russian govemnt awarded It? Do you remrrber?
A. Well, it was the . . .
Q. The Bolshevik govemnt?
A. No. No, no. Not that. It was the other. Because they were t e ones
that so appreciated the work, and we were shy with the Bobheviki. t;e
didn't do anything to irkltate them, and they didn't do I.@ atly harm,] but
we were ready--we were warned to be very cmfUl.
Q. Were you free to pass in mng the Bolsheviks as well as-the Whlte
Russians at that tb?
A. Well, there weren't so mmy, and they were on the railroads and In institutions
and so fort;h. But we hardly ever went anywhere by ourse2ves,
not just alone, not even to take a little walk. And you'd say if ym'd see
a strange mn codng, and they really t~ated us beautiuly . They wmted
us there, but we would say, "krikanslg Crasniy Crest, okay. " Tnat was
f'ine. And bow their heads and fg on. We could pass anything.
Q. What did you just say?
A. I said Amrican Red Cross. hrikanslcy Crasniy Crest, When we had our
miforms on, which we did, we had it on our arm. Of course, they couldn't
read the IQlish too mch. There was somthing about the Russians. They
have a very mat ear for music. And-told re I think even before I went
over, and that mant that they learned languages very quickly. Thex have
an ear for music an4 for sow*, different kinds.
Q. Of course, some of those Russians Fn H&in were the $ntellect&ls of
Russia who were there as ref'upps.
A. Yes. Now, I don't know, I don't think I am out of Hq-bFn now o
I
almst.
But they told the sbry about the--well, see, the Americal? YWCA and the
Anrerican YMCA over there before we evgr got there, befom there was a wm.
And so they had sent extra personnel Lo flmction at the Wm of the r
troubles when the wars were closing. That's when we fl* got our eal information
of it, as far as the Asiatic Russia was concernred.
END OF SIDE
A. This outstanding Chinese doctor who came because the* was so mmy
Chinese people living in Win. This Dr. Chung was veryr cordial. "Our
Amzican Red Cross nurses and doctors did splendid wo~k at this place,"

Anna Tittm
that is the hospital that the doctors were working in, "d~blg the - --
epidemic [cholera] and were gmatly appreciated. A luncheon was given for
them by the Chinese offlcial and they Were decorated with Chinese mews.
The hospital is a cottaget'. . .
Q. Now they got Chinese medals?
A. Yes.
Q. But you got a Russian mdal?
A. Yes, a Russian mdal. Well, that ?s what it s suppose@ to be, but I
haven't seen it. And the others got the notice, too. They didn't st
them. They said, tlOh, you are going to get it. "
Q. So both governments were decorating you? Both the Rugsian and me
Chinese govemnts? Is that right?
A. Well, the different places. MFne was done in Vladivwtok. But of course,
sow officials who are in an area--but this big Chinese actor, this outstanding
m, well, it appears that he came on accomt or the epidedc. And
he was skillful and knew what to do and so on. Now let's see. It was the
Chinese medals. I don1 t remerrber that I ever heard of it, them getthg
them ab Harbb. "The hospital is a cottage place. Poor p?acilities, other
than a @pod many pathological specimns. Mrs. Chung," ngu she was the wife
of ons-of those doctors, Dr. Chung, "is quite interest- being the offspring
of an Ehglishman and Japanese woman. She has a elpmdr~g srfile, speas
perfect Ehglish and flits about calling her husband, Sir John. She also is
a Canbrim graduate. I had a shock In seeing five typhcdd patients shut
off in one building, all on wooden beds without mttressw ." Well, I saw
those in the horns when I went with a woman doctor RLss @an Helen Connelly
to visit in China. An American woman, who was wo&hg wi$h the Chinese in
their horns. She visited them in their homes. Tney weq sick.
Q. What could they do for typhoid then? What was the tqeatnmt?
A. Well, the treatment mstly, was the same as here, where you just treated
the symptom. Tne bowel was terrib3y disturbed and they had to give healing
enem. I don't know what they did. Now I don't rewrrber over there,
but you'd bathe them for their tempemtures, and they ha4 som medication,
but not too much. They were hard up for that. They weq there witbout getting
any care in the Russian hospital$. Tne rmhers of $he invalid
h
s fdly
attend them in the hospital, but are pot constantly with the patien . 'We
did a little shopping in Chinatown. Af'ter noon I had a qhampoo by Frenchm,"
not the fat one, "and marcel Fave by a C"ninm. Okay, esp cially
the wave. Went to tea at RRS Hospital. I' What did I say that was? '
Q. You said it was Railroad Service.
A. Yes, that's flat. "Then to ladies finals at tennis club," now here
you are, "where I met several nice ArrY3rLcans, Ehglish an b Russians, mng
them Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Pam, secre- to a corporatio$ holding 15,000

Anna Tittrran
acres of ranchland four hmdmd miles from Harbin on the hgari River.
Mrs. Palin lived for two years on this ranch with her husband. l' Now that
was one of the joys of thfs trip. You mt interesting peclple, you how,
f'mm other p&s of the world.
"Q~tober 1, 1919 ; Spent mrning with Mrfi. Brandon, Amriuan Red Cross
nurse at the RRS, Railroad Service Hospital. Took pictures coTIling and gohg.
Chinese children, rallmad station, officer1 s club, the Chinese itinerant
bmer shop. l1 They go along with their tools. I have a Qicture in all ~IW
stuff anyhow, where theylre cutting ad's hair on the street, you how.
Tney are shavhg them or somthhg like that. But the Chbese , see, so
many of them wear long hair, the men, way down the back. You hardly ever
saw a haircut.
Q. What do you suppose the Palins were doing on a ranch?{ This is a ranch
jn Russia or Fn China?
I
A. Well, they had the feed-no, it wasn't in China.
Q. h Russia?
A. Yes, in Russia. No, Manchuria. C&, the whole ranch pasnlt in me, you
how. A lot of it-horses wem wild. 'Ihm were those @ves I told about.
They were just wild. They'd get what they could find to eat and all. Then
people would go out and try to catch them up for use.
Q. But the Palins were over there living on a ranch back,then?
A. Yes.
Q. That Is a very interesting point.
A. Oh, they mi@ttve really fbund it naybe a challenge to them. They
could get rich that way or they couldisee the country tha$ way, a good
part of it. And of course, you know, 51 recent years thew' ve learned a lot
about ow farming, the Russians have. The Chinese, you see, they're satisfied
with rice and that ls It, mostly, fish. fish and rie.
Q. Where were the Palins fmm orfgimlly? Do you how? In this country?
colors tmm the
I

Anna Tittman 140
us of his interesting experience in Ecuador. I had a letlrer of introduction
to him from his sister sent to m by Miss Dolly ~i-t;ghell. &.
Jenkins, United State Consul, and Mr. Pa-r, secret s&r@ce man, were
very nice. Both feel that service am@g the Russians hopeless task.
Mr. Palmr is especially fond of the Chinese and bound feet
of their womn. Mr. Hufftnan of the YMCA was very
hrican Red Crass family played sevewup. 1
=thy "quite unreservedly. 'I What do I man by that? te unreservedly.
Q. You gave him the facts.
A. Yes, okay. llOctober 3, 1919 ; Went shopping in Prist
International Bank wLth Miss Bartlett and Mr. Dawson.
charge at the bank and it was Interesting to see him
Chinese assistants. I got fill value for an
We went to Rwso-Asiatic Bank to
rubles for one dollar. l1 Nuw YOU see,
seventy for a dollar and eighty for a dollar.
Q. But you said these are Siberian here. They may be a bffemt currency
then your Russian mles, do you suppose?
A. Well, the ruble was losing its value, and our men were-and I p s s some
of the womn bought up a lot of the rubles and bm@t them horn thinking
that they could cash in later when the rmbles repined it6 value. I don't
know what they did with their rubles. Oh, I had a couple of them rqlself,
but I don't seem to have any. I think I gave it to som boy who was frantic
about It. Liked it. "Kerensky rubles called starey dengyb" dengy must be
money. Yes, . that' is correct, ,"twenty per one dollar today, hrican gold is
sowt. Yen axe good at two fbr a dollar. l1 That l s the Japanese mney . ''1
bomt blue serge for uniform dress at six hundred Siberim rubles an. -
wchin, 'I that 's f'umy. I was going to have a uniform drpss made. Oh, "I
bo-t six yards of that serge and that Is sf lk, splendid wlity, changeable,
at 170 Siberian rubles per archin. l1 That ' s a masuremnt, "Afterwards
bought sheeting for new hospital. Called on Madam may a Kentucky worn,
mied to the hi@ French comnissioner here. She has thpe lovely Eddies.
"Mis~ lkwley, she's another wish nurse, %as been keepOtng company during
absence of Monsieur Danyau. " We're getting to the end yw see. !'October 2 .I1
Q. October the 2nd?
A. Yes. October 1st I've been reading. llMss Bartlett, Miss Nil1 and I
were referred to Russian Red Cross Ho pital. Three hundred beds, much better
equipped, cleaner and better clonducte 1 than my other sea in the city. The
chief sister was a superior type of waman and well educaQ2d. Here one saw
flies in great nmbers. A training sQChoo1," that mant mr nurses; they
don't call them that any mre. You train animals but yoq don't train in education.
You teach them. "'Ihdning school two year co is conducted.
They have 25 students. . Nurses quarters not bad, but
much better.
Chief sister says Russian Red Cross gave one allion
the beginning
of the war. Nothing since. Hospital built ten years
patients who help with upkeep. Hospital. receives
tish and American Red Cross, dmor of the

Anna Tittman
written under the crossed flags of Brlbhin and America, too, that
the equipmnt was -shed by these countries. The trar@ng school
is a necessary adjunct as the charter calls for it.
I took pictures of chief sister, Miss (inaudible), Miss
sefL. Also building alone. As I snapped the building
cam before r& Kodak and one remarked with an attitude
taking their picture. In my sternest manner I
the hand that I was tM.ng a picture of the
wet, nyet.'"
lett and my-
Q. The delegation wet? Oh, yes. The delegation, no. tou mant You
were taking the building, not the delegation?
A. Yes, yes. I should've let them think they were in it) I don't how.
Q. Your Russian lessons paid off. 1
i
A. (chuckles) "After lunch an employee namd Dr. Fields to& Niss Mlett
and me to the Chinese cemtez=y, going throw the most or$bary q-er of
Futsiyan." I don't know why I don't remember the pronompiation of that.
Q. What was the nam of that place?
A. Futsiyan. rlHere we saw many Chinese small shops with womn,ll I think
mybe that's a section of the city, the shopping section m e , "smll
shops with women, babies, men and young children about. We nodded and
waved and always received prorrpt respmse, in fact, a sac always brought
a smile instantly. The act of waving your hands was quite a success. Often
they said, 'hrican. ' They liked us. They smile differpntly than the
Russians. '' ( chuckles )
9. You really liked the Chinese, didnt t you?
A. CBI, I always did, yes. I still do. 'We had four at pur table +t Columbia
Wveristy at Whittier Hall. I never told you about khat. Foq hrican
@rls and four-and later one of the hrican
had an Elqlish woman. Oh, she was a real pmfessor.
a good deal after I got back. These four gLrls were
were different. There was the me who was the-well
overseer of the other three and the arecbor and
do and what they should' t do. And on the opposite
was this little Miss, Lee who was young, but getting
not worked at anything, but cam over hem m Amrican
And that was given follwving sorne--and I can't remder me occas
we, instead of paying for so many thine, that we gave them schol
hrican scholarships. And there were a rimer of Chi
a notice the other day from the-I was chosen fk.0~
be a representative of nurses in the mivemty, dep
cation, Fn teacher's college-all of that's part of Col
T
ia-to the International
Club. It was a college affair, we mt every S day evening at
supper. The library of Colunbia University was a rotund sort of thing, and
the tables were spread out andl wjth tableclothes and eve thing and then tea

Anna Tittm 142
was served, and a little supper. You know, not a big djrulOer or anything
like that. So one time when our re@m womn were getting the =freshrents,
I was helping them. And they said, "No, you don't, no, no. " She
showed m. I had to gt butter. I was just putting it I$ here, you know.
I had to pt it all around the edge.
Q. Oh, when you were buttering the bread. She wanted yov to butterr the
whole slice .instead of just the dddle.
A. Yes, yes. Absolutely. Well, so there came athe when Russia wlas,
while we were there [at Col~urbla] Russia was having pretty mch of a stwtion
tire. They were short; on their crops. People were bungry. So we decided
that we'd @ve our evening price for the supper and anything else in
addition that we wanted to eve, to Russia. What did we Jlo? Well, the
table was all set, that is the tableclothes were on, but Qot a~ly food showed
up. But after the program we had Russian mic and Russi sinmg and
music and speeches. And we stood in a body, well, in a ? ole row amund
this circle. Bch lit a candle. And we would li&t the fiext candle. We' d
have a light and we'd U@t the next candle and go on all mund. That was
b~~ all the nations together in good fezlowship. So that was one of
the things.
Q. Did all the nations participate? Did all the girls pwicipate?
A. Well, they did, yes. No, I was the only one from our departmnt and
that was because I had been over to those countries and that was to the
@iental countries. I wax never in mope though. We h@ students fYom
there, you see. Then they built the International House, Rockefeller built
it, on Riverside Drive. Because I was a m&er of the In$emational, Club,
but I didn't live in--they send me comdcations like I bve lived there,
and I've notified them that I have nevm lived there, but I was a rmrher of
the club. I associated with a great many of the other rimes fmm ?road.
Some of them do very fine work, they were very earnest. !
But these different Chinese girls at our table. Then thew was one, it was
this older one, that was the boss. She had clubfeet. She just had little
stwrrps . But she didn' t talk mch. And then we had a wow who was
would you call her? She was the head of everybody, else, all the w
f;
that is, she was a clubwoman. She was learning all she could pick about
birth control and was going to take if back to China and teach them. Well,
this little Miss he, it was very sad about her. She was an attrac ive little
thing. She didn't want to go back to China, but her fatwr wrote hqr and
told her she had to corn back. She was honor bound became she had Ithis
had no practice at all. It was all study, all the theor$
Q. What field was she in?
A. Well, she was a tea*.
Q. In?
I
I
I

A. Just general teaching, I guess. Not one of the specieized parts
of teaching. Well, now let's see. Hqw far did we get? [in the diary]
"Saw them making sun baked brick out 6f mud, much like the mud pie &-
dustry of rrly childhood. There were Y,rnmberable private corporatiws.
The excavations aLmost ~ontinged,~' (chuck~es) I must 've made up a ,
word, "presented a very neat appearance.
Q. I didn't quite-excavations, did you say?
A. Yes. Yes, excavations.
Q. I'm not sure what that mans?
A. ?hat mans a hole. They were building, putting . . . 'I Fnnwnbqable
private corporations. The excavations almost, "there's a little d~@h
after that. 'There were, I said, ''inzlumberable private corporat yons .
The excavations -st c~ntlngd,~~ I guess that rneant they came toether,
the companies almost cam together.
Q. These are the brick companies, is that rf @t?
A. Yes. Mud brick. "At the cemetery,ll we're in the cewteuy now. But I
say, "The buildhgs were presented in neat appearance at,the cemetery. We
first went to the rich rrlanls burial ground where very elaborately p
f
coffins sit on top of the ground. During an epidemic, &~Lcans ma e them
build brick houses over them. Well, they complied, but l@f't an ope
thm@ which the spirit could come and go. The odor &opt was of deconposition
of h m flesh.
At the poor man's cemtery, an aTdinavy cemtery, there *re flve very large
munds where eighty to one h-d bodies had been burieq-in--each, during
the cholera epidemic. !this was done under the direction of the hrican
Red Cross in cooperation with the Chinese officials. Othpr graves were a
weird assortmnt of munds with no marks or sod arranged Wth no idea of
order, the whole resembling a dump. The odor was ffcrcec;! Bodies had been
wrapped in matting with just a little dirt; thrown over tkm. Dr. Fields and
Miss BmtlettJsaid that before American Red Cross requi
7
bwial that the
bodies we= thrown into the grass and weeds, hogs and do devouring them.
Q. Why did you go out to the cemtery?
I
A. Well, I was suppose ta get an impression of . . . 1
Q. Was this part of your job to check sanitation, too?
t
fitsiyan--October 3rd continued.
I
"Had a very interestin4 time browding
A. Well, you checked the way they were camd for, and I sent perio 'c report;~
to Washington. I don't know haw many of them got mere. But they
had me come to Washington when I cam back to report.
mng the queer and attractive little shops. I stopped $ one where only
Chinese black velvet sandals were sold, and remved ry erpmus shoe and exhibited
an enormous foot to be fitted. I had four Chiney waiting on me,
1
I

Anna Tittrran
and the peals of lawter which they gave forth in their gttqt to ,find
mnls shoes large enough for me, for an hrican ldarna.l Their hurrmr was
lovely. We bought bright colored Chinese r&bbons and were amicably '
assisted by a Chinese soldier who mderstood a little JTh@sh.
At night I went with Dr. Fields and lUss Bartlett to din~r at the om
of Mr. and Mrs. PaLin. Other guests yere Mr. Falmr and Uss Lee. $is
is the first hrican horn I have beerl in shce leaving the states,
rry thrills cannot be easily described. Beautiful rugs and drapes
a few well chosen pictures and scores of books with easy chairs
wealth and good taste. I could have hugged the living mpm had rrg
been long enough. "The table service was splendid and the dinner was delicious.
Mrs. Palin is the mst deli@tful hostess. Ret-g we gazed
at the mm and found it a brilliant red*. . .
I
A. . . . .aide of the mon had acquired a hectic flush. " Isn't thaq some-
thing. "He replied that it was probably e&ama.Ssed at the latenesd of the
d&t, of the hour the ARC was mmd. According to rry pmmise, I went to
the e&Lneerls dance. Danced three out of the l&t four. Qne delightful
dance with Captain Coats who is a doctor and was wounded four tims Fn the
British m. "
"October 4, 1919; Saturday. More shopping in the a.m. WUcs for petticoats
and waists. lhe dust is terrible. Four of us, Miss BartFett, MSS Judge,
Dr. Westerphal and qself all piled into one droshki wit
all our pmchases
looking more like Christmas than anything else. At . m. , we went to
the tenmis club tothe men's f'inals. I%t Mrs. fe of anhrlcan
consul, saw other new fWends. Dr. Chung
o be an expert.
"October 5, - 1919; Sunday. Wired MISS Pinder, she was rrg assistant, you
know, "that I would take next express. Probably arrive Yladivostok October
9. " That d be in four days. "Terribly dusty today. Amst impossible to
get about. Stayed in. Packed trunk and so forth. Hss paub and Dr. Davis
car^ to tea. At ni&t went to Russian theatre with
Miss Bartlett."
I'm keeping PUSS Bartbtt completely away f'mm h "Were
guests of Captain Pierce and Rue Berger, a Wnch
the allied technical board of the railway. He is
Yes, I remember, % ~ seems d to be a splenad man.
Widow1 vdth Gloria (inaudible), a farnous actress
lady. Good voice, good dancing ability, good
was divine only did not last 3Ang enough. Of
none of the conversation, and we were at a
After theatre we were taken to the officer's club where
pancakes. and krican lemnade . It Isnl t that a dxture,
a young violinist. " Quite an interesting place.
Russian
"October 6, 1919 ; Shopping a go this mmlng in Pristan. BOught blue serge

Anna Tittman 145
for a new uniform. Sent for 25-looks like $25.00, but I daft
the dollar s- there-five archin. Eo@t som pretty lbces.
Chinese theatre at niat. Miss Bartlett, Captain Field, Rue Berger pad
Chang, Amrican Red CmssYChinese servant, who was grandly garbed iq beautirul
black sam. MasterfU mer. We sat in a box in the balcorly
and viewed the whole audience. As we entered, the whole hudience was packed--a
play was in progress--into every conceivable cornerr, Forst mat a
play was in progress and riveted their eyes upon us. The lang rows of
people nearby, were ELL men. Womn sat only on the topside. In the 'oalcony
were narrow tables. Tea -and watemlon seed were bejlng
they cracked the seeds of the watemlon, mind you. Well+ they made this
noi se [crunches] during mst of the evening.
'The hot towel custom appeared to all of the hricans as mst amusing.
Fully 25 China boys were occupied in this departrent. TI-# people after
drinking hot tea perspired. A bundle of hot towels were bw3led fmm the
rear of the room over the audience heads. Som bundles Wuching the ceiling,
'' they threw them, Itto the China boy at the front, 1410 in turn -passed
these out to the au&ence who mpped their heads furiouslJ6r. When thm@ with
the towel, it was collected and the bmdle returned by tm sans route to the
man Fn the rear. Bundles of towels were suspended midair and went flying
in every dSrection. The man in the rear dashed them up q~down in hot
water and pressed them a little bit, rolled them and then mlled them up a
bit more and off they flew." See, they were thmvsing thwe hot towels.
"Never did the pitcher ass his mark or a catcher fall at the ball.'' Now
that was s& , wasnl t it? (ahuckles) ltNever did a pitaer miss the mark,
or a catcher fail at the ball. The play was a wierd affair. One experience
is sufficient for mst hricans.
An Orchestra on one end of the stage played informally a motonom tom,
tom, tom. Actors were gowned in the most gorgeous silk q ~ gold d embroidered
robes. They were mst tra#c in their attitude. Their cpuntenancea were
hidden by horrible. false paper faces and beards of pat
i
Fergth which were
handled in tim to the music. Alltheilr faces painted grotesque patterns
resenbling a cmuf laged ship. " Well, that s somthing. "The bound feet of
the Chinese women on the stage, did not prevent them f'ro dancing. It was
quite a revelation to me and we were astounded to wibnes their coyness and
apparent independence. We, hricans appreciated a yo child acrobat.
Such exploitation always is repulsive to m, but we gave hardy handclap.
This created a lot of comnt from the audience.
Q. Don% they clap?
!
A. Well, apparently not.
Q. Md you say that there we= worren on the stage with
A. Yes, and dancing. But it kind of hurt us, you o see her do it.
"Russian papers, " now this is the seventh,
~eport a telegram
f'rom Omsk," that's in Western
ed States of
hrica has recognized the Bolshevik
' rn glad I wasn I t
in America then or I would've been A this morning. "
balvafAractive and is making great plans for canstructivp work. "

Anna Tittm 146
Q. What was mst attractive, Annie? I rdssed that, I'm somy. I
A. I left out somthing, I guess. "It is mst attractiq and is
hg great plans for crmstmctive work." That's the YMCA, I guess,
building. 'There are ei&ty Russians ,studying Ehglish hew. Boy S ' uts
axe starting a -em and are &ng Ridwe bods for wot.m&d solzrs.
The physical director has just arrived fmm the states and extensive
work is planned along these lines. W. Hoffhm, the city director is
enthusiastic. A likeable fellow. BeZieves in the future of his wo&.
He told us a queer incident connected with one of their headquarters!
buildings. The director had a W n m make a sign in ChLnese desi~ating
the Quilding of the Young bn's Christian Association. After one mth
authorities were able to eliminate it as it was discovered that the sign
painter had resorted to originality and the characters regd 'Young Men's
Gmling Association. '"
!ht noon Mr. Dawson momced that I had missed the exprebs to Vladivostok
as it had slipped through HarbSul at 5:00 a.m. I could ha#@ cried a3 I
feel that duties are pressing in Vladivostok. Another express will not
corm along until another week. The hrican engineers are giving a tea
this afternoon and I considered it fitting to have a m@ wave process
conducted by a Chinaman. Miss Bennett burst in upon m apd announced that
CaptaZn Bramhall had arrived fYom the interior. Ms trailfl would go in 35
miputes and I could go with him. I made this train with the assistance of
five nurses, three Chin-, one American doctor and Mr. bilvershaw ." I
don't how where he cam in. "One interpreter. This car is provided with
a kitchen presided over by a Chino, a splendid cook. A bedroom and dining
room corrbined. I@. Brarha.11, in the top berth, I took the lower one." I
guess that was Mr. Branhall. "I took the lower with she@ pinned all around
and the interpreter, Mr. Pervitz, erected an cot. bk bought six hundred
eggs for the barracks and packed them that ni&t. The mapkets at the stations
are mst fascinating. mfty to 150 Chinese, each presi g over a huge
romd basket in which he has either chickens, e w, pa 3 , very small honeyed
m cooked meat. The whole made quite a party picture as bhey hold square
round or oblong lanterns, with many desi- over their prpduce.
"October 8, 1919; bde along on a joggling pace all day. I put in the
day playing solitaire and stuwing Russian alphabet. It as too mu& to
write7-even on a typewriter. k had hoped to arrive in d divostok at fight
but failed to make it. I dressed a Russian soldier's forphead. Several
tims en route, several sick Lettish-@ve bismth to a ack Lettish soldier,
also sent him chicken broth kom the kitchen. A carload of Bolshevik prisoners
just ahead of car and many of them are ill. mir
r
guard, in talking
to us, seemed to be full of sympathy for them. The d expressed feelings
against Semoff;" he was the one who rode up and wn the Trans-Siberian
Road indicathg that he was the person who was in charge f it now. I received
a lovely red fox scarf and it was so fluff'y. It given tq ll~t by
Semenoff throu@~ one of our Amrican Red Cross personnel.. I had it for a
long tbre and finally, I had it on a coat, a tan coat.
Q. How did he happen to give it to you?

Anna Tittman
A. Well, he couldn't use it and this man, he thought I ceuld.
Q. Did you ever meet him?
A. C&, yes. He was an Arnsrican Red UPOSS mn.
I
Q. General Senrenoff, I man.
A. No, no. I didn't met Semnoff. I knew about him an4 Semnoff had
a-see, these mn, when they declared themelves as dictators, there would
be a change somtir~s every little while. And maybe a Czech would Cb it,
then this Semenoff, he had a flat car, Just a flat--which! he arranged as an
outdoor garden with chairs on it and so forth.
I
1
Q. Did you see it?
A. Yes, I saw it on his train. Tnen they'd go back and orth to, you know,
to advertise. And the Mrst thing you know they' d be thrOwn out and sorebody
else would becom dictator. But as I sad, the Bolsbeviki dtldn't bother
us. But anyhow, we [our train] pulled out.
Q. But dld General Semnoff send the fox scarf to ym?
A. Not directly to E, no. He gave it to the man.
1
Q. And the man gave it to you?
A. He was just sort of thinking him for somthing. I don't know wklether
it was because he was working mng the Russian people or what. Thq liked
the Americans in those days, and we never saw any of this ashoneetg that
we're getting now, this agreeing to somthing and then not caning t rough if
they could. They can't always do it, I man the little thin@. S thing
about their work or about their lives and so on. But we did a soci program,
you see, as well as a health program. Not just a hwldred per cent because
we were linxlted in our personnel who had experience in the fl ld. But
all the nurses had som. And in day, you went in to be a nurse, 'not to
just W e your mey , a good way to W e your mney, but you went in because
you were dedicated, you just wanted ta sem. But now s much of it has a
comrcial aspect to it, but mt all, not all. There som very fine
womn in it, very fine.
+@
Q. You saw General Semmoffts trajul? Me was called a wasn't he?
A. C&, let's see. I don't knnw about that.
Q. Was this up in the W in area where you am his flat ar garden?
BY
A. No, I saw that down in Vladivostok. Nm walt. see, they had
prisonem t med up on the >ailroad. They traveled in b xcam , you know,
it was bad. "Their guard expressed feelings against At u Semnoff and
Ataman KaJmikoff, calling them mcals."
'.'Oct&er 9, "1919; Arrived Vladivostok at 6: 30 a.m.
i;
verbo one seemd glad

h a nttm 148
to see rn at the barmcks and it seered awf'ully good to &t back, like
getting back home. Spent mst of the day in conference with MLSS Pinder,
rpr assistant. Things have been going all right. Went sarllpanning," 'that's
a boat, it has one oar and 1 t s at the end, at the stern. It ' s a qboat
and it goes like a fishtail, and that's the way you get dong.
I had a private conference to mke, we went out on a sampan. That's "d I-the
only place you could get strict privacy. So now I'm getttng amst thm@.
'Went sampannjng with Lieutenant Winningstad." Now I seem to x-emrfber that
he was a young man that was very, very fine, very nice, ad was alwap
ready to do a good deed. "Birthday party for Ethel FTndep in Miss Bethel's
room. Went over to Vladivostok Hospital. Many improvemnts .
"ktober 10, 1919; At office bri@t and emly. l1 That is all I have. Now
I think I didn't begh-we left there in February, and I Fon't--I think I
was working on that thing I showed you where I had the little tags I.@ and
descriptions of everything. But I dldnlt keep rrly--becam
!
the next thing
that I can find at this time is "on to Chha.ll And that as in Feb-y
exrly in Febrmary. So you see, we did pretty normally-b t thine here
getting bad and we weml t accomplishing as much as we shpuld. 'l"nir@ were,
well, we (chuckles)--the admiral's aides, the Russian aiqs that we trained
and a lot of the woEn were working in sewing room and @in@ like that,
making some money, you know, and making their clothes and, 911. They were--
well, they were inclined to think they were going to go dong with us, they
were going to go, corn to hrica. Now as it turned out, they didn't go
wlth us, but f'mm tim to tim, see, the rnen stayed; the Womn all were sent
horn, and they stayed to do the cleanup and get all the . . .
Q. You1 re speaking of the American Red Cross now?
A. Yes, this is Amrican Red Cross. And in tim the boa@ were coming in
from the Wted States and they were able to get home. &It I was given pep
mission to go down to China for a tbnz and I was put in the hands of the
Red Cross in Shan@ai, and that s where I landed. And I had an acquaintance
there, and through her 1 was introduced to the YWCA wornen and one o$ them
was ill with diarrhea. And I can't for the life of m repnber the first
narre of that type of diarrhea, but that was prevalent m g hricans because,
well, they had to be careful. If you weulen I t c about what you
ate-we were not allowed to drink anything, no soda or hing, or eat away
fkmn the barracks. Food had to be cooked right there.
Mrs. Campbell--the wife of the rran who was selling Sin@ sewing mehines
in Vladivostok-they were there and they had two children, a little girl
and a little boy. Ihe boy was very young, about three, &~d the @rl was
about six, but they hew Russian lFke everything. Chilwn can learn languass
so easily. Mrs. Cmpbell had charge of the first place we want when
we first arrived in ~adlvostak. It was off Svet1anskaya.1 where the Americans
when they cam, had a ma1 or smthing. Then they were muted to their
headquarters. And that's what happend to us. She was iyt charge there. She
had a good sense of hwr and we kept in touch with her, som of us, for a
lung time &er we got back.
She would~tell about this Chinese when she'd go into the kitchen. This
srmller place on-I can't remrrber the nam of the stree'o, and I don't seem

Anna Tittm
to have it in here where the small quarters were, but It pas kind o
reception hall for us, and she'd go to the kitchen and sh$'d say to
Chinese cook, "You have to put saw water initthis. We'll have to h
mre soup; we havent t got enough. I' He says, "1 already vatered
(chuckles) Things like that, you how.
Q. How long were you in Shanghaf?
A. Well, I didn't stay fn Shanghai too long. I took car$ of this WCA
worn who had this aL5llent until she was better. Then I Vent to
who was up in [Nanking]--1 can't rernerrber the nam of the place.
w map I could. It was str&@t up the line north from slpan@ai.
was there a couple of-well, I was there at least a mnth, I
up to this place where the womls sister was a
of gi~ls, and these girls cam f'mm all over. Oriental
f'rom Java and the islands and so on. She wasn't
think rmybe now it was klnd of a anemia. They
hricm living.
END OF TAPE ExavEn
!
A. Yes, the one, and she got better. They had to have tpe big nettings
over their beds to keep the msquitoes off. Of course, qsquitoes would
carry diseases too.
Q. Then you went north to where GencUing College is?
A. Yes, Gendling College and no men cam.
Q. Was it on the coast?
A. No. No it ' s strai&t up north fkmn Shanghai. Shangt-@ ' s on the coast.
There's a river and I was allowed to @ up the river to tbis place, the
saw river where Gendling College was. I was there quite a nfce tim. Oh,
the matter of Chinese words, they joked about those quite a good deal. What
they d ask for maybe would be a "soldier. I' When they wanted a drink of
water it would be what they'd say for a drink of water would be a "s~ldier.'~
They wanted to make those little gi~ls just
they were in their teens. Thak was a nice exper
around a good deal, there was a number of teachers
went to Wuchang. It was in the hterior. Now it
east and west. There I had written ahead of tiiw
Lindseyls sister, Olive Lindsey who wried a yo
were missiona3?ies out there from our church, the First Cwistian '3
Then I stayed overnight and went on to Peking where I kn& some mN people.
I stayed in the house or a guest home with a lot of nus&.
Q. This is in Peking?
I
A. Yes, this was in Peking. 1 have
I think. Yout ve heard
been satisfied with

Anna Tittmn 150
Q. Oh, it's fascinathg. I've loved it.
A. Well I'm glad.
Q. Now you saw MY. Smith h Peking didn't you? Tne repo*er?
A. She wasn't Mr. Smith, she was Mks. Hunt. Gh, Mr. Ma, no I nzeL him
comhg on the train fkwn the interior 'of Russia d m to -in. He left
at Harbin because he went down to Pekbg.
Q. Didn't you see him agaln though?
A. Well, yes, I saw him again in Shanghai. I cam back tlo Shanghai to
wait for boat. Because it was so hard to get passage @I a boat, mre
people hadn't been able to go, the hricans and so forth who were living
Fn C h d , they couldn't get pass a Because it wasn't sqfe when the war
was in session. But the war was over going on a year vihe we lefi. The
reason we lef't Siberia was because we were withdrawn and % lthe hrican
troops were withdrawn, and this general who was the head f all these occupations
or assions of the n-illitary who were there. I to d you about the
parade and things showing the rrmy different nations.
would have been sooner than now, I would have been able
the nes of things.
Q. Do you re~rrber what nationality that general was tha'q was in charge of
occupation?
A. hrican, Udted States. It was called the of Oqcupation but Red
Cross was called a cormrdssion, the Siberian Codssion.
I
Q. How long were you In Peking?
A. Quite a while. I got around there. These teachers the nurses and
the others that were going to work in the hospital that Wckefeller was
buildbg, they came on ahead and were asked to study the lmgua@. They
were going to language school, but they had tim off, too, For instance,
they took ITE to the Great Wall. I climbed on the Great Wa1. Now around
that whole thing, that Is the (inaudible) of the round dukes In the house,
all the hills, up and down. That's where the old rriissiorq.rci-es
1
who were
goin@; to go bonr: and had never seen the Great Wall cam d they put IIE
to sham because they could walk up those hills and I co &It. They had
to kind of pull nze up.
We went in ~Ldcshaws. But a lot f thhgs went on.
Tn Russia the one thing that b@ressed IIE a lot was the s ies. They were so
gray and red conbbed and things like that. Then 1 could look out rq window,
I had the dodle window too, and you have one little . . .
A. Yes. They had two windows, kind of like we have the $tom windows,
only a little hole up here, big as a pane of glass, it h4d a hinge on it
and you could open.tt and I think I would open another on . They both had
panes of glass in them, not bi panes but you see mine he has two panes.
See here it gets so dirty here Q.
f
betwee~~the two windows an I can't @t it

Anna Tittman 151 :
cleaned, and then anybody that I have helping me, they 're slot allowed to.
Mr. Pbhan cores and he does for me. It's only this one. Before I carre I
had them promise that they would clean the wfndows on the outside, and they
did-it for a couple of years and then they dldntt any mm. Tney used to
have a nice woman fmm Ashland corn and do things like th$, , she'd caid
up a ladder and . . .
Q. You had a nice view in Vladivostok didn't you?
A. Yes, ri@t on the lake across k.om the islands and th+ Russian igland
was dm this way a bit. The cam would go in the winteflm, the c
just went ri&t over the ice. Then I could see the flshepman cut ho es
in the ice, and drop their bait down Fn and caw up with 01 fish. WhrI
first care there, that was June so it wasn't f'rozen, but it became &Zen
pretty quickly. It was winter by Septen'ber. But we had lot of flies
I
too.
Q. Flies?
A. Yes, they bit like everything. We controlled it in ow building pretty
much. Well, I was interested In the Russian personnel too. We had a Russian
teacher, oh it ' s hard to learn, especially when you have work eo do
and can't spend mch tbr~ on it. It's a gurgling kind of language. You
have Russian friends don't you? Do they still gurgle or What?
Q. (lawter) I guess they do have accents, yes.
A. But there are thirty-six Letters in the alphabet as 2 remrrber. Well,
now about this agreemnt .
i
END OF TAPE?, TWELVE
Q. We're looking at a picture of the Boston Floating Ho~@flfal and Miss
Tittman is ping to point out to rw where the various quarters were on
the boat. Now what was on the top deck in the fhnt of the boat?
A. That was set aside for the nurses, all of whom were
nurses. It was for their hour off during the day, in wh
study, and that was appreciated very much.
Q. What sort of facilities did you have in there for yc
A. Good chairs, TV chairs, and couches. There would be
we wanted to write.
Q. Nm directly under that . . .
A. I t hW we ought to go back the whole deck. (chuckl@s)
raduate registered
ch to rest or to
r use?
a table OP two if
Q.. Okay. We'll stay on the top deck then here. Now that portion $hat
was enclosed, what was that?

A. Well, there was a little hallway between the nurses l =stmom and that
was the entrance into what they call the day deck, which.mn entirely
back until you cam to a similar quarters in the rear of trhe boat. There
is where our doctors who had day duty or ni@t duty were Fesidents of the
boat, mst of whom were recent graduates fYom mdical schgol with one or
two who were mre experienced. That is where they Uved.
i
Q. Now their quarters are there at the very end. 1
A. At the very end there. On that sarru; deck is the nurse&" quarter6 and
the day deck was between the twc-if I'm saying it right-it was whe we
called this the day deck and it was entirely filled with wtle chilkn' s
beds which were--the heads went the saw way and there woqd be an i6md
between the two rows, but otherwise the beds were very cl se together. The
nothers could bfig the baby along if it was not ill eno& to be entered
as a permanent patient In the quarters where they got day land ni&t care.
Somtims it was just that they needed the alr and the go@d feeding that
they got, and so forth. One year, I was the teacher of tQe mthers. I got
them together or I would take them individually if they were new, to teach
them the mthod and the content of the formula which the doctor had provided.
Now our young doctors knew how to do that, how to presc&Qe them. They could
corn and bring all their children whom they could not lea* at home and somtims
the neighbor children too. The mothers had a good time gossiping and
so forth, and talking about their family problem. Tney on just before
the boat sailed for its day1 s outing, where they alr was and farther
away f"rom Boston. In Boston those people are like that. Then they would
leave when the boat docked, but we would have them all re;Fdy to get ff the
boat. New babies would be entered sornebimes in the even+, but rr$tly
they were entered or admitted to the wards in the mmFng+ I was tW clerk
one t-, well last year there. I was in between rqy tyo college vears,
1922. (pause) I
Q. mat sort of facilities were there for the mothers on the day deck?
A. What kind of what?
Q. Well, would they have chairs and thins for them?
A. There was a bench all the way mwd. A built-in or
bdlt ri@t along the edge on each side, and then these k
to foot with an isle d m between them. They could sit c
to--rim if it was ridning they let these curtains down, z
we had a place to keep the swn off of ;us (chuckles) if WE
it.
S
Q. How many babies were on this ward?
A. Well, that was a matter of--I don't recall the exact
but we could mke room for everybody that cam. Then we
nurse for the boat, who went t the horns of sow of the^
dren d&g the day tim when he boat was out. Well, nc
horn, no. But they'd go there throm the Visiting Nurse
then say, lWell, that baby o m to be in the boat, " or,
it down to the," and so forth. Also she would collect m:
t 1
dlt-out bench
ls, it ls l%ke foot
the bench close
2 a curtain here,
tho&t we needed
&er of admissions
ad a visiting
rmthers and chilwhen
they weren1 t
Clssociatl~ and
~u owt bo take
qrt s milk f"rorn

Anna Tittman 1 153
wmn who had more natural milk than their baby could use or there vtas
sorne other reason that the baby had to be taken care of dtherwise, rpybe
the baby died. They would pay $or that.
There was one case on this. boat either when I was a post graduate
4
sfiudent
on it or when I was Head Nurse one of the years, when the baby, a o
month old baby had to have an operation, became they fomd that it had
what is called htwsusa~option. It is where the bowelt&lescopes, art of
the bml goes over the other part, of the bowel, and caws a lwnp P tmr,
a block so that feces can1 t .g& throw. Now the thing that they dc) for
that is remve that on a two mnths old baby. Now this vw when I u/as taking
a post Gduate course in Belleme-I won't stay on that. But tlhe resident
physician, a nice young man, not as young as mst FrJ;erns one sees in
these large hospitals, he was a resident mre than just
cay
hpving student training,
and he wanted to. He knew that I had been on the &+on Floating Hospital
and he said something about did they feed this type . He didn't
know about intusswaeption, that is he thought it was, h would have !given
it the remdy for intestinallindigestion, because there blood in the
stool. I got courage up, ordinarily a nurse doesn't tpll a doctor what's
what, but I said 'Would you mhd If I told you about a b4y in the Boston
Floating Hospital?" "No, ahead. " And it was his fine reception that
saved the babies life. I said, "Do you fYnd a twnor t h e anywhere in the
intestine?" He sald, 'Well yes, I do. I thout it was feces blocked. "
And I said, "Have you tho@t about intw@wception?" *ll, he knew what
that was from py wording. He said 'What did they do?" J s&d, "They
operated and remved that, sewed it up, and made everythibg alriat." Now
that doesn't seem so wonderful nowadays because they take- out everytihing
but your heart, ,and they've taken that out. I guess that man down in Houston
had done that. So everything but your kidneys, you up one kidney
but you can't [ghe up], both, and your liver never. operated, and
then the baby cam throw the operation, he cam to e said, 'What
do we feed the baby?" I said, "Mother1 s dlk. " And t in Bdlmiz
Hospital too. They didn't send a nurse out to get it we did in Boston.
They had the mothers that were going to feed the babie ey fed them from
their own breasts, right there. 'Ihey stayed all day or night. There
was a litble core of them, four or flve, that could take care of the feeding
of the babies, the ones who needed. So our baby got well. and went horn.
It was a tim when fresh air jn Bellewe Hopital was so iyrrport;ant thatathe
babies--I was on ni&t duty om mnth I guess it I had to bundle
up the baby and put hot water bags all around it, e enough to burn
it andLkpush it out or pull it out onto the porch in the ad of winter. It
seemd kind of hard but it was good for the babies. I b $ ught them in every
couple of hours to see that they were warmd up. That wa@nlt all I,did, I
had a big fifty-four bed ward, young babies down here and older chiqdren up
here. This was the admission dep&~~~for
the childre ? sick chi!dren.
Now we'll go back to the Bostcm Floating Hospital.
9. Would you have about flfty babies beds in this open #ck?
A. Ch, at least that.
Q. At least that. Well that gives E a rough idea.
A. Then sornetirres they weren't babies that couldn't wall
were walkab le .

Anna Tittm 154
Q. You mmtioned the mthers bringing their other children. Wasntt,
it pwldemim?
A. WelG mre or less the whole thhg was. Now, I never had a term of
duty up there, because first yem was as a postgraduate student and I
worked in sonr; of the different wards. Itts only twu and a half m@hs in
operation. Then the next timz I was head nurse. The next year I w the
head nurse again and I did som teaching; I was a teacher and assis
supeflntendent of nurses. Then I skipped. The first was 1908. 190 @loy
1911, 1912 I was getting ready to be school nurse. Tnen 2912, that , as
when I went to kicago School of Civics and Philanthropy For the sqer.
A. Went where, excuse rn . I
.Q. The Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy in Chic
F
go. Then I did
not go back to the Boston Floating Hospital until 1922. at was in between
two years getting depe at Colurhia Wversi y, it was that
SWIIMRr.
Q. Did they try to play gas with these extra children?
A. I think they did. We didn't have anybody special, but I think that the
extra people on the boat besides the doctwrs and nurses were the Diaper King.
Q. The Diaper King?
A. Be Diaper King. A little old man, quite old and king of lam. On each
ward we had a big mtal cam with a lid In which we put the diapers that
had been used. Our Diaper King cam along with a big bag
i
and dumped the
contents into the bag, tasted the top and threw it over is shoulderr. He
would go throw the hall, down the com5dor in the rrdddl and stop off at
these four principal wards, the ward at the front and the ward at the back.
He was the Diaper King, so nobody else could dethrone him That was it.
Q. Where would the mthers eat?
I
bz&t
A. They had to bring their lmch I gwss, as nearLy as 11mswher.
bm@t their lwch because we didn't serve anything. I
3
hi.& they
things for the oMer children too. It was a picnic for t em.
I
Q. That takes care of the top deck. Tell rre about the xt deck if you
would, starting f'rorn the front.
A. 1'11 start at the fk.0rl.t.
Q. Okay. '1Ws is directly above the lettering on the bo t, Boston Floating
Hospital. 1
I
A. That was a wmd. It was the ope- that you see
could open windows if you needed to. But you could
tire too, there dp$t be a good deal qf wind. This
breathing space where parents could wE)it or could
thing like that to talk. Now these, ym enter a
sides, the port side and the starboard, and
i

Anna Tittman
I
155
toward the front. Tne one back of m, ms. Harness, she tl run out af
things and she'd corn and borrow mine, and somtbm would forget to pay
them back, (chuckles) rqy equipnmt and so on.
Q. Would you go borrow it back again?
A. No, I'd speak to her off duty. Naw she'd like to mke her
so nice. She'd keep the babies, on hot days they'd have to
had been just tucked in ti&t in their little coverings apd
like they would on cold
ket, too. But I would
and let the babies t;hrow
them,
comfortable. Either way, whichever they needed, and she Fhought that was
terrible. Of course the ward didn't look so orderly, but/ then who cared.
Q. Was there mre prickly he& in her ward? I
A. (laughter) I didn't ask her. There were two wards ofl one side and
then two wards over on the other side.
Q. About how many babies in each ward?
4
A. Ivd say there were ei&teen or twenty. There would b som at the end,
a couple of beds at the end. But back to the rear of ea ward would be
a workroom. You took the baby in there to bathe it, on table that was
for that purpose, to dress them or clean them up sometime .
Q. How rrany babies would there be in this mnt ward? e one you ,mentioned
directly . . .
A. I think that would be twenty-two, no twenty. I
Q. On each side? So another forty.
A. Yes.
Q. Now were these babies there for longer periods of tin@? Were t
1
ese
sicker babies than the ones up on the day deck?
A. Well, it depended what their diwosis was. We lost
You see tho= were the days of dirty milk. Therefore the
have their milk taken care of; that is we taught them ha
the germ but you didn't kill the rn3-Uc entirely, it's use
9. You man you tawt them pasteuriiatirn.
A. Yes, simple at horn. Also they didn't have ice, and
to make a little refrigeration affair that was big eno@
their mLlk bottles and to have a milk bottle for ea& fef
up all at one tim, and put iq in there. That was neces:
you didn't get real -sh
7
mi , which isn't possible in f
cikies, it wasn't. I think great many things have ch;
dAhg that. The teaching pa%, now when sick babies wen
go h-, I tahlght the mthers,;when they were taking thej
1 lot of the babies.
were taught to
to. You kill
'or them.
re tawt them how
to take care of
ling and We it
ry. Of course if
~e slums 08 big
ged since I was

ta@t them the process of prep&g
nipples.
the rriLl.k and the bottles, and the
Q. Did you have them boil the rnilk? I
A. Yes, we did when it was impossible to teach them to ppteurize.
ta@t them pasteurization, too. We had--what did we calt that,
diluted the milk, they d%dnlt get whole dlk--we could &e a
rother's milk if 4 fat, no, 4 protein, n9,this is cow's elk.
4 fat, 4 protein and 4 carbohydrate, and that is cow's fib. Now
rrdlk is 3-7-1. $ewn ds the carbohydrate. The c&ohydr&te
nwber. Seven is sugar, the carbohydrate, and 1 is protern
3 is fat.
Q. So motherts milk is 3, 7, l?
A. Yes 3, 7, 1.
I
Q. You're remarkable.
A. I can ~mrber that, isn't that funny.
Q. Wonderful. So you taught the mothers to do what?
A. To make that fornula. Now suppose the doctor would
+
4
o der no fati. Well
that's easy enough. !The proteln, you may have to add so thing thaq was
protein, or you had to add starch or barley water to get ow carbokiydrates.
Q Barley water dras star&. What would they add for s ?
A. Sugar. I
Q. Was there Karo? Did you ever use Kam syrup?
A. I don't think we did. Anyhow, when I got back here, be had no pediatric
specialist here and Dr. Munson came the ne-st. I had de~ided private
duty was going to be the children only, and I managed to work it. %at was
somthhg new, to have a nurse a specialist in anythhg. I But theyt d corn to
m and they would ask me what to feed the baby, Dr. Mmso especially.
f
Q. You man the doctors would ask you for formulas?
I
A. Yes, and one doctor went there and spent a smr te
t
. Hjs nam? was
Dr. Blahyer. Itm turning rqy face avfay. I want to tell you that k was
the Secretary of the lkdica.1 Association, and they said at was his best
patient. (chuckles) Q. Now this long deck on the second floor.
A. Nat all the way to the end though, the end wax a warQ a@h.
Q. The whole back part of the second deck was a w-?
k
A. No. That is where our four big wwds were, our four ards where
r
the
corridor ran down clem to about here where you see that oar& whe
I
I

you see tMs curtarln.
Q. That single curtain.
A. Well, that could be mved along, you see, those are the curtains to
keep out the rain. Then you corn to the doctorst quar5t;em.
Q. Now If m down on this deck now.
A. Yes, yes I know. There is mother ward there. It's 8omthing Uke
this ward up mnt.
Q. On the second deck, yes. So there would be maybe another forty bbbies
back there?
I
A. No not forty. That one ward that turns in is a sml1 r space than
In the middle, the middle is wider.
Q. So rmybe twenty?
A. Well, I'd say maybe sixteen to twenty.
Q. Now starting at the f'mnt again an this lower deck.
A. Now this front pa% down here . . .
Q. . Where the two large openings are?
A. Yes. That must have been entirely for the crew. I know &cause
the next one, two, three, four, five windows, that was
'Ihe nurses
office was there, our director of nursing sat inothere,
though. Then the resident physician--that was one of
T
when we pt
Q. Now thLs is where the large openings are - on bthe--l~er. deck?
A. Yes. That is whem the board usually went in, the li
I
tle walk b m
the whar? to the boat.
A. ?he gangplank yes. - 1,-don't how,- Lsay ganlgwagr at the bLbl& class all
the time because they block up the place to the kitchen. (la&ter) I go
out to get soroe cold water
d
In caffae because it's too ot and too strong.
Then I say gangway, they just block up the thing. They ve big space elsewhere
they could go Lf they want to, but they say I could too.
Q. Now therets a long series of windm. +
A. Now on the move here, yes, now this 19 divided up thin@. By the
way we had a housekeeper too, for the boat. She did the
cleaning and so on. The kitchen must have been
I

never was in it, but our dining room was at the end. ~
Q. At the very end?
A. No, I think the kitchen was at the very end, then the dining roqn.
Now I shall go back to the entrance, where I entered. TI the rl*tht/
hand side, this is the side we see, is what they called aitreatment porn.
That is where we took the babies when they needed to ha~,a high ene ,
a wmhing out. !they would, use what is used for an adult ptheter, $n
they ~mved the urine from the kidney.
Q. So it's just a little thy tube. 1
A. !he babies are tiny too, you see.
I
Q. Would this be a special solution you would use? 1
a
A. Well no, they would use a saline solution. That's a1 the salt that
the water will take you me, or somtlms less mybe it w uld be a percentage
of that, if you needed a hi@ enema, that's where
-
it m d be taken.
Q. Was this a quite comn form of treatment?
+
I
A. Well, fairly comon then, I don't know what they ing nowadays.
Q. Why did you get all these constipated babies? I
A. Well, sorcletims they weren't constipated. S011~3tims l/'b was, or wstly
it was diarrea and it was washed out. It had to be clean., I was tr$ing
to think of that nice doctor who was a teacher at the rre
two redical schools there, Hamard and (pause)--I canlt
a teacher, this one nice doctor I speak of. J3e sald abo
of'ten give babies lactose water, lactose being a sugar,
lactose. He said the reason for this is, the inf'ection like an insect.
It will eat the meat but let the s m alone, but if yo
sugar, they let the mat alone. Thatls the b+ies inte
stomach. We had stomach cases, too, where .the entrance
partially closed, and there would be vodtlng, vomiti
down. So they had a way of expanding that by the ri
Q. Was there an operating room on the boat?
A. Yes, this treatmnt room also had a table where it co d be. Nw we
won't get to this until we gt on the bobtom deck. Well v are on the
bottom deck. In here rL@t beyond the treatmnt room is I at we called
the food laboratory.
&. Now this is about underneath that row of awniw up or
Is that comct?
the top- dG.ck?
A. I guess, yes I think so yes.
Q. And this was called the fo
f
laboratory?
I

Anna Tittm
i
I
159
A. Yes, and we had the sam corridor down there as we ha4 up on the
deck above where we had the wwds. Across the corridor Wrnthe food
laboratory, on the other side, on the starboard side was +other ward.
A little fat pretty girl from New Hampshire was the head urse there.
What was her name, Elliot. 7
&.
About how many beds were in there?
A. Well generally I woUd say about the saw, Ef'teen to !sixteen, something
like that, or twenty, I can't tell you. Anyhow I tw all these
wards could be changed from tine to time. Well now the fc/od laboratow
I will describe to you. For pmannel it would have one
doctor. He's wo~ked on the boat several smrs and hls
and a young man who is still in mdical school. This
was active in his practice in the field of insurance, ins
The two of them had to be on duty down there all the time
ings will be mde in advance by these two. The formulas
in the wads received and those in the upper deck as well
the bottle; some of those were breast fed. They had the rent constituents
of a fomaila in a vat up here on the ceiling with
kept clean and all. But the fonnulas were made up in
!They would have one barley water and one sornethhg else, whole milk and
one somthing else and something else. But they woul
easily made up. They were all ready because that was
than the others. It was fastened to a hose, a smll c
well it was mre of a cup because it didn't have an
of hose that had a pinch on it. A little instrmrnent
like a cow. Just Like milking a cow. Now these boy
They could do anything when they were out on the water.
we would just love to have them do it. They'd g&t s
with them, somebody else that liked to sing could st
went down and you wanted to do business wlth them, y
dor on the other side of the cm. So it was good.
Q. Could they sing while they were making formulas? !
k
A. I guess so. Well, I how they had one song. We had ai little wo
doctor on the boat. Have I told you about her? She was skinny and er mm
I
was Shagley , and she walked lib this. She was so proper. j
Q. Shmng her shoulders back and forth as she went?
A. Well, she was straightening up, yau how, and being a military .or
sorething.
I
Q. Was she quite impressed with herself do you think?
i
A. Well, she wanted to show dippity and so forth. Yet sh was a goad sport,
They had a son& Old Lizzy Shapley--that was her nam--1is en to E, the
queen of ny kitchen surely yout d be, of your halibut steak I would like to
par%&, oh Lizzy Shapely corn do the cooking for me. An she'd la-,
(chuckles) and walk on.

Anna Tittman
END OF SIDE ONE
Q. They never mde up a song for you?
A. No, well there were too rrany, they would have to make
body and they couldn't do it. (chuckles)
them up fop every-
&.
?Pney couldn't play favorites?
A. No, well I guess no one in that position did.
Q. Yes. Wet re down here, near the back end of the lower
anything else down there?
deck.
Was there
A. Back of the ward on that deck, that is fwher on tow;
that was where the personnel m ng room was.
Q. So you all ate there together, nmes and doctors?
A. Yes, we had to go in shifts. I don't man that they : ?parated doctors
from nurses. Somebody had to stay on the wards and sombc 3y had to eat.
We had a special fourth of July dinner.
. Q. Yes, I think you told n+e about that.
Q. Does that do the lower deck here?
A. That is this, yes it is the lowest deck. On the othe
and on this side I think was the kitchen. Then I wanted t
that drill. What we would do [in case of fire].
Q. What kind of drill?
A. Well, what we would do with all our babies. We would
person would cavry two, there would be enow personnel tc
Q. This is emrgency drill in case somthing happened to
there enough of you to take care of all those babies?
rds the rear,
A. Ice cream and Salmn, f"resh smn. That's good, I'd Like to have some
now. I like fish and I don't &t it. I don't get d m t c that fish place
downtown, and I don't see it in the market, that I Want. C like catfish,
I like Pt cawt out in the l&. P@ brother, when he wa: here, held get
it and I'd get-som of it. Well, anyhow.
- side of this,
) tell you about
:amy two, each
get them off .
.he boat? Were
A. Well X think m, 1t wouldn't have to be a nume. We1
a place if they had to ga. Then there was a crew, yau knc
everybody had
Q. Were you assfgned to certain cribs to take those babie
A. Well, I would have to supervise it if I was-in charge
d&t. You could really take f~ur babies if you had big e
I
d Lt , yes that 's
arms

Anna Tittman 1 161
extended. We never had to do it but we would have our WU. ?hen we had
the boat &ill with those boats that you see at the top.
Q. Tnese are life boats ri&t?
A. They were lowered down, evmybody went to the lower ck to get n a
boat with their babies and so forth. Of come we l d run out ofrboats
I guess but by that t-, usually I guess maybe we aw gone a* little
mre than ten dies on Sundays. But when we went I can't rewnber
what they called that~part where we went where
ce very lovely
horns, rich homes.
A. No, I donlt think so. Anyhow I thMc it was a little than the
rest. But generally we went out not farther than ten
anchor and stayed until time to start home. As I said
it was the s m tire every day but it was 4: 30 I
there, because som got off of the boat then.
Q. ken you got back into the harbor?
I
A. Yes, they would get off the boat then. The parents company could
corn in at that tbw. We must have had ow supper I think we did.
We had our supper before the boat landed. But boa& .down
at a certain ti=, and the whistle would blow.
Q. The lifeboats. Would you actually take two babies wi you to the boat.
A. No.
I
Q. Did you wear life preservers?
A. No, I don't mmrrber seeing them on there. Of course Lhihig wag every
day, Saturday and Sunday too yolu how, no Sundays off .
Q. Your working week was seven days?
A. Yes, but you got off early, and then you had ni&t duty, you had ,night
terms. Now the head nurses didn't. They had to be there ply in the mrningp
to take over fmm the one nme who was in the w
If the babies were too sick we would f@d another one
while we were having postgraduahe studgnts and teach
along. I Imow when I mt to B~llevueito get som p
I wore the ward apron, it looked like 4 ni@t gown wi
a straight affair. It had tapes on it so you had to
body to tie you up or k%a& it up herel and so forth.
here. I chose to wear rq~ apron when I bathed the babies t
and the superintendent of nurses cam dong. She sized m
uniform for Bellewe Hospital, ut she sad, "You bow, I
think we ought to get it for rest of the nurses. l1
you, gaussee, and you took it f when you went off t
for the wwd so we had a put it and so forth.
?

Anna Tittm
Q. 50 you made an addition to Bellevue.
A. Yes. (laughter) I told Dr. Masters about a patient f had one tW
there. This little boy, I was told to give forty grains "aspirin Po
a little boy ei&t years old. They had had rounds. The
tor would head up the rounds, they got to each-bed and h
fleet of interns mund him finding out, while the visit
get the history fkom one of the students. It woiild be t
Then he would discuss it with them, ask questions about I know
little Irish girl that I knew at Bellem, a nurse, a po
wself-mthat was in Boston-and she wanted n~ to go t L park with her
and her beau. Her beau was Jewish and she was Irish. H ras scared to
death to go on the-what do you call the trains that go in the air and
go scooting mund in the pla~ parks, gay parks?
Q. Roller coasters?
A. Yes, that's right. He wouldntt get on one of those
She said well that's a nice way to treat lUss Tittm.
him alone, let him stay down here if he wants to. l1 "No ,
"it would be f'un if we could get him on there. l1 I don't
said to him. But he was the doctor that they b-d-in
on--they blmd him for somthing that he didntt do at a
about the patient, and she stood up for him fiat there
the other doctors. He never forgot her you see, that sh~
I happened to think about it in connection wtth the pati1
This was in Boston.
Q. Who wash?
A. It was Norm Bega Park I think. Then anyhow he cam (
on--oh she was so rean I could of batted her. I told he:
She yelled and she acrean&, she made him stt in the fI-01
scared to death. When he got m and the thing started, '
kt me out of here!" he said. You know that was cruel (
1 she made him.
raid, "Oh, let
', " she said,
LOW what she
le ward she was
that was wrong
fk.ont of all
lad. That ' s how
. . So he cam.
and when he got
o please shut-up.
seat and he was
st me out of here!
I' t you think?
Q. Yes, I'm not that fond of them.
A. But ahe had done him a good favor so. Now where are
on the boat arenlt we?
, we am still
Q. Yes, are we through with this lower deck?
A. Yes, now down below, thatfa storad mstly. matts 1
baggag when you-Oh, I d9dn1 t how I @ad w back stickir
course we didnl t have any baggage down there. Now that :
half mnths a year, or was, I don't know what it is now.
Q. The hosptkal operated two and a half mnths out of tl
A. Yes, the boat did. It was entirely paid for, that it
did have to work hard to get the mney to operate it. BI
Emus En as Dr. Bowditch, he was one of the visiting m
was another. Xhey were outstanding in their work.
7
re they put your
up--well, ;of
open two @d a
year?
himished. They
they did. . Such
Dl?. mrtfis

Anna Tittm 16 3
Q. Were they pediatricians?
A. Pediatricians, yes. A Dr. Richard Mth that I lTkedlso much.
Different doctors were heads of different wards. Not evev ward had a
different doctor but rme would have maybe two or the. Fen they wbuld
get together for conference.
I
Q. Appmldmately how many personnel were there? ~
A. I know there were amund fifty nurses on these, smt$~s. We had an
interesting couple of nurses. One was nwd Hye and the
Roller. They found each other ri&t on the Mrst day
registered for their work. And they were what the union ed out to be.
They were high and rollers too.
Q Roller was her name? I
A. Yes, me and Eloller. One was named Mss Hye and
Roller. (laughter) The superintendent of nurses, she
One t3-m the first year I was there to take postgra
of the superintendent of nurses they had then-she was
year, very pretty, very digifled, nice person--her nam itman. Sombody
said, "Miss Tittm is out there correcting papers. " Zt went all
over the boat. I was a student and when it reached rn
upset. As a student nurse I wddtnft be correcting th
students and I just went around and told all of them I
stop them in the hall and everything. I had a little
have it, that has 1909 on it with BFH, Boston Floatin
prized very much, it was just a little thing about so
ColwrJ3la Vniversity I must remrrber to tell you that
fratexnlty .
Q. Was there a red cmss on the srmkestack as it shows he in the picture?
A. Absolutely I'm zrpset and disturbed about it now, I don t know. It seemd
to rn it was green and it was @;reen on our stationery. Be awe you see we
weren't Red Cross.
Q. Of course the red cms aynbollzed a hospital ship als doesnt LT,?
P
A. I don't how, mybe we had better not say anything abo
because sore of the Boston people that were on it when I
the migbt say, "Well, she got that wmg.
of things mng.
Q. What was the average length of stay for your babies?
k
t
A. I could nepr @ve you that. Som stayed the whole se
would pass away.
;on and som
Q. What was your death rate, hqve you any idea?
A. Well, I would say that the improvemnt rate was really
pod.
The / troubli4.

Anna Tittm 1 164
is that we didn't get them soon enom I think.
Q. By the tim they cam to you they were in bad shape.
A. Some of them. Now that little baby with the
didnl t know what was the matter with it, you
wasn't a feedfng case at all, it was a
Q. Was that operation perfomd on the boat? 1
A. Yes, it was. It was on rry waud, there it was cared f4r.
Q. Did any of your personnel ever get seasick? I
A. No, we didn't go out if it was too row a day to be
Q. Would you just stay tied up at the wharf?
A. We didn't have rmmy days that we dLdnVt get out. If fQle captain's
judgemnt would be that, maybe we would start back
a storm. We'd see a lot of things. For instance, I s
corn down the bay with all their colors floating. It
somthing vexy new for a mid-western little-town girl
one s m r to the next with a fMly at LgnnvfLlle o
where the mother was somewhat mentally disturbed.
a well baby and a little girl about five years old,
It was just a small horre, cottage. The n m was, I don't
but he was a white shirt man. So I stayed with them all r. I had to
bring the baby in to this fmus Dr. bmis every s
think it was
every two mnths for examinatians. He was alright,
left when the boat started up the next smr.
Q. You stayed there that whole winter?
e
I
A. Yes. I don't think I asked for. a full nurses salary qomething like
that. Well I could. Besides that, the housekeeper got a tihe mala.
&. Did you enjoy Udng in Boston?
I i
A. I liked it, it was dl4ferent. Once this DY. Richard
rn for a position at Massachusetts General Hospital in t
rent and I went over to see this worn I'd seen at nab1
tions, the superintendent of nurses, and I decided that
position. I have forgotten, it was assistant head nurs
in their wwd. But Massachusetts General would be a go
experience in. But it bmught forth a good many interes
tims I stayed longer and went and saw the sights, you kn
the revolutionary history, and what not that they have a1
Q. Did you get out to Concord and Lexington?
A. Yes, well I took in everythhg I could. Now where -1 we?

Anna Tittman
END OF TAPE T H m
62. You were going to tell IE the story of your smll pox~vaccinatio .
Ip
A. Well, when I was a junior in Springfield Hi& School vp had a
pox scavle and everybody was toAd to get vaccinated and I @drift
to go to a doctor to have that done but I knew a smll poq
supposed to be on its way to ua.
Q. This was in 1905, is that right? Or 1906?
A. No, no. I graduated in 1904 and it was 1903, and er it was in
the fall, or winter or spring, I don't know. Anyhow, to get vaccinated.
And that seemd to be no pat, great problem except t couldnlt go to
the doctorls like the others were going to do, and so about-I don l t
Wow where I got the inforrratim-but I knew about get
would start; the vaccination if arm or wherever I deci put it, would
be satisfactory. I was at home along the time I used th t. I was in
the kitchen near the pail of cold water because we always
a lmge wooden pail on the tabh where you worked up your bals. And so I
took the point in my hand . . .
I
Q. Why did you need a pail of cold water?
A. Oh, I felt I wanted to have sorething to mdve me
because what would I do lying there on the floor. And
In qy right hand and started it over on my left, and I
where to put it just exactly. I how that a lot of th
leg, but it mattered not to me to have it on my amn. I
m with this point. It was a little point thing with
on the bottom of it--it was only about two inches lon
it than it was on the top part, the top part was sh
last too long to operate this thing and so I began
other way. I would peek every once in a while to s
and when it got to that stage well then I hew I
rqy operation over. I scratched and scratched
to mke it as big as w brother Hamy's vacc
took and h e never did. But thak wasn't th
I wanted it to be right and I thou@ his
digging and I would just sneak a little
I thought I had it his size of vaccFnat$on, so I gave it u$ then. The blood
didn't rcrn down ~PJ amn or anything like that, but what did j I know about
sanitation and keeping everything steriile. I hew nothinglabout it. But I
wanted to be a nurse and I said to ~self beforehand that you are going to
be a nurse, you have to be brave. And so it cam out and I had a great
big scab on it, well it wasnl t quite as big as a it was big as
maybe a fifty cent ptece. So it came along until place where
that big scab was just hanging by a little
skh I think
now. So I thought, well I would be pulling
forth, so I decided to go to a octor and
couldn't go through life wlth t $a t thing
1
was Dr. Lindsey, the father of Tachel ~ kdse~ the poet, an all the I
I

Anna Tittm
I
were members of our church, the First Christian Church in 2 ;pringfield, Illinois
where I was born. I remember him as a n m that didn' t 10 h : too well-groomed.
I suppose part of that was because he wore a long dark be+ 'd, almost to his
waist, and he'd always corn in late to church. Well that p lade him conspicuous
and mybe he wanted that. So I went to him knowing that I was a church
member and mybe he wouldn't be hard on about the paw
ct . So I told him
I didn't have any mney but I wanted hh to look at my va ination. He did
that and he kind of smiled and said, "Well we can take c of that." He
said, '!I'll give you fifty cents for the scab. " And I cated ignQrance
and he said, "Well I can use that to vaccinate somebody e e with." So he
didn't charge me anything and I went away happy because h took a little
scissors and cut it off, and I think he put a plaster on and told me to
take it off in a day or so. So that was it.
d
Q. Do you thlnk he did use your scab to vaccinate anyone
A. No, I think he could have maybe if there was enough o
took to rrake the vaccination left on akin, but I don't
be had dropped it into a pail or wing I didn't know abc
the beghming and the end of my service with DF. Lindsey.
Q. Did you eventually have a bigger scar than your brothc
A. We11 it was fully as big yes. Well I've been vaccina'
going into foreign service you have to be vacclmated and (
you have to be vaccinated at my tire, and I have no othe:
one and only. (chuckle) Just recently my physician in S]
examFning rw heart, and w arm was bare and all of a suddt
to vaccination scar, but because he had his stethoscopt
couldn't explain to him fight then anything about it. (cl
ends the story of the vaccination, I didn't get sml1 pox
Q. Yours was an origkml do it yourself vaccination.
A. Yes, well it was do it yourself surely.
Q. Why didn't you go to a doctor originally to have it dc
A. Because I didn't have any extra mney, only enough to
Q. So you just went down to Broadwell's and got your own
A. I don't thhk I paid m o than ~ a quarter for that poir
rmke do you see, you can do things if you mke up your mir
failed I would have had to try It again mybe.
4. Do you want to tell me about Jane Addams now?
A. I d be glad to. That s ve pleasant narrative I thir
of 1912 I went to Chicago for purpose of spending the
And the first part of the I took a five weeks cow:
at the School of Civics
It was held in
and it later becarre a
of the Univer
lse?
the whatever it
him SO. And if
t it. So that was
Harry?
3 many times since
ing something else
scar and that's rqy
ingfield was
his eye went over
in his ems, I
zkle) And so that
. Well you can
, If it had
In the s m r
mr In study.
, s m r cowse,
downtown audit orim
-ty of Chicago. It

~nna ~itt~nan 167
was distFnctly social service smr instructions. I 1
Taylor's Settlenmt House and evenings we would kind of
because Graham Taylor was acquainted with m y very
of whom was Miss Jane Addam. That was the fbst I
I do not remmber what was discussed in the little t
would come for dinner and after dinner then we would all
boarders, one of which I was. Then he had a daughter who
social work then too, I've forgotten her name. That was
infomrative part of nly smr.
Q. How many of you would theh be at the table eating di&er together?
A. We11 I can't tell you exactly. Well I'd say mun
between ten and twenty, we wouldn't always have the s
didn't have a speaker or a visitor. And we had to do s
see. The latter part of the smr both of qy courses
five weeks. Well I was there in each six weeks, so I
time was spent in other things. I went to the Unive
had planned to do, and lived in Green Hall, which
the inside of a girl's dormitory. One of the th
was to get w cover, something to keep me wamn,
bought a very nice looking steer rug. It was a red and
plaid. I had had it for yews, but when a =and
I sent Lt to him to take with him, he [is] li
Of course it would be an extra maybe, but it was Fn good then. But
that is all I ~ ~rrber needing in the way of material
mo* at breakfast, the breakfast was on the main
morn, I sat near a lady whose name I don't recall,
older than wself, and we kind of hung up together.
by the message that c m via Miss Mary Sophanisba . . .
Q. She c m Fnto the dining hall that morning?
I
i
A. Yes, I want to get her last name and it doesn't corn b ck to me,
Breckenbridge, Miss Sophanisba Breckenbridge, a very pro ent social
worker in the city, but known nationally. And she told us about the
Progressive Party Convention that Theodore Roosevelt himse f jnitiateti,
and that they got many converts to this new p&y. I th most of them
were from the Republican Party. Its national convention w s to select
their nomhees, and so we were told that if we would mch in cap and gown
in a parade going down Michigan Avenue with Miss Jane Ad the leader,
that we would be adtt-dtted to this convention. So this we d, not only
the f'riend and wself but quite a group -the universit , all in cap and
gowns. There was no traffic on Michigan Avenue and we stqed at the Illinois
Central Railroad Station and walked down to what I th ar the big post
office down there, that would be somewhere around
broke up, but the marching, oh my that was somth
Jane Addams led us all by herself following the p
had provided, as mst big parades do. Then why we were on
our own, but we broke apart when we got to the
Avenue somewhat
south a m toward what would be in line wlth t
Central. There the only seats we could find were
that because we could see everything. The come
i

Anna Tittman 168
picture that was created on first enterhg is the one thad stayed in
mind a good deal. It was Theodore Roosevelt standing spa$ fmm Hirp
Johnson, one on the left side of the stage and the other 9 the righg side
of the stage. Mr. Roosevelt was all action, he had-what bppeared t me to
be-a rolled up newspaper in his hand and he was
waving to everybody, just all h the balconies, we even
aromd down on the main floor, and shouting and
Hiram Johnson, who was up to be nominated as Vice Wside from Caljfomia--
of course Roosevelt was f'mm New York-he stood there lik f a stone rnonmnt
with his amns cmssed and not a budge, not a laugh, not a bry.
Q. He presented quite a contrast to Roosevelt then? 1
A. Of course that was the idea I think. Then they went
program by getting the nomlnation. They got the
turn, and then they had to have a second for the
another process. But it was Theodore Roosevelt
to her feet %om the audience and nominated to
Pmgressive Pmy.
Q. Did she nominate him or second his nomination?
I
A. No, she nominated him, the seconds were vmious ones.
these nominations they had to do a lot of marching aro
and we saw all that, and we saw that, after a very
decided 'GO have a snake line. And when the man th
Jane Addam put his hands on her shoulders she st
other words, as we interpreted, she was a lady
that in this public place, she Just didn't want
know that, the man didn't know it and he put hi
knowing what the indication was, and she stoppe
to him and that was the end of that. But we we
proceedings throughout that we stayed there
10:OO at night, no food. That ends my exper
Q. How did you get to the beginning of the mch, to wher
t
the people were
formjng?
a
A. I think we went down on the Illinois Central, that's t e way we traveled
on the Illinois Central train.
Q. Were you wearing your robes?
A. I think so, I think so and our caps.
Q. Did you feel a little foolish?
A. No, oh no, I felt grand because I had never been to co lege before and
here I had a gown and a cap on and I learned how to put tassle on, it
had to be on this side. I think it was that side.
Q. Can you describe Jane Addams for me a little bit?
A. Well she was a pleasantly large worn. She cmied it
b
ell. She was what
1
I
I
!

Anna Tittman
you would say maybe a little fleshy, but she had fair skd, she was a
pleasant looking person but very serious, always was well~gmomed thp time
I saw her, well &essed, not conspicuously, and her
was a gentlewoman. She certainly did beautifil
that she did in establishing clinics and classes
the neighborhood, and the nei&borhood
But in order to get things for her
and impmvements in the water and
for it, the city headquarters, to
things like that. Now she had
workers and others,II know that. She had a lot to say
Children's Bureau, the Federal Children's Bureau was
organizations, social organizations we had in the gov
govermment, in getting that established. And a womn
was put at the head of that, she was a close f'riend o
Q. How many tims did MISS Addarns come to have dinner w i you at Graham
Taylor ' s?
A. Well she would come to spend an hour or two you how h e r . It
might not be even once a week of those six weeks I was
Q. Did you ever go and visit her at Hull House? I
A. It seem to me that we went as a pup who were at Graham ;Taylor' s
house to see what they had to offer and so forth,
their people
there, their clientele in classes and so forth.
different way of living. The streets were
no place to go because there were no
are now I'm sure. It was noisy, it
lots of places, the streets were
portation down there except, or
cart that was sellhg somthing
Q. How far away was Jane Addams' house f?om G r h Taylorf house?
t
A. Well I can't tell exactly but I think she was more wes perhaps than
he was.
Q. Within walking distance?
I
A. I can't recall. I would think so mybe, if I correctly Graham
Taylor's settlemt was on Chicago Avenue and
treetcar on Chicago
Avenue and we cam f'rom town on that
nter of town where
our lectures were. So that's about Then the second
part of term at the University of Chicago, if you want to tell about my
speakhg .
Q. I 've got that already.
A. Well X found that I had a very good swmer.
I
1
Q. We have pretty well covered your trip in Russia, but w never =ally
got you out of Russia. How did you corn- out?
I

I
Anna ~ittm i 170
I
A. Well you see I had friends in klna and I was always 5.
but all I knew about them was the Chinese laundrynan. The
geogaphy that I had on it didn't stay with me very much.
special fkiends there. At this time of leaving Russia, wh ch was in
February, 1920, having gone there in June, 1919, and after
were on their way in boats to their destinations in the Un
left. It was in February, I can% tell you what date, but
the middle. I took a boat to Shanghai, China and the peps
especially interested in seeing was sick in the hospital.
repo&er, the Chicago Tribune reporter whom I met on the T
Railroad, retwning fl-om responsibilities in my terrlto
Irkutz, I was on the way back and anxious to get back to V
as I say I left there in February.
Q. What was the reporter's name, I've forgotten?
A. Frederick A. SrrLth. He had a very good sense of humor
about him. But he was ill of havfng partaken of food that
sorething because his ailment cam. It was the diarrhea tl
such things and it travled in his body and it affected one
have part of a rib removed to hwe it drained.
Q. Did you get to see him?
A. Yes, I did. And he improved but I hew others there a
to more. One of the first things I had to do, I did go to
was recomnded to m beforehand, and registered so I had ;
Then I went to the hrican Red Cross headqumters in Shq
been notified that I would corn. I was under their chaperc
all the while I was in China. I was required to report thl
I fig$& make in residence and so forth, and that was about
responsibility. They saw to it when I was seeking transpo:
United States. It was very difficult to get transpolrtatia
who had established themselves in China, well say for some
like Singer SewFng Machine and different big businesses he:
they were doing the same thing I was going to do, and that
time in mtil you can get a boat back to the United States
one eventually was a YWCA woman Erom America, and there we:
say who were building. up the YWCA in China, they were estal
mtter of fact. Then af'rfend in my own unit had given me
Arne~ican worn friend and she was very interested. A frie
YWCA woman named Daisy Brown was ill. I was just the persc
the right time to go and take care of her.
Q. Now this is in Shanghai?
A. This is in SkmpJni.
Q. Did you do any other traveling in China?
A. Yes I did. I stayed with Nips Bmvm for a while. Ther
she was in good shape. I becam acquainted with her sistei
was a teacher in the school fop grls in Nanking. I went I
to do, to make a visit there. 4 have the mp here. It wat
terested & Chha
the litt
probably
n that I
ans Siberian
y in as far as
adlvostok. So
md I liked that
w infected or
at results from
lung. He had to
3 I had letters
z hotel which
place to stay.
hi. They had
mge we shall say,
different changes
the length of my
ta$ion home to the
because of people
swlness concern
3 in the states,
is just put your
How I did get
1 a number I would
Lishing th~m as a
s letter to an
3 of hers who was a
1 who arrived at
&e ~cuperated,
in Nanking, who
s, as I was invited
very interesting.

You see those girls cam from all sorts of places even J+m.
Q. These were minly Chinese girls?
.A. Yes, well a lot of them were Chlulese, but they were
-s,
they weren't the American girls. Then I went on a boat
from Nanking. Nanking was fmher nWh than Shanghai ccjnsiderablg but
not an awm lot. But there was a river there and I coqd get to . . .
(pause, looking at map) Well there I visited anyhow, I 4ill have t ) give
you the name. I was ping no&h on this riverboat.
Q. Which river is that?
A. Yangtze, and Nanking is on that river. I had t outh for that
on the river again to Hankow. There is whe~e Olive L
Vachel Lindsay, lived. She was mied to an hric
doctor, and they had children. They mt me; they lm
I had made advance arrangements. Now Hankow is a c
was mre like a b2g business town, a big I'd say heavy
is what it would be.
Q. Did you bow Olive Lindsay before you went?
A. Yes, throw the church. We weren't close at all.
Q. What were they dohg there? 1
A. Missionaries. He was a doctor missionary and she co
She had much train* as an N L and she had b quite a speaker.
She probably was teaching in one way or another. But o
~aising a family too. I stayed overnight there only
was taken around a little. (Looking at the map) N
started at Shanghai, here's Nanking and then I get
Hankow.
END OF SIDE ONE
A. . . . hospital. Did I give you this before?
Q. No this is in Peking?
A. I was in touch with them. The nurlses were there in a4vance studying.
They had a home that was arranged to +ve
It was arranged for them to be there qch
the language and that's what they werd doi
wasn't even far enough along tg show that
But they were glad to have me lpecause they had been away
some the, a little longer tha I had. At
the capital of Peking, they togk me on one
And there we went in a j inrikigha. When
hotel of a kind, but we only s$ayed the

was at a poht where it was on the rise, not going down. I There were
guards there or guides I should say and we were helped ug onto the Wall.
To travel upwards it was quite a pull for me, and I got t@ the place
where I couldn't go any farther, but I was on the wall. (chuckle) An
old couple who had been missicnaries in ChM for forty qars had never
seen the wall. They had been in another part of China there were a
lot of things they wanted to see before they went back tc( the states,
where they werre headed. So they could go skiwrdng right Pp that wall,
of cowlse it's quite wide, but I couldn't do it. The
could conpare it with today fm me is that I cantt get
because the flrst step is too high. Then on the way t
coming back mybe, we saw a place where they mde pott
. It was more or less just a shed with soft dirt,
in a little shed, I would say it was about twelve by
m was sittbg fn the middle, standing in the middle.
his legs so that the one leg that he was kneading the do
other one stood in the center, just stood still and t
spot. The other went around working the mud, I call
t
Q. You mean he stood on one leg and worked his mud with he other leg?
A. Yes, all mund, kneading it, getthg all of the
it, all the little knots. men they were ready to
eventually. Of course they added som thhgs I gue
but that was very interesting to me. Then another
on the Wall. See these cities were old and one reason
Great Wall was because they didn't want races, people c
West to take over their properties. They had had that
reason the wall was built, to keep these vast and e
were, they would take their land away. We had a pi
Peking. Now that wall too was wide and ran around
I have pictures of that, not of the picnic. But th
could see far and wide too. Another time we went t
would have a guide sometims who could speak kglis
lot. A woman who was lrarried and wanted to have c
children, she would throw-there were all kinds of
that were on display throughout China . . .
Q. You man camred elephants?
A. Yes. If the woman threw a rock up to land on the ele hea and
it didn't corn back, then she was going to have a baby, s
Well that was just one little thing. Another thing was tl@t always when
they bury a body, they always leave a little hole to the gutside, a little
pathway to the outside, just a bored hole, bored up like
spirits corn and go. Of course they pay a pat deal of
dead, more than in life I think in som cases.
for instance now you take downtown Shanghai.
bought ahnch dress, it was a foml dress.
to, he got ahold of a young Irish reporter.
took m around som .
Q. Is Shanghai a beautiful cil~y?
I
But

Anna Tittman 173
A. Well I don ' t remmber too much about it except that just had ,lots
of people in it. Your vision is cut off you know. (chuc le) The streets
are narrow mostly. It's been so long I can't describe t+t to you, but
there were all rnanner of nations represented there.
place. I didn't go to church there any, but I was taken It w&s
L
o a busy, missi a llsy
where they had a school and the first thing I hew they *re beggin me
to stay and be a missionary, and I said, ''No, I couldnl t
f
to go back and report." And I did. Af'ter I got back to he states 'I had
to report back to California. Well I was only there unti I that. could, now I
failed. Well Shanw was my home you see. This other
have been telling you about. It was my Chima home.
where Daisy Brown lived. They had an awfblly nice
should say, and they were very cordial and wanted
got well enough one th to com? and see m. He
the time, I was able to go out with him a little.
our nice yard out here. '' He said, "
(chuckle) I didn't know about the wa
womn's clothes were hanging on the line. But t
there. Then another little story I rember was
was another house or two in that same conrpowld,
in place, and this little boy went over to see
field too. Of cowse these YWCA women weren't
but they really were in part. But this little to a neighbor's
home and the lady of the house said, ''What di
just want to see your new carpet." So she sal
I '11 show you ow new carpet. '' He went and he
looked long and hard, he kneeled down and smel
he said, This carpet doesn't We me sick."
at horn. (chuckle) They told that story.
was that their leader was in Peking On YWCA business
happened to their tea strainer. So when they had to
about som business in Shanghai, they slgm
would remmber to get it, since they
when she send an answer to the telegmm, sh
never got to meet her but she was outst
Chinese YWCA--girls1 homes, we were invi
just an ord*y meal but that was interesting.
Q. Were these upper class homes or addle class?
A. I think they were both. Of course the YWCA doesn't mqke any difkerence.
So rry next step was, we had
First Christian Chwch but
She was known as Helen or
better. She belonged to
when I was a senior in
senior year was across
room in the same house
for q maintenance.
called Dudjo, and I
it's not in the
in t;he vicinity
of a little hospital and she
t
I
I

Anna Tittm
boys and one for the girls. She carried on. It was the ? that I was
able to go with a woman physician into some of the ho~s
>f the Chinese
patients and see how thlngs were. A bed had no bedding 1 it, just
boards. Might be shiny boards but they were boards, no ; 2ttress is
what I man. Of course they had covers and all. Of cou se I didn't
know the language at all, I didn't know what their conve ;ation was
about, but I could smlle. It was interesting flr,m the nr lical standpoint
because she would tell me in between what the aihn ~t was.
Q. Was she work- with a power class of people?
A. Well I would say middle class and poor. The poor, sc mmy didn't
have hares at all, they just wandered you know. Now eve: r home had an
Amah. She takes care of personal things. They donlt M ? bathrooms,
they didnlt then I man. Comdes, she took care of thal She would
put the girl's clothes away and so forth, and do the bed and what not.
!Then they would have a boy that would manipulate the j h kisha. There
was a pup. One was a bonifide minister, but she was dc ng the YWCA
work. I don't remember any other's names but that one. he mote me
a nice letter when I was leaving. I had a little Corona ;ypewrit er
that the Red Cross had lamed m, and I was writing lettr 'S somtims
at night, and she was wlting Fn another room. She said! "1 can hear
you now," see I was just planning to leave so that was p: !asant. I'm
sorry I didn't keep in touch with them but I've gotten 01 t of touch
with all close eiends.
Q. How long were you in Chfna?
A. Oh, I would say maybe three months.
Q. Did you like China?
A. Yes I did but I wouldnl t want to stay there. But the
transportation back--see all this while I didn't intend t
like that-was that an American woman who was associated
headquarters of Christian work, and I don't recall just a
she had gotten passage to the United States quite a while
time the boat would sail. She found she couldn't go at t
because I was going to go with Daisy Brown's sister, who
at Gen Ling College and whom I knew, because she was not
been well for many, many weeks and the doctors decided tlneeded
most of all was good American livhg and she shod
states. And they felt that I was just the person, I had
to go with her. I suppose she got her tickets the same ul
ticket. This worn who was a friend of the YWCA women fr
up her transportation to me and somone else may have giv
transportation to Mss Brown's sister. So that's the way
American Red Cross wasn't able to do anything in the way
at that tinu;, not for m anyho .
I
Q. Was Gen Ling College in S h+ngh~?
t
A. No it was in Nanking. Tha is north a-ways. Here is
way I got
stay long
n another
at it was,
ahead of the
at time or
as an instmctor
ell. She hadn't
t what she
pp back to the
ust the training
y I was given a
m America, gave
n up their
I got back. My
f transpoult at ion
Sbghai here

Anna Tittman
and here 2s Nanking. (Look* at mp) And it I s on the +&ze ~iver,
that same river that I got on to go to Hankow.
I
Q. Were these krican doctors who advised her to go honp for good
American living? I 1
A. Well I think, either that or E-glish. I don't think Jthey would
trust Chinese then. (chuckle) Well anyhow, they do mak vevy good
doctors. They corm here and study you know, or they go wand.
They're very meticulous.
I
Q. Well they might have been ahead of us for years.
1
A. Yes. Now I cam back fiomDudjo to Shanghai and st d there until
the boat was going. This time I left, you bow, fhrn
went on a Russian boat.
Q. I thought you had left from San Francisco when you we t out.
A. Did I? Well I guess it was, I guess it was San
about three months and it was February when I left.
probably. Well I left the last day of May of the
was gone just about, but 1 landed in the state of
was interesting. But q feeling with the Negro
one you know in so long, any N e w at all.
American Nep who was desigpated as mayor
where we had nurses stationed. They said
when our Amrican Red Cross people saw him.
Q. Who designated him myor? 1
A. I don't know whether they had any kind of organizatio
P
or not with
the m, they must have.
I
Q. Was he in our armed forces?
A. I don't know. That might ham been the way he got th)re or maybe
he ran away, I don't know. (chuckle)
Q. So you landed in Washington. 1
A. Yes the state of Washington. I had yearningp to go t Lake Louise,
but I didn't, I stayed on the train, Wen I got that far Just thought,
"Well I want-to get horn now." % I . But the por.ter on the train
seemed such strange people to m, after seeing the Chin doing all kinds
of waiting on jobs like the boys that they keep in a pr
is the cook and one is the waiter and so on. Of course
are not large and they don't stay at night In the home,
as I was able to observe. Whe
f
I got back to Springfie
changed at Chicaga to get down to Springfield, why I we
Henklels, Dr. Henklels mther d father, that was sti
home. I got in touch with Was ' @on. I had to go th
repor% and all. I had previou ly met Miss I&lano, who
worn. I saw her first at con entions, National Nws
b

Anna Tittman
Q. She was the head of the Red Cross, is that right?
A. That's right, of the Red Cross Nursing Service, nati$nal. I went
to make report there and of course some of her staff @ere in on it.
Then there was a job open in Chicago in the Red Cross N
3
sing Service
of the Midwest Division of the American Nurses Associati n, and thab
included five states, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michi@ and Indiapa
I thMc. So I took the job because while I was on leavelof absence
fYom roy poaAtian in the State DepaY.tment of Regtstratio~ and Educa$ion,
I had advised them, ny future employers, that I wouldnlt be able to stay
a long time because I wanted to go to college. So it waq about a year
and a half I think altogether before I left for New York Jto go to
Columbia University. That was in September, 1921 and I s there the
two years and got nly degree in June, 1921, had to do the,field B work the
smr of 1921 or 1923. Then went on duty in the Organization
for Public Health Nursing as a Director of
Placerent of Public Health Nurses on the
territory throu&out. That was very interesting to m.
Q. What kind of boat did you come back on, Anna?
A. I cam back on a big liner called the Fmpress of Rus
Q. Was it nicer than the boat you went over on?
A. Oh yes. The boat I went over on wasalittle fellow.
Q. Was this run by the Russians, owned by the Russians?
A. No, no. That was just its name. It was a United St
Rnpress of Russia. You see the po& that this big boat
in Washington, you see Russia owned that part of our
some of our country I guess, and I suppose that I s
the I3qress of Russia.
Q. So you sailed rylom Shanghai?
A. Yes, I sailed M m Shanghd, and I say now and have s id it mre than
when I was fresh out of college, that I couldnft have gott n through my
college wish if it hadn't been for the themes I had tolwrite. One I
remember distinctly was on transportation.
Q. fn Russia?
A. No, in China. (Pause, answering telephone)
Q. This i s the job in Chicago?'
A. Yes, now I had had a predeqessor so the system was esf ablished. I
worked directly under the who reported to a boarc. of Public
Health Nursing patrons,
They were the people w1.o were chosen
from local boards like
Nwses Associatior, and so on.
I reported and got
She was a MISS St€ vens, who did
I
I
I
I
I

Anna Tittm
not have very good health, but was a wonderful little pe
it very much. The th~ C-, however, when they felt th
afford it any longer and the social work o~ganization wi
of placement and counseling-I don't know exactly what t
now--they were in the s m categpry of looking for mney
leading social workers and public health people applied
organizations that were intemsted in demnstrations. F
sow of my field work I have worked out of East Harlem N
Service which was an experlmnt. It was in one of these
city where you clmed five flights of stairs to get to
SO on.
Q. Were you doing similar work in CMcago?
A. I was. I have to tell you though that we joined for
of the organization that cam out of all of this-we did
good arrangemnts for suppo& and we could charge fees a
the s m as comrcial agencies do. When they got a pos
us, initiated by us, why then they paid so much, I can't
the percentage.
Q. You were sort of an employment service for nurses?
A. Well it was placemnt and counseling. I gave them t
I conpiled their professional records with a staff of ty
and a secretary that could take dictation. I used the d
at ni@t s . That was the klnd of work I did to the end o
nursing. I had another job after this one. I was in Ne
two organizations all together 18 years. It was a wonde
for E, I loved the work. The social work people had th
and we had an outstanding social worker as a head of the
and she worked with the board.
Q. What was the mm of your combined organization?
A. The Joint Vocational Service for Social Workers and
Nurses.
C
7shg and ealth
mrts of t e
~ur patient and
?S and the name
set some very
we dld just
;ion through
member exactly
? infomation,
tsts, clerks,
:taphone a lot
my career in
York at these
2iL experience
ir problems,
rganizat ion
iblic Health
Q. You mentioned reports.
A. And I was in charge of the nursing end of it. For I: rt of the tlm
I had an assistant as the work grew. Now when the tire :am for the
financial help we got, the gifts were being exhausted an I we were in
trouble again. Our fees weren't suff'icient to support i ,. Our offlces
were Fn the Russell Sage Buil@ag, a very lovely little luilding, but I
i
think we paid no rent. 1
I 1
Q. This is in New York now?
i
I
A. Yes. Russell Sage was an outstanding person, I dont 8 remember what
he did especially. That was em a very nice part of tc rn and I was
able to get an apartmnt clos to it. At first I had tc cop across
New York City at the 23rd St et streetcar. You how wh ,n 1 came back
here at first I was calling e rything a streetcar then, but we had buses

I
in New York. The the came when they couldn't afford tc ceep on ad
we couldn't afford to keep on, and we weren't getting ar mney, and
although we were changing fees, we had to~dissolve. T~E social work
took its back in its own organization, and then the nati
fop Public Health Nursing built up something different.
national nursing organizatiom got together, but they dl ilt succeed
right away to establish activity in the operation but ev ~tually they
have. From there though, there was a job open, well the
Now I think I have told you that I haven't previously ap
and this job I was sought for was the Executive Dbector
Service in Chicago which was under the general supervisi
Division of the American Nurses Association and we place
private duty. Private duty had its own registries. Tha
thing you see, they worked day and night, had to be on h
They had such an organization in the building where my o
Nurse Placement Sedce, and it later went to New York t
organization. They were establishing state Nurse Placer
I went, was with that in getting it started f'rom distric
headquarters were in New York. I had all the records ou
that had been assembled, except, no I didn't because my
was older than I was then-she retired, her health was p
how there was a vacancy. I had a staff of seventeen at
always. But it was a very happy ayrangemt, I had nurs
who took over the different fields. But we didn't inter
nursing because that f'unctions a little differently. I
the fifth floor and they were on the seventh floor or so
so we were very close together. Then that got us up to
because--but nly record, of my own biography was there, 1
colored thing, and so I took a copy with me.
la1 organization
111 three
sought me out.
Lied to a job,
~f Nurse Placement
1 of the Wdwest
everything but
was a closer up
~d day and night.
pizat ion was,
this national
l;h~~ce+and
here in C icago
medecessor who
r, and that's
le time but not
; on my staff
lpt private duty
link we were on
?thing likp that,
J49, I retlred
was an orbge
Q. I'm glad you did.
A. Yes. So I could have stayed on longer if I wanted t
on my own, mtter of health. Then I could have stayed o
fall, but because a dear friend, a nurse fiiend had a co
Bmgor, Maine-I had been there previously fhm New York
vacatfons, short vacations, one month. I always saw to
got one mnthls vacation too-I went with her. That was
first of May and I stayed until September and then I cam
Sprbgfield, and I was surprised to see the change. I d
to stay here. I was going to to California to be wit:
but I just kind of mde a mess here. But I did go then,
phoning me.
m smr
, that rry 8taff
n bky, the
back to
In't intend
my niece,
,hey kept
Q. You described your job t o , In ~ Chicago a little bit
if you would elaborate on it little bit-more. What we.
in Chicago when you arrived?
A. Well, they were good beca@e the functioning of the :
that was what supported them. (pause, noise) Wait a mi1
but 1 wonder
! the conditions
.*st
~te,
Division,
I lost IQJ . . .

Anna Tittman
I
I 179
Q. You were talking about the Kdwest Division.
A. Yes. And we had the use of all those records until
i
ater, they were
shipped and they had to be when we broke up and had--the e we were in a
big building on Michigan Avenue. We had much rent to pa and so forth.
But we had made, well, there were other things that theyifell err to,
that is the state fell err to. We could get those reco4s quickly.
Q. What were the records? I
I
A. These things, that orange colored thing. That was a'compilatEon of
the informtion we got about them when they applied.
Q. And when you say who is them?
I
A. Well, I man the nurses who applied. We didnlt on Fn any field
like the private duty because private duty registrie to be active
day and nigh'c, and they have to take the nurs
availability lanless it was specified that tQey must omebody who is
a specialist irL,their field, sorewhat considered, oh,
outstanding and can do anything in the private duty,
Mdwest didnlt have to do as much, I mean Illinois di
much compiling, only In new people because even whe
shipped to New York, they had, many of them were ab
because they were active, but we could. Now my
Nurse Placemt Service was first assistant
and in a little while, however--well, now that happene
so she would do som of the intervie- of the indivi
would give to her for experience, you see, or b
didn't have an appointmnt and she could talk a little
Fntervlews wfth the enployem. The errployers would co
m said, "Do you ask the candidates to take off their
have I given this before?--an8 I said, "No, I don't as that." And I
said, "I have them sitting right across the desk from
lot about their facial expressions ,I1 and so fo
when I am thinking of employing a teacher. l1 He sald, "1 ] always wanf, to see
what she looks like with her hat off."
I
And I sat in this state service, this Illinois service o posite a door that
would lead to the receptionist and I watched her walk. ow, I learned to
judge people quite a good deal by the way they walk. If 'they walk with
determination, okay. If they walk sor~thhg like this ( tamp, stamp, stamp)
they are md. (chuckle) So once, since I've lived here
L
land have been off
of nursing duty for several yeam, actually seven years, the Illinals
Association wanted to write me up a bit and sent an inte viewer to ~lle for
an article in the magazine of the 1ll;tnois nurses. I to d he^ that and I
had bmwt in a table, a card table,*and I sat on one s de and I had her
sit on the other just to establish that klyld of a sitmt on and she said
afterwards, or in the article, she said that I told her lmt and she said
that in her wticle that, I1Itrn sure she was watching me
I went down the street down to the car."
when (chuckle)
I
T
So the work included, not only the interviewing of the se if she was

Anna Tittman
available. Now she once wasn't, she lived way off
we would
refer her to her own reglstuy or her own placement
was advlsed by them that it wasn't local, she wanted to $ places, $he
wanted to be in so= other state, she wanted to
a chance to state her preferences. They
got all their credentials, and they me confidential
we had the privilege of, not changing the statemnts,
things and I only got into trouble once about that
employed a nurse that was a friend of one who
that woman1s reference wasn't just exactly
many things, you can kind of make up your mind that myb? the enployer
wasn't handling her situation just ri@t. But of course we had ow
system -king, excellent when the reference was entire14 that, and an
okay if they were just fair, a minus sign if it's poor.
have this nurse listed for, or have her case opened for
You see, we have all those references up to that time,
record up to date but if we how enough about her f'rorn
record repor%, why we can go right away and go right
them about positions which zulc their preference in
they are qualified to do and the locality they want to b
t-s. We try to follow any worthy interest. Then we
we have had her record on before, and that is when I rec
joy, when a record that I have built with all the detai
if they are good then it will be good in this case too.
talk jobs with her before I get one on the last work.
out alright, I think. And, somtirnes the prejudice in
of the person vho wrote the mference didn't see any o
well, now in own reference there was one situation
forgotten how, that I don't think that I could have
though I wasn't . . .
Q. So when you excluded, you excluded certain p&s the references
if you felt it was unjust to the nurse?
A. Yes, or if it was too mch of a repetition. Not alw s though. We
would, for instance, take a poor record and try to make 4"t fair unless
it was, well, they would say, "Well, the employee, she nqver liked me,''
see. Well, you had to decide for yourself whether that qas the nurses's
fault or whether it was the director's fault. S
compile the professional history andwetreat the
way. W e him analyze his work and the type of
may be able right away, knowing he's holding a
Take a principal of a high school for instance, we
kind of a person and so you begin to discuss pos
with him. Then if their ional record is ope
can magbe prepare or gi s WSB ls profess
Then we let her know t
rd bs been sent
occurs. She, maybe we will her infomt i
positions, and she
or which she 'd lik
really very enjo
mg nurse comes in
doesn t necess
she's trying t

Anna Tittrnan
step right away from when you first graduate from a scho 1 of nursing
to be a supervisor. So we tell them in each case what t $ ey would have
to be experienced In, this or that, you see, and then itidoesn't need
to be that they have to have a11 Ends of experience, no4 I was very
strong on pre non nurse work.
L
A. Pre non nurse work where a candidate had been a teaclper. She could
quickly prepare-and then became a nurse-she might qua1 f'y for, if she
had had experience in nws* of any kind. For instance if she worked
as a general duty nurse in the hospital here, there or s replace else,
she might be ready for head nursing work or mybe in a s 1 institution,
she could be a supervisor, mybe a night supervisor even (chuckle) I
was thinking about the cat. Well, anyhow, to have her cqlne back when
organization.
I had a codttee mde up of wonen who were down to
time, had good experience, good preparation, had
these higher fields of service and then, well,
Well, one thing we could liken it to, we made
and the cloth doesn't wear out very fast
Well, that is by and large what we did.
Then there is a question of advertising that we had to t a List ready
for the American Journal of Nursing and we could use list if we
wanted to, but of open jobs, mybe som that were very wd to fill and
it would be a little while before, but in general there qould be a nwnber
of jobs that it would be hard to find just the person
qualifications that were in it and they mi&t like it,
one thing and they would tm it down, you see. So, it
interesting. I stayed and wo~ked ni&ts because rq~ daysiwere taken up
in dictating. I dictated evexy personal interview on
the blue sheet. The blue sheet
their stand up record and that desi-ted it as
It would give the attitude of the pergon, the
and well, mything that she
Now we didnlt require a
Them never was any
was say- that
Dictating required a lot. Nm we did! go out, and I was
was the vocational person in office, that is our
I placed her fn her job when in Nurse Placement
director of the whole state association, I an
Nuraesf Association. It was then so I'm really
We went to
the natlona
Placement Service,
the five st

Anna Tittm
we functioned nationally but not extensively just becaw
services, [in] other words. At these conventions, they 1
conventions where you had to rnake a speech, you speech -
printed and you had reprints of it available and they we
so on. Then on national conventions we always had a boo
state conventions we would have interviews wherever the
would want to see you so you had a place where you could
remmber once I had to give a talk at a luncheon of the :
whole nurse, it was one group and they wanted to know ab
work and so for%h, so I didn't have any notes ready. We
are permitted to use all the availables for toilet and u
turned over the mnts toilet too, so I stood at one of t'
write notes--dontt put that in-because if I was at m;
wouldn't have been able to have the leisure to put down
then it was a question of writing occasionally, a paper
published, but speaking a &reat deal. Also serving on c
state of our Illinois Nurses Association where they-we1
war, the first war, the big war, my work was essential.
gone if I had wanted to because, just as in the time I w
office in Springfield. There was enough difference In t
to be challenghg. We did a lot of local talking to the
Then when we were asked, we felt that was ow duty to ac
course, you newly always gave a report at the Illinois
would come once a ye-. I think, of course, you like to
that appeared locally where you were going to be able to
work or talk about your work. I remender one little nw
Miss Jones, that was so uncomn, but she looked a littl
At a national convention she said, "I don't know how man
rushed up to m and they say, 'What kind of position $ha
!Miss Tittnm~?~~' She said, '?I'm not Miss Tittman, I'm so
"1 said, Oh, there's just lots of jobs, but I'm not lUss
(chuckle) So I likeditriat to the end. I liked the b
state nurses of the Illinois1 nurses. The people 1 hand
employment end of it a good deal, not handled but tried
see we didn't do private duty. We kept our hands off of
because we had enough to do the other way. They paid t
some of them were delinquent about getting their fees pa
to go to the extent of sending them a telegram and that
where they didn't respond because they signed an apeme
about all I LESS, but I did train a person to take p
leaving. Now she then became the director of this natio
quartera after I lef't Pky 1, 1949. That was q last job
did belong to the a1mx-d here, Springfield Hospital Nurs
had quit that. Then I becam, a mmber of the district a
state association and the state association was a member
you :see, of the hricm Nurs Or@;a3nization or Associa
only flnd that; you camy enjo in your work, sometim
kind of difficult and mybe keep you awake of a night, w
do next about it and so forth I think, I am sornet
"What phase of work did you 1 most?" I say, "Not
the best. I liked it all. "
And I never applied for a job 1 never.
there were
ight be state
as sor~tirnes
e sent out and
h, and on our
ervice was, they
met them. I
urses, not the
ut vocational
1, usually you
ually we were
e urinals to
booth I
he notes. So
hat was directly
mnittees of our
, now during the
I couldn't have
s Fn Illinois
e work, you see,
schools of nursing.
ept. Then, of
onvention, which
attend anything
report about your
e, her name was
bit like me.
people have
1 we have now,
. She said,
Tittm.
ard and all the
ed in the
o help, but you
that entirely
eir fees, now
d and you had
ort of thing
t. Well, that's
ace when I was
al, the headin
nursing. I
s ' Aid, never
sociation of the
of the national,
ion. You not
s it would be
at you should
me8 asked,
21Yljr of it was
A11 rrly jobs I was a&@, sought,

Anna Tittrran
even back in the Hemdon's dry goods store. Sue Trotter this young,
nice clerk, was neighbor who was ngt forerunner that i I -forerunner
(chuckle) is funny about that-- and the little love lettp that I
ca~rried between the cashier and the lady, you know. Sheijust died &
I
few months ago.
i
Q. Your title was Executive Dbector of Nurse Placemnt Service 4
Chicago. Is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And you were there from January 1, 1938 to October,
have any training for that? Did they get you together a
you about the job?
A. Oh, yes, I would have interviews. You mean for myse
have interviews before I would accept-a job.
Q. No, I mean after you had the job, didn't they send y
sity?
945. Did kou
all to teJl
f? I would
u to a univer-
A. Well, the only case was that of this Illinois becaus
going to be a special session for these different direct
they don't call them directors, gosh, I've forgotten, it
counselor. I was vocational counselor, I think that's w
But we were very anxious to keep the matter of counselin
We had this opportunity if they weren't prepared for wha
to do you would know because of your various, oh, there
contacts, nany of which were in your life before you ent
work.
Q. CoUld you review again for IE the situation in Chica
a natirmal organization is tyt right?
A. No, the Wse Place
t
Sen4 e was not intended to be a
was intended to be a midwest vision, these five states
Q. Which five?
A. Well, that's what I was of thinking about. The
Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois think, yes, I think Indi
in it. Yes, I'm pretty
were but I can't say p
it was only four in owl I guess rJlissouri . .
there was
rs, or a person
was a vocational
?re you start.
the nurses.
they wanted
=I--@ many, many
red vocational
Now, I think it was strange. I set out to be a speciali t pediatric
nursing, although I had a general three post graduate co rses. My general
wasn't enough to suit me and I had them in my specialty, but I picked up
a lot of other informtion in a pat big city hospital ike Bellvue, New
York, and John's Hopkins. But the Boston Floating Hospl sl was the only
one that was strictly children, well, mstly infants the were really.
But 1 had a general knowledge of institutional work thro gh my Boston
Floating Hospital since I was the head nurse there and a supervisor and
an instructor, then different smers that I worked.
3. It had been
national. It
2 was Michigan,
na, was partly
sitively. Maybe
~?11, it could

Anna Tittm 1 184
have been Missouri on account of St. Louis being so clos and so on.
Still when they got the state one, Missouri would certai$ly have had
a state one.
Q. They broke up fYom the midwest to each state having tts own service?
A. That was what the national wanted, yes, oh, yes. Bu? I thought,
well, it's not going to be for so awfblly long before Iq111 want tp
retire maybe. And then health wasn't good toward the end and so I
decided a few months before I was sixty-five. In those
;i
ays when you
were sixty-five, you had to be sixty-five in order to ge your social
security. We had It in New York, somthing like it befo they ever
had the government, we had a kind of a social service t ng of the fitate.
Well, now does that answer your question?
Q. Yes, I think so. It went fYom the midwest division was broken
down to that each state would have its own service.
A. Yes, yes, that's right, Michi@.n would have a
they had two outstanding womn in Detroit. One,
Department Nursing-and we don't have that here,
I man we just have a little, well, it's not a
speak of.
Q. Was this service financed with .gvemnt flmds? 1
A. You mean the one in Illinois?
4. Yes, in Chicago.
A. Oh, no, no. (muttering to herself)
Q. What kind of jobs did you place? Could you give me
of the jobs that you placed these women in?
A. Placed what?
Q. The nurses. What khds of jobs?
A. Oh, well, they were sometims at the lower level in Institutional
nursing. It might be a general duty nurse as a first jo$. It might be
a supervisor of a wwd or a division. Well, for instme$, if they liked
chil,d.mnfs wmk and were prepwed
1
for it, they could be $upemisor of a
childrev% ward where they ha e such a. thing. They have$' t been having
it ~ O L @ in some of the inst tutiond that have sc
in fZ1hois SO that they have to be *nt away to
Now we didnt t get it you see, we only pt what
little hospital, maybe a child once a yew or somet
we had a lot of obstetrical c
i
ses. Then we were
1 duty before
we graduated, of course, in t e hospital. That's
institution and that's what I have done. When I took
courses I was on general duty

Anna Tittman
Q. Would hospital adtnhistrators, for instance, come tojyou when they
were loo^ for a nurse? 1
A. Well, especially yes, if it was a service of a kind
executive ability in a nurse who was the director of nur
institution or organization, and she would co~, or not
come, write and say what the job was. Of course, what I
about some fields of work, I learned very quickly by ana
these different jobs called for. So the specialties now
psychiatric nursing, never had any psychiatric nursing k
good to get her experience on if she could be accepted f
of job in psychiatric work, she would learn. Maybe she
in their classroom work off and on. So if they were esg
for nurses. Well, we had to judge if they had the requi
In their professional training, but in their individual
so foY.th. Now, far be it f'mm me to judge a person's p~
pletely just by seeing her and talking with her, but whe
come in, well, you match them up and so you my have thl
your mind about her. But when they say, "She never did
there-always would be a '+Why?" I didn't ask it, l!But wh)
the director's fault. Of course, a director of a school
also a very good instructor cm do vocational advising t
Maybe that director has been to Colunibia UnZversity or b
University and had advanced work, university work that n
Again, if they want to do hospital admbistration, so IE
hospital acbrdnistration jobs but some nurses W e very g
of hospitals, not the nursing staff, to have a nursing c
school and for service.
,hat required
,ing in that
~ecessarily
hadnl t known
.ysis of what
might be
~t it was mighty
r her first kind
rould have to be
cially hard up
,emnts, not only
)ersonality and
~sonality com-
1 her refeEnces
gs confwd in
.ike me ,'I well,
'" Wbe it was
of nursing and
?ry f'requent ly .
stem Resarve
.ght be needed.
w men have
)od directors
~ector for the
END OF SIDE ONE
Q. Would the job opportunities that you had be limited
Illinois?
;o the statie of
A. No, no. Thatls a good question. It would likely belthat if they
have their state vocational. service going, that is the
charge, I man the one that was expected of the nurses
the state to be looking for if they havenlt, but they
codd get a local. Now, take private duty for example.
Q. Frlvate duty?
i
A. No, I'm just going back t
f
that.' We don't handle the placement
services. But we hand1 oh, solmany things that som o w
-lane.
to
it. Well, fa& a nurse that an be d. stemess on the
Now
that my be just what she was, lookhg for but she hadnlb thought about
it, but you can mention it, We got many requests for nwsas for stewardesses
and offlce nmes, they are
F
one, you how. They arenl; under a nwse7s
sup$rvlslon but, they work fo the doctor. Now ny niece Is one of them.
She9s not a nurse but she wo with two doctors now down in Florida. She's
I

Anna Tittman
prepared especially with her certificate of . . . Oh, shf;'s an administrative
doctor's helper, doctor's assistant, and she muzs t e whole office.
That s what she does.
Q. If someone was looking for a very specialized type or person, Wuld . . .
A. And they wanted that kind of job , we Idq know.
Q. Well, would he have to wrfte to forty-eiat states tP f'ind, I wan
would he have to write forty-ei&t different letters? ;
A. No, there's a person at the headquarters of the hr can Nurses'
Association that's funcbioning for the different states, who have them,
and those that don't have them, they are inspired to try hard to get them.
It's often a question of mey, see.
I
Q. Well, could he write just to the national organizati and then they
would put him in touch with you if . . .
A. For a job in Illinois, yes. However, they wouldn,,t -see they are
more of a khd of a clewing house. They do if there is . Now if there
isn't anybody there, now, the nurse would how where he ord is, where
is her confidential record, now that's another thing we
compile their pmfessional record if they were a me&
even though they don't want a job. They want their
they do.
1
Q. I was trying to get at if there was a very highly sp cialized, maybe
there were only five of these wornen in the country, this man then coUd
just write to the headquarters in New York and they woul know whether or
not you had a nurse of this pwticulaT training? Or how would they get the
information out without writing forty-eight different le ters?
A. Well, the question is often locality where the nurselPs that wants
the job. She my be just the person that fits that job ;8nd yet, the
employer my know more about her than we do, ha* comptled her pmfessional
history. He might know more about her personality and t
necessuLtly core out. But if they make .pod In all thei
don't have any worries about whether she's going to fit
But now when that person interviewed re for that
mentioned--if an employer, we 1, the alrplmes
and they mtedoneblond and bmtte, and
men-@, and so a graduate regi wse is all they
t
This registration passes too. Is thq person eliglble
evewy state because the requi by not be the
registered nwse Fn New I don't keep
eveh keep up the Illinois one, There ' s no point.
dropped it, that's what the nurses do, unless
they might want to work. It a requirement to
for many things. It is now registration has
in their state, where they t
registration in

Anna Tittman
say R N, to be an R N, registered nurse. Why I got in both situations
on waivers.
j-I
I
Q. When a principal of a high school would call, was he/ looking for a
school nurse?
A. Yes. Now mre than likely--now, when I was a school, nurse, I was the
first girl nurse in Springfield, as you probably how, tpre was no one
that was a school nurse before except some distance away1 1 had, fbllowing
Boston Floating Hospital work one smr, when I was @ing to be school
nurse, they allowed nu3 to come later because I was goinglto
i
get this
observation course In the public schaols with the nurse, withanmy for
a whole week. And I learned a lot then and so it was a elp. But $he
board was perfectly willing to employ me, I was already mployed I
didn't apply wself, although I was asked to write out qualificqtions.
Old MP. Collins, the superfntendent of schools, said tha I did a better
Job than the teachers do about giving him the informatio he wanted.
Q. F'rom December 1, 1945 mtil you retired May 1, were Director
of Professional Counseling and Placement Service of State Nursest
Association in Chicago?
A. Now the directo~ is wrong. I did that. I directed
1
t, I did it but
I was more doing than directing Ln that case.
Q. Director was not your title? A. No, no, it was just vocational secretary. I
Q. I was going to ask, when and why did they decide to hang the name
to Counseling, Pmfessional Counseling and Placerrent Ser&lce?
A. Well, that developed, placemnt and counseling am tpe two things that
you do. Now a commercial agency-and we had a lot of them beforehand,
hospital associations-they would employaperson just fof the job, now
without doing any counselhg whatever just because s a nurse. I
know of an incidence where, well, I myself, I didn't aply preparation
for school nursing except that one little week of ob ion. But I had
trained. I had a lot of experiences with children, had the special
post graduate courses in that, and so that is one
I was a mrrber of the First Christian Church and
Dr. Morrison--he becw a doctor after he ma~rie
Haynes knew
k
rrr: because she wa so~~wtpt of a nei
thap talked up the bwd, to he Bow of mucat
par$ fa neglected when it's s rictly /a financial
Well, the hospital associatio had ode. They
Chiaagp. I think it was the tional! headq
doctors, they got to how these hospTtal s
other so there wasn't mch attention paid
F 3
62. Who mde the decision to hange the name of the or ization?
A. Who made the change to whht? I

~nna ~~tt~~arl 188
Q. Who made the decision to include counseling in theiorganization's
name?
*
A. Well, that was done in the first placemnt service t t was established
for nurses, and that, in Illinois, was this Nurse Placeqt Service that
Mrs. Eldridge, Etta Eldridge held the position. That c q out of the calls
that they had (pause) for this or that type of nursing, $0 you get them to
.give you all their experience, and I liked nothing bette? to take a nurse
who was ready in her professional work, but who had beenia school t
or had been something else that was valuable as an asset / in their
work.
Q. Well, I am right in assuming that the Nurse Placement Service N@S the
sam orgmlzation as the Professional Counseling and Plaferrent Sedce?
I
A. No, itls not a separate orgmization but it's not m
title of the organization, it doesn't mntion the comse
taken for granted and that ' s wherein we are different th
agency. I foot them into the ones that go to t
for a nonhospital job, I think the hospital peop
to function in that unless they are prepared for, and i
prepayled, you tell them how they can becone prepared if
know. Thatls what, that was a good part of the pro
for that. They pay for the job they get and the s
they don't pay for the counseling, that's one reas
don't know how it is now--so mch difficulty in
It's because we're adding to our program. Well,
do it In connection with the kind of work you're
especially if they have a f'uture aim.
Q. Well, I was just quoting fYan your dossier.
A. Do you get it?
Q. Yes, well, that is what it was listed there as.
A. No, it could be . . .
Q. Fmfessioml CounselFng d Placemnt Service,
Assgciation. It '
T
s what was itten dem. That
A. :Well, that was the descrikion 04 the job wasn't it?
i :
9. I @nlt know.
4
A. well, that wasn't the tit e. md title was simp
Ser.Crice, but the counselfng
som3t3rrres they just siged %~ational secretary when
work$ and camying on correspopdence, but they @#-it
n w ~ a b state nurses' assoc
f
ation you have a nurse
with outatanding experience some phase of numb
has the preparation to be a 'rector of nursing se
nursing school. Now they are not the same. In a
done ; And the vocati
ge

Anna Tittm
are jobs of that kind. Many a hospital doesn't have a sqool of nursing.
The director of the wwd would, she must be a supervisor{ She may be
directing but her title is supervisor and unless it's an phase
of nurslng, something new or sorething very large and di
Q. How many black nurses did you have?
I
A. We had quite a few because there was a school of in Chicago
that trained them. I know that their names sorr~times
Q. Did you have any. problems? Was the= discrimination4 were there any
problems placing the black nurses?
A. Oh, yes, ah, yes. %t's too bad but that
d
happens. But you ask them,
though, the employer or you can give her name but you t say that she is
a negro or she's, give them som [indication] but they
training that mybe they graduated from an accredited
good one. Sorne of the state hospitals, they we new1
in psychiatry. Well, they have no trouble getting a p
at all and even work up, they become supervisors mybe
institution or elsewhere. 1 placed a nurse one time
her husband was a male nurse and I qt him a job too,
institution. In fact, that's happened right here in
was with either one of the other Chicago arranglnents. now, sometimes
they have a leaning for a particular atmosphere,ap
then, if you don't have a job listed with you there
them somthing or suggest somthing next door in
state. You just have to use your imagination a
Q. In the New Mexico case, b d New Mexico witten to yo
write to New Mexico?
A. Oh, I didn't write, no. If there's an employer,
opportunities all the time or mst of the t*, or
reported it yet and they do have something, maybe
havd a nmber of people doing
I
that s
oveP maybe Fn that or just an Mvl.
thaq they want and a special oms a
"We1;1, 1 have a job 'chat flts you,
so Qn,
Q. How did you hear about 3.n New Mexico
I
A. &ll, I just used that
f'mq them. Not S? Illinois
ku,m the Nurse Placement Se
the !five states, but it
Now *I dlonlt know, I
serqices or
. This ale J trained,
tried to develop the
executive portion too, as much as I could because she co-LLd be in charge
I
I
I
I
I :
I
i

~nna Tittmn i 190
4
when I have to be away or had to be away like on vacatio or, well,
suppose there was a sick leave or something of that sort I don't
remember ever having to stay out fmm work on account 1 iof that.
Q. You're speaking of the worn you trained to take yoq place in
Chicago?
A. Yes. She's the one that went to this, well, let's c
national headquarters for the state services. Now when
N.O.P.H.N., National Organization for Public Health Nws g, doing ,
the vocational counseling and placement, why there wasn $: well, it I
wasn't a big overwhelming thing. Yet, it grew to be aft
with the social workers, and that was a delightrul exper
staff were so, you know, your kind of person. We would
together. I would often work at night. I got rrme done
go out and get my supper, and then I would @;o back and
eleven otclock mybe.
Q. Now we're jurrrping back to New York right?
I
A. Yes, New York and Chicago, just if they assm mre
can do in a day's time. I liked it. I get more done at
where I had the dictaphone, you see. I forgot about
started being interviewed by you.
(chuckle) Now,
Q. Well, you retired in 1949 and you told rre about goin
1
out to California
and then coming back to Springfield. What yew did you om back to
Springfield? I've forgotten.
I
A. 1951. I gaduated and I was through in October or 1. Actmlly
May was paid for because that was my vacation.
Q. I know you've been busy hare in Springfield since 'v@ been back.
Do you want to tell me somr; of the thhgs that you
A. Well, now in
niece. She had four
wheE I: wanted to be
pareion for taking
wenb and her husband
car&-& when am I
That was just Mne.
Q. We're bring you back to
A. Yes, well it was not unti 1958 that I was urged to
claw at the YWCA. I had not anp nursing at all
any pursing except a little b md there with a
field really,
havq left the actual bedside
A f@u mrrher I would take uare of them, but

Anna Tittm
things of that kind needing m. But my function with the
of the YWCA of Springfield, in a little while, I discover
somthing ought to be done about the name tags. Instead
the mmbers of the class come in and scratch through a bi
tags to find their tag, I said, "Why canlt we have two ca
spread them out alphabetically?" And that s what started
that for, I can't tell you, I thhk I was about in ng sec
attending and that was 1945, let's see, not 1945, 1955 I
that I, oh . . . I think it was 1958 when I moved here.
Q. Oh, you were in California then for nine years?
A. No, I was here, in 1951 I cam. Now, when did I leav
xible class
1 that
e having
pile of
zd year in
nlnk, 1958
Q. You left in May in 1949, you left Chicago.
A. 1949, and then I was here in 1951. Tlaat gives me twc
there. Two winters, I think it was mybe a year and a ha
corn out; that way. It looks llke my neighbor was moving.
what I was saying.
years out
f if the dates
I don't !mow
Q. That you moved back to Sprlngfield in 1951.
A. Yes.
Q. You didn't join the bible class until 1958?
A. That's right, that's rigZlt because sister-ln-law,
deceased, Mrs. HaYry Tittm-she was Ger*t;rude Lnsley-s
person that she rode with, a teacher, I can't recall her
but they picked m up, they said they would pick r~ up i
I went. So I liked it and I always got a ride and if I
ride home, I was walking and I could walk. I liked
into being in charge of attendance records of it.
they cam in the mmhg. But the acclamation count
than the one that they wrote down on the* entrance.
little late and wanted to pick up a bible and get a c
forty-ef@t yestem at or
it's, been in the forties for
Q. J&~Wnacclamation
A. well, that ream3 "be, four," they
cow& as it goes down the
acclamation.
ask?: Well, then it a rep& for
and I ad that.
Of course, som
believe it begins after, well, we have got one w m t
good deal and takes up the teacher's tlm, but it .
come~l out alright. We have a wonderw teacher,
had but this one puts a great deal of tW in he
in @tthew now. We 've studied all the other prophet
I
I

Anna Tittm 1 192
I
r
been with us two years now, a Mrs. Duncan, She's woj?th h ing and
listening to but she has a discussion. It's good, the on thing that
bothers m, and I have a little loss of hearing, I can hev the teacher
always because I sit on the mnt seat near her, but they don't hear,=
when I give an answer or a question and I can't hear them
k
'I"ney jusb
talk down and they should get up and talk straight ahead d loud but
we miss so much of the discussion because a person way o r here in this
big room and one way over here. Then they talk, when the$'??@ looklng
down like this, their voice goes down, it doesn't go Out., That is one
thing that I think. Then as they lea=, they must drop t eir cards down
and if you know where to put it, okay, try to put it in i s place or near
the place, but don't hesitate to put it down anywhere you1 want. We
arrange them alphabetically before we put them away.
I
P
Q. As we conclude our oral ;Interview, do you want to exp ain how you
got into this project?
A. Yes. Ply sister-in-law, Gertrude . . .
Q. No, I mean into the oral bterview, the history f
doing.
A. Oh, well, I inquired and I was told that it was t
Fitz had recomnded me for it. She happened to lanow
ground that I had and experience and she was interest
to talk to her class in the evening and I begged off
Well, I don't know anyhow I didn't do it. I thought
far away fPom public speaking, although I had done a
rrake rq voice in a big hotel room, ballroom, (chuckle
speaker. Of course I can't now and couldn't then. E
said to her, 'Ww you see what you got m Into. " (ch
wonderful for me to be associated with so mmy fine w
the same purpose of list
teacher and h
the bible. The social
or picn-tcs or sore
we , . . I think
because there ne
we've seen ttat the inside
and is attracti
Wt tlm we
!
I
/ue have been
WCA ma kha,t Mrs.
le of the bdck-
She wanted me
use I really . . .
s kind of too
of it. I could
thout a loudrs.
Fitz, I
e) But it was
altogether with
ng you interpret
't, have parties
db, 1 guess, but
its hardships to0
o do, but recently
there is fortyeight womn t
the* own f'riends that they
, those who have
old as I am. I
haw been a mmber the longedt of any rmrber in the c
shcqdd run across sowbody ' s record of the living one
how^.
shaws up that I
h. But if they
would lose rry