Anna Louise Tittman Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

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