Anna Louise Tittman Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

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?