Anna Louise Tittman Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

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