Anna Louise Tittman Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

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.
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