Historic Saranac Lake will meet for the first time in the substantially renovated John Black Room of the Saranac Laboratory at 89 Church Street on October 23 at 7 p.m. The room was the gift of Mrs. Frank Black in memory of her son, John Baxter Black, who was treated for tuberculosis in Saranac Lake. Now HSL is bringing to life this elegant room, with its vaulted ceiling, fireplace and leaded windows. For almost ten years, HSL has been working to restore the Lab, which was donated to them in 1998.
Mary Hotaling, executive director of HSL, will describe the history of the building and tell the story of John Black himself. With this annual meeting, Historic Saranac Lake will be completing its 27th year. In addition to Hotaling’s presentation, the meeting will include a short business meeting with election of new board members, committee reports, and the executive director’s report. The general public is welcome to join members of Historic Saranac Lake for the meeting.
In September, the Adirondack Unitarian Universalist Community began using the John Black Room as a worship space two Sundays a month, and using two rooms on the upper floor for classrooms and an office. Kisco Systems, a computer technology firm, has been renting a suite on the second floor since 2002. In 2005, Historic Saranac Lake moved their office from the North Elba Town House to Dr. LeRoy Gardner’s old office on the laboratory floor. On the north side of the building, a very large, high-ceilinged space with white glazed walls, once the laboratory of Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, will become the heart of the new museum that HSL is creating.
The Saranac Laboratory has a long and distinguished history. The northern portion of the current building was built in 1894. For the next 60 years, this first laboratory in the United States devoted to tuberculosis was an active center for experimental research, for education, and for diagnostic services to area patients, doctors, hospitals and sanatoria. In 1928, the John Black Room, a one-story addition adjoining the main building on the south side, was built to serve as a library and lecture room. The John Black Room later was capped by a second story which provided additional rooms needed for experimentation on industrial dust inhalation.
After antibiotics radically changed the treatment of tuberculosis and Trudeau Sanatorium closed in 1954, Trudeau Institute was built on Lower Saranac Lake, and experiments underway at the Church Street building were moved to the new location. In 1966, the Saranac Laboratory building was given to Paul Smith’s College, which used it as a dormitory and classroom building. In 1988, the College built a new dormitory next door, and the Lab remained closed until it came under ownership of Historic Saranac Lake in 1998. Extensive restoration work has been done since that time, including basic systems of roof and plumbing. The Saranac Laboratory is the centerpiece of the Church Street Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Historic Saranac Lake has made major contributions to the preservation of local history and to the education of the public about the unique contribution of Saranac Lake in health history. An early undertaking was the detailed recording of approximately 170 historic properties, which were then listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the Laboratory, HSL manages the Bartok Cabin, where Bela Bartok, the famed Hungarian composer, spent the summer of 1945, composing his Third Piano Concerto and the Viola Concerto.
Other activities of Historic Saranac Lake include sponsoring speakers, giving tours, assisting researchers, and acquiring artifacts. HSL has published three books: “Saranac Lake – Pioneer Health Resort,” “Cure Cottages of Saranac Lake,” and Richard H. Ray’s “Saranac 1937-1940: A Memoir of ‘The Cure’ in the Adirondacks.” Two videos have also been produced: “This Was Heaven, Really” and “Unlocking the Wilderness.”