In honor of Women's History Month, we want to highlight some women we have only learned about recently! Tarsilla Schuster is seated at left on the porch of a platform tent "Idle Rest," at the New York State Hospital at Ray Brook (AKA Ray Brook Sanatorium) c. 1914. The woman seated at right may be either C. or E. Rowley.
Tarsilla and her husband William were both patients at Ray Brook in the early 1900s and 1910s. The family's collection of photographs and letters has helped us learn more about Ray Brook Sanatorium in that time period, as well as shining light on the difficulties that the families of patients faced. [Historic Saranac Lake Collection, 2021.1.76. Courtesy of John Cromie.]
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March kicks off Women's History Month, so we're highlighting Stony Wold Sanatorium, which originally opened as a women-only facility. The facility offered care for women who did not have the means to pay for treatment for the disease. It was started by Elizabeth Newcomb on Lake Kushaqua in 1901, and at its peak in the 1930s it consisted of 20 buildings and a farm, and generated its own electricity. This photograph came from the album of Lillian Synoracki Wilczak, who cured at Stony Wold in the late 1920s.
Learn more on our wiki. [Historic Saranac Lake Collection. Courtesy of Karen Jaobs.] February is Black History Month, so we want to share the stories of some of the Black residents of Saranac Lake throughout the years! Sadie Hall (pictured at right, with Gisele Vicino) owned the Hall Cottage on Margaret Street with her husband Bill. It was possibly one of the cure cottages in Saranac Lake that catered only to Black patients. While Black patients could stay at some of the integrated sanatoria and cure cottages in the area, there were a handful of cure cottages open exclusively to Black health-seekers. The Halls were known for their elaborate meals, and the whole neighborhood was welcome at their table. Sadie died in Saranac Lake in 1966 after many years in the village.
[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, courtesy of Dawn Richardson.] Saturday is National Hug a Nurse Day, so who better to celebrate this Tuberculosis Thursday than the nurses who worked with TB patients in Saranac Lake! This photograph shows the 1931 graduating class of the nursing school at Trudeau Sanatorium.
The D. Ogden Mills Training School for Nurses started in 1912 to train former patients as nurses, with the idea that they would less susceptible to illness, and had an understanding of the experience of curing. Thank you to nurses past and present for all of your hard work! Learn more about the Training School on our wiki. [Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 582. Courtesy of Jan Dudones.] It's REALLY cold, so be sure to bundle up before you hang out with your friends outside! These unidentified tuberculosis patients are wearing fashionable fur coats, which were popular with patients because they spent most of their days out on cure porches, regardless of the weather. Socializing was an important part of keeping the patients' spirits up!
[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, 2021.6.16. Courtesy of Karen Lewis and Beth Glover.
The statue of Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau at Trudeau Sanatorium under a blanket of snow. This photograph was taken by Caroline Baisden while she was curing at the San in the 1930s. The Trudeau Statue was a popular gathering spot for patients; it was created by famed sculptor Gutzon Borglum. Today the statue can be found on the Trudeau Institute campus. Who else is hoping for big snow this weekend?
[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, 2020.10. Courtesy of Jan Dudones.] December is here, bringing snowy weather with it! This photograph of a Village snowplow tackling the snow along Moody Pond shows that some things never change. We don't know the date of this photograph - do you recognize anything about the style of this truck that might help us date the image?
[Historic Saranac Lake Collection.] We all have food on the brain this week, so whether your dining room is big enough to fit a crowd, like this one at the Hotel Ampersand, or just a table for one, we hope you have a safe, happy, and historic Thanksgiving! The Ampersand Hotel and Cottages, as it was more commonly known, opened in 1888 on Lower Saranac Lake. After a major fire in 1907, it operated as a series of cottages.
[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 300.] |
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