When I published Open Window: The Lake Julia TB Sanatorium on World TB Day, March 24, I got back in touch with some friends I’d lost track of. I reconnected with one of those friends July 3 when Charles (Chuck) Hill called me to congratulate me on my book. His family moved to Puposky the…
Photo: Shutterstock Tuberculosis was once the leading cause of death in the United States. It may have been around 3 million years; it still kills people today. TB can infect people of all ages, as it did Art Holmstrom. He was a 17-year-old valedictorian-hopeful (Section 5 of Open Window.) My father, too, may have had…
Mary Madison Chapman Photo: James Ghostley collection Mary Madison Chapman was a tenacious young lady who did what she believed in without being influenced by the opinions of others. She decided to go to medical school at a time when some called her a witch for seeking “a man’s occupation.” She didn’t care, she…
San employees: Front row: Myrtle Webster; my mother, Ella Hedglin; my father, Lee Hedglin Back row: Wanda Rice, Emily Stanek, Violet Allen, Adolf Becker Photo: Ella Hedglin collection The San was 13 miles from Bemidji, and in its early years, most who worked there could not afford to go to the “big city” often. They…
Photo: Bemidji Boys’ Band entertains the patients. James Ghostley collection The Lake Julia TB Sanatorium, located near Puposky, Minnesota, operated from 1916 through 1952, serving patients in the area who had tuberculosis. At first, female employees lived in the Sanatorium, but later, a nurses’ home was built next door to house them. That meant the…
Dr Mary performs pneumothorax treatment on patient Betty Taardiff with assistance from Nurse Broomfield. Photo: James Ghostley collection Treatment for tuberculosis was difficult for both patients and employees in the early days of sanatoriums when it was thought that the cure was cold, fresh air. That’s what made Northern Minnesota seem so perfect for…