pages 1, 5
ca. 1962
Maine State Museum 2004.113.14
These excerpts come from a booklet that was distributed to tuberculosis (TB) patients while they received treatment. It was made in 1962, which is interesting because Maine’s TB sanatoriums were closing around this time.
In this story, a man named Jim Brown gets sick because he’s been working too hard without resting. Apart from health issues, this booklet talks about money problems that TB patients might face. Middle and lower-class families had a harder time paying for sanatorium treatment. A family might also not be able to survive several months without the sick person’s paycheck. Lots of people did end up leaving sanatoriums against their doctor’s orders because they were worried about money.
This booklet was published by the National Tuberculosis Association (now known as the American Lung Association), which was founded in 1904.
Source 2 - Image
Source 2 - Image
Hints for the Sick Room
ca. 1919
Maine State Museum 2004.113.3
This booklet cover shows a young woman seated by the bed of a child, handing the child a cup. The child is propped up on pillows and is tucked in with a doll and story book. The booklet seems to be made for mothers who often cared for their children when they got sick.
At this time, women had extra caregiving duties because of World War I. Many men were off fighting overseas as the pandemic raged at home, leaving women to care for the children.
At the time when this booklet was published, the country was dealing with an influenza pandemic. The 1918 flu pandemic was also called “The Spanish Flu.”
Source 3 - Artifact
Source 3 - Artifact
Crutch and leg brace
ca. 1928
Maine State Museum 2014.19.1, 2014.19.2
This crutch and leg brace were made for Alice Ella Damren, a Maine woman with polio who lived from 1924-2010. Alice was born in Mount Vernon, Maine. She was said to be the first baby to have contracted polio before being born. Because of her polio, Alice couldn’t walk as a child.
The crutches were made around 1928 by a person experiencing homelessness. He stopped by Alice’s family farm and the family shared their meals with him. Alice was about three. The visitor felt sorry for the little girl who couldn’t walk so he made her the crutches. Once she learned to use them, “she would really fly,” according to the family. They said that she could whack open the screen door with her crutches and be at the end of the walk before the door banged shut. She climbed trees and developed good upper body strength.
Although she had multiple operations at Shriners Hospital, Alice could never use her leg. Throughout her life, she needed to wear a special shoe with a tall sole and to use a thigh high leg brace with vinyl padding. The aluminum brace ran up the sides of the leg from the shoe to the thigh, hinged at the knee to allow bending. The brace is also hinged at the ankle. The date of this brace and shoe is unknown, but Alice used it as an adult.
Pandemic Primary Source Sets developed in collaboration between the Maine Historical Society, Maine State Archives, Maine State Library, and Maine State Museum.
