USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > New London > Mirror to America : a history of New London, New Hampshire, 1900-1950 > Part 12
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34Neighborhood Exchange, February 18, 1950. Legal aspects of the placement of poles along New London's streets are indicated in T. C. Records, Vol. 6, p. 560; Vol. 7, p. 540.
35F. J-T., June 3, 1909. For a short time he was assisted by Tom Rod- man, but by the end of the first year the latter withdrew from the business. Almost simultaneously with the establishment of the bakery there was talk of a soft-drink bottling plant in Elkins; but nothing came of this project.
36Newport Guardian and Kearsarge-Sunapee Sun, August 25, 1949. 37F. J-T., June 16, 1921.
38 Among the women who for longer or shorter periods ran tea rooms, sandwich shops, and delicatessens, were Mrs. Wesley Woodward, Mrs. Vinita Gay, Mrs. Arthur Newell, and Mrs. Elise Wolfe.
39The cutting of ice and its storage in icehouses for summer use was an important winter-time activity in New London over much of the period after 1900. By 1950, however, artificial refrigeration had greatly reduced the demand for natural ice, and in that year Paul B. Gay was the chief "ice harvester" in Town.
40F. J-T., April 12, 1928.
41There had been a dress shop in the basement of the New London Inn as early as 1930; F. J-T., July 10, 1930.
42F. J-T., September 7, 1933. In the early 1940's Matthew Kristl estab- lished a similar enterprise in his home.
43Among her pupils who subsequently achieved professional distinc- tion in music were Mildred Messer, Alice Todd, and Bernard Williams.
44As an evidence of the way New London grew in the 20th century, consider one fact. In 1924 Fred A. Pressey bought a farm bisected by upper Main Street, and on it built the house which was the building known as the "Nurses' Home" of the New London Hospital in 1950. In the twenty- six years between 1924 and 1950 twenty-eight houses were built upon the lots into which this farm had been subdivided. Data from Fred A. Pressey to writer, April 7, 1950.
45F. J-T., August 20, 1908. As these lines were being written, Kirk Keath announced the opening of a store in New London with a complete line of plumber's supplies; Neighborhood Exchange, June 12, 1950.
46Complete occupational listings for New London are given in Con- cord City and Merrimack 'County, N. H., Directory, 1902-03, Boston, 1903, pp. 560-565; and in New Hampshire Register, 1949, Portland, Maine, 1949, pp. 374-375. At the beginning of the century New London had a garter factory for bow-legged men, run by J. B. Koehne; while Stephen J. Dean in his shop on Pleasant Street made superb violins; Neighborhood Ex- change, August 12, 1950, pp. 2, 10. In 1950 Carl Holman and Graham Combie formed the New London Artesian Well Company.
47Morris L. Ernst, The First Freedom, New York, 1946, pp. 279, 291.
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A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
48Copies of this short-lived publication are rare in the present era. Miss Emma Stanley kindly loaned the writer several issues of the year, 1872-1873.
49 Ira S. Littlefield generously placed at the writer's disposal his com- plete file of Summer Rest.
50Rowe, First Century, pp. 152, 258, etc.
31From 1937 to 1940 inclusive J. Duane Squires served the several pub- lishers as chief editorial writer. The New Hampshire State Library in Con- cord has a complete file of The Speaker, save for Volume 6.
52"Your Winter Vacation," Echoes of the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Region, February, 1940, p. 4.
53Town and Country, January 13, 1912, included a picture of a snow- shoe and ski party, ". . . setting off across the New Hampshire hills." See also Fred H. Harris, "Skiing over the New Hampshire Hills," National Geographic, February, 1920.
54"The Snow Trains," Echoes of the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Region, November, 1940, p. 3.
55The Speaker, February 15, 1939, was entitled "Colbytown Carnival Number."
56Ibid., March, 1939.
57During the 1940's the Selectmen reserved Spring Street for sliding by the children, omitting sanding operations thereon, and posting warning signs for motorists.
58 The Speaker, December, 1938
59Manchester Morning Union, November 18, 1947; January 5, 1948. In November, 1950, the New London Outing Club renamed its skiing project the "New London Ski Slope."
60 How large a business skiing had become by 1950 may be inferred from the winter record of the Mt. Sunapee Chair Lift for 1949-1950. Be- tween February 16 and March 26 of that season 39,000 persons were lifted on the chair lift, and 99,000 on the rope tows; Manchester Morning Union, April 5, 1950.
7
Medical Care and Health
"People in smaller communities learn to do a lot for them- selves. They are resourceful, and they also have learned how to get along with the people around them. . . The Nation has always drawn good stock from its small communities and the country- side. Their human inventory is first-rate."
- Major General Philip B. Fleming
1. New London's Doctors Through Half a Century
The last fifty years in the fields of medicine and public health comprise the most notable half century in their history. New means of diagnosis - by X-ray, by electrical machines, and by laboratory tests - have been combined with wonderful developments in surgery, anaesthesia, and drugs. Among the later are the sulfanilamides and the antibiotics (penicillin, streptomycin, and others). Maternity and child care programs have revolutionized former practices. The shift in emphasis from curative to preventive techniques has been of great im- portance. A doctor in 1950 had weapons at his command in the unending fight against disease and illness which even the most enlightened practitioner of a half century ago would not have considered possible. All these changes and developments have been just as manifest in New London as elsewhere.
It is only fair to note, however, that New London has always had a progressive approach to problems of health and
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A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
medical care. Partly this is because the Town has been fortu- nate over the years since its incorporation in the caliber of the doctors who have practiced within its bounds.1 Partly it is because its natural location has helped to maintain a high level of health.2 What Nature began man has assisted. As early as 1897 New London voters decreed the establishment of a Board of Health, initial members of which were Dr. Charles A. Lamson, Dr. John D. Quackenbos, and W. C. Leonard.3 More than fifty years later the executive directors of the National Health Council declared that at least a third of the popula- tion of the United States still lacked adequate local health supervision.4
Physicians who lived and practiced in New London since 1900 included Dr. Charles A. Lamson, Dr. Guy H. Gardner, Dr. Anna M. Littlefield, Dr. Nathan L. Griffin, Dr. William P. Clough, Sr., Dr. John L. Norris, Dr. Oliver S. Hayward, and Dr. William P. Clough, Jr.5 In addition to the services of these able and devoted physicians and surgeons, New London people have drawn freely upon the medical skills of practi- tioners in nearby cities and towns, and from the ranks of the summer residents. In the early 1900's the Town was visited two days a week by a dentist from Franklin;6 a similar arrangement obtained in the 1930's. Beginning shortly after the end of World War II, Dr. Joseph M. Clough came regular- ly to town, thus making available the services of an eye specialist.7 New London's doctors, in connection with their work at the local hospital, formally organized a medical staff in the autumn of 1941, with periodic meetings and study projects. Their professional work since 1918 has been in- separably associated with the rise and development of the New London Hospital, and to that institution's growth it is now proper to turn.8
2. The New London Hospital and Nursing Association
Prior to 1918 New London residents had either to go out of Town for hospitalization and major surgery, or else under- go these activities in improvised arrangements at home. All
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NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900-1950
honor to the patients who had operations on kitchen tables or in inadequate quarters, and all honor to the skillful doctors who succeeded with their delicate tasks in such extemporized circumstances. But in the years of World War I a desire for more modern facilities arose in the minds of New London's most active citizens. In 1916 the Town and its neighbors, Springfield and Sunapee, formed the Association for Com- munity Nursing. Mrs. Hope P. Stryker, R. N. was selected as its first visiting nurse. For several years Mrs. Stryker drove over all kinds of roads to bring her knowledge and ministra- tions to the people, and her services were gratefully recalled by many in 1950.9
Early in 1918 the New London Nursing Association was organized, largely through the efforts of Mrs. Emma L. Colby, Mrs. Eliza B. Robbins, and Mrs. Florence Griffin. Mrs. Jane A. Tracy owned the old "Morgan house" at the Four Corners in New London - in 1950 the Tracy Memorial Building -, and offered the use of this building for the proposed hospital. That summer visiting committees collected furnishings throughout the Town; these donations initiated the new en- terprise. On October 1, 1918 it opened to the public. There were four regular beds, an operating room, and a nursing staff that contained one member, Mrs. Viola Caldwell Hughes, R.N. She and her immediate successors were on duty twenty-four hours a day, serving as head nurse, day nurse, night nurse, housekeeper, cook, janitor, and - in spare time! - doing home nursing within the Town. Following Mrs. Hughes, Miss Louise Hartshorn, R. N., Miss Lura Knowlton, R. N., and Miss Edith P. Graham, R. N., served for varying tenures in the arduous position. Slowly conditions improved, and by the early twenties the hospital staff was enlarged.
In 1919 further steps toward establishing the hospital were taken. That March at Town Meeting the voters gave $500 of public funds as a grant-in-aid to the hospital. The next year, 1920, the appropriation was raised to $1,000, at which it remained until the meeting of 1924. Then it was increased to $1,900, and from that year onward it rose until
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A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
in the late 1940's and in 1950 it was $3,300 annually.1ยบ On April 19, 1919, the New London Nursing Association pre- pared by-laws for a permanent organization; the first officers were named on September 5; and on September 25, 1919, the New London Hospital and Nursing Association - note the full legal name - was incorporated. The officers and directors in the charter were:11
Hon. President:
The Rev. Ira M. Baird
President:
Mrs. Jane A. Tracy
Vice-president: Fred A. Pressey
Treasurer:
Mrs. Emma L. Colby
Directors:
Dr. Nathan L. Griffin
Mrs. Eliza B. Robbins
Mrs. Nellie F. Stimson
Mrs. Lura N. Stanley
Mrs. Maude H. Shepard
Mrs. Mary B. Macomber
John D. Pingree
When the New London Hospital and Nursing Associa- tion early in 1923 learned that the "Morgan house" must be vacated in the autumn, it became obvious that other quarters were needed for the Hospital. The first thought was to secure and remodel some existing building in Town. But no suitable structure could be found. At this juncture Fred A. Pressey came forward with the offer of a gift of land on Main Street, large enough for a new hospital building.12 His generous proffer was accepted by the Board, and two committees were organized, one for finance, the other for building. By early summer enough money was at hand so that Contractor Reverdy F. Smith could go to work on the new structure. On November 5, 1923 it was ready to welcome 116 visitors on "Opening Day." Mrs. Evelyn Godfrew Patten, R. N. was the first head nurse in the new building and Miss Sally Waite, R. N., the first night nurse. It cost about $14,000, and was a great improvement over the improvised quarters hitherto used. By dedication day on November 23, 1923, the first patients had already been received. Mrs. Tony Russell of Georges Mills was admitted on November 6; and on Novem- ber 17 the first babies, twin grandchildren of Dr. Charles A. Lamson, were born.13 Its initial staff included three nurses, a
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NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900-1950
housekeeper, and a janitor. Its facilities were twelve beds, four private rooms, an operating room, X-ray apparatus, laundry, and steam heat.
The history of the New London Hospital henceforth is one of steady and heartwarming growth. A succession of de- voted officers and directors, assisted by loyal support from many others, aided the institution to develop. Presidents of the Hospital over the years were:
NAME
TENURE IN OFFICE
Mrs. Jane A. Tracy
1919-1920
Dura P. Crockett
1921-1922
James K. Romeyn
1923
Fred A. Todd
1924
Victor Smith
1925-1927
Mrs. Lura K. Butler
1928
James E. Shepard II
1929-1930
Gilbert N. Wiggins
1931-1932
Walter T. Moreland
1933-1940
Herbert D. Swift
1940-1943
J. Duane Squires
1943-1948
Grafton B. Perkins
1948-1949
M. Roy London
1950-
In 1936 the building was enlarged to permit the installing of a delivery room, a nursery, a dark room, and an elevator shaft.14 In 1944 new X-ray equipment was procured. In May, 1945 the Nurses Home was acquired. In 1949 an automatic sprink- ler system was installed. By mid-century earnest thought was being given by the Board and Hospital Staff to more extensive improvements, perhaps even a new building.15
Over the years, and quite aside from the improvement of buildings and equipment, there have been other significant developments at the New London Hospital. There has been a succession of fine nurses and administrators. Among the latter, in addition to those previously noted, were Eleanor I. Godfrey, Amanda D. Hill, Mrs. C. J. Long, Della V. Carr, Nellie G. Crozier, Fay L. Heath, Ellen H. Boyle, V. Geraldine Crowell,
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A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
Lillian A. Foster, Bessie M. Ward, and Amelia J. McLeod, all registered nurses. The last-named came in January, 1944, and to date has had the longest tenure in the history of the Hospital. In token of the general esteem in which she was held, Miss McLeod in 1945 was given the title of Superin- tendent. The business of the Hospital came to be too involved for the head nurse to have to carry in addition to her other duties, and early in the 1940's an administrative specialist in this field was added to the staff. Among those who have ren- dered invaluable service in this position were Mrs. Almina Barton Smith and Mrs. Rachel Sargent, the latter being the incumbent in 1950. In 1944, for the first time the New London Hospital was audited by a professional firm. The practice has continued since that time. The 1949 audit disclosed assets of $79,000, including endowment funds of $30,000, and a twelve-month business of almost $84,000.
Increasingly since the new building was erected in 1923 the Hospital has been benefited by relationships with other groups. For example, Colby Junior College has made many generous gifts for the purchase of needed equipment, has sent hundreds of ailing students to the Hospital, and has regularly in recent years made an annual gift toward current expenses. College interest, both student and faculty, since 1942 has helped to provide the "Barbara Jane Baker Memorial Lab- oratory," a finely equipped room for the laboratory technician. Likewise, as the years have passed, neighboring towns have increasingly sensed that the New London Hospital is really a regional institution, and have been steadily more willing to give it their own fiscal support. At the March town meetings of 1950, for example Andover, Bradford, Newbury, Spring- field, Sutton, and Wilmot all made appropriations from their town funds to aid the Hospital.
It has previously been remarked that in the autumn of 1941 the local doctors organized a professional medical staff with a constitution, regular meetings, and consultative services from the Dartmouth Medical School. From the latter institu- tion Dr. Ralph Miller served as pathologist. In 1945 Dr.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900-1950
Alfred G. Sears, hitherto a summer resident, settled per- manently in New London, adding his skill with anaesthesia to the other services of the medical staff at the Hospital. Dr. Francis Nolin of Claremont joined the staff as X-ray specialist. Both nursing and medical staffs were alert to the importance of attendance at professional meetings, and the latest tech- niques in diagnosis and treatment were available at the New London Hospital.16 Those who knew the institution consid- ered its establishment and record one of the outstanding com- munity achievements since 1900.
3. The New London Hospital Aid, the Summer Resi- dents Committee, and Hospital Days
No understanding of the New London Hospital could possibly be complete without a realization of the remarkable work of the so-called "New London Hospital Aid Association." In 1925 three former head nurses of the Hospital, - Mrs. Louise Hartshorn Shepard, Mrs. Lura K. Butler, and Mrs. Edith Graham Gordon -, in association with Mrs. Dorothy C. Crockett held a series of food sales in Pressey's store to raise money. Funds thus secured were to be expended for the maintenance of linens at the Hospital. That year about $100 was obtained for this purpose. In 1926 the four women took steps to enlarge their organization. Since then the New London Hospital Aid has played an indispensable role in the history of the local institution. Proposing to ". .. maintain the hospital supply of linen, assist in paying off the debt, and in general serve as its name indicates," the Aid has worthily carried out its purpose.17
By rummage sales, renting of pillows at movies and theater performances, and in many other ingenious ways, the Hospital Aid has maintained the supplies of linen, furnished a good deal of new equipment to the Hospital and Nurses Home, and made large contributions to reduce the mortgage debt of the institution. In April, 1939, at an impressive cere- mony, presided over by Mrs. Marion K. Lindsey, the original mortgage of $6,000 on the building of 1923 was burned. The
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A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
Hospital Aid had paid it all. In January, 1946, at a similar program, presided over by Mrs. Sara Williams, a mortgage of $6,000 on the Hospital addition of 1936 was likewise burned. In 1950 the Aid was making progress on reducing another mortgage incurred in 1945 when the Nurses Home was pur- chased.18 Without the assistance of the Hospital Aid, it is difficult to see how the New London Hospital could have sur- vived the years since its establishment.
Another vital support for the local institution has been the Summer Residents Committee. Formed originally in 1937 during the Hospital presidency of Walter T. Moreland, this committee has attracted the interest and support of many fine people who visit New London and vicinity in the summer time. Long under the chairmanship of Mrs. Bradley Dewey of Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Summer Residents Committee not only secures funds, but gives to the New London Hospital the counsel and active friendship of many outstanding busi- ness and professional men and women. In the thirteen years between 1937 and 1950 over $20,000 was raised under the auspices of the summer group. With these funds fine modern equipment was purchased and numerous improvements made in the local hospital. To catalogue all such additions would be an overly detailed task. Suffice it to say, however, that without these splendid gifts the Hospital could not have been maintained as a first-class institution. Confronted by the rising costs of materials and help, the New London Hospital, like all other establishments, has found it impossible to live on its earnings. It is only by the additional help and support from its friends, local and summer alike, that the Hospital has been able to remain in existence.19
A summary of the work of the friends of the local institu- tion must also include mention of "Hospital Day." Begun originally in August, 1924 as "Tag Day," an occasion on which tags were sold to all who would buy, by 1927 it had be- come an important event on the summer calendar. "Hospital Day" expanded over the years until by 1950 it was one of the major financial props of the institution. In the beginning,
THE DOCTOR SO YEAR
AGO
COLBY
HOSPITAL DAY in 1950
Parade Marshals A "Kidder Car"; Ford Model 1910 The Old Concord Stage
Political Leaders in Review Comedy Float, featuring Dr. W. P. Clough, Sr. The Color Guard
H
VACATION, RELAXATION, COMMEMORATION
Water Skiing on Pleasant Lake Camp Kearsarge, Pleasant Lake Town Bathing Beach, Little Lake Sunapee
Motor Launch on Lake Sunapee Canoeing on Pleasant Lake Scytheville Park in Elkins
TWO WAYS OF DISTRIBUTING IDEAS A Scene from the Sesquicentennial Pageant, 1929 Mailboxes at Otterville, 1950
SUMMER and WINTER SCENES On the Lake Sunapee Country Club: the 15th Hole The New London Hospital in Winter Time
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NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900 - 1950
"Tag Day" raised a few hundred dollars, but by post-World War II years it netted annually $5,000-$6,000. The Hospital Days in August, 1948 and 1949, for example, were under the leadership of Thomas E. Wistar, Jr., and were striking illustra- tions of Town and inter-town cooperation and enthusiasm. Booths selling home-made products of all kinds, an impressive parade, fireworks, band concert, supper, and dance, to say nothing of tags and other familiar devices for raising money, attracted upwards of 5,000 people to Town. Local citizens thrilled to the accomplishment and visitors marvelled at the demonstration of historic New England community solidarity in good causes.20
4. Other Health Activities in Town
The relationship of the public schools to public health has long been apparent to Americans. Even before 1900, for example, New Hampshire had a statute requiring evidence of vaccination for admission to school. In the decades since, the inter-relationships of school and health were explored in- tensively throughout the nation, and certainly in New London.21 In 1921 New London's doctors gave a free medical examination to all pupils in the local schools, and in later years this practice has been often repeated. In 1925 the Town, in conjunction with six neighboring communities, first re- tained the services of a school nurse. Named to the position was Della V. Carr, R. N. She held this arduous post during 1925-1926, making her first report in the latter year.22 In 1927 she was succeeded by Margaret O'Hara, R. N., who continued as school nurse until the autumn of 1929. In that year Miss Carr, who in August became Mrs. Stanley A. Spiller, resumed her duties as school nurse. This time she served only New London. She held the position until 1939, when she was suc- ceeded by Mrs. Irene Dean, R. N. Following the latter's un- timely death in 1942, Mrs. Spiller took over the work again, and was still serving in 1950.
Among the important projects promoted by the school nurses in the last quarter century have been: injections of
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A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON
anti-toxin for diphtheria, (1930); cod liver oil distribution for those needing it, (1934); a tonsil-adenoid clinic, (1937); tuber- culosis skin testing, (beginning in 1939); a well furnished health office in the new central school, (starting in 1942), equipped with a dental chair, an audiometer, vision testing apparatus, scales, and first-aid facilities; dental clinics since 1925, with fluorine treatment in recent years; chest X-rays for athletes since 1948; eye clinics since 1948; and many immuniza- tion and child welfare activities supported by the American Legion and the Legion Auxiliary in the years after World War II. In all these endeavors the school nurses have had the active support of community organizations, including in ad- dition to those just mentioned, the Woman's Club, and several of the fraternal groups.23
The national movement known as Blue Cross was in- corporated in New Hampshire in May, 1942. Owing to the energetic effort and interest of the New London Hospital Aid, New London played a significant part in the development of the Blue Cross in the Granite State. The New London Hospi- tal signed a Blue Cross contract on March 18, 1943. Even more noteworthy, however, was the community relationship there- to:24
"The original Blue Cross group in New London was effective on November 1, 1943, with 146 application cards. This was the first community group in the state, and one of the first such enrollments in the nation. Mrs. C. Vance Allyn was the chair- man. . . "
When Blue Shield was organized in New Hampshire some years later, New London people were among the early en- rollees in the ne wservice. By 1950 the total number of parti- cipants from New Hampshire and Vermont in Blue Cross and in Blue Shield respectively had exceeded 250,000 and 200,000.25
As with these important health adjuncts, so was New London's connection with many similar endeavors. When the Franklin Chapter, American Red Cross, organized a New London branch in 1917, the Town began a continuing interest in this great organization. More will be said of it in the chap-
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NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900-1950
ter on New London's part in the two World Wars. The Town loyally supported such annual campaigns as the "Christmas seal" drive - for many years headed in New London by Mrs. Paul B. Gay -; the cancer campaign - for whose local leader- ship Mrs. Merle C. Gay received a ten-year certificate in February, 1950; the crippled children seals on sale each Easter time; the "March of Dimes" effort each January; and other like projects. Rarely did the Town ever fail to meet its quota in such public health programs; usually it oversub- scribed its allotment.26
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