Wilmette Public Library Local History Digital Collection

Elizabeth Fitch (1899-1986) oral history

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Track 1: Track 1
Transcription: TRACK 1 Elizabeth Fitch p. 1 RA: What is your name? EF: Elizabeth Fitch. RA: And where do you live? EF: Right here. RA: And what is here? What's the address? EF: 1033 Elmwood Avenue. RA: Oh, yes. EF: And originally this was North Avenue. RA: Yes, you're right. This was North Avenue and it was unpaved. EF: Oh, mud. Mud. And we had a mud basement, too -- just a dry, of course. RA: Oh, yes. EF: But that has been cemented and then I had -- oh, some insulation put in the ceiling. I thought it would make the floors warmer, but it didn't. RA: Didn't it? EF: No. RA: Well, your floors seem very warm and they're all hard wood, are they? EF: Um -- well, they're an oak. RA: Yes. EF: They are with the rugs here. RA: Yes. EF: But the kitchen is not warm and the breakfast porch in Elizabeth Fitch, cont.2 back. RA: I see. Is there a basement under those? EF: Yes, a full basement. RA: Oh, yes. EF: And a gas heater. RA: Oh, yes. EF: Gas and electricity. We had oil lamps when we came and the telephone has just been put in and it was one of those long things in the kitchen. RA: That you had to ring? EF: Yes. RA: With a handle? EF: Yes. RA: With the handle that you rang for the number you wanted? EF: Yes. RA: Was there an operator at that time. EF: Oh, yes. RA: ....that you had to go through or did you.. EF: No, not at first. Then we added back stairs and that went up into the closet for that back bedroom. RA: I see. EF: And then this was open that porch and we had that enclosed and a toilet put in with a shower. RA: Oh, yes. EF: And then there was a bulkhead in back and that was all Elizabeth Fitch, cont. 3 enclosed in back stairs. Then there was a doorway and steps down to the basement here and we closed that. RA: Off the dining room? EF: Yes. RA: Tell me.... EF: One, two, three, four. RA: You mentioned a bulkhead. What was under that bulkhead? Was it a cistern? EF: No. RA: With rain water? EF: No. There were steps down to the basement. RA: Oh, I see. I see. From an outside -- you had an outside entrance to the basement? EF: Yes. It's like the neighbors over there.... RA: Yes. EF: ....that have that bulkhead. RA: Yes. Some houses still do have them. EF: Um hum. RA: But those were prior to the 1900's usually or right around the turn of the century. EF: Now I don't really know -- this house was built around 1888 or something like that. RA: I see. So it's almost a hundred years old. EF: Yes. And it was originally a farmhouse. RA: I see. Whose farm? Elizabeth Fitch, cont. 4 EF: Well, we bought it from the Dunchee's. RA: Dingee's? EF: No. Dunchee. RA: Dunchee? EF: Studs Dunchee. RA: Oh, that's a different name than I've heard. D U N C H E? EF: Double E, I think. RA: Oh, yes. EF: Esther Dunshee was very active.... RA: Oh, Dunshee. That's.... EF: Yes. RA: Esther I knew. EF: And when this - part of this house had Esther's room. That was this room right here. RA: I see. For goodness sakes. That's very interesting.
Creators: Fitch, Elizabeth, 1899-1986, Interviewer; Adler, Rhea Saul, 1906-1900
, Interviewer
Media Type: Audio; Image; Text
Item Type: Audiocassettes
Description: Interview with Elizabeth Fitch by Rhea Adler in Wilmette, Illinois, in 1984.

ABSTRACT:

Early history of both parental backgrounds prior to
Wilmette in 1906

Childhood and schooling in Wilmette, New Trier, Wellesley and nursing degree at Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D.C.

Summer spent in Labrador and Newfoundland with Grenfell Expedition at the same time Drs. Frederick and Katherine Brooks Merrifield were there (before their marriage)

Years spent in D.C. until sent to Austria in 1955 as Chief of Hospitals in various European areas

Return to U.S.A. and D.C. until retirement from Army Nurses Corps and Wilmette

Has continued to travel widely
Place of Publication: Wilmette, Illinois
Date of Original: 1984
Subject(s): Oral histories
Wilmette (Ill.) -- Residents
Personal Name(s): Fitch, Elizabeth
Local identifier: R 977.31 FI
Language of Item: English
Copyright Statement: Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Copyright Holder: Wilmette Public Library
Copyright Holder Contact Information: 1242 Wilmette Ave.
Wilmette, Il 60091
U.S.A.
Recommended Citation: Fitch, Elizabeth, and Rhea Saul Adler. Elizabeth Fitch. Wilmette, Ill: Wilmette Public Library District, 1984.
Contact: Wilmette Public Library
Email:refdesk@wilmettelibrary.info
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