Of corsets and bloomers

The archival search for Patient Number One, George S. Barrows goes on. Though we haven't learned a whole lot more about him, we have found some useful tidbits about Zam in general.

We have located Census records showing who worked there on a specific date in 1910, 1920 and 1930, as well as who the patients were in 1920. The Census records give a mini-bio of every person listed, including their age, birthplace, heritage and occupation. We know that sanatorium workers in 1930 paid $7 a month rent for their place in the boarding house.

Through Census and other records, we have identified an aunt with whom George Barrows lived for much of his life, including the year in which he was admitted to the sanatorium. We have tracked down the aunt's great grandchildren. Those would be George's cousins twice removed. Unfortunately, they all died in the last 10 years or so. Now, the hunt is on for their children, George's cousins thrice removed. In moments of utter delusion, I let myself fantasize that we will contact a relative who has photographs of George, along with his diaries from his years on the lake. Hey, isn't moviemaking all about dreams anyway?

One of the quirkier bits we have come across is an article that ran in all three of Providence's daily newspapers the week in 1905 that the sanatorium welcomed George Barrows as Patient Number One. Pictured above are the headlines from The Providence Journal. The article refers to Barrows, though not by name, and gives good details about where prospective patients were examined, how much it cost for treatment and what clothing patients were advised to bring with them. The last included the admonition for women to bring bloomers rather than corsets.

Unfortunately for us, George was admitted the same week as a big election and the attention of the newspapers was drawn to that, rather than to doing a detailed story about our man and his new home. We will keep scouring the microfilm to see whether the papers made up for their oversight in the weeks that followed.

-Paul Parker