Interview with Emily E. Saugman, March 9, 1979

Partial Transcript: This is an interview with Mrs. Emily Erdman Saugman for the Frontier Nursing Service Oral History Project by Dale Deaton...

Segment Synopsis: Emily Saugman is introduced. She talks about attending Crescent College in Eureka Springs, Arkansas where she met Mary Breckinridge, the wife of the college president Richard Thompson. She talks about being a student in Mary Breckinridge's French class.

Keywords: Child welfare; Crescent College; French classes; Invitations; Married; Mary Breckinridge; Richard Thompson

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; College presidents; College presidents' spouses; College students--Social conditions; College teachers.; College teaching.; Eureka Springs (Ark.); Universities and colleges--Faculty.

Partial Transcript: See, they were, they were married the second year I was there. And then after that she had two children.

Segment Synopsis: Saugman talks about Mary Breckinridge and Richard Thompson living at Crescent College. She talks about their wedding in Ontario, Canada around 1912. She talks about Breckinridge's family and talks about her father coming to visit her and her son at the college.

Keywords: Clifford Breckinridge Thompson ("Breckie"); Clifton Rodes Breckinridge; Doctors; Married; Mary Breckinridge; Ontario (Canada); Visiting

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Childbirth; Children; College facilities.; Families.

Partial Transcript: M--Mrs. Bretson, what did she teach at the school?

Segment Synopsis: Saugman describes some of the teachers and fellow students she remembers from her years at Crescent College.

Keywords: Crescent College; Richard Thompson; Secretary; Staff

Subjects: College presidents; College students--Social conditions; College teachers--Social conditions; Universities and colleges--Employees; Universities and colleges--Faculty.

Partial Transcript: Well, Mrs. B--while they--while she was there, she was I think, uh, a state representative for the National Organization of Public Health, uh, Nursing.

Segment Synopsis: Saugman talks about Mary Breckinridge teaching her young son Breckie about germs, and talks about Breckie's death despite Mary Breckinridge's caution about health and disease. She talks briefly about Breckinridge's first husband, Henry Ruffner Morrison.

Keywords: Clifton Breckinridge Thompson ("Breckie"); Death; General peritonitis; Germs; Henry Ruffner Morrison; Husbands; Illness; Mary Breckinridge; Pasteurization; Sickness; State Representative for the National Organization of Public Health

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Children; Diseases.

Partial Transcript: Well now, to, to where did you go after you left Crescent College?

Segment Synopsis: Saugman talks about her limited correspondence with Mary Breckinridge after graduating from Crescent College, and talks about seeing Breckinridge's picture in relation to the American Committee for Devastated France (CARD). She talks about Breckinridge's appearance and personality.

Keywords: American Committee for Devastated France (C.A.R.D.); Anne Morgan; Appearance; Cheboygan (Mich.); Contact; Correspondence; France; French classes; Hairstyles; Leaving; Mary Breckinridge; Personality

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Nursing

Partial Transcript: Did you e--(coughs)--did you talk with her any about her divorce from Mr. Thompson?

Segment Synopsis: Saugman says she did not speak with Mary Breckinridge much about her divorce from Richard Thompson. She talks about Thompson's life after the divorce, selling bottled water and becoming involved in the real estate business. She talks about his remarriage and talks about visiting him and his new wife.

Keywords: Bottled water; Chicago (Ill.); Crescent College; Eureka Springs (Ark.); Ozarka Water; Real estate; Remarried; Richard Thompson; Speaking engagements

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Divorce.; Families.

Partial Transcript: I remember I brought quite a bit of literature, yeah there was quite a bit about this Lake of the Ozarks...

Segment Synopsis: Saugman talks about the town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas and some of the other people who moved there, including dancer Irene Castle.

Keywords: Animal shelters; Chicago Tribune; Dancers; Irene Castle; Newspaper articles

Subjects: Eureka Springs (Ark.)

Partial Transcript: Well--(coughs)--when you stopped and, and talked to Mr. Thompson that time and he was married to his third wife, do you, do you know if she was from Eu--you know was--was she from Eureka Springs or, or someplace?

Segment Synopsis: Saugman talks more about Richard Thompson's two wives after his divorce from Mary Breckinridge. She talks about Breckinridge's family connections in Milwaukee. She talks more about Breckinridge's first husband, Henry Ruffner Morrison.

Keywords: Carson family; Cousins; Henry Ruffner Morrison; Husbands; Joe Carson; Marital problems; Mary Breckinridge; Milwaukee Committee; Wives

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Divorce.; Families.; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Genealogy

Partial Transcript: She was a wonderful speaker too.

Segment Synopsis: Saugman talks about hearing Mary Breckinridge speak in Cheboygan and Chicago. She talks about nurses, couriers, directors, and others associated with the FNS. She talks about a piano teacher at Crescent College.

Keywords: Cheboygan (Mich.); Chicago (Ill.); Couriers; Directors; Dr. Beasley; Horses; Lord and Lady Ramsbottom; Mary Breckinridge; Men; Nurses; Paid; Piano teachers; Presentations; Speaking engagements; Speeches; Talks; Teachers

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.

Partial Transcript: Was there an elevator in, in the, uh, Crescent College building?

Segment Synopsis: Saugman talks about the elevator at Crescent College, which the interviewer says Richard Thompson fell down. She talks about attending chapel every day while at Crescent College. She talks about Mary Breckinridge's religious beliefs.

Keywords: Chapel; Crescent College; Elevators; Episcopalian; Maids; Mary Breckinridge; Religious services; Richard Thompson; Spiritualism

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; College facilities.; College presidents; College presidents' spouses; College students--Religious life; College students--Social conditions; College teachers--Social conditions; Religion; Universities and colleges--Faculty.

Partial Transcript: But, uh, y, you said earlier that Mr. Thompson was, was kind of a womanizer.

Segment Synopsis: Saugman talks about Richard Thompson's reputation as a womanizer. She talks about how Thompson and Mary Breckinridge may have met, and talks about how Thompson may have come to be the State Highway Commissioner. She describes Thompson's appearance and personality.

Keywords: Affairs; Appearance; Brothers; Clifton Rodes Breckinridge; Governor Brough; Magazine articles; Personality; Photographs; Richard Thompson; State Highway Commissioner; Womanizer

Subjects: Breckinridge family; Families.

Partial Transcript: Do you know what she did--(coughs)--from the period of time, uh, after her, her son's death until she went to France?

Segment Synopsis: Saugman talks more about how Mary Breckinridge was affected by the death of her son. She describes Breckinridge and Thompson's apartment at Crescent College, as well as the difficulty of traveling to the school.

Keywords: Apartments; Clifford Breckenridge Thompson ("Breckie"); Crescent College; Death; Sons; Streets; Trains; Transportation

Subjects: College buildings.; College facilities.; College presidents; College presidents' spouses; College presidents--Dwellings; College students--Social conditions; College teachers--Social conditions; Rural conditions; Rural roads; Universities and colleges--Faculty.

Partial Transcript: Um, and her, her home, you know, is called Wendover.

Segment Synopsis: Saugman talks about the FNS headquarters at Wendover, and about Mary Breckinridge's love of animals. She talks about the activities of the Milwaukee Committee of the FNS. She talks about a photo of Mary Breckinridge that she donated to the FNS hospital, the film "The Forgotten Frontier," and other people involved with the FNS. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: "Forgotten Frontier"; "Rooster baby"; Animals; Betty Lester; Cheboygan (Mich.); Clifford Breckinridge Thompson ("Breckie"); Helen Browne ("Brownie"); Horses; Hospitals; Kate Ireland; Kentucky; Local people; Photographs; Sister Adeline; Supporters; Teachers; Trees

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Medical care--Appalachian Region; Nurses; Rural conditions; Rural roads; Wendover (Ky.)