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\n<\/a><\/p>\n
Runn Dunn. Photos via the Humboldt Historian.<\/p>\n
Ruth, one of a family of six, always
\nloved children. She was among the first
\nclass to graduate from Highland Hospital in Oakland. A few years later, she
\nregistered in Los Angeles and was called as a private nurse to the Malibu
\nbeach house of George Olsen, a band
\nleader, and his wife, Ethel Shutta, a follies dancer, to care for their child. She
\nwas driven by their chauffeur when the
\nchild was scheduled to visit his pediatrician.<\/p>\n
Life at Malibu was colorful because
\nthe Olsens were involved in making the
\nmovie \u201cWhoopee,\u201d and Ruth\u2019s room was
\nnext door to that of houseguests Eddie
\nCantor, the star of the show, and his
\nwife Ida. She thought them both charming. Weekends she observed the movie
\ncrowds socializing from one house to the
\nnext along the beach. She preferred
\nplaying cards with the chauffeur and
\nhis wife.<\/p>\n
The child\u2019s pediatrician,
\nRothman, suggested Ruth learn physical therapy and teach posture at a private girls\u2019 school, a job that seemed far
\ntoo dull for Ruth. She did, however, go
\non to study physical therapy at Children\u2019s Hospital in Hollywood, received
\nher certificate, and was recommended
\nfor the position in Humboldt.<\/p>\n
The need for a therapist was dramatized by the polio epidemics of the late 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Those of us who were
\nchildren then recall summertime meant
\npolio season. Often the fear in the minds
\nof parents and children clouded the joyful, sunny days of summer vacation.
\nNewspapers with big, black headlines
\nand dramatic stories recorded the epidemics as they spread across the country. The Pathe Newsreels often showed
\nthe feeding of polio patients encased
\niron lungs with only their heads protruding. Every class in school had one or
\ntwo victims of the crippling disease to
\nremind us that the mysterious affliction
\ncould strike at home as well, and as soon
\nas a case was reported locally,
\nwas on the alert.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t get too tired \u2014 perhaps you
\nshouldn\u2019t go swimming,\u201d was often
\nheard, for one of the myths was that one
\ncaught it from swimming. Frequently
\nseveral in a family would succumb.
\nHumboldt County\u2019s polio patients, as
\nwell as children with other crippling
\ndiseases, awaited Ruth at the County
\nHospital. She checked in with Lantz
\nSmith, secretary of the Chamber of
\nCommerce, \u201c\u2026in the Eureka Inn where
\nthe bar is now located.\u201d He was also
\nchairman of the Crippled Childrens\u2019
\nDr. Philip Committee, comprised of active community leaders who were generously supporting the program for crippled children. Whenever a case was brought to
\nher, she had to clear it with Smith and
\nthe committee at the Eureka Inn. This
\nwas the Depression, and money was
\nscarce.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always came back to the office
\nsmelling like a cigar,\u201d she laughed.
\n\u201cWhenever they rejected a patient, I
\nwould have the parent take my report to
\nthem, and they would always accept my
\nrecommendation. They were concerned,
\nbig-hearted men.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Kiwanis Club was especially active in helping the program, and each
\nyear the committee and doctors took the
\nchildren, therapists and volunteers to
\nDr. Orris Myers\u2019 summer home near
\neveryone Miranda for an all-day picnic, an event
\nmany of the children remember as special indeed, for there was great camaraderie among them. They supported
\nand felt comfort for one another in their
\nfight to recover the use of their bodies.<\/p>\n
At physically handicapped childrens\u2019 outing held
Tony Costa describes this aspect vividly. Costa was a handsome nine-year-old with curly black hair when he contracted polio on Aug. 5, 1935. He recalls
Tony was placed in the isolation ward
When his fever subsided at the isolation ward, he could move a little. He was
Those years were filled with pain,
It was during his hospitalization that
Beyond the massage and exercise to
Although Ruth was a dedicated professional, she enjoyed a social life with
For several years Ruth, known as
She recalls the county building well:
Tony Costa remembers those trips.
Frank Machado was always cheerful,
\u201cI just loved all those children,\u201d she
A source of pride for Tony Costa, his
Ruth\u2019s career as a therapist continued, with two short breaks, until 1957.
Polio continued its course until 1955
\u201cToday,\u201d Ruth continued, \u201cwe have
Among her patients in the later years
Ruth has many happy memories of
Her patients were not always children. Ruth was called in to help adult
Ruth found children adapted to paralysis more readily than adults, for the
Today, at 86, Ruth enjoys her own
###<\/p>\n The story above was originally printed in the September-October 1992 issue of the\u00a0Humboldt Historian, a journal of the\u00a0Humboldt County Historical Society<\/a>. It is reprinted here with permission.\u00a0The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County\u2019s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year\u2019s worth of new issues of\u00a0The Humboldt Historian\u00a0at this link.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On November 1932, Ruth
Dunn, a pretty 26-year-old physical therapist, rode the Pickwick
Stages from Los Angeles to
…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-217057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nat \u201cMyers\u2019 Roost\u201d at Miranda. Pictured in this photo taken during July 1935 are, in the first row, left to right: Keith Alexander, William Yardas, Donald Young,
\nGeorge Elliott, Melba Carlson, Jim McGowan, Ben Lewis, Roby Reese, C.W. Patterson (standing with crutches); in the second
\nrow, left to right: Mayor Sweasey, Frank Machado, Lucy Wilkinson, Alma Hayes, Dorothy Fuller, Donald Sallady, Norman
\nFuller, Ruth Beck and Elsa Kuntze; and in the third row, left to right are William Smullin, Don Smith, Carl Gustafson and Dr.
\nLawrence Wing.<\/p>\n
\nhow a sharp pain ran up his spine at
\nfirst; the next day he had a high fever
\nand lost his ability to use his muscles. It
\nwas a week before a diagnosis was
\nmade, and a quarantine sign was posted
\non the front of his home. Dr. Lane Falk
\nwas his doctor, but when it was determined that he had polio, Tony was turned over to Dr. Charles Falk because he
\nhad no children. Doctors feared the disease too.<\/p>\n
\nbehind the TB School by the County
\nHospital on Harrison Avenue for three
\nweeks. During this time, no one was
\nallowed to visit him. His poor mother,
\ndevastated by the situation, collapsed.
\nHe is forever grateful to his cousin
\nMarie Cummins, who came every night
\nand stood outside until he fell asleep,
\nand later, with her husband Dave, visited him nightly when he was in the
\nhospital. His mother continued under
\nmedical care, and when he was released
\nfrom the hospital, he went to live with
\nDorlinda Rocha.<\/p>\n
\nthen taken to a private room at the main
\nhospital and later to the ward with the
\nother children, where he stayed for two
\nyears.<\/p>\n
\nboredom and loneliness. But the children tried hard to fill the void \u2014 and did
\nwith mischief. \u201cWe were real devils,\u201d
\nTony recalls. \u201cLots of spitball, water and
\npillow fights. My chief regret is losing
\ntwo years of education.\u201d Later Sister
\nAlphonse helped him catch up when he
\nentered seventh grade at the convent
\nschool.<\/p>\n
\nRuth gave him his life-saving therapy.
\nLike sunshine she came into the lives of
\nthese children. As Tony describes: \u201cShe
\nwas always smiling and joking, but she
\nwas a stern taskmaster and made us do
\nour exercises, which could be very painful.\u201d It was her massaging that Costa
\nremembers the most. \u201cShe had very
\nstrong, knowing hands that worked our
\nmuscles like dough, and it made us feel
\ngood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nstimulate the muscles, Ruth supervised
\nnurses who applied hot packs on the new
\ncases of polio. Volunteers, including
\nHazel Myers, Dr. Orris Myers\u2019 wife,
\nhelped with this task. There was also a
\nlarge tub, called a \u201cHubbard Tank,\u201d
\nused for therapy in warm water. This
\nwas later moved to the hospital.<\/p>\n
\nthe nurses and new friends she made in
\nHumboldt. She hadn\u2019t been here long
\nbefore an energetic young reporter,
\nDwight O\u2019Dell, came to interview her
\nand proceeded to court her. They married in 1934 at the home of Assemblyman Robert Fisher and his wife Bess
\nnear Carlotta. In 1936 the O\u2019Dells had a
\nson, whom they named Robert, after
\ntheir friend. Robert now lives in London, England, with his wife and family.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMrs. O\u2019Dell\u201d to the children, worked in
\nthe old county building at Sixth and J
\nstreets across from the Sumner Carson
\nhouse (now replaced by the Times-Standard newspaper building).<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAs you entered, the therapy office was
\non the left, the Agriculture Department
\non the right, and the probation offices
\nwere upstairs. At first the children were
\nbrought to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nFrank Machado, crippled by multiple
\nsclerosis; Melba Carlson, impaired by a
\nsevere arthritis; and he were driven to
\ntheir treatments in a taxi by Cliff Kirkemo, who owned his cab, and was paid
\nby the county with March of Dimes
\nfunds for the service. The children became close friends.<\/p>\n
\naccording to Ruth. As a man, after he
\nhad successfully operated his own store
\nin west Arcata for many years, he traveled to Portugal to visit the village of his
\nfamily, where he rode at the head of a
\nparade the villagers formed to honor
\nhim. When he returned, he visited Ruth, who claims she\u2019ll never forget his joy in
\ndescribing this climax to his life.<\/p>\n
\nsays, \u201cand it always thrilled me to see
\nthem succeed as so many have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nwife Joanne, and their family is the
\nlarge, attractive home which, in spite of
\nhis handicap, he built largely by himself, \u201c\u2026with a little help,\u201d he grins. \u201cI did
\ncarry the stone and mix the mortar for
\nthe huge fireplace and hearth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe period at the Sixth and J streets
\nhouse did not last long. Instead of having
\nthe children come to her, she went to the
\nchildren at the hospital.<\/p>\n
\nwhen the Salk vaccine was finally approved for general use. Other crippling
\ndiseases have not been as effectively attacked. However, as Ruth points out,
\ntherapy and surgical techniques have
\nimproved. It was difficult in the early
\ndays because there was no orthopedic
\nsurgeon in Humboldt. \u201cWe depended on
\nDr. Howard Markel from San Francisco, who came here to hold clinics and
\ncare for our patients.<\/p>\n
\ndiscovered among aging former polio
\nvictims a weakening of the muscles, a
\npostpolio syndrome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nwas John Argo, who had a career with
\nthe city schools. He says that he owes
\nmuch to Ruth for her patience in treating him after polio. \u201cTherapy is very
\ntedious and repetitive, but she would
\nalways keep my spirits up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nsuccesses, but she has tragic memories
\ntoo. Young Jim McGowan was a plucky
\nyoungster who eventually was placed in
\nan iron lung. Ruth had to leave the county for a brief time to follow her husband,
\nand it broke her heart to leave this little
\nfellow, for she knew he did not have long
\nto live.<\/p>\n
\npatients too. During one of the later epidemics, she met Rasmus Beck, born
\nnear Ferndale, grandson of an early
\nDanish settler. \u201cHe was an exceptionally strong man who had loved his work as
\na cowboy,\u201d she said, \u201cand seeing him
\nimmobilized with polio was particularly
\nmoving for me.\u201d By then alone, they
\neach discovered a deep mutual attraction and eventually married. Rasmus,
\nstrong and determined, recovered
\nenough to earn his living at a new occupation. \u201cHe was a wonderful cook and
\ngardener,\u201d Ruth said, \u201cand we were
\nhappy together until he died in 1972.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ndisease seemed to hit older persons
\nharder. \u201cFor children life goes on,\u201d she
\nsaid. \u201cWhat was most painful was mothers being ill and marriages breaking up
\nunder the stress.\u201d Often she volunteered
\nto nurse older patients because it was
\ndifficult to find nurses willing to help,
\nespecially on weekends. She nursed Dr.
\nPhilip Rummel and his wife when they
\nwere stricken.<\/p>\n
\nhome and friends in Eureka, among
\nthem many of her former special children. \u201cI just loved those kids\u2014like my
\nown,\u201d she said. Undoubtedly her loving
\nwas the underlying secret of her success
\nand the wellspring of her joyous personality that even now fills any rooms
\nwhere she is with sunlight.<\/p>\n