Item AAAB0113 - Marie Magdalene Townsend interview

CALL NUMBER: T0106:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend : a study of experience in a rich and full life RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-10-27 SUMMARY: This interview was made using a "free expression" technique departing from the standard question and answer format. Marie Townsend was born in 1903 and speaks of her early life homesteading on the Saskatchewan prairie and covers that period of her life from her earliest memories up to the flu pandemic of 1918. CALL NUMBER: T0106:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend : a study of experience in a rich and full life RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-11-02 SUMMARY: Marie Townsend discusses her family life in detail including: homes, pioneer necessities, social activities, meal preparation, neighbours, festivals, religion in family. Many anecdotes are included. The "pioneer equality" of men and women is to be noted. Parental attitudes towards education are also mentioned. CALL NUMBER: T0106:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend : attitudes and personal character formation in early life RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-11-06 SUMMARY: Marie Townsend speaks of the influences in her early life from grandparents, parents, and community. Childbirth, marriage, and funeral customs are all discussed. Social attitudes in the community circa 1910 are mentioned. Marie Townsend establishes a good feeling for her home life and the lifestyle of the times. CALL NUMBER: T0106:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend : a convent schooling and nursing training RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-11-09 SUMMARY: Marie Townsend talks of her high school education and the routine of convent life. She attended the Ursuline Academy in Regina from the age of 13 to the age of 16. She then took training at the Grey Nuns Hospital in Regina and graduated as a nurse at the age of 19. This was followed by a post graduate course at Pense, Saskatchewan. She tells of her training as a nurse (1919-1921). CALL NUMBER: T0106:0005 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend : combining career and children in the 1920s and early 1930s RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972-11-10 SUMMARY: Marie Townsend compares attitudes between her generation and her mother's generation concerning childbirth and home making. Differences in social attitudes and child raising are also discussed. Marie worked as a dressmaker and a hairdresser in Pense, Saskatchewan, and earned her living as a dressmaker in Regina. She talks of the hair, cosmetic, and dress styles of the period. CALL NUMBER: T0106:0006 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Marie Magdalene Townsend RECORDED: [location unknown], 1973-01-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Marie Townsend discusses the Depression of the 1930s and her move to Regina where she was a dressmaker. She recalls the On-to-Ottawa Trek, the Regina Riot, and refusing to go on relief. She had two children. The move to B.C. in 1940 at her doctor's suggestion and living in a Japanese house in Surrey during the internment. She discusses how everything was sold that had belonged to the Japanese, and how the people were carted away like cattle in trucks. Marie also boarded teachers during the 1940s, prior to her move to Essondale in 1945. As a nurse she worked extensively with mental patients, and discusses methods of treatment including lobotomies. TRACK 2: Marie Townsend discusses mental illness, nervous breakdowns, strait jackets, medication, isolation, shock treatment, hairdressing mental patients, and public opinions. After having two strokes and recovering in bed for seventeen months Marie returned to nursing, as a private nurse for mostly cancer patients, until 1970. She compares the times of old with those of 1973, evaluating living conditions and values.