What are the Memorial Bricks?
The memorial bricks honor those who battled tuberculosis in Saranac Lake, and invite Saranac Laboratory Museum visitors to learn more about the fascinating individuals who came here in search of a cure.
Since the patient memorial wall was created in 2009, over 100 bricks have been dedicated to patients. Funds have supported lab cabinet replicas and building repairs. With the main section of the wall filled, we are opening the surrounding areas for dedications. Patient information is entered into our wiki at www.localwiki.org/hsl, and added to this website. Participation in the wiki is free and open to anyone wishing to remember a patient who cured in Saranac Lake. If you want to add information about a patient to the wiki without dedicating a brick, send information about them to [email protected] or mail to 89 Church Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983. Click the button below to dedicate a brick in memory of a patient. Brick dedication is $100. |
The Fresh Air Cure
Dr. E. L. Trudeau came to the Adirondacks in 1873 seriously ill with tuberculosis. As his health improved, he settled in Saranac Lake and built the country’s first TB sanatorium, as well as the first laboratory in the United States for TB research. News of Dr. Trudeau’s “fresh air cure” brought thousands of patients from around the world to Saranac Lake. From the 1870s through the 1950s, patients came to cure at the Trudeau Santorium, the State Hospital at Ray Brook, Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, and other area facilities. Hundreds of private cure cottages in the village also opened their doors to patients. The cure cottages of Saranac Lake, along with the stately brick walls of the Saranac Laboratory, stand today as monuments to the countless patients who bravely fought “the battle of the porch.”
Click the button below to visit our wiki and learn more about tuberculosis in Saranac Lake. |