Three Years’ Internment in Santo Tomas.
Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, [1945]. First edition. Light soiling and wear. Contemporary pencil signature (Mrs. William C. Parker) to half-title. Very clean internally. A very good, fresh copy of this prisoner of war memoir written by a woman medical doctor and nurse. Original paper wrappers printed in pinkish red with photo reproductions of Witthoff and Chappell. Octavo. 82 pp. Item #17356
Between 1942 and 1945, seventy-seven American woman medical professionals working with the Army and Navy, among them Dr. Evelyn M. Whithtoff (1912 – 2002) and nurse Geraldine V. Chappell (1911 – 1997), were held as prisoners of war in the Philippines. In the present work, Dr. Whittoff and Chappell describe their experience being captured in their hotel in Manila’s Walled City and later being imprisoned in a camp at the University of Santo Tomás in Manila, along with hundreds of other servicemen and women. The woman nurses and doctors were essential to the survival of the prisoners. With very limited supplies, they treated the many other prisoners who had fallen ill or been injured, especially as the male doctors in the camp fell ill themselves. Dr. Whitthoff earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois and her medical degree from the University of Michigan. Chappell received her nursing education at Olivet Nazarene College and the University of Chicago. Two years after their return to the United States from Santo Tomás, Whittoff and Chappell were assigned to at a hospital in Washim, India. Chappell stayed in India for the next thirty-three years. Both women retired to Alhambra, California.
Yellin, Emily. Our Mother’s War (2004), pp. 186-189. OCLC records nineteen copies, though only seven are located west of the Mississippi.
Price: $475.00