Our Women's History Month feature today is Elizabeth Temming Koop, known as Betty. Koop was cured of tuberculosis at the Trudeau Sanatorium, where she met and married Martin Koop in 1944. The couple worked together making hand-wrought jewelry and eventually opened the Temming Art Studio. After retiring from the jewelry business in 1971, Koop and her daughter Theresa owned and operated the Cinderella Shop in the Hotel Saranac until 1981. She moved from Saranac Lake in 1982 to live with her daughter in Malta.
Temming Jewelry was a must-have accessory in Saranac Lake, including custom name-plate bracelets for local girls. To see more examples of items made by the Temming Art Studio, and learn more about Koop's life, visit our wiki! And be sure to stay tuned for our upcoming special exhibit, "Art of the Cure," opening this June! This exhibit will feature TB patient artists, writers, architects, and more, while exploring the occupational therapy programs that were a key component of TB treatment here in Saranac Lake. The exhibit will feature works by Betty Koop, Charlotte Geffken, Amy Jones, and many other women (and men!) who came for the cure!
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Over time, conditions changed, and it began taking patients for longer periods, and treating fewer per year; in 1943 its name was changed to Prescott House, in honor of its benefactor. By 1949, a shortage of funds led to the closing of the hospital, and the trustees sought another use for the building. The Saranac Lake Study and Craft Guild was in need of additional space, and on March 27, 1950, the building and all other assets of the Hospital were given to the Guild.
The Guild maintained a center there for several years, offering business education, academic and technical subjects, including X-ray technician training in addition to the traditional arts and crafts courses. However, the development of effective antibiotic treatments for tuberculosis led to a gradual reduction in the number of patients interested in the Guild's offerings, and courses were dropped until only the X-ray school was left. On October 9, 1968, Prescott House was given to the newly formed North Country Community College; the X-ray program became part of the curriculum. However, the college decided that, due to the building's need of maintenance and its distance from the campus, it would put the property up for public auction. On January 4, 1969, the building was acquired by Chester Fobare and Richard Yorkey, who carried out extensive repairs. The building became a girls' dormitory for NCCC for a time. In 2017, Debra Thuet purchased Prescott House and turned it into a short and long-term lodging facility and restored the integrity of the building. Prescott died in New Bedford, MA at the age of 89. Her obituary noted that she “was a very outgoing person, with a lively sense of humor and a keen mind… She was especially fond of poetry.” To learn more about Prescott’s life’s work and the history of the Prescott House, visit our wiki!
Today we have a special St. Patrick's Day post for Women's History Month! We want to share the story of Josephine Smithwick, who was an Irish-American cure cottage operator here in Saranac Lake. She ran the Smithwick Cottage, built 1917, at 60 Park Avenue (now 109 Park Avenue). They had originally come to the area for her husband Michael's health in 1912, but he passed away in 1918. Smithwick operated the cure cottage until her death in 1948.
It is most likely that Smithwick is pictured at the upper right in this photograph of the "Smithwicks Gang," from an album of photographs kept by Verdo Newman in the 1920s. To learn more about Smithwick and the Smithwick Cottage, visit our wiki. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
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