The Tuberculosis Sanatorium Where Patients Had the Best Time of Their Lives with Ellen Damsky

Why did tuberculosis patients call their time at a remote Adirondack sanatorium “the best time of their lives”? In this episode of Curiously, I talk with Ellen Damsky, PhD—real estate agent, psychic, folklorist, and my most interesting neighbor—to explore her doctoral research on the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium.

Founded by Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau in the late 1880s, this New York State institution pioneered the “fresh air cure” for tuberculosis. Despite being chronically ill, exhausted, isolated from loved ones, and often bedridden, former patients consistently told Ellen their time at the Trudeau Sanatorium was among their happiest. One even said, “Everyone should go to Saranac Lake to learn how to live.”

📚 Learn more about Ellen’s dissertation, “A Way of Life: Saranac Lake and the 'Fresh Air Cure' for Tuberculosis,” at Binghamton University’s library here: https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/126/