When Ethel was a baby, Emma sat up nights to knit her socks out of fine wool, as Ethel was born with club feet. She had to drive a horse & buggy to school because she could walk very little, only with crutches. Her parents felt that she needed a good education, so sent her to LeCompton College in Kansas. Her feet were straightened (around age 20-21) in a "bloodless" operation by a German doctor, the first one performed in the US. They crushed her feet and reformed them, putting them in casts for 6 months. She always had to wear special shoes and when Avis, her daughter, was very young, she used to massage her mother's feet at night when they were hurting.
When Ethel was a baby, Emma sat up nights to knit her socks out of fine wool, as Ethel was born with club feet. She had to drive a horse & buggy to school because she could walk very little, only with crutches. Her parents felt that she needed a good education, so sent her to LeCompton College in Kansas. Her feet were straightened (around age 20-21) in a "bloodless" operation by a German doctor, the first one performed in the US. They crushed her feet and reformed them, putting them in casts for 6 months. She always had to wear special shoes and when Avis, her daughter, was very young, she used to massage her mother's feet at night when they were hurting.
