Latest news with #Fifield
Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Porter County's first female physician, who served in the Civil War, finally getting her due
Buried in an unmarked grave for decades in the Union Street Cemetery, one of Porter County's most remarkable Civil War casualties is finally getting her due. Dr. Almira Fifield, Porter County's first female physician, died while serving at a Union hospital in Paducah, Kentucky. After retired University of Minnesota medical educator Barbara Brandt began sharing her information about Fifield, the Society of Indiana Pioneers recently gave Fifield posthumous recognition as a Distinguished Hoosier, Brandt said. The society was established in 1916, Indiana's centennial year, by the Indiana General Assembly. The Daughters of the American Revolution's William Henry Harrison chapter is holding a commemoration for Fifield on the Porter County Courthouse's south lawn at 11 a.m. June 21. Fifield's story has been rediscovered because of Brandt's post-retirement research on her family history. 'My dad grew up in Porter County. He died in 2007 at the age of 97,' she said. Brandt finally had time to ponder her family's history, so she read a 200-page notebook her father had with information about the Fifield family's ancestors. 'In the middle of it is three sentences about Almira,' Brandt said. 'I've had to piece together the information. She was called the lost heroine of the Civil War in the 1980s. People heard her story but didn't know much about her,' Brandt said. Brandt, founding director of the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education in Minnesota, is a tenacious researcher, digging here and there to tease out more information about Fifield's life than those three sentences offered. Fifield was born in 1833 in New Hampshire. Her family moved to Wheeler in 1842 before moving to Valparaiso. She died at age 29 in 1863, caring for Civil War soldiers. 'The No. 1 driver for it was the fact that I knew this was a very unusual story, based on my background in medical education,' Brandt said. 'There were only 200 or so female physicians before the Civil War. That was the driver for me to really uncover this story.' Brandt's father was an orphan, so she didn't hear much about the family growing up. That was another motivation for her research. 'The next piece of the puzzle is she's been buried in an unmarked grave in the old city cemetery in Valparaiso,' Brandt said. The Grand Army of the Republic, comprised of Civil War veterans, put a wreath on her grave every year. A hand-drawn map of the cemetery showed where to put the wreath. 'Part of the story is I started writing letters,' Brandt said, reaching out to other members of the Fifield family. Almira was unmarried and childless when she died, so she didn't leave any descendants. Along the way, Brandt found 54 letters Almira's brother wrote during the Civil War, preparing them for donation so they don't get lost to history. 'I am really deeply studying the 9th Indiana Infantry,' Brandt said, her curiosity fueled by those three sentences in her late father's notebook. 'I'm going to be spending time for sure, both at the state library and at Indiana Historical Society.' 'Once this dedication is over, I'll have my life,' Brandt said. That's the same feeling shared by Diane Schweitzer, the DAR regent who is working with Brandt on the June 21 commemoration. Schweitzer has her own tie to Fifield. 'My great-great-great-grandfather, Pvt. William Coslet, enlisted on Feb. 1, 1861, for a three-year period in Company B, 48th Indiana Infantry. He was medically discharged from the Paducah Hospital in April of 1863 where Almira Fifield served until her passing in March of 1863. His two sons, James Coslet, and my great-great-grandfather, Sylvester Coslet, also served as a 14-year-old flag bearer.' Brandt had reached out to Porter County Historian Kevin Pazour, who connected her with Schweitzer and the DAR. The DAR has done extensive restoration work at the cemetery, now working on the old Adams Cemetery in Morgan Township. 'It's been delightful working with her. She has excellent research skills,' Schweitzer said of Brandt. The conditions at the hospital were nothing like what people would experience today. Schweitzer put it into perspective. 'There was no air conditioning, there was no ventilation, lots of airborne transmission of viruses, of bacteria,' she said. Water was often impure, too, especially with the war going on. Antibiotics weren't around until about 60 years after the war. Gangrene was common. Civil War doctors often relied on amputations to save patients' lives. Schweitzer's 3x great-grandfather, who enlisted in 1861, was being treated for chronic diarrhea. 'He was in his early 50s when he was discharged. One of the records when he was discharged said this man is too old to be a soldier,' she said. Some records said he could only do the work of half a man. Despite his disability, he went on to work with Edwin Furnas. Back then, there wasn't Social Security or pensions he could rely on, so people worked a lot longer, Schweitzer noted. Brandt requested the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs grant Fifield a Civil War marker and headstone. Fifield started out as a schoolteacher, but at age 26 decided to become a physician, traveling across the country to attend New England Female Medical College, becoming one of only six of the 98 graduates who weren't from New England or New York. She received her degree in 1859. Her brother, Zacheus Barnum Fifield, was wounded while fighting with the Union Army. U.S. Rep. Schuyler Colfax, who later became vice president, wrote a letter on Fifield's behalf to support her efforts to serve the Army as a physician. 'I add my testimony to that of her other friends, knowing her to be capable, zealous, robust and has a withal good knowledge of medicine,' Colfax wrote. Only 19 female physicians were allowed to treat soldiers during the war. Fifield was hired on as a nurse, on the condition that she tell no one about her medical training. She soon was put in charge of the surgical ward at the Paducah hospital, a large Baptist church captured by Union soldiers and converted into a hospital. At age 29, only a year on the job, Fifield was said to have died of 'congestive chills.' But Brandt found a letter in the National Archives from a nurse at the hospital who wrote that Fifield had inflammation of the brain and spine, which Brandt believes likely indicated meningitis. In 1890 the U.S. Senate voted to give her father a pension in recognition of her service. Union Street Cemetery has 42 Civil War veterans, including Fifield and two nurses.
Chicago Tribune
02-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Lakes of the Four Seasons man charged with theft from Merrillville Fire Department
A Lakes of the Four Seasons man charged in January with stealing a police military vehicle has a new warrant out on him for stealing money from the Merrillville Fire Department. The fire department in March 2024 took one of its fire trucks to Hoosier Diesel and Off-Road, 9070 Louisiana St. in Merrillville, for preventative maintenance, Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Glenn Fifield said in a release Thursday. The shop owner, David Matthew Shephard-Hambrick, told the department that pieces of metal were found in the oil and that it would require extensive repair, Fifield said. Shephard-Hambrick told fire administrators the estimate for a new engine would be approximately $60,000 and then requested an advance payment for a new engine in the amount of $43,705.80, for which the town of Merrillville cut a check March 22, 2024, Fifield said. For the next year, Shephard-Hambrick told the fire department there was an issue with one company building the new engine, but he would be able to get one from another company, Fifield said. By February, the department discovered Shephard-Hambrick never ordered the new engine, at which point it had the fire truck towed to another repair shop. That repair shop discovered that not only did the truck not need a new engine, but that Shephard-Hambrick did little-to-no work on the engine at all, Fifield said. The second shop then completed the maintenance and charged the town around $10,000, he said. The Lake County Prosecutor's office, as a result of the ISP's investigation, has charged Shephard-Hambrick, 42, with theft, a Level 6 felony, Fifield said. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. Merrillville Town Council President Rick Bella didn't respond to a request for comment by press time. Merrillville Police Chief Kosta Nuses in January asked the Indiana State Police to investigate after they discovered Shepard-Hambrick took a police MRAP home, the Post-Tribune previously reported. Cops responded at 11:18 a.m. on Oct. 4 to his house. He told cops he took employees to his home because he had to move his stuff. Nuses told ISP Shepard-Hambrick's company didn't end up working on the vehicle; it was serviced somewhere else. The armored vehicles – a personnel carrier meant to better protect troops against roadside bombs – were introduced during the Iraq War.
CBC
17-04-2025
- CBC
Gender-based violence spikes 5 years after Nova Scotia mass shooting
'There is still a lot of work to do,' says trauma therapist The worst mass shooting in modern Canadian history began almost five years ago, shortly after a Nova Scotia man brutally assaulted his common-law wife. Lisa Banfield was kicked, punched and choked by her partner of 19 years on the night of April 18, 2020. She was left with fractured ribs and vertebrae but managed to escape. Over the next 13 hours, Gabriel Wortman fatally shot 22 people in rural Nova Scotia before two Mounties shot him dead at a gas station north of Halifax. In March 2023, an inquiry into the murders issued 130 recommendations aimed at preventing a similar tragedy, including more than a dozen that called on governments to do more to end "an epidemic" of gender-based violence. But as the anniversary of the killings approaches, people working in the field say not enough is being done to implement those recommendations. "There is still a lot of work to do," said Kristina Fifield, a trauma therapist who works with survivors of intimate-partner violence and is a member of the committee monitoring how governments and the RCMP are responding to the inquiry's recommendations. Since the inquiry published its report, there has been more discussion of gender-based violence and governments have committed more money, she said. "But day-to-day, in our work with survivors, we're continuing to hear about the violence, the injustices, the failures and the betrayals of the system ... I would say not much has changed." In the past six months, police in Nova Scotia have reported a disturbing spike in the number of deaths resulting from intimate partner violence. Since Oct. 18, there have been seven women killed in Nova Scotia whose deaths are connected to their male partners. In one case, the father of a victim was also killed. Data from Nova Scotia RCMP, Halifax Regional Police and Cape Breton Regional Police show that the number of intimate-partner violence homicides in the province last year was three times the average in the nine preceding years. "I am highly concerned about this spike, but not surprised," Fifield said, adding that as a trauma therapist, she's seeing an increase in gender-based violence, including more instances of coercive control and injuries from strangulation and suffocation. She said the high rates of violence should be sounding alarm bells across Canada, given the strong link researchers have found between intimate-partner violence and mass shootings. "We need to continue to remember that the root of this mass shooting was the perpetrator's long history of gender-based violence and violence against others," Fifield said. A 2021 study of mass shootings in the United States between 2014 and 2019 found that 68 per cent of the perpetrators had either killed their partner or a family member as part of the mass shooting or they had a history of domestic violence. Between 2011 and 2021, police across Canada reported 1,125 gender-related homicides of women and girls, two-thirds of which were committed by an intimate partner, Statistics Canada reported in 2023. The data also showed police-reported family violence and intimate-partner violence rose by 19 per cent from 2014 to 2022. With those sobering figures in mind, the federal-provincial inquiry — formally known as the Mass Casualty Commission — recommended Ottawa appoint an independent gender-based violence commissioner. The inquiry said a commissioner could lead a co-ordinated, national approach to evaluating implementation of federal and provincial policies aimed at eliminating gender-based violence. But two years later, no action has been taken on that key recommendation. The Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, known as LEAF, last year highlighted the need for a commissioner, noting that decades of reports and studies have proposed action, but the "unacceptable reality" of violence remains. "We need accountability to ensure that governments at all levels take the steps necessary to implement the changes that could end [gender-based violence] in Canada," the group said in a report published in October. Kat Owens, LEAF's project director, was more blunt: "We know what we need to do. It's a question of actually doing it," she said referring to the need for a federal commissioner. While the Liberal government under former prime minister Justin Trudeau was open to talking about appointing a commissioner, no commitment was made. "We've been pushing for the parties to include this commitment in their platforms leading up to the [April 28] election, but we haven't seen it yet," Owens said in an interview. When each of the main political parties was recently asked if they would appoint a commissioner if elected, only the New Democrats under Jagmeet Singh offered a direct answer, saying the party supports the recommendation "to keep communities and women safe." The Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, issued a statement saying a Tory government would deliver tougher sentences and stricter bail conditions for those convicted of intimate partner violence. The Liberals recently promised to automatically revoke gun licences for people convicted of violent offences, including intimate partner violence. Owens said that given the opportunity to speak directly to Liberal Leader Mark Carney or Poilievre, she would tell them that intimate-partner violence remains deeply entrenched in Canada. "It's pervasive and it isn't going away," she said. "But we can end it, and we know what we need to do to end it." The problem is that political discourse in Canada has been dominated by cost-of-living issues for several years, and U.S. President Donald Trump's ongoing trade war has limited the range of discussion during the federal campaign, she said. Another key recommendation from the inquiry calls for federal and provincial governments to provide "epidemic-level funding" for gender-based violence prevention and intervention. Fifield said that although the Nova Scotia government has recently increased funding, no government is providing the kind of sustained funding that an epidemic demands. "This sector has been living in survival mode," she said. "This project-based or grant-based funding is not working." At the provincial level, Nova Scotia has officially declared intimate-partner violence an epidemic and has made substantial financial commitments, with $228 million earmarked for programs supporting survivors of gender-based violence in the two most recent budgets. Ann de Ste Croix, executive director of the Transition House Association of Nova Scotia, said the province's recent decision to grant her organization $17.9 million over four years will allow its 11 facilities to focus on providing help to women and children experiencing violence without having to worry about fundraising. "With this funding, it kind of stabilizes our operations so that we're not strictly in survival mode," said de Ste Croix, whose group provided help to 4,500 women and children in 2024. "We recognize that four years isn't forever," she added, expressing hope the funding will become permanent. Fifield suggested that progress in implementing the inquiry's recommendations on domestic violence may be hindered by the stubborn persistence of victim-blaming. The daughter of a Nova Scotia woman who was killed by her husband in October said many people continue to question why her mother did not do more to get out of the abusive relationship before her murder. "The main questions are: 'Did your mom ever ask for help? Did she ever talk to anybody? Did she ever try to leave?"' Tara Graham said in an interview Monday. "I don't take any insult from it. But responsibility keeps getting put on the victim" instead of the perpetrator, she said. Graham's mother, 59-year-old Brenda Tatlock-Burke, was shot and killed by her retired RCMP officer husband Mike Burke, 61, who then took his own life. The former Mountie's coercive and controlling behaviour toward Tatlock-Burke escalated in the years leading up to the killing, Graham said, adding that her stepfather controlled her mother's finances and relationships in order to keep her isolated. "We can't expect somebody in a position facing unbalanced power to have the ability to just stand up and leave," Graham said, adding that she is urging all Canadians to speak up when they see signs of abuse in their loved ones' relationships. Her message echoes a finding of the Mass Casualty Commission, which reported that "victim-blaming" encountered by Banfield after the shootings has had a chilling effect on other survivors of gender-based violence. Fifield said she regularly hears comments from people who continue to blame Banfield for the mass shooting, saying she should have done something to stop her murderous spouse. She said it reminds her "of just how far away we are, how society and people are continuing to cause a lot of harm by re-victimizing and further isolating survivors and victims." For anyone affected by family or intimate partner violence, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services. If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. If you or someone you know is struggling, here's where to get help:
New York Times
10-03-2025
- General
- New York Times
It's Time to Clean Your Books
In addition to regular dusting, do a deeper clean once or twice a year. This project will eliminate major dust buildup and allow you to check for insects. You'll also have the chance to take inventory and decide which books you want to keep and which ones you want to store, sell, or donate, said Keith LaVecchia, inventory manager at McNally Jackson Books, in an email. To start, take your books off each shelf. Vacuum the shelf or wipe it down with a damp cloth and allow it to dry completely. Then dust each book off before you put it back on the shelf. You have a few ways to do this, and it can be as simple as running a dry microfiber cloth over the book. To capture the most dust, you can follow a method similar to what the New York Public Library employs: Use a soft-bristled brush, such as a hake brush, to sweep the book's closed pages, angling the book toward the intake nozzle of a vacuum. Generally, experts don't advise directly vacuuming books, except with very specialized attachments, since you can tear or bend them. If you must vacuum your books, McCarthy suggested placing cheesecloth over the hose to help reduce the suction and running the vacuum on its weakest setting. As a conservation specialist, Fifield doesn't recommend damp-dusting books. But other experts I spoke with didn't discourage the practice completely, as long as you allow the books to dry thoroughly before reshelving them. 'Because if they're damp, they will stick to each other,' said Charles. 'You can damage the cover.' She advised using a barely damp cloth. If you encounter mold, silverfish, or signs of other insects, such as detritus and dark specks, the affected book is not a lost cause, said Fifield. Seal the book in an airtight bag, such as a Ziploc bag, and put it in the freezer for 72 hours. Once 72 hours have passed, remove the bag from the freezer and—this is important!—do not unseal it. Leave it sealed for another 24 hours to prevent condensation from forming, said Fifield. 'You want that condensation to be on the bag and not on your book.' After 24 hours, you can remove the book and clean it to remove the remaining detritus. That way, 'if there's a new infestation later, you're not getting confused' about what's a new infestation and an old one, said Fifield. McCarthy said that you may need to repeat this process to address unhatched insects or larvae. If you're removing mold, clean the book outdoors while wearing a protective mask. You can spot-clean mass-market varnished covers, as on many cookbooks, with just a damp microfiber cloth or paper towel. Here, a mysterious sticky smear, which I had thought of as permanent, disappeared with a swipe from a barely damp cloth. Katie Okamoto/NYT Wirecutter When you're going through your books, you may also notice that some of them need spot-cleaning. The experts I spoke with differed on how heavy-duty you should get with spot-cleaning, but the general consensus was that for mass-market books that can be easily replaced, use your discernment and try the least intensive method you can first. Often, a barely damp paper towel or microfiber cloth is all you need, said Weinstein. For stubborn grime or pen stains on mass-market book covers, particularly those with 'varnished' covers (those with a gloss), you can upgrade to Purell (recommended by Pongrace), lighter fluid (recommended by LaVecchia), or Sterling's Magic (recommended by Sartwell). All of them serve as non-water-based cleaners that dry quickly and don't allow water—the archenemy of books—to infiltrate the pages. They also don't leave behind an oily residue. They are not recommended on non-glossy books, rare books, or those with cloth or leather covers. Avoid using tape to repair ripped covers or dust jackets, said Weinstein, as that can damage and discolor pages. If you find yourself veering into perfectionism while you're cleaning your books, Sartwell offered a bit of perspective: 'If someday you're not here, whoever inherits your book will be happy to know that this page looks like that because it was a recipe that you loved.' Perfection is not always the aim of book care. 'If someday you're not here, whoever inherits your book will be happy to know that this page looks like that because it was a recipe that you loved,' said Matt Sartwell of Kitchen Arts & Letters. Case in point: my grandmother's cookbook. Katie Okamoto/NYT Wirecutter But some books that are irreplaceable need TLC. In that case, consult a book conservationist before attempting to DIY, said Fifield. She recommends the American Institute for Conservation, which has a database for finding experts in your area. As for how you should put your books back: 'If you want to organize your books by color, you can do that,' said Charles. 'If you want to organize by Dewey Decimal, you can Dewey Decimal.' If you're the tracking type, she recommends the open-source app LibraryThing, which allows you to build your own catalog. 'Basically, your home library is your expression of your intellectual passions and pursuits,' she said. 'You obviously want to take good care of it, but however you want to organize it, that works for you and your household, is great.' Here's to you and your books. Happy cleaning. This article was edited by Megan Beauchamp and Maxine Builder. If you want to get back into reading paper books and escape internet distractions, this handy reading light might help. A cozy bookshelf stuffed with titles will always make my heart flutter—but waking my Kindle from its slumber has started to bring me that same surge of joy. Since most bookworms acquire their own actual books, these gifts inspire, support, and enhance the joy of reading.
CBC
20-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Nova Scotia extends paid leave for domestic violence victims
Nova Scotia is extending the amount of time a person can take off work, with pay, if they're experiencing domestic violence. The Tory government is changing the Labour Standards Code so that employers will have to provide five paid days of leave, up from three. The change takes effect April 1. The regulation defines domestic violence as an act of abuse that can be physical, sexual, emotional or psychological. It can include coercion, stalking, harassment or financial control, or it can be a threat of such abuse. The perpetrator could be a current or former intimate partner, a relative or someone who lives with them. Kristina Fifield, a registered social worker and trauma therapist who specializes in intimate partner violence, says the extra days are a step in the right direction, but she'd like to see more. "I think we need to look at reimagining how survivors are supported in workplaces across our province," she said in an interview. "Paid domestic violence leave and intimate partner violence leave is one part of it, but I think that employers in our province can do a lot more in supporting survivors and victims that are going through this." Fifield said she'd like to see 10 or more paid days, as well as accommodations such as allowing people to work from home or another location. She said employers need to acknowledge that people might not "be at their best at work" while they deal with the trauma of abuse. She said it's up to the government to enshrine more support in government regulation and policy, and up to employers to work on improving workplace cultures. Labour Minister Nolan Young refused to do an interview at Province House. A news release from his department said the decision was made after consultation with unions, advocacy groups and other community partners. It said the change aligns with an NDP bill that passed with all-party support last year declaring domestic violence an epidemic, as well as recommendations from the Mass Casualty Commission, the Lionel Desmond fatality inquiry and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Fifield was at Province House on Wednesday prior to the announcement about paid leave because she was participating in a rally against gender-based violence. About 50 people gathered at Halifax Regional Police headquarters and marched to Province House. Organizers said they want "an urgent, epidemic-level response" to gender-based violence, a long-standing issue that has seen a recent spike. Intimate partner violence deaths In a period of just three months, six women in Nova Scotia were killed by their male partners. In the wake of those deaths, advocates have been calling for stable, core funding for organizations that support victims of intimate partner violence. Fifield reiterated that Wednesday, and added that more intervention and prevention work is required. "We need core curriculum from P to 12, also incorporating that education, awareness and prevention in universities and colleges and into workplaces." Also Wednesday, New Democrats tabled a bill that would establish a new fund for organizations that address gender-based violence. The money would pay for things such as shelters, transition second-stage housing, women's centres, advocacy campaigns and prevention initiatives. Speaking during debate on the bill in the legislature, Leah Martin, the Tory minister in charge of the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, said there is plenty of work underway to address gender-based violence. "We have come light-years from the days when women suffered in silence," she said. Martin highlighted a $7-million bump to funding for transition houses and women's centres last year, and said the government will continue working with groups that address the issue.
