Chapter 06: Working for Dr. Bertner and the New MD Anderson
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Description
Mrs. McGready recalls taking papers down to Dr. Ernst Bertner's "private physicians'" office in the Second National Bank Building on Main Street in downtown Houston. She notes that she was with MD Anderson for nine months, until her fiancé was finished w medical school. She was asked to stay on, but made it clear she was "not a career person" and wanted to leave to be married.
Identifier
McGreadyMC_02_20160519_C06
Publication Date
10-7-2016
Publisher
The Making Cancer History® Voices Oral History Collection, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Topics Covered
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - MD Anderson PastPersonal Background; MD Anderson History
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
So what kind of things would you take down to Dr. Bertner to sign?
Mary Catherine McGready
All the late papers that had to be signed. And that was Zuma Krum’s problem [her job] -- and I’d do anything to get -- take the one car, go anywhere. And I would go downtown, where -- he was -- his office was in the Second National Bank, on Main Street -- and that was when we still had policemen out here, (inaudible). And wasn’t I lucky, there was a boy from Timpson doing. And I’d say, “Forrest, I got to go up to Dr. Bertner’s office!” “OK, Mary Catherine. I’ll watch it.” So I’d leave it right in a no-parking zone. Well, that was the advantage of coming from a small town.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Gosh. And a much smaller Houston, too, really tiny. So was his MD Anderson office down in the Second National Bank?
Mary Catherine McGready
That was his private practice. And then the office, though, was at MD Anderson, in the Baker estate. Now the Baker estate was interesting, because they left the two men -- one had been a houseboy and one a gardener -- and they left them to maintain the place. And the gardener brought fresh flowers all the time.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
What was it like working at this brand-new, from-scratch hospital?
Mary Catherine McGready
Well, this beautiful old home. And everything had been cleaned out of it. As I said, we used the dining rooms as the nucleus of the library.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Now how long were -- did you stay in that job?
Mary Catherine McGready
Well, until my fiancé finished, and he was going off for an internship. And we married, and so that I could go with him. So I think about nine months.
Tacey A. Rosolowski, PhD:
So did you ever consider staying on in that job? Did they ask you? Or what...
Mary Catherine McGready
Oh, yeah, but I [ ] made it clear that I was not a career person. But when I came back years later and had five children, and I was looking for a job, I knew Helen Holt, who was a [Harris County Medical Society] librarian. So I told Helen I was looking for a job. She said, “I could use you, fine.” So I started working under Helen. They combined two libraries. There was Baylor College of Medicine that they had moved from Dallas -- I believe it was Dallas -- and then the Harris County Medical Society Library. So those were the two that were merged.
Recommended Citation
McGready, Mary Catherine and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 06: Working for Dr. Bertner and the New MD Anderson" (2016). Interview Chapters. 58.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/58
Conditions Governing Access
Open
