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Oral history interview with Grace, 1981

Creator: Grace
Project: Addicts Who Survived oral history collection.
(see all project interviews)
Phys. Desc. :transcript: 63 pages sound file : digital preservation master, WAV files (96 kHz, 24 bit)
Location: Columbia Center for Oral History
Full CLIO record >>

Biographical Note

Grace was born on October 21, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest of six siblings. Her formal education ended after she graduated eighth grade. Shortly after, her family moved to Riverside Drive and 125th Street in Manhattan, and she began working as a waitress at Stouffer's Restaurant in Pershing Square. She got married in 1939, and had two children. Her husband died in the early 1950s. It was around this time, just after her husband died, that Grace was prescribed codeine by her doctor for a severe chest cold. She became addicted to the codeine and continued using it for around fifteen years. She married her second husband in 1961. Grace visited several hospitals to detox from codeine including Metropolitan Hospital Center, Manhattan General Hospital, and New York City Health and Hospitals/Coney Island, the last of which suggested she try a methadone program. Grace joined a methadone program in 1973. Her second husband passed away in 1978. Grace was interviewed for the project that led to the book Addicts Who Survived. The name is likely a pseudonym for the project

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Grace discusses her life in New York City, with a focus on her drug use. She discusses her Catholic upbringing, her public school education, and her job as a waitress at Stouffer's Restaurant in Pershing Square, Manhattan. She also delves into her two marriages, the first in 1939, and the second in 1961. She discusses her addiction to codeine, and explains how she first became addicted after her doctor prescribed it to her for a severe chest cold. She also describes symptoms she would experience when she tried to stop taking the codeine after a year of daily use, including painful leg cramps, watery eyes, and throat draining. She describes how she was able to continuously fill her prescriptions at various Manhattan and Brooklyn drugstores with no issues. She discusses the various hospitals she visited for detoxification from codeine, including Metropolitan Hospital Center, Manhattan General Hospital, and New York City Health and Hospitals/Coney Island. She compares codeine and methadone, and discusses her experience in the methadone program

Subjects

Access Conditions

Copyright by David Courtwright

Using this collection

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