Charles Kurtz

Charles Kurtz was interviewed by Karen Brewster on November 1, 2010 at his home in Portland, Oregon on a grey and blustery November afternoon. His mother, Tina Kurtz, worked as a cook at Morningside Hospital in the 1950s and 1960s, and he worked there first as a kitchen helper when he was a teenager and later as a psychiatric aide in the early 1960s. In this interview, Charles talks about how Morningside Hospital functioned, what it was like to work there, who some of the other staff members were, and how staff and residents related to each other. He also discusses the types of treatments used, and provides his assessment of the quality and type of care provided to Morningside residents.