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March 27, 1988—US District Courthouse

Violet Harrison

Alan Stedsan: Good morning, Mrs. Harrison. Would you mind stating your full name for the recording?

Violet Harrison: Violet Dolores Harrison, though I used to be Smith.

AS: Thank you, Mrs. Harrison. How are you today?

VH: Fine, thanks. A little nervous.

AS: Nothing to be nervous about. We’ll just be asking you some questions about your time at Coram House—what you remember, things like that. If you don’t remember, just say so. It’s your memory, so there are no trick questions.

VH: [Laugh] I guess not.

AS: All right, then. Why don’t you start by telling us how long you were at Coram House?

VH: I was there for about three years. Until I got adopted.

AS: And how old were you?

VH: I was nine when I got adopted. Then we moved to Massachusetts.

AS: What do you remember of life at Coram House?

VH: Not much. I mean, I was very young.

AS: Of course. Even the smallest memories are helpful. We’re just trying to get a sense of your day-to-day life.

VH: All right. Um—let’s see. Well, I remember the nuns.

AS: Anyone in particular?

VH: No, not really. They all wore these long dark dresses—or maybe you call them robes? They all looked the same to me then.

AS: And what sorts of things did you do during the day?

VH: Chores. Lots of chores. But—I mean—it wasn’t all, you know, Oliver Twist [laugh]. Not like it sounds when you hear someone say orphanage .

AS: Could you elaborate?

VH: I just mean, I remember having fun too. Like in the summer the nuns would take us down to the lake. There was a beach there, just below the House. I learned to swim. There was this one nun—she’d row kids out onto the lake for swimming lessons. And we’d always try to build sandcastles, but the beach was too rocky. We couldn’t get it to stick.

AS: Any of the other children you remember, in particular?

VH: Gosh, it was so long ago. I don’t remember anyone’s names. There was this one boy—I remember he used to tell these crazy stories. Will? There was one about a lake monster that had us all terrified for weeks. None of us wanted to go near the water after that.