With Their Dying Breaths: A History of Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium

by C.C. Thomas

This unauthorized history does not seek to tell the story of the infamous 'haunted' Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky. For ghost stories, you must look somewhere else. Instead, this book sheds to seek light on one of the most deadly and contagious diseases of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Louisville, as well as other areas in Kentucky such as Mammoth Cave, once stood as the sole respite for all those afflicted with tuberculosis, or TB. While many books, documentaries and TV shows have focused on the paranormal of the this building, few have focused on its fascinating history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Health

174 pages, Paperback

First published November 11, 2012

Reviews

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in preparation for a paranormal investigation at Waverly Hills later this year. I was drawn to it because I haven't found a lot on the history of the institution. I am glad that someone made the effort to gather historical information on Waverly Hills but it was painfully obvious that this was a vanity-press book. There were references to photos that were not printed in the book, misspellings and other errors that an editor would have (hopefully) caught and a lack of a bibliography to show what sources the author used for his information.

[M. Slinger-Carreer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great option to read for the history of Waverly Hills. This book has a more upbeat tone (or as upbeat as you can be talking about TB) than the more recent publication Waverly Hills Sanatorium: A History . This book also presents information in more broad strokes. The author touches on everything but doesn't go super in depth as Lynn Pohl's book does. This book does touch more on the currently situation of Waverly Hills (being a tourist attraction, specifically geared to ghost hunters) but doesn't talk about any of the ghost stories or claimed hauntings.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and concise history of the tuberculosis epidemic and the history of Waverly Hills Sanatorium. I recently visited Waverly on a history tour and the place is absolutely fascinating. This book was recommended by the tour guide. My only criticism is one that I don't ever remember having before. The editing of this book is awful, or possibly non-existent. I spotted many errors, and I wasn't even reading that closely. This became very distracting and I felt it could have been remedied by a competent editor, or merely even a proofreader. That said, it is worth the read for research that went into it.

[Paula Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The information about the history of Waverly Hills and Hazelwood was fascinating. I was interested in Hazelwood, in particular, because you don't hear that much about it. My grandfather, who ultimately died from tuberculosis, was not a resident of Jefferson County, was in and out of Hazelwood, a few times.

I admire those who willingly risked their own health in order to help others.

The reason that I didn't give five stars was due to some errors in the book. A couple of times, pictures were referred to where there wasn't a picture. Also, there was a chart that was unnecessarily repeated on the next page. It was the same information.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book. My mom
worked there at Woodhaven Medical Facility (when Waverly Hills became a nursing home )... this book provides an excellent history of Waverly and Tuberculosis . This book tells about the different buildings that existed around Waverly , different techniques for treating Tuberculosis at Waverly. It also explained the history of Waverly itself, and all of the ideas of what they would do with the building after it was abandoned .

[Greg Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you think of Waverly Hills Sanitorium, you think of ghosts. But the real scares come in the details that are never spoken of. The real horrors are what really happened there. Thomas writes about the actualities and the history of WHS and leaves no stone unturned. I found the book super informative and I was able to understand the foundation that led to all of the ghost tales later.

That foundation was the real horror. Tuberculosis..

[Quinn Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whoever edited this isn't fit to teach second grade. Bad grammar, wording, spelling, names randomly changing, contradictory facts, and on the second last page it refers to Africa, Asia, and Latin America as countries. COUNTRIES. Seriously. I also was hoping to read a LOT more about the hauntings. Don't quit your day jobs, guys.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

With all of the myths about Waverly Hills floating around the Internet, it is good to have this factual account of its history. The author mentions the many stories that patients could tell about the sanatorium, but doesn't include any. Incorporating those stories would have elevated this book above the usual buildings-and-doctors histories that document most institutions. The title also perpetuates the belief that most people went to a sanatorium to die. The author points out that the often-quoted death total of 63,000 is a gross exaggeration and says it "was never meant to be a hospital for the dying." Without the stories of survivors, though, that's the lasting impression.

[Jim Worthington · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting story about a place I drive by regularly. The author does a great job of developing the sense of community that would of course have developed in an environment of shared adversity. While not a review of the writing, I do note that the Kindle download was somewhat garbled. I'll be looking for a hard copy so I can match the pictures to the captions.

[Hoosier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great non-fiction account of the history of the hospital.