International Witsies

SHIRLEY TALERMAN

By Heather Dugmore

Generations of medical students and staff have admired and been amused by a series of beautiful framed watercolours with humorous narratives hanging in the administrative office corridor in the medical library.

Very few are probably aware they were originally painted six decades ago by a librarian to visually identify subject fields such as ear, nose and throat, physiology, psychiatry, surgery, ophthalmology, cancer, radiology, cardiology, dermatology, nutrition, and anaesthesia, in the medical school library bookshelves.

A recent medical class of 1960 newsletter reminded readers of these paintings, revealing the art to be the work of Shirley Talerman (née Silkiner) (BA 1956), who was a librarian at Wits Medical School from 1956 to 1961. WITSReview reached out to Shirley, who has lived in London since 1977, when she emigrated with her late husband Harold Talerman (MBBCh 1959) and their four children. She has strong memories of her time at Wits and recounts a typical day back then, starting with a walk to work from her family home in Hillbrow.

“Early mornings were a rush to climb up Hospital Hill to get to the Wits Medical School Library by 8.30am. Before I even got to the door of the building, I was besieged by students calling: ‘Shirley, please take my overnight books!’ These had to be returned by 9am so as to avoid a fine, and most were very heavy – Davidson’s "Medicine" and Guyton’s "Medical Physiology", in particular.

“Everyone at Medical School, including us librarians, had to wear a white coat back then,” she recalls. “The library would soon fill with students, and we were immediately busy issuing books, answering queries, or doing research for articles in the "Index Medicus" (precursor of computerised reference material).

“It was often a relief just to sit and research information in the "Index Medicus" for medico-legal cases. Sometimes, a surgeon would rush in five minutes before closing, hoping to find some urgent information for an imminent operation. And so at 5pm, or at 6pm twice a week, the day would end – fun, rewarding and tiring, but never boring.”

She also spoke of the convivial atmosphere: “Professor Jock Gear (BSc 1928, BSc Hons 1929, MBBCh 1938), Professor Francois Daubenton (MBBCh 1942), Professor Phillip Tobias (DSc honoris causa 1994), Professor Raymond Dart (DSc honoris causa 1964) and many others would drop in every day for a cup of tea and a chat. Professor Guy Elliott (DSc honoris causa 1968), in fact, was renowned for the great parties he held in the library when my sister, Hilda, worked there a few years before. There were still corks stuck on the ceiling when I was there.”

During her time at the library, Shirley met her husband to be, Harold. The head librarian, Elizabeth Hartman, banned him from the library, not because he kept coming to see Shirley, but because he didn’t return a certain book – which Shirley still has on her shelf at home: "Gray’s Anatomy"! He went on to specialise as an ophthalmologist.

“When Harold first became a doctor, we went to live at Baragwanath Hospital and I travelled in to work on the hospital bus each day,” says Shirley. “Some evenings, I donned a gown and cap to watch an operation, just to be with my husband. At the end of 1961 we moved to Welkom, where my husband joined a very busy GP country practice. Three of my children were born there. I used to go on calls with him so that we could spend some time together.”

In 1965 they moved to Durban, where Harold worked at the King Edward Hospital. “While living in Durban I drew all the furniture in the Killie Campbell Library, where I worked. It specialised in Africana and my drawings are still in the museum there.”

From Durban they moved to Port Elizabeth (now called Gqeberha), where, in addition to Harold’s practice, they opened an art gallery for South African artists. Eight years later, they emigrated to the UK. Harold enhanced his specialisation while Shirley started an antiquarian and second-hand book business. She set aside drawing and painting until 2000, when Harold was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia and he had to stay at home.

She started painting flowers and fruit, including South African flowers like proteas, and has exhibited at the Botanical Society of the United Kingdom.

“It was a very difficult time to see the deterioration of this dynamic man who was ever resourceful and busy and curious; life with him was never dull. He passed away in 2008 and I miss him so. I also miss South Africa; I miss my friends, and the smell of the earth after the rain. At the same time I love living in London now, and will love it even more once everything opens up again.

“I enjoy the galleries, particularly the Royal Academy and the National Gallery, and attending lectures hosted by the University of The Third Age – a platform for adult education. I also attend talks at the local historical society. London has been kind to our family. I live in a pretty cottage in Hampstead Garden Suburb, with pear and apple trees in the back garden. As I sit here now, I reflect on how lucky I have been to enjoy a very full and interesting life.”

One of Shirley Talerman's paintings.

Raymond Dart opened the library

Professor Raymond Dart

The Wits Medical Library, with a collection of 600 books, was formally opened on 12 July 1926 by Raymond Dart, Professor of Anatomy at Wits from 1923 to 1958. Dart acted as the first librarian until 1928. The library rapidly grew and ultimately found its way to Parktown. The name WML was changed in 1995 to Wits Health Sciences Library when the University’s Dental Library was incorporated, reflecting the formal amalgamation of the Faculties of Dentistry and Medicine.

The advent of digitisation and electronic resources has enabled WHSL to downsize its main library plus four physical branch libraries at various academic hospitals. The main physical library and print-based collections are in Parktown, with only one small physical branch remaining at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. Although WHSL closely resembles a traditional library, it began offering its decentralised clients access to e-journals as early as 2000.