CHARITY GIRL by Michael Lowenthal

As some of you may know, I tend to read some pretty odd-content books. CHARITY GIRL was no exception. Not only was a good read and generally well-written, but it told of a relatively unknown chapter in US history of moral and medical campaigning that lead to the detainment of nearly 30,000 women at over 40 sites around the country.
Having left her home and Russian immigrant mother, Freida Mintz works Jordan Marsh shop girl and is smart and independent. She lives on her own, with her $8 a week pay and enjoys her nights out with BFF Lou.
Following a night with a US Army private leaving for WW1, Freida is left with more than the memory to remember him by. He has given her syphillis. She is tracked down by the Committee on Prevention of Social Evils Surrounding Military Camps and sent to a detention camp for prostitures and charity girls - or those thought to be either one - behind barbed wire and subjected to medical procedures and general moral ubraiding from the staff. (google/wikipedia charity girls, detainment camps, and WW1 for more info on that one)
A turn-of-the-century feel to it, CHARITY GIRL and its author Michael Lowenthal accurately describes this dark period of wartime history. Since penicillin has no yet been discovered, Freida is given substances like mercury, arsenic compounds, iodine and silver nitrate and put to work sewing, shoveling manure and gardening. She and the other girls in the house are re-educated about the ills of the flesh according to the Committee and the house staff, in an effort to rehabilitate her.
Although somewhat graphic - the detail is needed and required -CHARITY GIRL is an impressive and well-documented historical account of this time period.