Page 35 of 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 sayorphanage.

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.

June 3, 1989—US District Courthouse

Frederick Rooney

Alan Stedsan:Thank you for being here today, Mr. Rooney.

Fred Rooney:Oh, I’m Mr. Rooney now?

AS:Fred, if you prefer.

FR:So shoot, Alan. What is it you want to know? About the old kiddie fiddler or something else?

AS:We can start there, if you like.

FR:Of course I don’t like it. You think I want to talk about that shit?

AS:I understand not everyone feels comfortable—

FR:Is it comfy for you to listen to it?

AS:Why don’t we start somewhere else, then? With daily life at Coram House.

FR:You mean shit like what we ate for breakfast?

AS:Sure.

FR:We ate orphan gruel. I know because every goddamn day it was my job to take a bucket of leftover slime we couldn’t choke down over to the dump.

AS:You can’t smoke in here, Mr. Rooney.

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