Julia Mae Allison Wall (1924-2020) was from Cambridge, Ohio, and a 1942 graduate of Cambridge High School. She graduated from Saint Francis School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio, in 1945, and the University of Dayton with a Bachelor of Science in nursing education in 1949. Julia worked as a nursing instructor at White Cross Hospital and a nursing administrator at The Ohio State University Medical Center both in Columbus. She noted in her interview that the “University was always short of nurses.” In her administrative role she looked for ways to improve the shortage. Julia met Dr. Robert M. Wall in 1951 when her father was diagnosed with leukemia, and he was a resident who treated him. They soon married and eventually had four children. She sometimes assisted Dr. Wall with his studies of blood diseases in the Amish community. Julia left nursing in the late 1970s to pursue a successful career as a realtor.
Abe Hostetler (1920-2017) was raised in an ‘old order’ Amish community in the Plain City, Ohio, area. He left the order as an adult but continued working as a farmer. Blood diseases ran in his mother’s family, and she was a carrier. Initially Hostetler was treated for hemophilia. In the 1950s he was taken to The Ohio State University Medical Center for surgery after being injured in a car accident. Hostetler recalls in his interview that Dr. (Verne) Dodd, a surgeon, and Dr. (Charles) Doan, an expert in blood disorders, were able to bring him through the surgery with numerous blood transfusions. Dr. Robert Wall was a resident working with Dr. Doan and became interested in Hostetler’s case. Wall determined that rather than hemophilia Hostetler had a rare condition known as Christmas Disease that is distinguished by a lack of Factor 9 in the blood and causes hemorrhaging. Dr. Wall was his physician for many years and Hostetler recalls that Wall was always available to him. Wall went on to extensively study genetic blood diseases in the Amish community and collected blood samples from Hostetler’s close and distant relatives. Wall’s diagnosis and care helped Hostetler to live to be 97 years old.
The Julia Wall and Abe Hostetler Oral Histories Collection (0.25 linear feet) consists of audio and video recordings of interviews with Wall and Hostetler conducted by George W. Paulson, MD. The original files were transferred to digital video files by Mills James video productions for preservation in 2024.
Both interviews were recorded on January 24, 2006. Wall’s interview is 26 minutes long, while Hostetler’s interview runs for 38 minutes. While both interviewees discuss their own lives, they also share their memories of Robert M. Wall, MD.
The Robert M. Wall, MD Papers, Spec.201123.Wall, are part of the Medical Heritage Center archival collections.
This collection is arranged in two series:
Series I: Media (1 box) contains the original recordings on audio and mini digital video cassettes and access copies of the interviews on VHS cassettes.
Series II: Digital Materials (2 MP4 video files) contains digital video files of the interviews transferred from the mini digital video cassettes by Mills/James Productions in 2024.
The collection is open to the public and is available for viewing in the Medical Heritage Center. Digital materials that are part of this collection are not available online. Physical materials do not circulate and must be used in the supervised reading room.
Restrictions, including copyright, may exist and some materials may be too fragile to photocopy or digitize. The MHC charges for duplication services, which must be performed by staff.
[Identification of item], Julia Wall and Abe Hostetler Oral Histories Collection, SPEC.202424.WALLHOSTETLER, Medical Heritage Center, Health Sciences Library, The Ohio State University.