The Museum of Nursing History, Inc.

01/17/2023

Another part of the donation from the collection of Caroline P. Henry was her nursing school pins. She graduated in 1946 from St. Luke's and Children's Medical Center, Franklin & Thompson Streets in Philadelphia. The Museum has their May 31, 1946 annual report, which is the year she graduated with 26 other students. The school of nursing received new furniture in the living room and had a dance at the Warwick Hotel and a glee club.
Take note of the skull attachment to the St Luke's pin. It has a 1946 on the forehead. The second pin is for the combined school of St. Luke's and Children's Medical Center, which combined two hospitals into one.

01/12/2023

We received this beautiful collection of service pins for years worked given to Caroline P. Henry, a nurse who worked for West Jersey Hospital (now Virtua) from 1970 to 1994 on the detox unit on Mt. Ephraim Avenue in Camden. She would have witnessed the arrival of drugs-heroin, co***ne, crack and would have been in the midst of the HIV epidemic when it hit. And she stayed in her position well into her 60s.
Do you know what the different color stones stood for? Top left is purple, center is yellow, left is 4 blue stones, and the large round one says 10 years and has 2 diamonds on it( it was pointed out that this might be a Weight Watchers pin). Were these semi-precious stones? They could also be worn on a necklace.
Do they still award nurses with pins? Did you receive a pin for service?

12/30/2022

We have a follower asking about this photo from a Philadelphia School of Nursing. Can anyone recognize her cap so we can tell where she went to school?

12/19/2022

The Museum has a lovely collection of nursing pins but I had to show you this nursing pin. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to our followers. Happy 2023 and pray for health for all.
If you have a nursing holiday pin, please add to this post.

12/09/2022

I missed the remembrance of December 7, 1941 but wanted to post these pictures donated by the family of Thelma Appelt. She served at Pearl Harbor in 1944 and 1945 and saved a scrapbook of pictures. Here are a few of her at work as a Navy nurse.

12/02/2022

We received two donations of beautiful nursing pins. Each has interesting points about them if you look up some points. Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in MA was established in 1913 based on the model of Johns Hopkins and became one of the largest medical complexes in the world-with the help of the nurses who studied and worked there. The second pin has the Old Man of the Mountain at the center. This natural wonder was a symbol of two indigenous tribes in New Hampshire. It fell in 2003 but remains a symbol of the state and is captured here in this nursing pin. Graduation pictures of the 1940s and 1950s show the nursing pin worn at the close of the collar. Where is your nursing pin in your graduation picture?

11/11/2022

Celebrating the brave nurses who fought with the soldiers to restore their health. We salute all nurses who served in our military. Please feel free to add your name or the names of other nurses who served. And we include the Cadet Nurse Corps who joined to help ease the nursing shortage during WWII.

09/30/2022

Received this lovely cap from Temple University 1978. It is in great shape. And tucked in with it was this Nurses Unit list. Did you use a system like this for your unit? Or was this for one nurse? Looks like she had a lot of patients to take care of and there is bed 1 and bed 2. I think it is from Temple Hospital in Philadelphia also. What does IMA stand for under the column of the room number? I covered the names of the patients for privacy.

09/07/2022

Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization (Seattle)

Visited this website today to learn of about a nurses' group named after the first trained African-American nurse in the USA. Read their story and understand why it is important to know nursing's history in order to make nursing more inclusive and diverse.

On July 9, 1949, there were 13 African American registered nurses in Seattle and it was on this day that they were called together at the home of Anne Foy Baker to form the Mary Mahoney Registered Nurses Club (later known as the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Association, and presently as the Mary...

07/31/2022

How Florence Nightingale Changed Data Visualization Forever

Check out this story about Florence Nightingale's data visualization. She did more than guide nurses on patient care. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-florence-nightingale-changed-data-visualization-forever/

The celebrated nurse improved public health through her groundbreaking use of graphic storytelling

07/17/2022

Here is the cap of the donor of the bobby pins and tissue. So many interesting stories from all of you about putting on the cap. I wonder if the bald spot would have been avoided if nurses worked 3 days instead of 5 days-yet the 3-day shifts are longer. This donor graduated from Temple University in 1978 with a BSN, one of the few BSN programs in the Philadelphia area. The school was called the Allied Health School. The cap was worn daily and stored in a locker at the hospital in the case. In the center of the cap, you can barely see the label that was used to hold the cap onto the tissue. Thank you to our donor.

07/16/2022

Here is the picture of part of a donation we received. Can you tell what it is and what it was used for?

07/13/2022

Did you use this I & O card? This card was found in the donation of a 1960s graduate's fundamentals book. Where was this card kept? Did the nurse carry it and toss it at the end of the day? Was there a Cardex to hold it? I wonder what the diagnosis for this client was.

07/11/2022

Alice B. Shepherd Obituary

Celebrating the life of a nurse: Alice B. Shepherd, graduate of Gwynedd Mercy School of Nursing. She pursued her MSN also as she rose up the ladder of leadership. https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/25230560/alice-b-shepherd

Share Memories & Support the Family.

06/23/2022

The Museum would like to thank the nurse volunteers from Sigma, Kappa Delta Chapter, for helping to archive donations received. They worked with us for 3 hours. We are grateful for their dedication to preserving nursing history.

05/12/2022

During this 2022 Celebration of Nurses' Week, enjoy these pictures of two uniforms-one from 1892 and the other from 1967. You can see how nursing's image has changed. The oldest uniform was donated by the Rhode Island Hospital School of Nursing, the alumni group preserved a variety of uniforms. Now, the alum are disbanding the group but they wanted to maintain their history. The Museum accepted around 11 uniforms with pictures, caps, and even shoes. Maintaining a museum this takes money to properly archive materials. If you can spare a donation to the Museum, we use the money to purchase archival items to maintain these nursing items and to keep them organized. We are an all volunteer organization and a 501c3. Unfortunately, at this time, you must send a bank check or money order to the Museum-we are not able to accept electronic donations at this time. Our website says paypal but it is not currently working. Send your donations to: Museum of Nursing History, Inc. at La Salle University, 1900 West Olney Avenue, Philadelphia, PA. 19141 to allow us to continue to accept and preserve nursing items. Our nursing work is meaningful and deserves to be remembered and on display. Your generosity will be acknowledged with a receipt and a letter from the Museum. Thank you.

05/10/2022

Celebrating Men in Nursing with these pictures from the 1950s in New Jersey. Our donor, in first picture, middle of the picture in the back, a man, graduated from Jersey City Hospital Medical Center School of Nursing in September 1954. This procession was in June 1954 so it might have been a capping ceremony for a younger class. The following pictures are for the class of 1955 and 1956. There seem to be 3 men in each class so perhaps there was a limit. He took a picture of his room. Did you have any men in your nursing class? When and where did you graduate?

05/08/2022

As we continue to celebrate Nurses' Month, first we have a diploma from 1912, found in the attic of a home in Philadelphia. The new owners donated the Hurst items to our Museum. Alice Hurst graduated from Methodist Episcopal Hospital at 2301 South Broad. She was 29 years old and in the 1920 Census, she was living on the grounds of the hospital as a working nurse. Then, we have her RN license. Next we have sisters who came from Canada to Philadelphia's The American Hospital for Diseases of the Stomach. Phyllis was 24 years old when she graduated and went on to work at Girard College as a school nurse. The gold seals are embossed with state or hospital seals. The American Stomach Hospital clearly says diploma. They are also very decorative. Do you know where your diploma is? Do you display it?

05/04/2022

Did someone make you a remembrance for your nursing school graduation? This was donated to the Museum, which is located on the Germantown Hospital and Dispensary grounds. The blue and white background is the student uniform. The invitation is from May 11, 1939. There is a name pin and the school of nursing pin-which changed years later. Tell us about your mementos from school.

05/03/2022

Happy Nurses' Week. Celebrate our profession every day but especially this week. Enjoy these first cover stamps donated to our Museum to honor nurses in the USA and other countries as well. These first covers are from 1955 and 1961. Time for the Post Office to dedicate new stamps to the Nurses who fought COVID-19 for these past endless months and years. What images do you suggest are put on a stamp to honor nurses?

04/19/2022

What do you think of the uniform of these Boston District Nurses in the early 1900s? Some have a black string around their necks. They carried the nurse's bag with a list of supplies including thermometers, gauze, flannel bandages and other items. What else do you notice? Thank you to the donor who sent us this photograph.

04/10/2022

Home | Museum of Nursing History

Please visit our website https://nursinghistory.org/ and access more stories about nurses and our Museum. All issues have been fixed. Enjoy!

Welcome to the Museum of Nursing History. The museum is located at La Salle University in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania in the St. Benilde tower.

04/08/2022

This cloth piece was donated to the Museum with other pieces of a 1940's nurse's OR uniform (hair cap, mask, scrub dress). The band does say OR. How do you think someone wore this? Over their hair? Folded into a mask? The thin strings are also present as well as the thicker ties. The thin strings do not pull to close anything so do they wrap around the head? How was it worn? What was it for?

03/16/2022

We received a beautiful collection of items used by Carrie Gammel Radnik (1919-2012) from WWII. She graduated with a diploma from Touro Infirmary in New Orleans in 1940 and joined the U.S. Army, when the U.S. went to war. She and a friend were stationed in New Guinea. This is her nursing school pin-the Oak tree is front and center-perhaps symbolizing strength. You can see more pictures and hear her oral history (scroll down) at https://gateway.uncg.edu/islandora/object/wvhp%3AWV0269 Thank you for your service, Carrie.

03/07/2022

Seems in the pre-war 1940s, uniform companies offered a variety of fabrics for nurses. The styles have a lot of details: ruching, pockets, buttons. This pamphlet on uniforms was tucked in the book of a senior nursing student who graduated in 1940. Maybe she was contemplating her need for working uniforms. Note some of the descriptions of the fabric-the price rises as you go further down the list. Have you heard of some of these fabrics?

02/15/2022

Found these beautiful dedications in two books-from the Pennsylvania State Nurses' Association donation that arrived today. The first from a 1923 book, "Practical Dietetics: Diets in Health and Disease" and the second from, "American Women of Nursing" from 1947. They are fitting today also.

02/02/2022

Mishaps & Memories of a Student Nurse 1966-69.

One of our fellow nurses has graciously shared her youtube video on nursing school in the late 1960s. Thank you, Sandy, your video is full of details of the life of a diploma student nurse in 1966-1969. Our oral histories are so interesting and tell about the times in society as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALPGgzhJdZQ

What was it like to go to nursing school in the late '60s? Sandy Over 70 takes you back to that time with stories of her adventures.Facebook: https://www.fac...

02/01/2022

Read this letter from a collection of student letters of acceptance to Hahnemann Hospital School of Nursing in 1964. They require a letter from a guidance counselor and a science teacher. They also require a Nurse Aptitude Test which was 5 hours long ! Did you take that test in the 1960s? Did you get a similar letter inviting you to visit the school of nursing? Tell us about your pre-nursing school paperwork and actions.

01/24/2022

Found this handwritten note by a student nurse in 1943 about why a person enters the hospital the day before surgery. It is from a 1943 PGH Nursing procedures handbook. We no longer have this -do you think people are affected by it? Or is it cost saving? Of course, during this pandemic, many elective surgeries are cancelled.

01/02/2022

Happy New Year-2022 to all of our donors and followers. We are so happy for your support and hope you will come to visit us this year. Stay healthy and be happy. Work together. We can get through this pandemic time as we have gotten through difficult times of war and other diseases. Happy 2022!

12/22/2021

Happy Holidays to all nurses who are working during this pandemic in all places where nurses are. May 2022 be a healthier and happier year all over the world.
Please note: The Museum is now closed while La Salle University Campus is closed for the winter break. Please do not consider visiting until after January 3, 2022.

12/21/2021

We received a nurse's candy striper pin and the ribbons she earned in high school. I think the candy striper pin is for 500 hours of volunteering. She went on to become a nurse educator and earned her PhD but you can see how much she worked in the hospital before nursing school. Another donor sent the Candy stripers book by Lee Wyndham. It was written about the Philadelphia area experience. Were any of you candy stripers? Did you enter this volunteer service to learn more about nursing? I did not read the book so I am not sure how it ends-does the girl enter nursing?

12/16/2021

Just wanted to bring this to your attention. This group is trying to get the Cadet Nurses credit for serving. See below.

12/15/2021

The saga of finding skulls in nursing pins continues with this donation of a perfect pin from the niece of a 1928 graduate of Philadelphia General Hospital (PGH) School of Nursing. I consulted the Double Frills book on PGH history and on page 47 the author states that the double frill cap remained the same but "The graduate pin was a different matter. Each class had designed its own with varying results. One particularly gruesome one was a skull with gleaming eyes." This pin does not have gleaming eyes and I cannot tell if they were there and fell they fell out but that answers the question that the pin does belong to the school of nursing as stated by the families. Enjoy this picture of our new donation. The class year is suspended from a fine chain and there are 10 pearls. This large class of 85 students graduated before the Great Depression (1929).

12/11/2021

We received a generous donation of books from the PSNA in Harrisburg. Thank you to Betsy Snook and Kelley Richwine for coordinating with us. The Museum received 9 boxes of books. I have only seen a few but one interesting book is an oral history by Kathryn Grove, who was executive director of the Pennsylvania Nurses Association from 1968-1984. The Museum has a cap case named after her. Here is a picture of Kelley and some of the boxes we received.

12/07/2021

gateway.uncg.edu

In memory of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, listen to this oral history of nurse Carrie Gammel Radnik, who served in the Pacific Theater in New Guinea in 1943-1944. On this website, there are pictures of her in the service and she tells the story (1 hour) of how she chose nursing and her service in World War II. The Museum will be receiving her nursing items donated by her daughter and we are truly appreciative of Carrie's service and we thank her family for saving nursing history and passing on her pin, cape, caps, photographs to the Museum. Visit: https://gateway.uncg.edu/islandora/object/wvhp%3A9459 Please note there are terms that were used in the past that are no longer acceptable.

11/28/2021

Please support the Museum of Nursing History, Inc. through Amazon Shopping: We are excited to announce that there is a new way to support the museum in its efforts! Thanks to an initiative through Amazon, our supporters can:
Visit Amazon using the link below
Shop and complete your purchases like you normally would
Help benefit the museum at no additional cost to you
AmazonSmile and Museum of Nursing History link:… See more
Support Museum of Nursing History by shopping at AmazonSmile.
SMILE.AMAZON.COM
Support Museum of Nursing History by shopping at AmazonSmile.
When you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate to Museum of Nursing History. Support us every time you shop. Every dollar donated helps support our efforts to keep donated items safe from dust, mold, and insects.

11/22/2021

We received another donation of a skull and crossbones ring instead of a pin. The initials BKS are inside but no year. The donor tells us it belonged to her great aunt, Belle Katherine Smith but other details of where she went to nursing school are unknown. The wear on the ring shows the owner was proud of what represented and wore it a lot. There is a Belle K. Smith listed in Base Hospital #85 in World War I. Her name is listed as a passenger on a US Army Transport and the donor gave a picture of her in her Army uniform. She would have been 35 when she served the soldiers in France as an Army nurse. The question of the skull and crossbones continues.

11/18/2021

This is a beautiful pin from a donor whose grandmother wore this nursing pin. It is a skull and crossbones with the year 31 in the mouth. The lamp of knowledge is attached on a fine chain. There are pearls around the edge. The BH stands for Bellevue Hospital where she graduated. The nurse entered WWII and served in the Army Nursing Corps in a MASH Unit. She participated in caring for wounded soldiers from the Battle of the Bulge and the D-Day Invasion. She also won a Blackbottom Dance Contest in the 1920s. I am not sure of the significance of the Skull and Crossbones since it is not the usual pin of Bellevue, which has a stork on it. Does anyone know the history of this pin?

11/10/2021

The Museum received this beautiful cap from Peter Bent Brigham Hospital School of Nursing. The donor, whose grandmother graduated from Lankenau Hospital in 1934, reports that the cap was designed by Carrie M. Hall so that she could carry her cap in her Bible. Check out these links to learn more about Ms. Hall's illustrious work as first superintendent of this hospital and as the Chief Nurse of the Red Cross in England in WWI-also known as the Harvard Unit. Library of Congress photo https://www.loc.gov/item/2017675641/ You can learn more about her work in the PBBH and see her picture if you visit this website. Scroll down to click on and read the history of the hospital-if you click on page 18 and 19 (of the actual number of book pages-not the pdf numbering) you will see a spoof on some of the regulations for the students. Nurses are funny people. https://www.pbbsonalumni.org/History