Nursing History Primary Sources in Special Collections and University Archives
The following nursing archival collections are available at the Library of Health Sciences - Chicago Special Collections and University Archives. Interested in more? Click here for the full list of collections at the LHS-C. Interested in browsing all of UIC Library's manuscript collections? View a list here.
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Adele Heineman collection, 1908Adele Heineman, a Swedish American, taught nursing classes at St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago in the early 1900s. This collection consists of two postcards.
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Anne Zimmerman papersThe collection includes material from Anne Zimmerman's career in Montana, California, and Illinois, including her years at Loyola University in Chicago. It includes documents from her involvement with the California State Nurses Association (CSNA, now the CNA), the Illinois Nurses Association (INA), and her term as president of the American Nurses Association (ANA). The collection also contains materials donated by Dr. Geraldine Gorman to the MNHRC and added by them to the collection. The materials document the play "While We Are Here," a play about Zimmerman's life and achievements.
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Chicago Nursing Students CollectionThis collection holds small collections of nursing education materials from CCSN & ITSN students.
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Chicago School of Nursing, 1905-1929The Chicago School of Nursing was founded in 1899 by Dr. Orville Juan Perkins and incorporated in 1909. The school offered home study nursing courses and periodic examinations by mail. This collection consists of nursing correspondence course lessons and some realia.
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Chinese General Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Association, International (CGHNAAI) collection, 1986-2019The Chinese General Hospital School of Nursing was founded in 1932 in Manila, Philippines. Many of its graduates moved to the United States, and many to the Chicago area. Graduates met informally at picnics for a few years before deciding to establish a formal Alumni Association in 1986 for the alums who live abroad. The collection contains organizational records, including presidential records, for the Chinese General Hospital Nursing Alumni Association International and local chapters (CGHNAAI).
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Cook County School of Nursing, 1883-1981These records contain a range of materials related to and documenting the administration, faculty, and students of the school in addition to materials originating from the Illinois Training School for Nurses, the Cook County Hospital and Health Hospitals Governing Commission of Cook County, and the alumnae associations of both CCSN and ITSN.
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Ellenor T. Dolowy Papers, 1932-1957This collection contains a set of diaries kept by Ellenor Dolowy while she was district supervisor for the Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago. The diaries contain photographs and descriptions of the people visited by the VNA. [This collection is at the Daley Library.]
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Elsie C. Reese Lang's Cook County School of Nursing records, 1928-1980Elsie C. Reese Lang graduated from the Cook County School of Nursing in 1940. This collection documents aspects of her education and employment at the Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago.
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Frayn Garrick Utley papersThe Frayn Garrick Utley papers concern her work as Supervising Coordinator for Educational Programs at the Cook County School of Nursing. [This collection is at the Daley Library.]
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Illinois Association of School Nurses recordsThe Illinois Association of School Nurses' goals included the promotion of better school health programs and the welfare and further education of school nurses. Work of the association during the early years included pursuit of school-nurse certification, liability issues for school nurses, and retirement plans. The collection includes early organizational minutes, annual meeting minutes from 1957-2004, and Executive Committee/Board of Directors Meeting Minutes from 1959-2007.
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Illinois Training School for Nurses Collection, 1881-1980These records document the history of the school from its inception in 1880 until well after it ceased operation. The collection is divided into four series: Student Records, Administrative Records, Oversize Items, and Indexes.
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Medical Pamphlet and Ephemera Collection, 1851-1998A collection of miscellaneous pamphlets, catalogs, ephemera, reprints, and other material containing information on a variety of topics related to medicine, nursing, and pharmacy. Much of the material is related to Chicago or the state of Illinois.
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Michael Reese Hospital School of Nursing transcripts, 1893-1981Michael Reese Hospital was founded on the near south side of Chicago in 1881. From 1890 to 1981, the hospital operated a training program for nurses. The records include student applications for admission, academic records, and photographs. The collection is arranged into three series: “Enrolled Students,” “Withdrawn Students,” and “Deceased Students.” Please note that portions of this collection are restricted.
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Midwest Nursing Research Society, 1977-2000This collection contains records, correspondence, publications and other material produced by the members and officers of the Midwest Nursing Research Society.
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Myra E. Levine Nursing on Stamps, 1950-1980This collection is made up of approximately 550 nursing stamps issued by countries all over the world. In addition to such historical figures as Florence Nightingale, Santa Luisa de Marillac, Jeanne Mance, and Mary Aikenhead, the collection contains stamps depicting the idealized figure of the nurse, the Red Cross, hospital and nursing situations, wartime nursing health related topics, post cards and first day covers, etc.
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Nurse Faculty Research Development in the Midwest, 1978-1984The Nurse Faculty Research Development in the Midwest (NFRDM) is the precursor to the Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS). The MNRS promotes, disseminates and utilizes nursing research throughout the Midwest. This collection includes meeting minutes, reports, articles, research proposals, correspondence, questionnaires/results, newsletters, and other data relating to the administration of the NFRDM, including its transition from NFRDM to MNRS.
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Philippine Nurses Association of Illinois, 1957-2013This collection documents the activities of the Philippine Nurses Association of Illinois since its inception in 1957 and is organized into six series. The collection contains copies of the organization’s publications, event programs, presidential records, miscellaneous organizational material, and photographs.
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Visiting Nurse Association recordsThe Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago (VNA) was a service that provided assistance to patients inside their homes. The goal of the service was “for the benefit and assistance of those otherwise unable to secure skilled assistance in time of illness; to promote cleanliness and to teach proper care of the sick.” The service kept true to its goal, not only aiding Chicagoans in their homes, but also providing assistance through tragedies over the years. The records contain organization documents, correspondence, publications, photographs, newspaper clippings, annual reports, film reels, slides, and more focusing on the Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago.
University Archives
The University Archives contain records from the University of Illinois at Chicago and its predecessors. Below is a list of some but not all of the nursing records available in the University Archives. Interested in more from the University Archives? Search the holdings, or see A Guide to the UIC Archives for further research.
Administration
Office of the Dean - Administrative Files, 1955-1989
Office of the Dean - Curriculum Materials, 1949-1977
Historical Files, 1953-1983
Faculty Minutes, 1963-1983
Edna Anderson Files, 1963-1971
Helen Grace Papers, 1961-1982
Research and Graduate Studies
Concentration in Women's Health, 1970-2003
Department of General Nursing
Margaret Ellsworth Papers, 1948-1986
Beatrice Fisk Papers, 1904-1989, 1997
Department of Maternal-Child Nursing
Syllabi and related material, 1974-1994
Arlene Krieger Burroughs Papers, 1954-1979
Department of Public Health Nursing
Curriculum Materials, 1868-1974
Virginia Ohlson Papers, ca. 1920-2003
Nurse Scientist Program
Nurse Scientist Program, 1969-1976
Faculty Papers
Suzanne Feetham Papers, 1976-2002
Myra Levine Papers, ca.1960-1990s
Lillian Runnerstrom Papers, 1945-2004
Harriet H. Werley Papers, 1959-2002
Nursing History Books
To find more titles on nursing in the Library of Health Sciences - Chicago, search the University of Illinois at Chicago Library Catalog. Or make an appointment with a librarian.
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Black women in the nursing profession: a documentary history byCall Number: WY11 AA1 B627 1985Publication Date: 1985
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Black women in white : racial conflict and cooperation in the nursing profession, 1890-1950 byCall Number: WY11 AA1 H662b 1989Publication Date: 1989
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Capturing Nursing History by Call Number: RT31 .C37 2008ISBN: 9780826115669Publication Date: 2007-11-01Winner of the 2008 AJN Book of the Year Award Named an Outstanding Academic Title for 2008 byChoice This well written and well edited book fills a unique gap.... one of the] precious few books] that focus on science or medicine and one of] even fewer that cover the history of nursing."(Three Stars)--Doody's Book Review Service While there have been many research texts in the nursing literature, and nursing history is both taught in courses and of popular interest to practicing nurses, there has never been a hands-on text that describes the process of doing historical research in nursing. This book, contributed by well-known and respected nurse historians, provides the necessary direction, guidance, and examples needed to conduct historical research. It covers such topics as historiography, biographical research, using artifacts in historical research, doing archival and other data searches, doing international historical research, and locating funding sources for historical research. Case studies will be used throughout to illustrate various methods and describe how, why, when, and where historical research is used in nursing. Features of this edition: Provides direction and tools for conducting historical research Describes types of research, including biographical and oral histories Covers frameworks used to study historical events, such as social, political, feminist, intellectual, and cultural Addresses contemporary issues such as preserving and storing digitalized and tape-recorded data and obtaining institutional review board (IRB) approval for research, and addressing ethical and legal issues in historical research Includes case studies that provide a "how-to" guide to conducting research -
Early Black American leaders in nursing: architects for integration and equality byCall Number: WZ112.5 N8 D261e 1999Publication Date: 1999
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A history of nursing : the evolution of nursing systems from the earliest times to the foundation of the first English and American training schools for nurses byCall Number: WY N988h 1907Publication Date: 1907
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The history of St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing, Chicago byCall Number: WY19 M571h 1949Publication Date: 1949
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A history of the Illinois training school for nurses, 1880-1929 byCall Number: WY19 S382h 1930Publication Date: 1930
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No time for prejudice : a story of the integration of Negroes in nursing in the United States byCall Number: 610.7309 S798n 1961Publication Date: 1961
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The nurse : her natural history, duties and responsibilities, as an aid to the physician : being a lecture introductory to the course delivered in Hahnemann Medical College, for the session of 1866-7 byCall Number: WZ270 L943n 1866Publication Date: 1866
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Nursing and Nursing Education in the United States by Call Number: WY18 C734n 1923 Repr 1984ISBN: 0824065069Publication Date: 1984 -
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Nursing as an emerging profession : the letters of Amanda and Mary Shelton byCall Number: Thesis C775 1996Publication Date: Thesis (M.S. in nursing sciences)--University of Illinois at Chicago, 1996.
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Nursing ethics : for hospital and private use byCall Number: WY85 R631n 1928Publication Date: 1928, c1900.
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Nursing in Illinois : an assessment and a plan, 1968-1980 byCall Number: WY16 A13 I29nPublication Date: 1968
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The path we tread: Blacks in nursing, 1854-1984 byCall Number: WY11 AA1 C289p 1991Publication Date: 1991
