ISSN 1049-2259
Fall 2015 Vol. 27, No. 2
COVER STOR
A LOOK AT THE PAPERS OF KAREN BUHLER-WILKERSON
IN THIS EDITION CENTER NEWS 2015 FELLOWS FALL SEMINAR SERIES
Barbara Bates Center for The Study of The History of Nursing University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
The Barbara Bates Center for The Study of The History of Nursing was established in 1985 to encourage and facilitate historical scholarship on health care history and nursing in the United States. Part of the Center’s mission is to maintain resources for research to improve the quality and scope of historical scholarship on nursing, and to disseminate new knowledge on nursing history through educational programs, conferences, publications, seminars and inter-disciplinary collaboration.
News from the Center CYNTHIA CONNOLLY PARTICIPATES IN ONE BOOK, ONE PHILADELPHIA INITIATIVE
Current projects at the Center include studies of the role of nurses in health care, the history of hospitals, the forces shaping child health care delivery, the nursing workforce and the construction of nurses’ personal and professional lives. The Center also continues to collect, process, and catalogue an outstanding collection of primary historical materials. Center Hours are Monday through Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 PM. Scholars planning to conduct research at the Center should e-mail nhistory@nursing.upenn.edu or call 215-898-4502. Our Center staff will respond with a description of the scope and content of relevant materials in the various collections. Center Advisory Board Neville Strumpf, Chair Ellen D. Baer Susan Behrend Dorothy del Bueno Hannah Henderson Sandra Lewenson Joan Lynaugh Marian Matez Annemarie McAllister Vanessa Northington Gamble Richard J. Pinola Elise Pizzi Mark Frazier Lloyd (consultant) Gates Rhodes (consultant) Robert Aronowitz (consultant) Center Directors Julie Fairman, PhD, RN, FAAN, Director Patricia D’Antonio, PhD, RN, FAAN Associate Director Jean C. Whelan, PhD, RN,Assistant Director Joan E. Lynaugh, PhD, RN, FAAN, Director Emerita Center Fellows J. Margo Brooks-Carthon, PhD, CRNP Cynthia Connolly, PhD, RN, FAAN Patricia D’Antonio, PhD, RN, FAAN, Julie Solchaski, PhD, RN, FAAN, Ann Marie Walsh Brennan, PhD, RN Center Staff Jessica Clark, MA, Archivist Tiffany Collier, MA, Center Administrator Elisa Stroh, Research Assistant Ginny Cameron, Volunteer Thora Williams, Volunteer On the Cover: Karen Buhler-Wilkerson nursing student portrait, Emory University.
Cynthia Connolly participated in the One Book, One Philadelphia initiative that focused on the book Orphan Train (right)
It has been a busy year for Center Fellow Dr. Cynthia Connolly who participated in the One Book, One Philadelphia initiative as part of her role as Co-Faculty Director of the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice, and Research. Since 2003, the One Book, One Philadelphia campaign has been a city-wide initiative of the Office of the Mayor and the Free Library of Philadelphia to encourage and promote literacy and library use. The 2015 featured book, Orphan Train, was written by Christina Baker Kline and tells the fascinating story of an elderly widow who befriends a foster teen. The novel touches upon the historical Orphan Train Movement which predated standardized foster care in the US. Through her work with One Book, One Philadelphia, Cynthia took part in several key events, including a panel discussion entitled “The US Response to Throwaway Children: From Orphan Trains to the Current Migrant Crisis,” which was held at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and featured Chris James-Brown (CEO, Child Welfare League of America) and Howard Davidson (Director, American Bar Association’s Center on Children and the Law). The event, which also featured Christina Baker Kline, provided historical analysis and context on the present social crisis that has resulted from unaccompanied migrant children on US borders. Cynthia also interviewed Kline at the event.
BARBRA MANN WALL JOINS UVA FACULTY This fall former Bates Center Associate Director and Associate Professor in Nursing Dr. Barbra Mann Wall will be joining the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Nursing as the Thomas A. Saunders Professor in Nursing. She will also be the next Director of the Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry at UVA School of Nursing effective December 1, 2015. Barbra joined the Penn Nursing and Bates Center faculty in 2006 and prior to this she was an Associate Professor of Nursing at Purdue University. During her time at continued on next page
2|The Chronicle |Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing|www.nursing.upenn.edu/history
ble-for-our-most-vulnerable-children. html#Q1ZC4SAz1JdbAced.99. Alexander, K.A., Teitelman, A.M., Jemmott, L.S., & D’Antonio, P. (2015). Addressing sexual health behavior during emerging adulthood: Implications for research interventions and clinical practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 24(1-2), 4-18. Villarruel, A.M., & Fairman, J.A. (2015). The CANS IFAC: Good ideas that need to go further. Nursing Outlook, 63(4), 436–438.
(l to r) Dorrie Fontaine, Barbara Brodie, Barbra Mann Wall, and Arlene Keeling at the 2015 Agnes Dillon Randolph Award ceremony, Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry, UVA
Penn, Barbra was lauded for her teaching and her role as chair of the undergraduate curriculum committee where she led revision efforts. Barbra was an integral part of the Bates Center, serving as Co-Director of our fellowship program and leading advisor on global activities and efforts. In addition, she served as a mentor to Center doctoral students. We wish her the very best with this new chapter ahead!
GRANTS Dr. Julie Sochalski received a grant from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to study the “Impact of Granting Full Practice Authority to Nurse Practitioners in the Veterans Administration.” Several faculty members continue work on on-going grants. Dr. J. Margo Brooks Carthon continues working on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study entitled "Multilevel determinants of disparities in hospital readmissions among older minorities"and the National Institute of Nursing Research grant “Examining opportunity for participation in cancer clinical trials.”
Dr. Cynthia Connolly continues to work on the course development grant to develop an undergraduate nursing course on the Child Welfare System from the Netter Center for Community Partnerships Academically Based Community Service (ABCS). Dr. Julie Fairman continues work on American Nurse Anesthetist Association grant “An Econometric Analysis of the Impact of Anesthesia Delivery Models in California” with Kelly Wiltse. She also continues work on the $20 million RWJF Future of Nursing Scholars Program Grant. Dr. Jean Whelan continues work on the Benjamin & Mary Siddons Measey Foundation funded Colloquium Series, “Enduring Issues in American Health Care: New Dialogues for the Present Using the Past.”
PUBLICATIONS Connolly, C. A. (2015). Set aside ‘Little Orphan Annie.’ How do we really deal with unwanted kids? Philadelphia Inquirer, The public’s health (blog) http://www.philly.com/philly/ blogs/public_health/Who-is-responsi-
Fairman, J. & Collier, T. (2015) Il nursing negli Stati Uniti: Guardare avanti attraverso il passato In G. Rocco, C. Cipolla and A. Stievano (Eds.) La storia del nursing in Italia e nel contesto internazionale (517-531). Milan, Italy: Franco Angeli.
PRESENTATIONS Connolly, C. “’In whose best interest?:’ Children and drug policy in the United States.” Invited keynote speaker at the National Conference for Physician-Scholars in the Social Sciences and Humanities, April 2015. Philadelphia, PA. Connolly, C. “Orphan trains.” Invited Discussant at One Book, One Philadelphia, National Liberty Museum, February 2015. Philadelphia, PA. Connolly, C. “The history of the orphan trains.” Invited discussant at One Book, One Philadelphia, National Liberty Museum, March 2015. Philadelphia, PA. Connolly, C. “Historical responses to throwaway children in the United States.” Invited panelist at the Symposium on The US Response to Throwaway Children: From Orphan Trains to the Current Migrant Crisis, Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice, and Research, February 2015. Philadelphia, PA. D’Antonio, P. “Therapeutic landscapes: An interdisciplinary symposium continued on next page
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exploring their genesis, fate, and future.” University of Pennsylvania School of Design, April 2015. Philadelphia, PA. Fairman, J. “Combating disease and spreading expertise: interdisciplinary and transnational perspectives on the history of women and global public health.” Session Chair and Responder, American Historical Association, January 2015. New York, NY. Fairman, J. “Research evidence and policy-making in nursing education,” Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Innovations in Education in Nursing, National Conference, February 2015. Philadelphia, PA. Fairman, J. “Empowering women: Nursing and midwifery in the United States.” World Bank HRH Seminar on Nursing and Midwifery Enterprises for Empowering Women, March 2015. Washington, DC. Fairman, J. “NPs and current health policy: Opportunities and challenges.” Keynote speaker at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties National Conference, April 2015. Baltimore, MD. Fairman, J. “50 year history of the nurse practitioner: The past, present, and future.” Closing keynote speaker at American Association of Nurse Practitioners National Conference, June 2015. New Orleans, LA. Fairman, J. & Collier T. H. “How to archive your papers.” American Association of Nurse Practitioners National Conference, June 2015. New Orleans, LA. Mahoney, A.L. “Understanding the Roots of Professional Nursing: Nursing in late 19th Century Philadelphia.” Franklin Learning Center Senior Humanities Project Philadelphia, PA, March 2015. Mahoney, A.L. “’No finer spirit;’ Nursing Challenges and Opportunities at the U.S. Army 20th General Hospital, Assam, India, 1943-1945.” Barbara Bates Seminar in the History of Nursing University of Pennsylvania, April 2015. Philadelphia, PA.
Mahoney, A.L. “Mary Clymer: The Nurse in the Agnew Clinic.” American Association for the History of Medicine Conference, May 2015. New Haven, CT. Sochalski, J. “Shaping health policy leadership through doctoral education.” Integrating Health Policy into Doctoral Nursing Programs: Continuing the Conversation in 2015, sponsored by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of New Mexico Nursing and Health Policy Collaborative, January 2015. Coronado, CA. Sochalski, J. “Building and solidifying the academic policy voice for the profession.” Speaker at the AACN 3rd Annual Faculty Policy Intensive, March 2015. Washington, DC. Sochalski, J. “Why policy matters.” Keynote address at AACN 6th Annual Student Policy Summit, March, 2015. Washington, DC. Sochalski, J. “Assuring nursing’s voice in health policy.” Keynote address at Washington State Nurses Association Convention, April 2015. Seattle, WA. Sochalski, J. “The importance of ensuring the policy voice of the new graduate.” Keynote address at Nursing Students of Washington State 2015 Convention, April, 2015. Seattle, WA.
AWARDS Dr. Cynthia Connolly was awarded the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Patricia D’Antonio was awarded the Dean’s Award for Exemplary Citizenship from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing. Dr. Julie Sochalski was awarded the Anne Keane Teaching Award, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, 2015.
APPOINTMENTS AND OTHER NEWS Congratulations are in order for the Center’s two newest doctors. Briana Ralston defended her dissertation “ ‘ We were the Eyes and Ears . . .’: Nursing and the Development of Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the United States 1955-1982,” (Chair: Dr. Julie Fairman) on March 31, 2015. Katharine Smith’s dissertation, entitled “Both a College Woman and a Professional Nurse: College Women who Became Professional Nurses, 1890-1920” (chair: Dr. Patricia D’Antonio) was successfully defended on April 23, 2015. We wish Briana and Katharine the best with their professional careers! Dr. Patricia D’Antonio was appointed the Chair of the 2015 Search Committee for the Associate Dean of Practice and Community Engagement, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Julie Fairman was appointed Curriculum Consultant for CUNY’s Nursing PhD Program. Dr. Julie Fairman was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia College of Physicians. Dr. Julie Fairman was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Lehigh Valley Health Network, Department of Education, Allentown, PA. Dr. Julie Sochalski was appointed a Board Scholar, American Board of Family Medicine, The Robert Graham Center, Washington, D.C. Dr. Julie Sochalski was also appointed the Interim Associate Dean for Academic Programs at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing. Dr. Julie Sochalski took part in the congressional staff briefing, “Solving Today’s Pressing Healthcare Issues: Nursing’s Impact,” which was sponsored by AACN and the Nursing Community, Rayburn House Office Building, February 24, 2015. Washington, DC.
4|The Chronicle |Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing|www.nursing.upenn.edu/history
By Tiffany Hope Collier
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rchives are often underfunded and unappreciated, yet they form the building blocks of our collective stories and narratives. They shape our humanity and they preserve some semblance of objectivity, which remains critical for the recording of historical data. The Bates Center has the unique mission of archiving nursing and healthcare history. This mission was forged three decades ago by the Center’s three co-founders, Joan Lynaugh, Ellen D. Baer, and Karen Buhler-Wilkerson. The Center is privileged to have the opportunity to process and provide access to the papers of the Center’s co-founders. With these collections, we get a view into the lives of women who have been key figures in nursing. In this edition of The Chronicle, we begin a series looking at the archival collections of the Center’s co-founders. First up is the Karen Buhler-Wilkerson (1944-2010) collection, which spans the entirety of her life and career. The collection contains innumerable insights into how she became a leading and innovative nurse-historian. The Buhler-Wilkerson papers were processed in 2012 by current Center Archivist Jessica Clark and funded by the generosity of Neville Strumpf, whose papers are also housed at the Bates Center. The Buhler-Wilkerson collection, consisting of approximately 26 linear feet, is organized into 11 series which include correspondence, research documentation, photographs, artifacts, and awards. Series 1 and 9 of the Buhler-Wilkerson collection contains personal records culled from Karen’s life. There is extensive correspondence written by Karen to her parents (Ruth and John Buhler) when she was a student at Emory University. The letters provide a glimpse into the life of a budding scholar, one who was provisionally accepted into the nursing program, but would quickly excel at her studies, impressing her professors and fellow classmates. There are other familial and personal notes, letters, and photographs throughout these series that show Karen’s love for reading, the study of art, cooking, and walking. Like many of the Center’s faculty, Karen was an animal lover. There are fond recollections of her dog Polly and her cats. Karen wrote about the therapeutic benefits that animals provide to their owners based on her first-hand experiences. Overall, the personal recollections found in these series illustrate the importance of friendship and family to Karen’s life. These records also provide insight into Karen’s five-year battle with ovarian cancer. Much of the primary source material consists of first-person health reports that are summarized in her last published article, which was co-written by Neville Strumpf (see “Living with Cancer: Perspectives on a Five-Year Journey, Nursing Clinics, Volume 45, Issue 3). Series 2 contains information on Karen’s prolific academic career, beginning with early papers written on nursing’s role in shaping community health care. The series also has lecture notes from Karen’s studies as a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania. There is an outline for her dissertation which would go on to be published in 1990 as her second book False Dawn: The Rise and Decline of Public Health Nursing (Garland Publications). The book details the development of public health nursing as a form of philanthropy continued on next page Penn Nursing Science - Fall 2015, Vol. 27, No. 2
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Cover Story, continued in the late 19th century that evolved to be integrated into federal and state level health departments and education boards. In addition, False Dawn provides a look at how healthcare expanded post-WWI from primarily home-based care to hospitals and clinical settings. The next series in the BuhlerWilkerson collection contains the bulk of Karen’s professional career. There are extensive records from her teaching career, which included courses on public healthcare, history, and an innovative course on caring for patients with HIV and AIDS (N360). This series also highlights Karen’s work as a mentor and dissertation chair to many nursing historians, including the Center’s own Cynthia Connolly and Jean Whelan. In addition to records of her teaching, the Buhler-Wilkerson collection has much of Karen’s research compiled throughout her career. For example, there is invaluable survey data from the Visiting Nurse Association which Karen used most notably in her book No Place Like Home, which was published in 2001. The book was arguably the professional highlight to Karen’s career, garnering many awards and accolades, including the Lavinia L. Dock Award for Exemplary Historical Research and Writing from the American Association for the History of Nursing and the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for Nursing and Allied Health from the Association of American Publishers. The latter series in the collection highlight Karen’s leadership positions within Penn Nursing, most notably her role in co-founding and shaping the Center and in the formation of Living Independently for Elders (LIFE). These series are vital to understanding the importance of Karen’s advocacy for nursing history as instrumental to shaping curriculums, to enhancing cultural institutions, and to positioning the nursing profession as central to healthcare as a whole. Indeed, Karen’s work with Mary Naylor in establishing LIFE in 1998 has literally provided life-saving care to poor and neglected senior citizens in West Philadelphia. The Buhler-Wilkerson collection provides an insider’s view into the obstacles and adversities faced in the early stages of LIFE’s formation.
In addition to her work with LIFE, Karen held many important positions at the University of Pennsylvania. She served as Head of the Family/Community Health division at Penn Nursing. She was the Program Director for the Occupational and Community Health programs within the school’s graduate division, and of course, she was the Archivist and eventual Director
the Ellen D. Baer Reading Room adjacent to a conserved Metropolitan Nurse poster which once belonged to Karen. Another celebrated artistic exhibition that Karen was instrumental in creating was the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s “The Nightingale’s Song,” which featured historical prints, ephemera, and photographs from the Museum’s Ars
“DR. WILKERSON WAS A
PHENOMENAL LEADER WHOSE VISION WILL TRANSCEND TIME”
- AFAF MELEIS
of this Center. Karen’s role in shaping the work of the Bates Center continues to be felt in the present day. For instance, she had anticipated the burgeoning role of digitization in presenting nursing historical scholarship to global audiences. In 2006 she, along with Jean Whelan, was awarded a grant from the National Library of Medicine and a Research Foundation Award from the University of Pennsylvania to develop the website Nursing, History, and Healthcare (NHHC). The NHHC site (www.nursing.upenn.edu/nhhc) remains a comprehensive source for historical data on nursing and healthcare that includes articles from leading scholars and a full timeline that charts the development of nursing as a profession from 1700-2000. Since its launch the NHHC website has been a resource used by many educators who want to provide accessible content on nursing history to scholars. Beyond the NHHC site, Karen curated the Center’s celebrated Fabric Workshop collaborative exhibition “RN: The Past, Present and Future of the Nurses’ Uniform.” The exhibition was a deconstruction of the nursing uniform that explored how the nursing profession was defined by its attire. The Buhler-Wilkerson papers include a historical account of how the groundbreaking exhibition was conceptualized and funded. In a testament to the lasting impact of the exhibit, the Center proudly displays the RN badge in
Medica collection. “The Nightingale’s Song,” which was held in 2000, was arguably the largest event in the Center’s history and featured a gala reception. The exhibit also featured a published book and went on to receive national media recognition. “The Nightingale’s Song” remains a benchmark for artistic representations of the nursing profession. The story of Karen’s life and legacy is captured throughout her collection. If you are studying nursing’s history and the professionalization of healthcare, the Karen Buhler-Wilkerson papers provide rich primary source materials and topnotch research resources. To date, we have had several scholars from across the world who have come to the Center to research the Buhler-Wilkerson papers for projects on topics ranging from public health nursing to healthcare in the American South. As an archive dedicated to nursing history, the Bates Center works tirelessly to provide access to collections like the Buhler-Wilkerson papers. Our hope is that the Center archives further development of healthcare and policy and preserve nursing’s future.
For more information on how to conduct research at the Bates Center, please visit www.nursing.upenn.edu/history or search the collections at archivegrid.org
6|The Chronicle |Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing|www.nursing.upenn.edu/history
in memoriam: nadine landis
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adine Ruth Landis (HUP’40, ED’45, HON’85), 90, longtime advisory board member and supporter of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing passed away Saturday, January 31, 2015. Nadine was born May 8, 1924 in St. Marys, Pennsylvania and was the daughter of the late Walter W. and Laura Hathorn Landis. She was a graduate of St. Marys High School, Class of 1942. She later moved to Philadelphia in 1940 in order to attend the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Nadine would later attend the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She also received her Master’s Degree in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She was employed by the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as Assistant Director of Nursing and eventually became director of nursing administration. She also served as a Professor of Nursing at HUP and contributed to a book on the history of the school entitled First Fifty Years, Training School for Nursing, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 1886-1936 which was authored by Mary Virginia Stephenson. Nadine remained throughout her life a supporter of the HUP Alumni Association. In the 1980s, Nadine led efforts for the overseas deployment of Penn physicians. She also was one of the earliest supporters of the Center, serving on the inaugural advisory board beginning in 1985. In addition, Nadine was instrumental in obtaining many of the Center’s archival collections. Monetary donations in memory of Nadine Landis may be made to the Alumni Association, School of Nursing, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, PO Box 42018, Philadelphia, PA 19101, or to the Pinecrest Manor, 763 Johnsonburg Road, St. Marys, PA 15857.
Nadine Landis, 1946, Image courtesy of the HUP Alumni Association.
Correction: An earlier edition of this article stated that Nadine Landis was the author of the book First Fifty Years, Training School for Nursing, Hospital of the Universityof Pennsylvania, 1886-1936 instead of Mary Virginia Stephenson.
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2015 center fellows awarded The Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing is pleased to announce this year’s fellowship recipients: Lillian Brunner Fellowship for Historical Research in Nursing
Alice Fisher Society Fellowship for Historical Research in Nursing
Karen Buhler-Wilkerson Fellowship for Historical Research in Nursing
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Hafeeza Anchrum - Mercy Douglass Training School of Nurses Amanda L. Mahoney - China-BurmaIndia Theatre of World War II Kathleen Nishida - St. Luke’s College of Tokyo Briana Ralston - Early Neonatal Care Nursing Katharine Smith - College Women and Professional Nurses
UC San Francisco, School of Medicine Lisa Stern - A Study of the Historical and Social Construction of “Unintended Pregnancy” as a Medical and Public Health Problem
University of Maryland School of Public Health Marian Moser Jones - Sister Soldiers: How Great War Service Shaped a Generation of American Nurses University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus Dominique Tobbell - Educating Nurses: Knowledge, Politics, and the Making of the American Nursing Workforce after World War II
For over 20 years the Bates Center has offered fellowships and research awards of up to $5,000 to support historical research in nursing and health care. To learn more about fellowships at the Center, please visit www.nursing.upenn.edu/historyfellowships for more information.
center welcomes vanessa gamble as advisory board member
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he Bates Center is pleased to welcome Vanessa Northington Gamble, MD, PhD as the newest member of the advisory board. Vanessa is University Professor of Medical Humanities and Professor of Health Policy and American Studies at the George Washington University. She is the first woman and African American to hold this prestigious, endowed faculty position. She is also Professor of Health Policy in the Milken Institute School of Public Health and Professor of American Studies in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. Vanessa is Adjunct Professor of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Throughout her career Vanessa has worked to promote equity and justice in medicine and public health. For example, as a physician, scholar, and activist, she is an internationally recognized expert on the history of American medicine, racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care, public health ethics, and bioethics. She is the author of several widely acclaimed publications on the history of race and racism in American medicine and bioethics including Making a Place for Ourselves: The Black Hospital Movement, 1920-1945 (Oxford University Press) which was published in 1995 and featured a cover photo from the Center’s Mercy Douglass collection. Public service has been a hallmark of Vanessa’s career. She has served on many boards and chaired the committee that took the lead role in the successful campaign to obtain an apology in Vanessa Northington Gamble 1997 from President Clinton for the United States Public Health Syphilis Study at Tuskegee. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Hastings Center. A proud native of West Philadelphia, Vanessa received her B.A. from Hampshire College and her MD and PhD in the history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania. Welcome Vanessa!
8|The Chronicle |Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing|www.nursing.upenn.edu/history
2014 lillian brunner fellow report: Hafeeza anchrum
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he Mercy-Douglass Hospital Training School of Nurses was established in 1948 through the merging of Mercy Hospital and Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital. It was the premiere training school for black nurses in Philadelphia and graduated 520 students prior to its closing in the 1960’s. The merger eased the severe financial crisis of both medical facilities and enhanced their operational capacities to provide adequate and equitable healthcare services to black and white patients. The merger also provided training and professional opportunities for black nurses and physicians who were often denied entry into white training schools and medical institutions under the Jim Crow statutes.The historical significance of the Mercy-Douglass Hospital and School of Nursing is understood within the social and political context of the mid-20th century, in which Philadelphia and the nation was polarized by a divergence in con- “ U S I N G T H E NA RRAT I V E O F T H E M ERC Yventional ideologies DOUGLASS NURSES, I INTEND TO TELL THE about race, gender STORY OF “ORDINARY ” BLACK WOMEN, AND and class. Even more, TO B U I LD U P O N T H E EX I S T I N G B O D Y O F being black and a fe- LI T ERAT U RE A B O U T B LAC K WO M EN A N D male and a nurse was NURSES IN THE UNITED STATES.” considered a triple threat in the American social tier. Yet, their identity as black women nurses was not monolithic; but rather multifactorial, multifocal and diversely experienced. Hence, my research aims to explore the lived experiences of the Mercy-Douglass Training School nurses from 1948-1968, and to gain a better understanding of the multiplicity of their identities and roles within familial, Hafeeza Anchrum professional and community spaces. Until the emergence of black women studies in the late 20th century, the authoritative voice of black women was virtually silenced by black men and white women. While black feminist scholars have challenged black liberation politics, feminist theory and white scholarship, the stories of “ordinary” black nurses still lies buried underneath the stories of more “notable” black women. Certainly, the invisibility of black nurses in historical scholarship is a microcosm of the broader context by which social location governs the meaning and power of human story. Using the narrative of the Mercy-Douglass nurses, I intend to tell the story of “ordinary” black women, and to build upon the existing body of literature about the personal, social, and political histories of black women and nurses in the United States.
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The Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing gratefully acknowledges all of its supporters for their generosity DONORS JULY 1, 2014 - JUNE 30, 2015 Dr. Linda H. Aiken Dr. Ellen D. Baer and Henry P. Baer, Esq. Ms. Susan Baer Mrs. Ann D. Baiada and Mr. J Mark Baiada Ms. Susan B. Baird Ms. Holly Barrett Mr. Carl R. Baron Dr. Israel Bartal and Dr. Nira Bartal Barbara Bates, MD (estate) Miss Rita T. Beatty Mr. Daniel B. Behrend and Mrs. Susan Weiss Behrend Dr. Alice J. Baumgart Dr. Nettie Birnbach Dr. Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Dr. Geertje Boschma Dr. Barbara Brodie Solomon & Sylvia Bronstein Foundation Dr. Dorothy J. Del Bueno Mr. and Mrs. John C. Burnham Dr. Barbara Chamberlain Patricia A. Chamings Living Trust Ms. Patricia A. Chamings Ms. Pamela Frances Cipriano Ms. Marion L. Citta Mr. and Mrs. F. T. Curran Ms. Alicia J. Curtin Joseph C. D’Antonio, MD and Dr. Patricia O. D’Antonio, Mrs. Eleanor L. Davis and Mr. Harold M. Davis Dr. Lynore D. Desilets Episcopal Hospital Nurses Alumni Association Dr. Jonathan Erlen Dr. Claire M. Fagin and Mr. Samuel Fagin Dr. Julie S. Fairman, and Ronald M. Fairman, MD Ms. Patricia I. Fischer
Dr. M. Louise Fitzpatrick Ms. Marilyn E. Flood Ms. Shirley H. Fondiller Mrs. Sylvia Waltz Fuller Dr. Vanessa Northington Gamble, MD Dr. Barbara Gaines Gaines Family Charitable Gift Fund Ms. Kathleen F. Gender Ms. Carol L. Gross Dr. Gloria Hagopian Mr. Nathaniel Hamilton Mrs. Mary Claire Hamlin Ms. Donna E. Haney Dr. Laura Lucia Hayman and Mr. Richard L. Hayman Mrs. Beth Helwig Mr. John D. Holtz and Ms. Seana L. Holtz John & Seana Holtz Foundation Dr. Elaine C. Hubbard Mr. Vincent Hughes Ms. Sarah G. Jordan Ms. Arlene W. Keeling Ms. Willie E. Kelley Mrs. Mary Ellen Kenworthey Dr. Norma M. Lang Charles E. Letocha, MD Dr. Richard J. Lewenson and Dr. Sandra B. Lewenson Dr. Ruth Lubic and William J. Lubic, Esq. Dr. Joan E. Lynaugh Mr. Joel Lynaugh Dr. Diane J. Mancino Ms. Debra Mann Ms. Evelyn K. A. Massengale Mr. Jerome M. Matez and Mrs. Marian Bronstein Matez Dr. Annemarie McAllister Dr. Ruth McCorkle Mrs. Mary V. McDevitt Ms. Adrian S. Melissinos Dr. Andrew P. Mezey and Dr. Mathy Mezey James L. Mullen, MD and Mrs. Karyn Beason Mullen
Dr. Madeline Naegle Mr. John L. Parascandola Yvonne Paterson, Ph.D. Steven J. Peitzman, MD Mrs. Annette E. Penniman and Mr. Charles Penniman Mrs. Annette Marie Pettineo Dr. Robert V. Piemonte Mr. Charles P. Pizzi and Mrs. Elise Robinson Pizzi Ms. Susan S. Quinby Dr. Elizabeth A. Reedy Mr. Gates Rhodes and Mrs. Gail Jurikson-Rhodes Mr. Theodore R. Robb Milton D. Rossman, MD Mrs. Mary T. Sarnecky Mrs. Alice B. Savastio Ms. Carla Schissel Dr. Marianne Shaughnessy Ms. Mary L. Shea Ernest B. Spangler, Jr., MD and Mrs. Jean Martin Spangler Mrs. Beverly Peril Stern Dr. Marilyn R. Stringer Dr. Neville E. Strumpf Temple University Health System TUH - Northeastern Hospital School of Nursing Dr. Carole E. Torok-Huxtable Dr. Irene de Torre Dr. Marion Burns Tuck University of Miami Mr. Jose L. Uribe and Mrs. Jeannine M. Uribe Mrs. Norma J. Walgrove Dr. Barbra M. Wall Dr. Ann Marie Walsh Brennan Mrs. Mary McCormack Walton Dr. Jean C. Whelan and Mr. Mark Gilbert Mrs. Billie Jane Wiest and Mr. James Wiest Mrs. Donna J. Wojcik
The Bates Center thanks the University of Pennsylvania Archives and its director, Mark Frazier Lloyd, for their generous in-kind contributions of storage support
10|The Chronicle |Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing|www.nursing.upenn.edu/history
2015 Lillian Brunner fellow report: Amanda l. mahoney
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Amanda L. Mahoney
s a Brunner Fellow, I have been given support to continue work on my dissertation, “Careful and complete observation of the patient:” Nurses and the Sociotechnical System of Medical Research, 1940-1970.” This project examines how the work of nurses during the mid-twentieth century was critical to the success of medical research in U.S. hospitals both at the bedside and in “I AM CURRENTLY AT WORK ON A PAPER ON THE specialized research 335TH STATION HOSPITAL IN TAGAP, BURMA, A roles. Nurses were U.S. ARMY UNIT STAFFED ENTIRELY BY AFRICAN especially crucial at AMERICANS” this phase in the history of clinical trials as researchers sought to translate new scientific knowledge into viable patient therapies. Continuing with my interest in the work of nurses and the systems nurses adapt and develop for patient care, I am studying the role of nurses in the China Burma India theater of World War II. This April I presented my research at the Bates Seminar, focusing on the ingenuity of nurses at the U.S. Army 20th General Hospital in Assam, India, staffed primarily by nurses and physicians from the Hospital of The University of Pennsylvania. I also attended this year’s American Association for the History of Medicine conference in New Haven, Connecticut where I presented on Thomas Eakins’ 1889 painting The Agnew Clinic and Mary Clymer, the nurse featured prominently in the artwork. In addition I am currently at work on a paper on the 335th Station Hospital in Tagap, Burma, a U.S. Army unit staffed entirely by African Americans (including nurse graduates from Mercy Hospital in Philadelphia). I look forward to defending my dissertation in the near future.
2015 Lillian Brunner fellow report: kathleen nishida
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Kathleen Nishida
Penn Nursing Science - Fall 2015, Vol. 27, No. 2
y dissertation work is a some of my apprehension in conducting transnational study involvresearch in Japan as an outsider. ing Japan and the United The second shift came when I attended States that focuses on the development of a school “RATHER THAN BEING FEARF UL THAT MY WORK of nursing at St. M I G H T I NACC U RAT ELY REF LE C T JA PA N ES E Luke’s Interna- N U R S ES, I N OW R E CO G N I Z E T H AT I T W I LL tional Hospital SHED NEW LIGHT ON EVENTS THAT HAVE NOT in Tokyo during PREVIOUSLY BEEN EXAMINED” the interwar period. My initial discomfort with a conference where Setsu Shigematsu writing Japanese nursing history has presented on Transnational Feminism. Her evolved thanks to two things. paper suggested that an examination of The first shift in my thinking came power differentials would move scholarly through one of my mentors, Professor trends in the direction of equity and guide Eiichiro Azuma in Penn’s History Descholars in avoiding a narrative that is in partment, whose work focuses on the itself oppressive. Shigematsu’s provided experience of Japanese-American ima framework for much of my research. migrants and United States expansion in Rather than being fearful that my work the Pacific in the early twentieth century. might inaccurately reflect Japanese nurses, As an Americanist, Dr. Azuma highlights I now recognize that it will shed new light how the dominant perspective is rooted in on events that have not been previously U.S. geography, institutions, and archival examined. I know that it will be apprecimaterials. This perspective helped ease ated both in the United States and in Japan. 11
Barbara Bates Center for The Study of The History of Nursing
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Claire M. Fagin Hall (2U) 418 Curie Boulevard Philadelphia, PA 19104-4217 www.nursing.upenn.edu/history
CALENDAR The American Association for the History of Nursing (AAHN) and the University College Dublin School of Nursing Midwifery and Health Services are co-sponsoring the Association’s 32nd Annual Conference, September 17-20, 2015, in Dublin, Ireland. The conference provides a forum for researchers interested in sharing new scholarship that addresses events, issues, and topics pertinent to the history of the global nursing profession. Additional information about the conference can be obtained at www.aahn.org
health care, and science, as well as closely related topics, including, race, disabilities, sustainability, environment, technology and gender studies. Participants may propose individual papers or panels of several papers on a particular theme. The online submission form can be accessed at www.sahms.net. For further information about the meeting or SAHMS, please contact the SAHMS’ Program Chair, Prof. Philip Wilson. The deadline for submissions is Friday, October 30, 2015.
SAHMS Eighteenth Annual Meeting, The Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science (SAHMS) will hold its sixteenth annual meeting on March 1719, 2016, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Law. SAHMS welcomes papers for this meeting that discuss the history of medicine and science. This is broadly construed to encompass all fields and subfields historical, literary, anthropological, philosophical and sociological related to the historical understanding of any aspect of medicine,
The American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) 89th Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, April 28 to May 1, 2016. The American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) invites abstracts for papers in any area of medical history for its 89th annual meeting, to be held in Minneapolis, MN, April 28 to May 1, 2016. The AAHM welcomes papers on the history of health and healing; the history of medical ideas, practices, and institutions; and the history of illness, disease, or public health. Submissions pertaining to all eras
and regions of the world are welcome. Papers and panels that expand the horizons of medical history and engage related fields are particularly encouraged. In addition to single-paper proposals, the Program Committee, led by co-chairs Sarah Tracy (swtracy@ou.edu) and Scott Podolsky (scott_podolsky@hms.harvard. edu), encourages proposals for creatively structured panels and for luncheon workshops. Please contact one or both of the Program Committee co-chairs if you are planning a panel or workshop. ICOWHI 20th International Congress on Women’s Health 21st Biennial Congress, “Scale and Sustainability: Moving Women’s Health Forward,” will take place November 6-9, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. More information can be found at www.icowhi.org.
The Chronicle is published twice a year Editor and Designer: Tiffany Collier, MA Editorial Assistant: Elisa Stroh