FaU 1990 Vo13 No 1
ISSN 1049-2259
BERTHA MAUDE ASPER SIEGRIST:
NURSING AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY Jack Siegrist could not think of a better way to honor Bertha Maude Asper Siegrist, his morher, Ihan to include her in nursing history literature . /-lis oral history do cumentation of iJ.er life gives us ajirsl-hana account of tu rn-of ille-century New Yo rk City nursing and. in hi.r words , of a " ...gallant and marvelous woman who took nursing very seriously." Asper's tape recorded recollec tions take us back 10 a lime when professiolla l rol s were ffl(J re sharply def ined by gender. Many early 20th cen tury suburban and rural women contin ued their roles as carewkers with their steady migration into major ea t ern cilies in search of a nursing career. These women received the "w sl advanced training if the time , although it varied greatly in qll(llity from .'chool 10 school. It should nOI go unrecognized, however, Ihat much of these women's lime was taken up in unpaid labor for the hospitals in the form of on-Ihe -job training . For Maude Asper, these circumstances did not diminish her love for her profession. NUT. ing was 'lOt only her vo cation , but a source of grem pleasure and pride throughout her lo ng lIfe. Story telling in MOlilclair. ca. 1967. Editor On Christmas aft m on, 1967, per hed on her Victorian sofa in Monlclair, my 5 year old mother told her grandchildren how il was Lo be a nurse in lhe early years of the ccntury. Not at all intimidated by my lape rccorder, she announced merrily, ''I'm an an lique on an antique." Adams County Farming to Friends Hospital for tlle Insane Maude Asp r wa. ooe o f 10 children in a Pen nsyl vania Adam COUnty farm fam il y. Aftcr fulfill ing care-taking d uties of her younger siblings , Asper le ft home in th Springtim of 1901 allhe age of 19 for The Training School for N urses of Friends Asylum for thl! l nsillle. currently the Friends Hospital in Philadelphia. She had easily p rsuaded her stem father to let her go lO the big CilY. "You kno w," she said, "I was one of the prettiest girls in Adam Coun ty, and a married man was after me!" With a 6th grade ed uca tion in a one room school house and a kind disposition, Asper exciled ly began her in tru tion at Friends. Red Sores and Cooking Friends Asylum for the Insane devo ted twelv weeks to instruction in bandaging and the application of mi nor surgical dressings, twenty weeks to the theory and p ractice of massage, and twelve weeks 10 cooki ng training in their modem kitchen filled with gas stoves. Friends noted its pride in thi "... important auxiliary ...usuall y UNIVERSITY Of PENNSYLVA fA neglected in general training schools" in their 99th Annual Report of Friends lIospi tal. T hroughout the term, each nurse was also required to " ...lake the course in SOIOOL or NURSING physical training in the well equipped gymnasi um where lhe modern methods in physical culture are taught." On-lhe-job training fo Uowed lhe courses. Nurses in training managed help less and bedridden patients; made beds , moved and changed bed and body linen; prevenled
Center for The Study of The History ofNur ing
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