Children's Hospital of Philadelphia School of Nursing
Records, 1897-1987
MC 8

Extent:1.7 linear feet

Provenance: Erna Goulding

Access: Personal names in student files may not be cited.

Citation: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia School of Nursing Records, Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania

Sponsorship: This collection was processed with funds provided by the University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation.

Historical Sketch. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia first opened in 1855. It followed the lead of the Grand Ormand Street Hospital in England, which had pioneered the treatment of children separately from adults. The initial building, located at 408-420 Blight Street (now South Watts Street near Broad and Pine Streets), housed only twelve beds and served 67 patients in the first year.

Children's Hospital quickly outgrew its original building and briefly relocated in 1865 to the former Officers' Hospital at 11th Street and Columbia Avenue. Two years later the hospital moved to a new structure on 22nd Street below Walnut since the Columbia Avenue facility was too expensive to maintain. Children's Hospital remained on 22nd Street until 1916 when they moved again to 18th Street between Bainbridge and Fitzwater. This served as the hospital's home for much of its twentieth century history. In 1974, the hospital relocated to its current home in West Philadelphia, next to the University of Pennsylvania campus.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was one of the earliest pediatric hospitals to open a training school for nurses. The "Children's Hospital Ingersoll Training School for Nurses," named after Sarah Emlen Ingersoll, a Children's Hospital benefactor, opened in 1895. Under the direction of Edna Hogan, Superintendent, Elizabeth K. Hogan, Surgical Supervisor, and Rena S. Wood, Medical Supervisor, the school enrolled initially seven students under a two year program with an additional probationary period of three months. In 1916, the training program increased to three years to conform with the standard set by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nurse Examiners.

Beginning in 1916, Children's Hospital affiliated with Philadelphia General Hospital (adult medical and surgical nursing), Preston Retreat (obstetric nursing), and the Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia (public health nursing) to broaden their students training program. Later affiliations included Germantown Hospital (1921), the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel Institute (1922), Temple University (1930).

An Alumnae Association of Training School for Nurses of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was organized in 1914. The School of Nursing closed in 1945. Children's Hospital maintained an affiliate program in pediatric nursing with other schools of nursing in the Philadelphia area.

Summary. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia School of Nursing Records consists of 1.7 linear feet of materials relating mostly to the School of Nursing and to a lesser extent the hospital itself. It documents the role of and growth in training schools located within pediatric hospitals, especially during the early twentieth century. The collection is strong in portraying the growth of the hospital and the school, especially in the early twentieth century. The collection also includes student files from the beginning of the training school until 1922. Also included are photographs of graduating classes and other hospital sites.

Series Description. This collection has been arranged into three series:

Series I. Hospital, 1919-1987. This series consists of two brief histories by Arthur H. Lea (1933) about the hospital and a later history by Samuel X. Radbill (1987) about the Nursing Department. Also included are the 1919 bylaws of the Ladies' Visiting Committee.

Series II. School of Nursing, 1919-1946. The administrative records of the School of Nursing include school catalogs (1923-1942) profiling the schools programs and courses. The catalogs typically include several photographic images of the hospital and the school that provide a glimpse at the clinical and social life of the students. Several catalogs also include drawings of the hospital complex at 18th and Fitzwater Streets as it evolved. A "teacher's class book" for 1928 is included within this series that provides rich descriptive data about the courses attended by each student daily with comments about the students performance and actions. Also included is a yearbook of the Class of 1940, a variety of Committee Minutes (1939-1944); and some miscellaneous papers.

Series III. Student Records, 1897-1922. This series is by far the most important consisting of two ledgers books of student files ranging in date from 1897 to 1922. Although brittle, these two volumes provide the records of individual students indicating name, address, age, dates of entrance and graduation, and evaluations of the students' character and work. Letters formerly interfiled in the volumes have been removed for preservation purposes and now follow the volumes in alphabetical order by the name of the student. These letters, dating from the turn of the century to through the 1940s, concern certification of graduates and recommendations for nursing positions.

Series IV. Alumnae Association of the Training School for Nurses, 1919-1946. This small series includes the charter and by-laws of the Alumnae Association and the Association's bulletin for 1946.

Series V. Photographs, 1921-1960. This series contains formal class portraits from 1921 until 1945. Also included is a 1960 photograph of the hospital's volunteer program and several exterior images from the 1950s of the 18th and Fitzwater facility. Other photographic images can be found within the school's published catalogs in Series II. For casual snapshots of CHOP nurses (1942-1945) see the Jean L. Mahoney photographsin the Center's small collections, accession #1995-2.

Series I. Hospital, 1919-1987
Box 1

f.1 Lea, Arthur H., History of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 1933
f.2 Radbill, Samuel X. MD, "The Nursing Department," 1987
f.3 Ladies' Visiting Committee, Bylaws, 1919

Series II. School of Nursing, 1919-1946
f.1 Catalogs, 1923-1942
f.2 Teacher's Class Book, Class of 1928
f.3 Yearbook, 1940

f.4 January, 1939, March-June, 1942
f.5 July-October, 1942
f.6 January-June, 1943
f.7 July-November, 1943
f.8 January-June, 1944
f.9 July-December, 1944
f.10 Miscellaneous Papers, 1939-1955

Series III. Student Records, 1897-1922
f.1 Student Files 1897-1919
f.2 Student Files 1912-1922

Box 2

f.3 Avery, Jane Eliza
f.4 Ash, (Brown) Margaret
f.5 Barrett, (Miller) Helen
f.6 Brubaker, Elizabeth
f.7 Clarke, Bluebell F.
f.8 Cole, Mae
f.9 Cople, (Robinson) Edna
f.10 Cottul, Mary W.
f.11 Cunningham, Clara H.
f.12 Darnell, Helen
f.13 Diel, Mary Caroline
f.14 Eddy, Sylvia
f.15 Fales, (Naughton) Mabel
f.16 Fenwick, Gladys M.
f.17 Ferguson, (Gibb) Ethel
f.18 Fisher, Ethel
f.19 Gilchrist, (White) Ethel
f.20 Glover, Myrtle
f.21 Gruener, (Eberhardt) Amelia
f.22 Gunn,(McGrail) Rosetta
f.23 Hafe, (Brown) Helen
f.24 Haggy, Nettie E.
f.25 Hallman, (Ott) Kathryn
f.26 Hamilton, (Vrooman) Pauline
f.27 Hammond, Charlotte
f.28 Hanson, (Painter) Gertrude
f.29 Hayllar, Lucy
f.30 Heck, Dorothy Filbet
f.30a Herting, (Grauf) Carrie
f.31 Hidlay, Lillian
f.32 Hill, (Mitchell) Hannah
f.33 Hughes, Alice
f.34 Jacoby, Estella M.
f.35 Kift, Harriet C.
f.36 Knox, Amy
f.37 Leith, Dorothy J.
f.37a Licthe, Margretha
f.38 Lynch, (Moffet) Elizabeth
f.39 MacDonald, Emma
f.40 MacDonald, (Kitting) Mary
f.41 MacNeil, Lillian F.
f.42 Manby, Bessie
f.43 McCoy, (Riddle) Anna
f.44 McFarland, Katharine
f.45 Michael, (Tait) Beatrice
f.46 Murray, Mabel Grace
f.47 O'Connell, (Blanchard) Glea
f.48 Pangborn, (Boss) Clara
f.49 Patrick, Henrietta B.
f.50 Plumb, (MacConnell) Clara
f.51 Potts, E. Alevilda
f.52 Purchase, (Lintner) Juanita
f.53 Rung, Dorothy R.
f.54 Sanderson, Elizabeth
f.55 Sentman, Mabel B.
f.56 Servais, (Van Sciver) Margaret
f.57 Stryke, (Taylor) Josie
f.58 Thompson, Ethel Ruth
f.59 Tussey, Lillian M.
f.60 Van Sciver, Jessie F.
f.61 Wharton, (Wagner) Grace
f.62 Williamson, (Brown) Frances

Series IV. Alumnae Association of the Training School for Nurses, 1919-1946
f.1 By-laws and Charters, 1919
f.2 Alumnae Association Bulletins, 1946

Box 3
Series V. Photographs, 1921-1960

p.1 Class of 1921
p.2 Class of 1923
p.3 Class of 1924
p.4 Class of 1925
p.5 Class of 1926
p.5.1 Class of 1926
p.6 Class of 1927
p.7 Class of 1928
p.7.1 Class of 1928
p.8 Class of 1929
p.9 Class of 1930
p.10 Class of 1931
p.10.1 Class of 1931
p.11 Class of 1932
p.11.1 Class of 1932
p.12 Class of 1933
p.12.1 Class of 1933
p.13 Class of 1933
p.14 Class of 1934
p.14.1 Class of 1934
p.15 Class of 1935
p.15.1 Class of 1935
p.16 Class of 1936
p.16.1 Class of 1936
p.17 Class of 1937
p.17.1 Class of 1937
p.18 Class of 1938
p.19 Class of 1939
p.20 Class of 1939
p.21 Class of 1940
p.22 Class of 1941
p.23 Class of 1941
p.24 Class of 1942
p.24a Class of 1945 (last graduating class)
(R-L= Pearl Ziegler, Ruth Lowe Billet, Mary Lee DeHaas, Elaine
Prassas, Jane Ziegler, Jean Worley Mahoney, Florence Evangelista, Regina Palenchar.)
p.25 Volunteer Program, 1960

p.26 Out Patient Clinic, ca. 1950s
p.27 Gate Entrance, ca. 1950s
p.28 Hospital, ca. 1950s
p.29 Hospital, ca. 1950s

Series III. Student Records, 1926--1946

f.63 Armentrout, Gertrude Mae

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