Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia
Records, 1855-1987
MC 5

Extent:23.8 linear feet, 3 oversized map folders

Provenance:Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia

Access:This collection is unrestricted.

Citation:Visiting Nurses Society of Philadelphia Records, Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania

Historical Sketch. On March 2, 1886, a group of Philadelphia women gathered to establish an organization to give nursing care to the sick in their homes. They named it the District Nurse Society after a system employed in Britain. Mrs. William Furness Jenks, founder of the organization (renamed Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia in 1887) recalled that "No one had ever heard of such a thing as nursing the sick poor except in hospitals." Only Buffalo and Boston preceded Philadelphia in bringing this innovation to the United States. Mrs. Jenks envisioned a voluntary organization which would assist the contagiously and chronically ill who were turned away from institutions or who needed additional help during childbirth. Churches, relief organizations, and individuals contributed food, clothing, bed linens, and money to the organization which made 380 home visits in its first year.

Most of these visits were to run-down areas which housed the city's workers. Many were immigrants from Europe and blacks from the rural South. Typhoid and diphtheria were common among the poor. Tuberculosis, the "great white plague," reached epidemic proportions during the nineteenth century and was a leading cause of death. The Society applied new concepts about the treatment of these diseases after it became known that they were communicable. The nurses sought to isolate tubercular patients and to educate them and their families about the role of personal habits and hygiene in reducing the risk of contamination. As one early officer of the organization explained, the nurses also did many things which were not technically nursing but were considered important to it, such as "cleaning the sick room of lumber and unnecessary furniture, sweeping floors, and lighting fires." The nurse was expected "to set an example of that neatness, order, sobriety, and obedience which she was to impress upon others." The work was so exhausting that few of the nurses employed by the Society in its first decade stayed more than eighteen months.

More than half the cases involved maternity and child care. The nurse aided physicians with home deliveries and made follow-up visits to help the mothers bathe and feed the newborns. They also provided care and instruction for expectant mothers to reduce infant mortality.

During the early 1900s the Society joined with physicians, city officials, and social workers in a movement to educate the public about recent discoveries which showed that many once-fatal and debilitating illnesses could be prevented. Because of its familiarity with neighborhood health and social conditions, the Society was a valued member of this crusade. It staged dramatic exhibits about tuberculosis as well as festive events like Better Baby contests to spread the gospel of improved child care. In 1903, the Society cooperated with the city's Bureau of Public Charities to conduct a medical inspection to reduce the incidence of ringworm, pink eye, and nutritional disorders such as rickets among schoolchildren. This was the beginning of the school nursing program that was taken over by the city in 1908. From 1905-1908 the Society stationed a nurse at Starr Centre Association of Philadelphia, 7th and Lombard, to help with maternity and child care clinics, vaccination drives, nutritionally sound "penny lunch" programs, and in distributing inspected milk.

World War I accelerated the growth of the nursing profession and the demand for home care. With this development the Society turned to new groups of clients and new interests. Between 1913 and 1922, the Society caseload nearly doubled. In 1925, the Society described itself as "a visiting hospital with wards all over the city corresponding to the various branches." It employed more than 80 nurses in a downtown building and at several branch offices including Kensington (opened 1896), Manayunk (1901), Germantown (1902), and West Philadelphia (1903). The Society borrowed public relations techniques from hospitals with whom it was now competing for patients. Society branch staffs were encouraged to enlist neighborhood people to serve on home nursing committees, fund raisers, and keep the central office in touch with the needs of each locality. Brochures emphasized that all of the Society's nurses were hospital-trained. The Society was still actively involved in the treatment of communicable diseases, maternity, and child care but it was no longer an exclusively low-income patient population. Contracts with insurance companies and manufacturing firms to provide care for industrial policy-holders brought annual case loads to record highs of 40,000 or more in the late 1920s. Seventy percent of the patients were less than 45 years of age. By 1920, the Society was also treating more older patients in a new occupational therapy program. The Society added a mental hygiene supervisor in 1934. A decade later physical therapy (1943) and orthopedic service (1944) became mainstays of the Society's program.

Society superintendent Katherine Tucker (1916-1928) and her successor, Ruth Weaver Hubbard (1928-1955) were instrumental in transforming the organization from a multipurpose home welfare agency into a modern professional nursing organization. Both women held offices in the National Organization for Public Health Nursing and helped widen educational opportunities for home nurses. They also developed the Society internship program which allowed nursing students to complete in-service training at the Society.

Despite the progressive leadership of its professional staff and board, the Society lost half its revenues when insurance companies, which had previously contracted for home nursing, terminated these arrangements after World Ward II. The Society also lost some of its traditional clients to city programs for maternity cases and preventive care. These problems were addressed in the Philadelphia Public Health Survey produced by the City Planning Commission in 1950. The Commission recommended a merger of the nursing activities of the City and voluntary home care agencies. The City invited Society director Hubbard to help merge City and private home care services into a single operation. Negotiations continued until May 1959 when the Society's president, Mrs. Samuel Y. Gibbon, joined City Health Commissioner Dr. James Dixon and Mayor Richardon Dilworth to create Community Nursing Services of Philadelphia (CNS).

Plans for CNS focused on the health center: a multiservice facility for consolidating public and voluntary nursing programs. Before 1959, the Society primarily did home bedside care while City nurses worked in Department of Public Health clinics, making house calls as required by their work in child hygiene, tuberculosis, and venereal disease. Before the creation of CNS, it was possible for both Society nurse and city nurse to call on a single family. Under CNS, each nurse would be a general practitioner who could administer bedside care as well as preventive treatment.
The centers would serve all residents of a designated area, in much the same fashion used in the combined Starr Centre Association/Society branch office opened in Germantown in 1944. This pilot project became the model for dividing the city into health districts based on a Planning Commission scheme for using census tracts as the unit for organizing health services on a uniform geographical basis. Actually, the plan built on the Society system for conducting generalized nursing out of its branches. With this framework in place, CNS made rapid progress under Directors Dorothy Wilson and Margaret Kauffman toward integrating nursing personnel and case loads in all ten City health districts.

During the late 1970s the environment for providing home health services in the public and private sectors underwent many changes which led the Society and city officials to reorganize their relationships. Today the city contracts for home nursing services through CNS's successor--an independent, voluntary nonprofit organization, Community Home Health Services of Philadelphia (CHHSP), created in 1979. The Visiting Nurse Society is now a foundation which is a leading source of support for CHHSP's work with the indigent.

One change has been increased care for the elderly. In 1951, 72 percent of Society's patients suffered from long-term illnesses. Some participated in its intensive Home Care Plan (1949), an early attempt to coordinate medical and social services for the chronically ill. More recently, the Society and its successor, CHHSP, have sought to develop programs that address medical and personal consequences of cancer, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and mental changes associated with aging. Medicare, created in 1965, increased public funding for these services. In 1985, over 68 percent of CHHSP's patients were over 65 years of age.

Another contemporary characteristic is size. In 1886 the Society began with one room, one nurse, one table, and $100. In 1985 its successor, Community Home Health Services of Philadelphia, made 220,000 visits and had an operating budget of $9 million. At one time the Society was the only professional organization involved in home nursing. Today it is part of a complex national health industry transformed by science, technology, and public oversight. Plans, procedures, and methods have also changed with the needs of the patients.

Despite innovations in financing and fund raising, home nursing still retains elements that were present a hundred years ago. CHHSP is an active presence in the health and medical communities. Both historical roles--those of health educator and health planner--continue to find a place in its work.

Summary. The records of the Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia document a wide range of themes and issues in home nursing and the care of the indigent poor dating from the inception of the visiting nurse movement in the United States in the 1880s and continues up through 1977. The collection includes trustees' minutes, board correspondence, committee reports, and branch association files. There is also a significant amount of material documenting the Society's role in the public health crusades of 1902-1918 including school nursing services, infant and maternity
care, and care of tuberculosis patients; the impact of hospitals on home nursing beginning in the 1920s; and the efforts of agency officials to respond to the needs of an aging population especially in the decades since World War II. There are also files relating to the Philadelphia Home Care Plan (1949-1960s) and Community Nursing Services of Philadelphia (1959-1979) which was planned and run conjointly with the City of Philadelphia. Also included is a well documented collection of photographs, many of which were reproduced in the Society's annual reports at the turn of the century.

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

Series I. Administration, 1887-1987. This series includes materials documenting the Society's founding and early activities. It provides perhaps the best overview, from an administrative perspective, of the activities of the Board of Managers. By 1916, the day to day administrative work of the Society gradually shifted to Katherine Tucker, the Society's first superintendent. Included in this series is the original charter of the Society and subsequent revisions (1887-1912); bylaws and subsequent revisions; a complete run of annual reports (1886-1987); minutes of the Board of Managers (1886-1986), its Executive Committee (1912-1919), and of the Society's annual meetings. The correspondence files include incoming and outgoing correspondence of the Board (1921-1982) and selected correspondence with coordinated funding agencies. There are also a few contemporary files dealing with issues such as minority representation on the Board and policies relating to conflicts of interest.

Series II. Histories, 1915-1980. This small series consists of published and unpublished histories by and about the Society ranging in date from 1915 to 1974; biographies of Board members including three folders about Ruth Weaver Hubbard, the Society's general director from 1929 to 1955. There are also a few files dealing with Board matters of antiquarian interest such as the restoration of several historical plaques.

Series III. Committees, 1913-1979. Found within this series are the files of the Society's committees including the Advisory Committee (1973-1976), Budget Committee (1965-1979),
Local Committee, Medical Advisory Committee (1936-1967), Men's Finance Committee (1935-1979), Nominating Committee (1952-1976), Nurses Committee (1919-1946), Public Relations Committee (1947-1977), Supervisor Conference/Staff Council (1945-1960), Personnel Committee (1967-1979), and Social Service Committee.

Series IV. Public Relations, 1915-1984. This series includes a variety of materials used for public relations purposes. This series consists of material that was created by the Public Relations Committee or by other sources whose origin is not apparent in the records. Although most of the documents were created and used in the post 1950s era, there are some brochures, pamphlets and press releases as early as 1915. Some typical examples of this series include fact sheets, radio and television scripts, and publicity relating to anniversary years.

Series V. Branches, 1928-1982. In an effort to offer the Society's services to new population distributions in Philadelphia, and perhaps to attract middle class patients, the Society opened several branch offices in other parts of the city. The first was the Germantown Branch (later renamed the Germantown and Chestnut Hill Branch) whose records begin in 1933. This was followed by the West Branch (1937), South Philadelphia Branch (1939), Frankford Branch (1947), North Branch (1957), Northeast Branch (1957), Northwest Branch (1958), and the South Philadelphia Branch (1939). This series, arranged alphabetically by branch, also includes one file describing the branch boundaries in 1959. The files of the Germantown and Chestnut Hill Branch and the Northwest Branch are the most complete with minutes, bylaws, correspondence, and financial files.

Series VI. Nursing Services, 1914-1984. This series includes nursing service programs either sponsored by the Society or by other agencies with the Society. It includes the files of Community Home Health Services of Philadelphia (1980-1984) and the yearbooks of the Child Federation of Philadelphia (1914-1915). There are also files relating to the Community Nursing Services of Philadelphia (1955-1979), a program coordinated by the Health and Welfare Council which ran conjointly the nursing programs of the City of Philadelphia with those of the Society. This includes background material, board member registers, manuals, minutes, annual reports, correspondence, evaluations and proposals, and financial reports. Also included are some correspondence files with the Health and Welfare Council (1949-1979); and general files about the Philadelphia Home Care Plan (1958-1965) and other nursing agencies.

Series VII. Financial Information, 1886-1986. This series includes the reports of the Society's auditor (1924-1970), cash books (1950-1960), correspondence (1945-1977), cost analyses and custodial accounts (1954-1968), and financial statements (1971-1986). There are also files describing the various general and named funds of the Society. This includes scholarships, endowed nurses, and donations to patients. Most notable is the Ruth Weaver Hubbard Foundation providing scholarship money to nurses interested in public health work. There are also agreements with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and the John Hancock Company for patient care. The Society maintained several ledger books which are files in this series recording funds received from and expended on behalf of the Welfare Federation (1930-1936), its succeeding agency, the Community Fund of Philadelphia (1936-1949). The Society also maintained a general ledger for the years 1949 through 1956.

Series VIII. Property, 1855-1979. This is a small series that documents the properties acquired by and owned by the Society. In addition to the Society's properties, this series also includes the deed to the Starr Centre Association of Philadelphia, which the Society later acquired.

Series IX. Clippings and Publications, 1872-1977. A variety of clippings, newspaper supplements, pamphlets, and manuals make up this series. Most of the materials promote the Society's work, others address broader social reform issues such as Mrs. James T. Fields' "How to Help the Poor." There are also some clippings relating to the Starr Centre Association of Philadelphia.

Series X. Photographs, ca. 1900-1986. The photographs making up this series are largely from the twentieth century. The Society, like other reform groups of the era, used photographic images to communicate their message to broader audiences. Once it became economical to reproduce photographs in publications, the Society's use of photographs increased dramatically. The Society reproduced many of the photographs found in this series in their annual reports beginning in 1907. For a complete visual record of the Society's activities, consult the annual reports in "Series I. Administration." Due to the nature and use of photographs by the Society, this series has been divided into two subseries of representing photographs created between 1900 to 1939, and 1940 to 1986. Within each subseries, they are divided into exterior and interior images and thereunder by subject of the images, i.e. general, group, nurses, people, etc.

Series XI. Artifacts and Memorabilia. This series includes memorial plaques, uniforms, caps, dolls, and a wooden toy "visiting nurse society" automobile.

Series I. Administration, 1887-1987
Box 1
f.1 Original charter, 1887
f.2 Other charters, 1887-1912

f.3 1959
f.4 1965
f.5 1965 and 1978

f.6 1886-1901
f.7 1886-1906
f.8 1889-1911

Box 2
f.9 1902-1914
f.10 1902-1916
f.11 1916-1924

Box 3
f.12 1916-1924
f.13 1916-1936
f.14 1931-1957
f.15 1966-1987

f.16 1886-1891
f.17 1892-1895
f.18 1896-1899
f.19 1900-1905

Box 4
f.20 1906-1909
f.21 1910-1913
f.22 1914-1916
f.23 Minutes, Executive Committee, 1912-1916
f.24 Minutes, Executive Committee, 1916-1919

Box 5

f.25 1886-1888
f.26 1888-1889
f.27 1889-1890
f.28 1890-1891
f.29 1892-1896
f.30 1896-1898
f.31 1902-1900
f.32 1899-1902
f.33 1902-1904

Box 6
f.34 1904-1908
f.35 1908-1913
f.36 1913-1919
f.37 1919
f.38 1920
f.39 1921
f.40 1922
f.41 1923
f.42 1924
f.43 1925

Box 7
f.44 1926
f.45 1927
f.46 1928
f.47 1929
f.48 1930
f.49 1931
f.50 1932
f.51 1933
f.52 1934
f.53 1935
f.54 1936
f.55 1937
f.56 1938
f.57 1939
f.58 1940
f.59 1941
f.60 1942
f.61 1943
f.62 1944

Box 8
f.63 1945
f.64 1946
f.65 1947
f.66 1948
f.67 1949
f.68 1950
f.69 1951
f.70 1952
f.71 1953
f.72 1954
f.73 1955
f.74 1956
f.75 1957
f.76 1958
f.77 1959
f.78 1960
f.79 1962
f.80 1962

Box 9
f.81 1963
f.82 1964
f.83 1965
f.84 1966
f.85 1967
f.86 1968
f.87 1969
f.88 1970
f.89 1971
f.90 1972
f.91 1973
f.92 1974

Box 10
f.93 1975
f.94 1976
f.95 June 1977
f.96 August - December 1977
f.97 January - July 1978
f.98 August - December 1978
f.99 1979

Box 11
f.100 1980
f.101 1981
f.102 1982
f.103 1983
f.104 1984
f.105 1985-1986
f.106 Minutes, Board, photocopied, 1886-1889
f.107 Minutes, Board, photocopied, 1889-1891
Box 12

f.108 1887-1915
f.109 1925-1931
f.110 1933-1935
f.111 1940-1944

Box 13
f.112 1945-1949
f.113 1950-1968
f.114 Minutes, Nursing Executives Responsibilities, 1911-1957

f.115 1921-1952
f.116 1953-1971
f.117 1972-1979
f.118 1980-1982

Box 14
f.119 Correspondence, with Community Fund, Community Chest, United Fund
f.120 Treasurer's report, 1952-1979
f.121 Board members reference guide, 1953
f.122 Board members, 1967-1987
f.123 Representation of minorities, 1970-1975
f.124 Conflict of interest policy, 1977-1978

box 53/f.3 Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia, 1961
f.125 Dick Thornburgh, Governor of Pennsylvania, 1986

Series II. Histories, 1915-1980

f.1 1915
f.2 1919
f.3 1925
f.4 1936
f.5 1937
f.6 1938
f.7 1943
f.8 1944
f.9 1951
f.10 1956
f.11 1960
f.12 1960
f.13 1960
f.14 1960
f.15 1960
f.16 1965
f.17 1965
f.18 1974
f.19 Board members, biographies

f.20 Articles and letters, 1940-1952

Box 15
f.21 Articles and letters, 1953-1955
f.22 Biographical information
f.23 VNS plaque restoration, 1980-1902

Series III. Committees, 1913-1979
f.1 Administrative Committee, 1976

f.2 To the Executive Director, 1973-1976
f.3 To the Executive Director review of management positions
f.4 Budget Committee, 1965-1979

f.5 Committee on Local Committees
f.6 Committee on Local Committees Development
f.7 Membership list
f.8 Medical Advisory Committee review of standing orders
f.9 Medical Advisory Committee, 1936-1967
f.10 Men's Finance Committee, 1935-1965
f.11 Men's Finance Committee, 1966-1979
f.12 Nominating Committee, 1952-1976

Box 16

f.13 Minutes, 1919-1934
f.14 Minutes, 1935-1946
f.15 Supervisor conference/staff council, 1945-1960
f.16 Nurses monthly report, 1913
f.17 Personnel Committee, 1967-1979

f.18 Minutes, 1947-1957
f.19 Minutes, 1957-1977
f.20 Social Service Committee

Series IV. Public Relations, 1915-1984
f.1 Brochures and pamphlets, 1915-1960s
f.2 Press releases, 1915-1976

Box 17
f.3 VNS of Philadelphia "Girard Letter," 1936
f.4 60th anniversary, 1946
f.5 Fact sheet for volunteer speakers, 1947-1951
f.6 VNS scripts for radio and television
f.7 Script for slide lecture, 1954, 1957
f.8 "Dear Friend" fund raising appeal, 1954-1965
f.9 70th anniversary, 1956
f.10 PR material from other agencies
f.11 75th anniversary, 1961
f.12 Nurse recruitment, 1961-1970
f.13 80th anniversary, 1966

Box 18
f.14 PR survey, 1975

f.15 1957-1975
f.16 1976-1984
f.17 VNS/CNS service recognition tea, 1979

Series V. Branches, 1928-1982
f.1 Branches, boundaries, 1959

f.2 Committee, Local, Financial Records, 1947-1952
f.3 Clippings

f.4 Germantown clippings, 1933-1970s
f.5 Account sheets, 1944-1964
f.6 Brochures
f.7 Committee representatives, 1928-1930
f.8 Bylaws, 1932-1954

f.9 1933-1943
f.10 1933-1943

Box 19
f.11 1944-1947
f.12 1948-1952
f.13 Annual reports, 1931-1952

f.14 Officers, 1957
f.15 Health Districts 5 and 6, 1965-1968
f.16 Northeast Branch, receipts and expenditures, 1957-1962

f.17 Correspondence and reports, 1958-1963
f.18 Correspondence and reports, 1972-1976

f.19 Account sheets, 1972-1976
f.20 Bank statements, 1975-1976
f.21 McNeil Trust, investment statements
f.22 Checking and savings account, 1976-1982

Box 20
f.23 Committee Membership Lists, 1959-1976

f.24 1952-1955
f.25 1956-1959
f.26 1960-1968
f.27 1974-1977
f.28 1979-1982
f.29 Volunteers
f.30 Volunteer manual

f.31 Committee, 1939-1970

f.32 Minutes, 1937-1942
f.33 Committee membership lists, 1961-1967

Series VI. Nursing Services, 1914-1984

f.1 Auditor's reports, 1980-1981

Box 21
f.2 PR, brochures, reports
f.3 Long range strategic plans, 1984

f.4 Yearbooks, 1914-1915

f.5 1955
f.6 1955
f.7 1960
f.8 1961
f.9 1961

f.10 1953
f.11 1959-1979

f.12 1959
f.13 1961
f.14 1979
f.15 1979 (copy 2)

f.16 October 1974
f.17 December 1974
f.18 January-February 1975
f.19 March 12, 1975
f.20 April 1975
f.21 May-June 1975
f.22 July 1975

f.23 1973-1974
f.24 1975

f.25 Correspondence and proposals, 1950-1957
f.26 Department of Health
f.27 Correspondence and proposals, 1958-1959

Box 22
f.28 "Combining Public Health Nursing Agencies"
f.29 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania evaluation, 1975
f.30 Evaluations and proposals, 1977

f.31 1961
f.32 1962
f.33 1963
f.34 1964
f.35 1965
f.36 1966
f.37 1967
f.38 1968
f.39 1968, special
f.40 1969
f.41 1970
f.42 1970
f.43 Financial statements, 1971-1979

Box 23

f.44 Correspondence, 1956-1964
f.45 Committee on Public Health Nursing Services, 1953

f.46 "Community Nursing Services, Inc.: A Proposal," 1955
f.47 "Community Nursing Services, Inc.: A Proposal," 1955, Copy 2

f.48 1952 report
f.49 1959 report
f.50 Reports on public health nursing, 1949-1953
f.51 Interim report by GLS Associates, 1978
f.52 Printed materials, public relations

Box 24
f.53 Printed materials, public relations
f.54 Printed materials, public relations

f.55 January 1976 - January 1979
f.56 November 1972 - November 1975
f.57 "Community Nursing Services" Report by H. Wilbert, 1946
f.58 Cns report on red hook
f.59 Staff nurses, 1953-1972
f.60 Home care survey, 1976
f.61 Committee, Program, April 1975
f.62 Agreement between City and VNS, 1959
f.63 Agreement between City and VNS, April 1961 - January 1979

f.64 Reports, 1947-1956
f.65 Correspondence, 1958-1963
f.66 Reports, 1960s

Box 25
f.67 Biographies on home care, 1958-1960
f.68 Pamphlets, 1953-1965

f.69 Brochures from other agencies, 1960s-1970s
f.70 National Organizations of Public Health Nursing
f.71 Public health nursing general information
f.72 Public health nursing curriculum guide
f.73 Visiting nurse associations in the U.S., list, 1954
f.74 VNS role in public health services

f.75 Auditor's report
f.76 Bylaws
f.77 Information

Series VII. Financial Information, 1886-1986

f.1 1923-1927
f.2 1929-1933
f.3 1934
f.4 1935

Box 26
f.5 1936
f.6 1937-1938
f.7 1939-1940
f.8 1941-1942
f.9 1943-1944
f.10 1945-1947
f.11 1948-1950
f.12 1951-1953

Box 27
f.13 1954-1956
f.14 1956-1959
f.15 1960-1961
f.16 1961-1963
f.17 1964-1967
f.18 1968-1978
f.19 Automobile accident reports, 1966-1970

Box 28
f.20 Bellevue Stratford Corporation securities, 1979-1981
f.21 Cashbooks, 1950-1954 and 1954-1957
f.22 Cashbooks, 1957-1960
f.23 Correspondence, 1945-1977

f.24 1954-1958
f.25 1960-1964
f.26 Custodial accounts, 1960-1961

Box 29
f.27 Cost analysis
f.28 Statistics, 1963
f.29 Time and cost studies, 1963

f.30 1971-1973
f.31 1974-1976
f.32 1977-1980
f.33 1981-1983
f.34 1984-1986

f.35 December 1929 - November 1935

Box 31
f.36 1935-1940
f.37 December 1933 - November 1934
f.38 Donations, 1941-1950

Box 32
f.39 Donations, 1951-1959
f.40 Endowment fund
f.41 1920-1935
f.42 1922-1933
f.43 Donations, 1972-1977
f.44 Donations, 1978-1982
f.45 Anna E. Rohrman Fund
f.46 Charles J. Biddle Fund, 1973
f.47 Dolan Scholarship Fund, 1930-1973

Box 33
f.48 Donation from patients, 1970-1975
f.49 Gifts to endowment fund, 1886-1945
f.50 Lily Dungan Shalcross Fund
f.51 Loan funds, 1947
f.52 Margery Eiseman Fund, 1972-1981
f.53 Margery Eiseman Fund, 1974-1978
f.54 Mary Mundy Fund
f.55 Mrs. Richard K. Stevens Fund

f.56 Articles of incorporation

f.57 1956-1957
f.58 1957
f.59 1958-1961

Box 34
f.60 1958-1962
f.61 Correspondence, 1956-1957
f.62 Correspondence, 1956-1957
f.63 Educational Committee meeting
f.64 Educational Committee meeting minutes

f.65 1956-1969
f.66 Bank statements
f.67 Treasurer's reports
f.68 Investments, 1956-1969

Box 35
f.69 Receipts, 1956-1961
f.70 Merger with VNS
Scholarship applications reviewed
f.71 1956-1965
f.72 Awarded, 1964
f.73 1967-1973
f.74 1966-1967
f.75 1968
f.76 Reviewed, 1969-1978

Box 36
f.77 Scholarship publicity, 1956-1970
f.78 Special purpose and endowment funds, 1961-9165
f.79 Income tax, 1955-1959

f.80 1974-1976
f.81 1976-1977
f.82 1978-1979

box 52/f.4 Welfare Federation, financial statements, 1930-1936

box 52/f.5 1936-1944
box 52/f.6 1944-1949
box 52/f.7 General ledger, 1949-1956

f.83 Medical Health and Welfare Association
f.84 Medical Health and Welfare Association statements, 1946-1960

Box 37
f.85 Pensions, miscellaneous reports, 1944-1958
f.86 Social Security, 1951-1966
f.87 Schurer, Mathilda,1932-1953
f.88 Hamilton, Mary Jane,1960-1961
f.89 Receipts, December 1932-November 1933
f.90 Receipts, 1933-1934
f.91 Scholarship applications, 1975-1976
f.92 Scholarship applications, 1977-1978
f.93 Statement of assets, 1975-1979

Box 38
f.94 Stock and bond register, 1922-1934
f.95 Workman's compensation claims, 1951-1963
f.96 Workman's compensation claims, 1964-1969
f.97 VNS agreement with Metropolitan Life, 1933
f.98 VNS agreement with John Hancock
f.99 Workman's compensation claims, 1935-1960
f.100 Yarnall, Biddle & Co., 1967-1976

Series VIII. Property, 1855-1979
f.1 Agreement with Philadelphia Trust Co., 1925
ffile5/f.1 Land titles and deed, 1855-1911
f.2 Girard Trust Company agreements, 1857-1968
f.3 Office at 1340 Lombard Street, 1905-1964
f.4 Office at 311 South Juniper Street, 1961-1979

Box 39
f.5 Starr Centre Association of Philadelphia Land Title Deed, 1905-1961

Series IX. Clippings and Publications, 1872-1977
f.1 How to Help the Poor, by Mrs. James T. Fields
f.2 Alice Lippincott Memorial, 1898
f.3 Public Health Nursing, 1946
f.4 VNS Handbook, 1959
f.5 Florence Nightingale to Gil Wylie, Correspondence, 1872 (facsimile)
f.6 VNS nursing manuals, 1925, 1947
box 52/f.1 Sunday Bulletin Magazine, 1964
box 52/f.2 Clippings, scrapbook, 1918

f.7 1886-1915

Box 40
f.8 1916-1933
f.9 1943-1977

f.10 1886-1907
f.11 1908-1915
f.12 1916
f.13 1917-1933

f.14 1943-1959

Box 41
f.15 1960-1977
f.16 1917-1958
f.17 "Your United Fund" column
f.18 Manuals and pamphlets, duplicates
f.19 Pamphlets and annual reports, duplicates
f.20 Terra Cotta pieces (no date)
Series X. Photographs, ca. 1900-1986
Box 42

p.1 The new home of the visiting nurse society, 1911
p.2 Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia offices, 191?

p.3 Visiting nurse with woman and child, 191?
p.4 Visiting nurse entering building, 189?
p.5 Nurse chatting with old woman, 1925

p.5.5 Eight nurses on front steps of Lippincott House, 1907
p.6 Nine nurses ready for work, 1909
p.7 Thirteen visiting nurses leaving for work, 193?
p.8 Harriet Frost, a visiting nurse 191?
p.9 Harriet Frost sweeping, 191?

p.10 Mrs. Parker sitting in a chair, 191?
p.11 Mrs. Parker sitting in a chair, 191?
p.12 Woman and child on Percy street, 191?

p.13 Sale of patients' work, 1921
p.14 Sale of patients' handicrafts, 1921
p.15 Christmas packages ready for delivery, 1927

p.16 Nurse in white treating middle-aged woman, 1925
p.17 Nurse with chronically ill woman, 1910
p.18 Nurse taking elderly woman's pulse, 1914
p.18.1 Nurse taking elderly woman's pulse, 1914
p.19 Nurse with paralyzed, blind, old woman, 1915
p.19.1 Nurse with paralyzed, blind, old woman, 1915
p.20 Nurse attends to seated elderly woman, 1912
p.21 Nurse caring for man with tuberculosis, 1936

p.22 Nurse caring for mother and newborn twins, 1912
p.23 Nurse holding malnutritioned boy, 1886
p.24 Nurse with two mothers and their children, 1912
p.24.1 Nurse with two mothers and their children, 1912
p.25 Nurse with two babies, 1908
p.26 Nurse with mother, child and twins, 191?
p.27 Nurse bathes baby while mother and three daughters look on 191?
p.28 Nurse taking boy's pulse, 1919
p.29 Nurse with mother holding twins, 191?
p.30 Nurse at elementary school, 191?
p.31 Nurse pays post-natal visit, 191?
p.32 Nurse with woman and two children, 191?
p.33 Nurse and mother with two boys, 1908
p.33.1 Nurse and mother with two boys, 1908
p.34 Nurse teaching girl basketry, 193?
p.35 Nurse and asian immigrant family, 193?
p.36 Nurse bandaging boy's leg, 193?
p.37, ffile 5/f.2 Nurse with mother and premature baby, 1915
p.38 Nurse with two women and newborn baby, 191?
p.39 Nurse with marasmic baby and family, 1910
p.40 Nurse holding infant, 1919
p.41 Nurse attending two sick young men, 1916

p.42 Nurse holding twin infants, 1919
p.43 Two women in a room filled with toys, 1928
p.44 Asian family portrait, 192?
p.45 Woman and five children, 192?
p.46 Girl with beadloom, 192?
p.47 Woman using sewing machine, 1908

p.48 "Fifty Years of Service," 1936

p.49 Nurse shaking boy's hand, 1961
p.50 Nurse with little girl and boy, 1958
p.51 Nurse Pera and girl with doll, 1964

Box 43
p.52 Nurse Pera shaking old man's hand, 1964
p.53 Nurse Pera and the Pannells, 1964
p.54 Nurse Pera with Gary, Joel and Phyllis Pannell, 1964
p.55 Nurse Pera holding child's hand, 1964
p.56 Nurse Pera talking with neighborhood children, 1964
p.57 Nurse Pera watching children play, 1964
p.58 Children following Nurse Pera, 1964

p.59 Five nurses leaving the Society offices, 1958
p.60 Five nurses on the doorstep of a building, 1958
p.60.1 Five nurses on the doorstep of a building, 1958

p.61 "75th anniversary" display, 1961
p.61.1 "75th anniversary" display, 1961
p.62 "75th anniversary" exhibit, 1961
p.63 Visiting Nurse Society display, 1966
p.64 Visiting Nurse Society display, 1966
p.65 "Hospitals Without Walls" display, 1965
p.66 Mobile unit presentation, 1953
p.67 Nurse Zachwieja starting rounds, 1949
p.67.1 Nurse Zachwieja starting rounds, 1949
p.68 Nurse Eakle, 1949
p.68.1 Nurse Eakle, 1949
p.69 Nurse oliver in white uniform, 1963
p.70 Nurse oliver in dark uniform, 1963
p.71 Nurse Horrick, 1963
p.72 Nurse in dark uniform, 1963
p.73 Nurse Pera on the stairs, 1964

p.74 Volunteer in Child Health Conference play area, 1960
p.75 Children at Child Health Conference, 1960
p.76 Adult and Children at Child Health Conference, 1960

p.77 Two women and two children at filing cabinet, 195?
p.78 Nurse dispensing medicine, 1957
p.79 Nurse and elderly woman in medical office, 1976
p.80 Elderly woman playing with four children, 1976
p.81 Photo series beginning with nurse and couple, 1961
p.82 Photo series beginning with nurse, doctor, and child, 1961
p.83 Nurse and couple in waiting room, 1961
p.83.1 Nurse and couple in waiting room, 197?

p.84 Elderly woman at filing cabinet, 1976
p.85 People at meeting, 196?
p.86 Nurse holding syringe, 1957
p.87 Nurse holding stethoscope, 1957
p.88 Two nurses with supervisor, 1950
p.89 Nurse Pera on SEPTA, 1964
p.90 Nurse Pera and her bag, 1964
p.91 Nurse Pera and district supervisor, 1964
p.92 Nurse Pera at a Meeting, 1964
p.93 Nurse Pera at desk, 1964
p.94 Nurse Johnston at a desk, 1949
p.94.1 Nurse Johnston at a desk, 1949

p.95 Nurse giving medicine to old woman, 194?
p.96 Nurse giving sponge bath, 1949
p.96.1 Nurse giving sponge bath, 1949
p.97 Two nurses give man physical therapy, 1946
p.98 Nurse helping woman with knitting, 1947
p.99 Nurse and woman going over vitamin chart, 1947
p.100 Nurse prepares to give old man a sponge bath, 194?
p.101 Nurse attending to an old man in wheelchair, 1947
p.102 Nurse King teaches a woman to knit, 1947
p.103 Nurse giving man a shot, 196?
p.104 Nurse showing medication and a woman, 1957
p.105 Nurse helping woman with telephone, 1947
p.106 Nurse helping woman to embroider, 1947
p.107 Nurse visiting female patient, 1958
p.108 Nurse watching woman raise herself with trapeze, 1958
p.109 Nurse taking woman's pulse, 1958
p.110 Nurse taking woman's pulse and temperature, 1958
p.111 Home health aide giving elderly woman a meal, 1965
p.111.1 Home health aide giving elderly woman a meal, 1965

Box 44
p.112 Home health aide combing an old woman's hair, 1965
p.112.1 Home health aide combing an old woman's hair, 1965
p.112.2 Home health aide combing an old woman's hair, 1965
p.113 Home health aide holding the arm of old woman, 1965
p.113.1 Home health aide holding the arm of old woman, 1965
p.114 Home health aide giving vitamins to old woman, 1965
p.115 Home health aide applying bandage to old woman's leg, 1965
p.115.1 Home health aide applying bandage to old woman's leg, 1965
p.115.2 Home health aide applying bandage to old woman's leg, 1965
p.116 Home health aide applying bandage to old woman's leg with husband present, 1965
p.116.1 Home health aide applying bandage to old woman's leg with husband present, 1965
p.117 Home health aide giving drinks to old couple, 1965
p.117.1 Home health aide giving drinks to old couple, 1965
p.117.2 Home health aide giving drinks to old couple, 1965
p.118 Home health aide and woman with walker, 1965
p.118.1 Home health aide and woman with walker, 1965
p.118.2 Home health aide and woman with walker, 1965
p.119 Home health aide giving pills to woman amputee, 1965
p.119.1 Home health aide giving pills to woman amputee, 1965
p.119.2 Home health aide giving pills to woman amputee, 1965
p.120 Home health aide soaking woman's amputated foot, 1965
p.120.1 Home health aide soaking woman's amputated foot, 1965
p.121 Nurse Pera helping woman comb hair, 1964
p.121.1 Nurse Pera helping woman comb hair, 1964
p.121.2 Nurse Pera helping woman comb hair, 1964
p.122 Nurse Pera checking man's heart rate as his wife looks on, 1964
p.123 Nurse Pera checking man's heart rate, 1964
p.124 Nurse Pera and arthritic woman, 1964
p.125 Nurse Pera giving woman nutritional guidance, 1964
p.126 Nurse Pera preparing a man's bandage, 1964
p.126.1 Nurse Pera preparing a man's bandage, 1964
p.127 Nurse Pera preparing man's dressing, 1964
p.128 Nurse Pera talking with old man, 1964
p.129 Nurse Pera and ms victim, 1964

p.130 Nurse fitting leg brace on child, 1958
p.131 Nurse working with child's feet, 1958
p.132 Nurse helping child put on leg braces and shoes, 1958
p.133 Nurse greeting child, 1958
p.134 Doctor and nurse giving polio vaccine to crying girl, 1955
p.135 Doctor and nurse looking in child's ear, 1949
p.136 Doctor, nurse, mother and infant, 1949
p.137 Doctor, nurse, woman and little girl, 1949
p.138 Doctor, nurse, woman and little boy, 1949
p.139 Nurse, mother and little boy and infant, 1949
p.139a Nurse bathing baby as mother watches, 1949
p.140 Nurse and woman with infant, 197?
p.141 Nurse weighing baby on scale, 1957
p.142 Nurse looking into asian child's throat, 194?
p.143 Nurse with Asian woman and her two sons, 194?
p.144 Nurse massaging boy's leg, 1946
p.145 Nurse putting brace on boy's leg, 1946
p.146 Nurse and mother bathe infant, 1957
p.147 Nurse looking in child's mouth (front view), 1957
p.148 Nurse looking in child's mouth (side view), 1957
p.149 Nurse examines baby's scalp, 1957
p.150 Nurse showing carrot to child and mother, 1966
p.151 Nurse talking to young boy, 195?
p.152 Nurse rubbing cotton on baby's face, 1958
p.153 Nurse showing pamphlet to infant's mother, 1958
p.154 Nurse showing ammonia to mother and child, 1957
p.155 Nurse playing with child and puzzle, 1957
p.156 Nurse measuring Virginia, 194?
p.157 Nurse weighing infant, 194?
p.158 Nurse weighing infant on fairbanks scale, 1949
p.159 Nurse cleaning boy's teeth, 1949
p.160 Nurse weighing little girl, 1949
p.161 Nurse Pera helps a mother put leg braces on a boy, 1964
p.162 Nurse Pera and child smiling at each other, 1964
p.163 Nurse Pera and child looking off camera, 1964
p.164 Nurse Pera smiling at boy on crutches, 1964

Box 45
p.165 Nurse Pera holding baby and smiling, 1964
p.166 Nurse Pera holding baby, 1964
p.167 Nurse Pera bathing baby while mother watches, 1964

p.168 Woman sewing, 1946
p.169 Woman making dolls, 1946
p.170 Man using table saw, 1946
p.171 One-legged woman knitting, 1947
p.172 Woman weaving, 1947

p.173 Mary Randal, 1949

p.174 Three women and a cake, 1949
p.175 Cake and flowers, 1949
p.175.1 Cake and flowers, 1949
p.176 Anniversary cake, 1949
p.176.1 Anniversary cake, 1949
p.177 Woman, flowers and cake, 1949
p.177.1 Woman, flowers and cake, 1949
p.178 Woman and cake, 1949
p.179 Seven women and cake, 1949
p.180 Three women and cake, 1949
p.181 Three women cutting a cake, 1949
p.181.1 Three women cutting a cake, 1949
p.182 Woman cutting VNS 60th anniversary cake, 1946
p.183 Woman cutting VNS 60th anniversary cake, 1946
p.184 Nurse in uniform, 194?
p.185 Nurse in coat carrying black bag, 194?
p.186 Nurse wearing uniform, 194?
p.187 Nurse wearing uniform and coat, 194?
p.188 Nurse against white background, 1947
p.189 1933 VNS display, 1933
p.190 1940 VNS display, 1940
p.191 70th anniversary luncheon, 1956
p.192 Awards ceremony, 1948
p.192.1 Awards ceremony, 1948
p.193 Four nurses receiving awards, 1954
p.194 Woman signing CNS contract, 1959
p.195 Woman preparing to sign CNS contract, 1959
p.196 United Way display, 194?
p.197 Contents of a nurse's black bag, 1964
p.198 "When to Expect Baby" display, 196?
p.199 Foot care display, 196?
p.200 Nurse Pera and black bags, 1964
p.201 Nurse filling syringe, 195?
p.202 Old and new uniforms, 1961
p.203 Four women at ceremony, 1961
p.203.1 Four women at ceremony, 1961
p.203.2 Four women at ceremony, 1961
p.203.3 Four women at ceremony, 1961
p.204 Four women holding a book, 1961
p.204.1 Four women holding a book, 1961
p.205 Three women holding a book, 1961
p.206 Man speaking at 75th anniversary luncheon, 1961
p.207 Overhead view of 75th anniversary party, 1961
p.208 Two Women Holding a Book, 1961
p.209 Three women holding award certificate, 1961
p.210 Three women holding award certificate, looking off to the side, 1961
p.210.1 Three women holding award certificate, looking off to the side, 1961
p.210.2 Three women holding award certificate, looking off to the side, 1961
p.211 Woman looking at photograph of old and new uniforms, 1961
p.212 Three women, 1965
p.213 Three nurses and two elderly women, 1965
p.214 Three women at dinner, 1948
p.215 Three women with a book, 1961
p.216 Three smiling nurses and two elderly women, 1965
p.217 Man presenting certificates to two women, 1964
p.218 Man giving gift to woman, 1979
p.219 Annual service recognition tea group shot, 1979
p.220 Woman at podium at VNS luncheon, 1986
p.221 Woman with hand-puppet, 1979
p.222 Man and elderly woman, 1979
p.223 Videotaping man at podium, 1986
p.224 People looking at VNS display, 1986
p.225 [no photograph]
p.226 Three women at VNS luncheon, 1986
p.227 Man at podium, 1986
p.228 Four people at luncheon table, 1986
p.229 Four people at luncheon, 1986
p.230 Woman at podium, 1979
p.231 Mayor Goode presenting award to man, 1986
p.232 Mayor Goode presenting award to man with group, 1986
p.232.1 Mayor Goode presenting award to man with group, 1986
p.233 VNS luncheon, 1986
p.234 Three women at VNS luncheon, 1986
p.235 Three women in different period uniforms, 1986
p.236 VNS plaque, 198?
p.237 Portrait of Ruth Weaver Hubbard, 194?
p.237.1 Portrait of Ruth Weaver Hubbard, 194?

p.238 Woman giving key to nurse aside automobile, ca. 1940
p.239 Group picture
p.240 Jackson, J. Norman, Mrs.
p.241 Jenks, William Furness, Mrs.
p.242 Lea, Henry Charles, Mrs.
p.243 Lippincott, James Dundas, Mrs.
p.244 Towne, John Henry, Mrs.

Box 46
Slides

Series XI. Artifacts and Memorabilia
Box 47
Plaques

Box 48
Uniforms

Box 49
Uniforms

Box 50
Medals, Block Stamps, & Gavel

Box 51
Dolls, Toy Automobile

Oversized
Box 52
f.1 Sunday Bulletin Magazine, 1964
f.2 News clippings, scrapbook, 1918
f.3 Commendation, Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia, 1961
f.4 Welfare Federation, Financial Statements, 1930-1936

f.5 1936-1944
f.6 1944-1949
f.7 General ledger, 1949-1956

Flat File 5
f.1 Land titles and deeds, 1855-1911
f.2 Photograph, premature baby, ca. 1900
f.3 Annual report/map, 1924

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