Finding Aids & Inventories
Finding aids for our nursing history manuscript collections are listed below. You can also search our collections by keyword on the Philadelphia Area Archives website.
When you’re ready to start researching, you can request specific collections by reviewing the instructions and access policies on our Visiting the Archive page.
Collections are divided into the following categories:
- Hospitals, Schools of Nursing, & Nursing Alumnae Associations
- Nursing Associations & Additional Organizations
- Individuals
- Related Nursing Collections
- Nursing History Small Collection
Hospitals, Schools of Nursing, & Nursing Alumnae Associations
- Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing Records and Alumni collections:
- Alexian Brothers Hospital, 1885-1981
- Chautauqua School of Nursing, 1909-1912
- Chestnut Hill Hospital School of Nursing, 1769-1988
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia School of Nursing, 1897-1987
- Freedmen’s Hospital Nurses Alumni Club of Philadelphia, 1973-1986
- Germantown Hospital and Community Health Services, 1900-1998
- Gynecean Hospital for Nursing Candidates, 1914-1918
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Records, Alumni, and Photos collections:
- Lankenau Hospital School of Nursing, 1871-1992
- Leonhard Felix Fuld Archives of the Helene Fuld School of Nursing, 1959-2011
- Lock Haven Hospital, 1896-1964
- Mercy-Douglass Hospital School of Nursing Records and Alumni:
- Methodist Episcopal Hospital School of Nursing Records, 1900-1991
- Mountainside Hospital School of Nursing Records (Montclair, NJ), 1932-2008
- Muhlenberg Hospital School of Nursing, 1896-1972
- Northeastern Hospital School of Nursing, 1926-2016
- Philadelphia General Hospital Training School for Nurses, Student files, Alumni, Photos, and Other collections (see also Individuals; Related):
- Philadelphia Orthopaedic Hospital and Infirmary for Nervous Diseases, School of Nursing, 1889-1915
- Philadelphia School for Nurses, 1903-1904
- Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, 1871-1988
- St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing (Lancaster, PA), 1925-1996
- St. Luke’s Hospital, c.1900
- St. Mary’s Hospital (Troy, N.Y.), c.1920
- Temple-Episcopal Hospital School of Nursing and Alumni Association collections:
- University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Records (held at University Archives), 1908-1998
- Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 1861-1976
Nursing Associations & Nursing Organizations
- Athens County Visiting Nurses Association, 1982-1992
- Brandywine Home Health Agency, 1917-1990
- Montgomery County Homemaker Home Health Aide Service, 1967-1990
- Moorestown Visiting Nurse Association, 1909-1986
- National Fund for Medical Education, 1949-1990**
- Neighborhood Visiting Nurse Association, 1900-1990
- Princeton Community League Visiting Nurse Committee, 1924-1950
- Starr Centre Association of Philadelphia, 1894-1973
- Tri-County Visiting Nurse Association, 1894-1991
- Visiting Nurse Association of Allegheny County, 1918-1990
- Visiting Nurse Association of Ambler & Vicinity, 1922-1987
- Visiting Nurse Association of Boston, Photographs, 1900-1960s
- Visiting Nurse Association of Eastern Montgomery County, 1928-1986
- Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia, 1976-1994
- Visiting Nurse Association of Hudson Valley, 1898-2017
- Visiting Nurse Association of South Central Connecticut, 1905-1987
- Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia Records and Photographs, 1855-1987
- American Legion, Pennsylvania Division, Helen Fairchild Post No. 412, 1919-1989
- American Nephrology Nurses’ Association oral history project, 1986-1987
- Andrew G. Curtin Association of Army Nurses, 1861-1903
- Association of Community Health Nursing Educators, 1977-1999
- Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 1992-
- Council on Graduate Education for Administration in Nursing, 1970-1994**
- International Council of Nurses, Nurse Refugee Files, 1946-1970
- International Council on Women’s Health Issues Records, 1984-2010
- National Association of Hispanic Nurses
- National League for Nursing
- National Organization for Public Health Nursing, 1913-1953
- Pennsylvania Higher Education Nursing Schools Association, 1977-1996
- Pennsylvania League for Nursing, 1948-1989
- Pennsylvania Nurses’ Association, District 1, 1921-1973
- Pennsylvania Nurses’ Association, District 2, 1919-1978
- Professional Nurse Educators Group (PNEG), 1969-2015
- Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations Records, 2000-2007
- Southeastern Pennsylvania League for Nursing, 1987-1992**
- Loeb Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, 1962-1985
- National Joint Practice Commission Records, 1971-1979
- Neuman Systems Model Trustee Group, 1986-2011
- Pan American Network of Nursing and Midwifery Collaborating Centers [PANMCC] Oral History Project Records, 1988-2013
- Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on Health in the Eighties, 1982-1984
- Sigma Theta Tau, Inc. - Xi Chapter, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing records, c.1958-2005
- Teaching Nursing Home Program records, 1981-1987
- Theodore Starr Savings Bank, 1886-1897
- Women’s Auxiliary of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania’s Ward G (Children’s Ward) minutes, 1917-1927
Individuals
- Aiken, Linda H. and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 1972-1986**
- Amenta, Madalon, 1928-2015
- Ashley, Jo Ann, 1942-1980*
- Austin, Ann L., 1910-1986
- Baer, Ellen D., 1939-2013
- Bastian, Kathryn, 1942 - 1959
- Bates, Barbara, 1928-2002
- Benoliel, Jeanne Quint, 1955-2011*
- Benson, Evelyn R., 1991-2000
- Blitzstein Deglin, Ruth Marilyn, 1945-1975
- Bloch, Doris, 1928-2003
- Brennan, Mary C., 1903-1992
- Brunner, Lillian S., 1910-1995
- Buhler-Wilkerson, Karen, 1944-2010
- Capers, Cynthia Flynn, 1978-1983
- Chamberlain, Lois Elizabeth Munroe, 1917-1970**
- Chase, Adaline, 1900-1975
- Chun, Alice Lee, 1945-2000
- Clayton, S. Lillian, 1874-1930
- Clymer, Mary V., 1888-1889
- Darragh, Mildred, 1923-1928
- Davis, Anne J., 1950-2010
- Deatrick, Janet A., 1968-2014**
- D’Estl, Ernestine Kittl, 1888-1956, PGH scrapbook
- DiSandro, Edith Hyde, 1924-1927
- Donovan, Doris M., 1942-2010
- Downs, Florence S., 1938-2005
- Duffy, Eileen M., 1975-1977
- Dunbar, Virginia, 1946-1976
- Emonds, Beverly L., 1965-1981**
- Errickson, Sara Maiter, 1937-1989
- Evans, Lois K., 1971-2011
- Fagin, Claire M., 1926-2024
- Fawcett, Jacqueline, 1941-
- Ford, Loretta, 1950-2008
- Goodrich, Annie Warburton, 1871-1955
- Gorski, Bernice, 1936 - 2000
- Griscom, Edith Lewis Palmer, 1909-1912
- Hanlan, Archie J. & Mary S., 1966-2012
- Harper, Mary Starke, 1972-1988*
- Helfand, William H., 1923-1962 (see also Related)
- Hirsch, Irma Lou, c.1958-1994
- Holleran, Constance, 1934-
- Ives, Edith Erikson C. 1902-1988
- Johnston, Margaret Alice, 1944-1945**
- Johnstone, Marie, 1906
- Keeler, Jane D., 1935-1985
- Lambertsen, Eleanor C. , 1915-1977
- Landis, Nadine, 1963-1964
- Lang, Norma **
- Lasek, Elinor Fry, 1935-1938
- Lear, Walter J., 1944-1963
- Leonard, Dorothy Harvey, 1948 - 1978
- Lubic, Ruth Watson, 1927 -
- Littlefield, Chloe Cudsworth, 1883-1902
- Lowery, Barbara, 1980s- c. 1996**
- Lynaugh, Joan E., 1935-
- Lynch, Theresa I., 1896-1986
- M’Cready, Mary Anne, 1904
- Madden, Marietta H., 1928-1997
- Matela, Regina, c. 1960s-1979**
- Matthews, Irene, 1871-1977
- McCarron, Sarah, 1917-1964
- McCorkle, Ruth 1941-1998
- McMoneagle, Mary C., 1875-1937
- Meleis, Afaf **
- Mereness, Dorothy Ann, 1910-1991
- Mezey, Mathy, 1970 - 2014**
- Morris, Mabel Harmon, 1935-1990
- Murillo-Rohde, Ildaura, 1930-2005
- Murphey, Helen and Mary Murphey Hankinson 1905-1950s
- Neuman, Betty M., 1945-2008
- Nightingale, Florence:
- Nunan, Edith, 1887-1977
- Olinatz, Nanette, 1958-1960**
- Page, Nancy J., 1960-1962**
- Peplau, Hildegard E., 1949-1987
- Petrillo, Madeline H., 1960s-1980s
- Pisani, Dorothy McMullan, 1936-2004
- Plotnick, Julia**
- Rath, Charlotte Tyson, 1928-1970
- Roberts, Doris E., 1872-1993
- Roberts, Joyce E., 1970-2008
- Robinson, Alice Merritt, 1920-1983
- Rothrock, Mary A., c. 1915-1970
- Ruggiero, Loretta, c. 1972-1977
- Saba, Virginia K., and the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare Division of Nursing, 1937-1982
- Schlotfeldt, Rozella M., 1926-1995
- Schutt, Barbara G., 1930-1986
- Schwartz, Doris R., 1915-1999
- Schorr, Thelma M., 1952-1991
- Scott, Jessie May, 1930-2000
- Shaw, Martha Emily, 1907-2011
- Smith, Dorothy M., 1954-1997
- Smoyak, Shirley A., 1966 - 2000
- Somers, Anne Ramsey, 1933-1982
- Stachniewicz, Stephanie A., 1954 - 1997
- Stringer, Marilyn, 1980-2013
- Strumpf, Edna E. LaPorte, 1933-1991
- Strumpf, Neville E., 1965-
- Styles, Margretta Madden, 1973-1992
- Sullivan-Marx, Eileen, 1992-2000
- Thompson, Joyce E., 1981-2001
- Tram, Rose Anna, 1915-1976
- Trautman, Mary Jane Holcombe, 1940s-2005
- Troncelliti, Manrico A. and the Philadelphia General Hospital Oral History, 1982-1990
- Watts, Rosalyn J., 1980 - 2005
- Weiss, Olga, 1948-1977
- West, Roberta M., 1886-1937
- Wilcox, Barbara, 1966-1981
- Wiltzius, Henrietta A., 1918-1920, 1923
- Wolanin, Mary Opal, 1932-1997
- Wolf, Zane Robinson, 1980-2018
Related Nursing Collections
- Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing Videotape Collection **
- Center for the Study of the History of Nursing records, 1984-**
- Current Procedural Terminology Project papers, 1990-2009
- Evening Bulletin, 1905-1975**
- Dorothy Marks Eataugh: History of Nursing Scrapbook, 1938
- Diane Hamilton Miscellaneous 20th Century Community Health Photograph Collection, 1903-1980
- William Helfand Postcard Collection, 1900-1990
- William Helfand Sheet Music Collection, 1912-1939
- Historical Federal Documents Collection, 1950-2000
- History of Nursing in Philadelphia, 1973-1974
- Miscellaneous items collection, 1899-2003
- Nursing Postal Stamp Collection, 1970-1986
- Penn Nursing Doctoral Student Organization, 1979-
- Philadelphia General Hospital Oral History Project, 1993-1994
- University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Development Office, 1963-2000
- World War I Photographs from France, 1918-1925
- Michael Zwerdling Postcard Collection, 1907-1916
Nursing History Small Collections
These holdings are approximately 0.3 linear feet per title
- Freedmen’s Hospital Nurses Alumni Club of Philadelphia, 1973-1986
- St. Luke’s Hospital, c.1900
- St. Mary’s Hospital (Troy, N.Y.), c.1920
- Cavell, Edith Louisa, 1913-1922
- Currier, Hazel Peterson, 1938-2005
- Fondes, Tabitha Parker, 1912-1996
- Francis, Susan C., 1934-1987
- Godfrey, Mary Robinson, 1910-1987
- Gruber, Mildred, 1904-1906
- Heffernan, Bernardine, 1968-1986
- Hoff, Bertha, 1913-1914
- Holman, Lydia, 1888-1960
- Izcka, Jadwiga, 1939-1960
- Jones, Elizabeth, 1899-1946
- Kennedy, Cecile, 1939-1957
- Kennedy, Marion Kern, 1940
- Lemley, Alice and Lillie, 1887-1888
- Mahoney, Jean L., photographs, 1942-1945
- McNeil, Marjorie E. Snider, 1942-2005
- Meissner, Ruth Erikson, 1932-1935
- Newman, Edna Albert, 1924-1936
- Nightingale, Florence, 1856-1896
- Osborne, Estelle M., 1954
- Overholt, Ella Florence, 1921
- Radbill, Samuel X., 1985-1989
- Renz, Dorothy L. Fiefer, 1953-1957
- Ritter, Beatrice, 1947-1957
- Shapiro, Judith Newman, 1936-1988
- Soper, Martha Lenora Collett, 1919-1920
- Stern, Beverly Peril, 1955-1960
- Todd, C. Edwina, 1947-1953
- van der Peet, Roberta, 1989
- Witmer, Laura Strickler, 1934-1947
- York, Edith M., 1922-1923
- J.B. Lippincott Company, 1871-1931
- Nurses for the Future Conference, 1987
- Nursing Postal Stamp Collection, 1970-1986
- Peter Short Photograph Collection, 1993-1994
- Michael Zwerdling Postcard Collection, 1907-1916
*This collection is restricted. Please contact the Center for more information.
**Contact the Center for more information.
For further questions about the collections please contact the Bates Center at (215) 898-4502 or email: nhistory@nursing.upenn.edu
