Annual Reports Across Philadelphia

For many institutions, it wasn’t until after the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 that administrators, nurses and doctors, and society could discuss the actions of medical personnel during the outbreak. In this curated selection of five collections held by the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, we highlight various annual report sections that describe the pandemic and nurses’ efforts and sacrifices during the fight against the flu. This gallery includes annual reports from the following collections:

The Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing (later Albert Einstein Medical Center), founded in the 1905 to provide medical care to low-income families of the Jewish faith, though not exclusively, in South Philadelphia.

Lankenau Hospital School of Nursing (formerly the German Hospital), founded in the 1899, to provide medical care for German immigrants in North Philadelphia.

Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, founded in 1889 by the Presbyterian Church to care for those in West Philadelphia of the Presbyterian faith, though not exclusively.

Visiting Nurse Association of Hudson Valley, founded in 1898 in rural New York, which was one of the first rural visiting nurse organizations to provide skilled nursing to patients in their homes as well as to instruct families on proper nursing care.

Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia, founded in 1886 to give nursing care to the sick in their homes, particularly in South Philadelphia where immigrant and African-American low-income workers and their families resided. They would expand to also focus on maternity and infant care and public health education on the prevention of infectious diseases.