Meetings and Minutes Across Philadelphia

This curated selection of meetings and minutes from three collections from the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing portray the actions and activities of nurses and nursing institutions during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918. These minutes report on the number of patients being seen, patient cases, children’s cases, and relief efforts to support families and orphans.

Brandywine Home Health Agency (formerly Coatesville Visiting Nurses Association) was founded in 1917 to implement a home nursing service for the Coatesville area and was financed by local charity organizations.

Women’s Auxiliary of the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania’s Ward G (Children’s Ward) was a group of women who met periodically to discuss the needs of children being treated in the children’s ward of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Visiting Nurse Society of Philadelphia was 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 expanded their focus to include maternity and infant care and public health education on the prevention of infectious diseases.