St. Mary's School of Nursing Records, 1894-1972


Summary Information
Title: St. Mary's School of Nursing Records
Inclusive Dates: 1894-1972

Creator:
  • St. Mary's School of Nursing (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Call Number: Milwaukee Mss CV; Milwaukee SC 69; PH Milwaukee Mss CV

Quantity: 16.9 c.f. (40 archives boxes, 1 flat box, and 1 folder) and 50 lantern slides

Repository:
Archival Locations:
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:
Records concerning administration, faculty, accreditation, the curriculum, students and alumnae, and historical and miscellaneous files; plus photographs, newsclippings, and lantern slides. The collection documents the school from its inception in 1894 to its final year in 1969. It provides information on the Daughters of Charity, St. Mary's Hospital, and a variety of medical and nursing topics. Milwaukee SC 69 contains miscellaneous materials on the 1972 dedication of a historical marker at the school.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil000cv
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Biography/History

In May of 1848, at the entreat of Milwaukee's first Bishop, John Martin Henni, Wisconsin's first public hospital, St. John's Infirmary, was established by the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of the Order of St. Joseph's at Emmitsburg, Maryland. In 1958, the hospital was moved to its permanent site at the “North Point” overlooking Lake Michigan. Renamed St. Mary's Hospital, it was built on three acres of land with which the city of Milwaukee endowed the Sisters for their ministrations during the epidemics of the previous decade. Coincidentally, the move transferred the “seat of pestilence” away from the centers of population.

Feeling the need for trained nurses, and, possibly, encouraged by the organization of the Milwaukee Medical School (later Marquette University's School of Medicine), the Sisters of Charity founded Wisconsin's first hospital-organized training school for nurses at St. Mary's Hospital in 1894. (In 1888, the Women's Club of Wisconsin organized a Training School for Nurses patterned after the Bellevue School of Nursing in New York. The students received their practice in nursing arts at the Soldier's Home and two other small Milwaukee hospitals.) Nine young women were enrolled for a two-year program in Practical Nursing, Anatomy and Physiology, and Materia Medica, seven completed the course in 1896. In 1901 the course of instruction was expanded to three years, and by 1914 the 213 lessons of 1912 had been increased to 436 hours of study. The period of training was the traditional one of three calendar years until the class of 1966 when it was reduced to three academic years plus one summer. Entrance requirements, curriculum, and the schedule of “services” kept pace with state and nursing association suggestions and requirements. In 1913, St. Mary's School of Nursing was approved by the examiners of the Wisconsin State Board and in 1941, the school was posted on the first list of schools of nursing accredited by the National League of Nursing Education. St. Mary's also appeared on the original list of schools accredited by the National Accrediting Service in 1950, and in 1949 was designated as a Class I school by six national nursing organizations acting in concert.

Affiliations were made by St. Mary's with various colleges and universities in order to add department to the curriculum. From 1924 to 1927, St. Mary's affiliated with Marquette University's School of Nursing. The first two years of theoretical and pre-clinical study were to be completed at Marquette, the final year of nursing practice at St. Mary's Hospital.

Following the dissolution of this alliance, St. Mary's affiliated with De Paul University of Chicago, Illinois from 1928 to 1932. A final attempt to integrate a college affiliation into the diploma program at St. Mary's was made with Mount Mary College of Milwaukee beginning in 1961.

St. Mary's School of Nursing also had affiliations with the Milwaukee Health Department and the Visiting Nurses Association for student experience in Public Health Nursing, and with several hospitals for “services” in Tuberculosis Nursing (Muirdale Sanatorium), Pediatric Nursing (Milwaukee Children's Hospital), Psychiatric Nursing (St. Vincent's Hospital of St. Louis, Missouri), and Rural Nursing (Waupun Memorial Hospital, Waupun, Wisconsin).

Originally incorporated in 1912 as St. Mary's Training School for Nurses, the school became known as St. Mary's School of Nursing in 1932 indicting officially the transition from training to education that had been developing in the field. A second change of emphasis from a service to an education-oriented program was noted in 1959 with the inception of a fee for room-and-board. In later years extra curricular activities filled the void created by the gradual relaxation of duty hours from the seven-to-seven shifts of an earlier period.

By the 1960s the demands on the profession, as well as from professional nurses and nurses' organizations, exemplified by a position paper of the American Nurses Association, suggested that diploma programs for nurses had become anachronistic, that nursing education was more properly to be found in the degree programs of the universities. St. Mary's School of Nursing accepted the realities of the situation and opted to affiliate with the degree nursing program of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a capacity for which it felt eminently qualified--to be one of several Milwaukee hospitals serving as clinical laboratories for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee nurse candidates.

In its seventy-five years of existence St. Mary's School of Nursing graduated one-thousand nine-hundred and thirteen professional nurses, about whom Sister Juliana Kelly, last president of the school, felt it just to say: “[They are] . . . the standard by which others are measured, toward which others strove.” (p. 5, Alumnae Book of St. Mary's School of Nursing, Milwaukee, 1969)

Scope and Content Note

The records of St. Mary's School of Nursing consist of all records extant and document the school from its inception in 1894 through the final year of its operation as a diploma school of nursing in 1969. The collection includes correspondence, administrative and faculty reports, minutes of faculty and student organizations, policy manuals, studies in nursing education, course outlines and class schedules, affiliation agreements, lists of graduates, printed materials, photographs, clippings, and lantern slides.

The collection also contains information on the work of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Milwaukee history, marine hospitals, and a variety of medical, nursing, and related subjects. Information on these topics, and notes and essays on the history of St. Mary's Hospital can be found in the Historical and Miscellaneous File and in the Clippings File. The photographs in the former, which range over a seventy-year period, include pictures of the hospital, the school, administrators, and students in uniform (1896-1969) and participating in various ceremonies.

Insight into administrative detail is to be found in the correspondence with Marillac Seminary and Sister Virginia, and the minutes of the Faculty Organization meetings. The Accreditation File and Affiliation Correspondence are also of interest for administrative inquiry.

The collection has been divided into five main series, preserving where possible the sequence adapted by the originating organization: an Administrative File; Faculty File; Accreditation File; Curriculum File; and Student Records. There are also three smaller categories: Historical and Miscellaneous Materials, Newspaper Clippings, and Lantern Slides.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FILE contains annual and monthly reports of the School of Nursing to the administrator of the hospital (1956-1969); correspondence and reports to Marillac Seminary of the Order of St. Vincent de Paul (1956-1969); orientation and policy manuals (1959-1961); agreements and correspondence regarding affiliations (1925-1967); and a series of reports on “Integrating Mental Health Concepts of Nursing Care,” and other reports and studies concerning psychiatric nursing (1961-1966). There is also one box of budgets, financial reports and purchase orders (1956-1969). Under these several headings, the file is arranged chronologically.

The FACULTY FILE consists of minutes of the Board of Directors, and those of the faculty organization and faculty committee meetings (1934-1964). For the most part, these are in bound volumes, the internal order of which has not been disturbed. Therefore, minutes of the Board of Directors' Meetings and those of various faculty committees are interspersed throughout the Faculty File. The volumes are arranged in chronological order. There are three folders of the minutes of the Social and Health Concepts Committee (1951-1964), and a program for the Student Personnel Services Committee (1964) filed in box thirteen, in order to maintain as strict a chronological arrangement as the primary order of the documents would allow. Also included are the papers, studies, and reports which had been kept in the Faculty Conference Room of the school, and faculty and staff address cards.

The ACCREDITATION FILE contains correspondence, directives, monthly reports, and faculty approval information sent between St. Mary's School of Nursing and the Wisconsin State Department of Nurses (1956-1969); and accreditation correspondence, membership certificates, annual reports, and survey and revisit reports relative to St. Mary's accreditation by the National League for Nursing (1932-1969). Filed here also are student standardized achievement test results (1939-1969); library inventory statistics (1966); self-evaluation reports (1965); and follow-up studies on graduates (1947-1964). The series is arranged in chronological order within these categories.

The CURRICULUM FILE consists of course outlines, class schedules, and syllabi for the classes of 1936 through 1969 arranged chronologically.

The STUDENT RECORDS include minutes of student and student-faculty organizations (1939-1967); and student and alumnae address cards (1886-1964), including deceased graduates, students who resigned, parents of students, and graduates listed both alphabetically and by year of graduation. These materials are arranged chronologically within the categories listed.

The HISTORICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS include a copy of the Memorial Volume, St. Mary's School of Nursing, 1894-1969; notes, chronology and essays relating to the history of St. Mary's circa 1939-1960s; lists of graduates, 1896-1967, by year under maiden names; bulletins and handbooks, 1894-1969; graduation announcements and programs, 1903-1968; Annual Reports of St. Mary's Hospital, 1903 and 1914; photographs, circa 1900-1969; items related to the 1972 dedication of a historical marker that celebrated the role St. Mary's School of Nursing once played in the development of nursing education in America; and miscellaneous materials, 1894-1966 and undated.

The NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS are those retained by the administration pertaining to St. Mary's School of Nursing for the period 1931-1968 and undated; and miscellaneous clippings relating to nurses and nursing education, 1962-1968 and undated. The clippings have been separated according to subject and arranged chronologically within the two divisions.

The fifty LANTERN SLIDES pertain to the history of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of Paris, France, and of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's, Emmitsburg, Maryland, and of the evolution of their work in the field of nursing. It is thought these lantern slides may have been shown to students in the school's early years.

Administrative/Restriction Information
Acquisition Information

Presented by Sister Priscilla, Director of Nursing, St. Mary's School of Nursing, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January and May 1970; and by the Alumnae Association of St. Mary's School of Nursing via Mrs. William Koehn, Oak Creek, Wisconsin, May 1971. Accession Number: M70-17, M70-121


Processing Information

Processed by Joanne Hohler, June 22, 1971.


Contents List
Milwaukee Mss CV
Series: Administrative File
Reports
Annual Reports
Box   1
Folder   1
Annual Report of the Medical Staff, 1959
Box   1
Volume   1
1957-1964
Box   1
Volume   2
1964-1965
Box   1
Volume   3
1965-1966
Box   1
Volume   4
1966-1967
Box   1
Folder   2
1967-1968
Box   1
Folder   3
Library Report, 1969
Box   2
Folder   1
Monthly Reports to the Administrator, August 1956-December 1961; January 1963-June 1963; May 1966-April 1968
Box   2
Folder   2
Reports to Marillac Seminary, 1956-1969
Correspondence
Box   2
Folder   3
Marillac Seminary, 1950-1967
Box   2
Folder   4
Sister Virginia, 1956-1968
Policy Manuals
Box   2
Volume   5
“Orientation - Policy Manual for Faculty Members”, circa 1959
Box   3
Volume   6
Administrative, circa 1961
Affiliation
Box   3
Volume   7
Agreements, 1925-1967
Correspondence
Box   3
Folder   1
Milwaukee Children's Hospital, 1965-1969
Box   3
Folder   2
Mt. Mary College, 1966-1969
Box   3
Folder   3
Muirdale Sanatorium, 1965-1968
Box   3
Folder   4
Visiting Nurse Association, 1966-1968
St. Vincent's Hospital of St. Louis
Box   4
Folder   1
1941-1962
Box   4
Folder   2
1963-1968
“Integrating of Mental Health Concepts of Nursing Care” (St. Vincent's)
Box   4
Folder   3
Sessions I and II of an Institute for “Integration of Psychiatric Nursing Concepts...,” 1960
Box   4
Folder   4
“Part III,” 1961
Box   4
Folder   4
“Application for Pilot Grant...,” 1961
Box   4
Folder   5
Progress Reports, 1963-1965
Box   4
Folder   6
“Materials Submitted to the Wisconsin State Board of Nursing to Participate in an Experimental Eight Week Program in Psychiatric Nursing,” January 1964
Box   4
Folder   7
“Fundamentals of Nursing Workshop - St. Vincent's Hospital of St. Louis,” 1964
Box   4
Folder   7
“Workshop Discussions on Integrating Mental Health Concepts...,” 1965
Box   4
Folder   8
“Report of Pilot Study Integrating Mental Health Concepts...in Six Diploma Schools of Nursing,” 1966
Financial
Box   5
Volume   8
Budgets, 1956-1964
Box   5
Volume   9
Reports, 1960-1967
Box   5
Folder   1
Request-to-Purchase Orders, 1968-1969
Series: Faculty File
Minutes
Faculty Meetings
Box   6
Volume   10
1934-1936
Box   6
Volume   12
1937-1942
Box   6
Volume   13
1944-1947
Box   6
Volume   13
“Curriculum Committee,” 1937-1943
Box   6
Volume   11
Faculty Conferences, 1936-1941
Faculty Organization
Note: For most years these include Committee Meeting Minutes, for the early 1960s they also include Board of Directors' minutes, and often Affiliation Meeting minutes and Student-Faculty and Student Organizations' minutes.
Box   6
Volume   14
1948-1955
Box   7
Volume   15
1955-1956
Box   7
Volume   16
1956-1957
Box   7
Volume   17
1957-1958
Box   8
Volume   18
1958-1959
Box   8
Volume   19
1959-1960
Box   8
Volume   20
1960-1961
Box   9
Volume   21
1961-1962
Box   10
Volume   22
1962-1963
Box   11
Volume   23
1963-1964
Box   12
Volume   24
1964-1965
Box   12
Volume   25
1964-1965
Box   13
Volume   26
1965-1966
Box   14
Volume   27
1966-1967
Social and Health Concepts Committee
Box   13
Folder   1
1951-1956
Box   13
Folder   2
1957-1964
Box   13
Folder   3
Student Personnel Services Committee - Program, 1964
Faculty Conference Room Materials
Box   14
Folder   1
“The Role Playing Technique in Business and Industry,” 1957
Box   14
Folder   2
“Interaction Scoring Form,” undated
Box   14
Folder   3
“Group Process,” 1962
Box   14
Folder   4
“An Investigation of the Incidence and Causes of Errors in the Administration of Medication...,” 1963
Box   14
Folder   5
“Further Evaluation of a Tool for Eliciting Attitudes of Graduate Nurses in Areas Related to Christian Educational Objectives,” 1964
Box   14
Folder   6
Faculty and Staff Address Cards (4×6 inches)
Series: Accreditation File
Wisconsin State Department of Nurses
Correspondence
Box   15
Folder   1
1956-1965
Box   15
Folder   2
1966-1969
Box   15
Folder   3
Directives, 1959-1968
Monthly Reports
Box   15
Volume   28
1950-1965
Box   15
Folder   4
1966-1969
Box   15
Folder   5
Faculty Approval, 1955-1968
Box   15
Folder   6
State of Wisconsin - Commission for Higher Educational Aids, 1966-1968
National League for Nursing
Box   16
Folder   1
Agency Memberships, 1961-1969
Box   16
Folder   2
Accreditation Correspondence, 1959-1965
Box   16
Volume   29
National Nursing Accrediting Service - Annual Reports, 1932-1951
Box   16
Volume   30
Report of Resurvey of St. Mary's School of Nursing..., 1953-1959
Box   16
Volume   31
Report of Revisit of St. Mary's School of Nursing..., 1959-1965
Box   16
Folder   3
League Exchange No. 17, “The Development of a Guidance Program in St. Mary's...,” 1956
Achievement Test Results
Box   17
Volume   35
1962
Box   17
Volume   36
1963
Box   17
Volume   37
1964
Box   17
Volume   38
1965
Box   17
Volume   39
1966
Box   17
Volume   40
1967
Box   17
Volume   41
1968
Box   17
Folder   1
1969
Box   16
Folder   4
Student Test Results, 1938-1968
Cumulative Record of Standardized Test Results
Box   16
Volume   32
1961
Box   16
Volume   33
1962
Box   16
Volume   34
1963
Box   17
Volume   42
Library Inventory Statistics, 1966, February 9
Box   18
Volume   43
“Evaluation of the Educational Program” (a Report), January 1965
Box   18
Volume   44
Self Evaluation Report, February 1965
Follow Up Study of the Graduates of St, Mary's School of Nursing
Box   18
Volume   45
1947-1957 Graduates, July 1958
Box   18
Volume   46
1958-1964 Graduates, 1965
Series: Curriculum File
Course Outlines and Class Schedules
Box   19
Folder   1
1936-1941
Box   19
Folder   2
Class of 1942
Box   19
Folder   3
Class of 1943
Box   19
Folder   4
Class of 1944
Box   19
Folder   5
Class of March 1945
Box   19
Folder   6
Class of September 1945
Box   19
Folder   7
Class of March 1946
Box   19
Folder   8
Class of August 1946
Box   19
Folder   9
Class of February 1947
Box   19
Folder   10
Class of August 1947
Box   19
Folder   11
Class of March 1948
Box   19
Folder   12
Class of September 1948
Box   20
Volume   47
Class of 1949
Box   19
Folder   13
Class of February 1949-Class of September 1950
Box   20
Volume   48
Revisions to 1962, circa 1962
Box   21
Folder   1
February 1962
Box   21
Volume   49
1962
Box   22
Volume   50
1964-1966
Medical and Surgical Nursing
Box   20
Folder   1
Respiratory, Circulatory, Gastro-Intestinal, and Urinary Tract, 1940-1949; undated
Box   20
Folder   2
Integumentary System; Allergic Conditions; Endocrine System; Nervous System; Eye and Ear; Musculo-Skeletal, 1948; undated
Box   20
Folder   3
Reproductive System; Communicable Disease; Obstetrics; Psychiatric Nursing; Nursing and Health in the Family; Personal Hygiene, 1946-1949; undated
Box   20
Folder   4
Professional Adjustments; Psychology; Sociology, 1945-1946; undated
Box   20
Folder   5
Chemistry; Microbiology and Bacteriology; Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 1947-1949; undated
“Nursing II,” Introduction to Medical-Surgical Nursing
Box   22
Volume   51
1965-1966
Box   23
Volume   53
1967
Box   23
Volume   54
Course Outlines and Units I-IX, Class of 1967
Box   24
Volume   56
Class of 1968
Box   23
Volume   55
Course Outlines
Box   21
Folder   2
Nutrition and Diet Therapy, 1963
“St. Vincent's Hospital of St. Louis Program in Psychiatric Nursing,”
Box   21
Folder   3
1963
Box   22
Folder   1
1967
Box   23
Volume   52
Muirdale Sanatorium Syllabus - Tuberculosis Nursing, 1967
Class of 1969
Box   24
Volume   57
“Introduction to Nursing,”
Box   24
Volume   58
Course Outlines - Mount Mary College; St. Mary's School of Nursing; St. Vincent's Hospital; Children's Hospital; Muirdale
Box   24
Folder   1
Rotations; Clinical Assignments; Class Schedule; Directives; and Miscellaneous
Box   24
Folder   2
Student Enrollment; Room Assignments; Academic Achievements; and Student Accounts
Series: Student Records
Student Organizations
Box   25
Folder   1
The Children of Mary Immaculate - a Sodality of the Blessed Virgin - Minutes, 1939-1948
Box   25
Folder   2
Association of the Miraculous Medal (Medalite), 1942
Box   25
Folder   3
College SUMA (Organization of all Milwaukee, Wisconsin Sodalities), 1946-1947
Student-Faculty Organizations
Volume   59
1963-1964
Volume   60
1964-1965
Volume   61
1966-1967
Student Address Cards
Box   26
Students Who Resigned, A-Z
Box   26
Parents of Students
Box   26
Deceased
By Class, 1896-1964
Box   26
1896-1939
Box   27
1940-1964
Box   27
Graduates, A-C
Box   28
Graduates, D-Z
Series: Historical and Miscellaneous Materials
Box   29
Folder   1
Memorial Volume, St. Mary's School of Nursing, 1894-1969
Box   29
Folder   2
Notes, Chronology, and Essays regarding History of St. Mary's, circa 1939-1960s
Box   29
Folder   3
Lists of Alumnae (“Graduates”), 1896-1967, by year under maiden name, , circa 1967
Box   29
Folder   4
Bulletins and Handbooks, 1894 (facsimile)-, 1969
Box   29
Folder   5
Graduation Announcements and Programs, 1903- (1954-1968)
Box   29
Folder   6
Annual Reports of St. Mary's Hospital, 1903, 1914
Photographs
Box   29
Folder   7
Hospital; School of Nursing; Facilities, circa 1900-1960s
Box   29
Folder   8
Students, 1909-circa 1966
Box   29
Folder   9
“May Crowning,” circa 1957
Box   29
Folder   10
Miscellaneous Ceremonies, 1927-circa 1960s
Box   29
Folder   11
Miscellany
Milwaukee SC 69
Box   1
Folder   1
Historical Marker, Dedication Materials, 1972
Milwaukee Mss CV
Box   30
Folder   1
Printed Materials, 1956-1971; undated
Box   30
Folder   2
Building and Development Program for St. Mary's Hospital, 1959-1960; undated
Box   30
Folder   3
Disaster Nursing - Publicity and Photographs, June 1958
Box   30
Folder   4
“An Historical Sketch” of the Wisconsin State Nurses Association, 1909-1934
Box   30
Folder   5
Wisconsin Administrative Code - Rules of the Wisconsin State Board of Nursing, 1923-1960
Box   30
Folder   6
Wisconsin State Department of Nurses - Annual Reports, 1959-1964
Series: Newspaper Clippings
Box   31
Folder   1
St. Mary's School of Nursing and St. Mary's Hospital, 1931-1968, undated
Box   31
Folder   2
Miscellaneous, 1962-1968, undated
PH Milwaukee Mss CV
Series: Lantern Slides
Box   1
Folder   1
No caption
Box   1
Folder   2
No caption
Box   1
Folder   3
No caption
Box   1
Folder   4
Conferences of Saint Vincent
Box   1
Folder   5
St. Vincent with St. Francis de Sales
Box   1
Folder   6
Faubourg St. Denis, 1643-1792
Box   1
Folder   7
St. Vincent preaching
Box   1
Folder   8
St. Vincent pleading for the foundling
Box   1
Folder   9
St. Vincent celebrating Mass
Box   1
Folder   10
St. Vincent and the orphans
Box   1
Folder   11
Reception of the waifs
Box   1
Folder   12
Sisters receiving the orphans
Box   1
Folder   13
St. Vincent Council of Conscience
Box   1
Folder   14
Death of St. Louis
Box   1
Folder   15
St. Vincent with the gallery slaves
Box   1
Folder   16
St. Vincent Tuesday Conferences
Box   1
Folder   17
St. Vincent sending missionaries and sisters to war
Box   1
Folder   18
No caption
Box   1
Folder   19
Anointing St. Vincent
Box   1
Folder   20
St. Vincent Miracles of the Lamb
Box   1
Folder   20A
St. Vincent Beautification
Box   1
Folder   21
Sister in Franco Prussian War
Box   1
Folder   22
Sisters in China
Box   1
Folder   23
Churches with children
Box   1
Folder   24
Sisters with orphans
Box   1
Folder   25
The doves
Box   1
Folder   26
The reception room
Box   1
Folder   27
The First Apparition
Box   1
Folder   28
Seminary Rue de Bac
Box   1
Folder   29
The Second Apparition
Box   1
Folder   30
The Third Apparition
Box   1
Folder   31
Distribution of the medal
Box   1
Folder   32
Miraculous Statue Rue de Bac
Box   1
Folder   33
The sister and the statue
Box   1
Folder   34
The Virgin established guardian
Box   1
Folder   35
No caption
Box   1
Folder   36
Father Fiat
Box   1
Folder   37
Martyrdom: Bd Clet
Box   1
Folder   38
Imprisonment of Bd. Perboyne
Box   1
Folder   39
No caption
Box   1
Folder   40
St. Joseph Emmitsburg
Box   1
Folder   41
First dwellings of St. Joseph
Box   1
Folder   42
First dwellings of St. Joseph 2
Box   1
Folder   43
No Caption
Box   1
Folder   44
St. Joseph Court-yard
Box   1
Folder   45
Mother Margaret
Box   1
Folder   46
Sisters at Montauk
Box   1
Folder   47
An Innocent victim
Box   1
Folder   48
Peace of stern
Box   1
Folder   49
View of Porto Rico #1