Summary Information
Stella S. Mathews Papers
1919-1949
- Mathews, Stella S., 1868?-1949
Milwaukee SC 84
0.4 c.f. (5 folders)
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of Mathews, a Milwaukee nurse who served with the Army and American Red Coss in France, Poland, and Greece, and then was a hospital nursing superintendent in Hawaii; including letters, citations, and award certificates; a biography; a list of Milwaukee people who served at base hospital 22 near Bordeaux, France; and minutes of the Wisconsin State Nurses Association, Districts 4 and 5, District Headquarters Committee, 1930-1933.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil0sc84 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Stella Mathews was a Registered Nurse who served with the Army and with the American Red Cross in France, Poland, and Greece. Mathews was born in Albion, Illinois, and in 1904 entered the Knowlton (later Columbia) School of Nursing in Milwaukee. After her graduation, she worked briefly in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, then became supervisor of Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. Mathews was instrumental in organizing Milwaukee County nurses, and in 1915, she established the Nurses' Club and Official Registry. She was one of the first to register with the Red Cross Nursing Service, and in 1910 was the first chairman of its Wisconsin Committee.
In 1918 Mathews left for Europe, in charge of a group of nurses who worked at Base Hospital No. 22 near Bordeaux, France. After the war's end, she volunteered for Red Cross duty in Poland (1920-1922) and Greece (1922-1923). In December 1923, Mathews went to Honolulu to visit a relative, and stayed for 19 years, working first as superintendent of Hilo Memorial Hospital, and later with the Honolulu Public Health Department. In 1934, Mathews organized the City and county Nurses' Association in Honolulu, with which she was associated until her retirement in 1938. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Mathews moved to Berkeley, California, where she lived until her death on August 12, 1949.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of a typewritten biography written after Mathews' death by Ruth Benedict and Sarah E. Mathews, and including a list of magazine and newspaper articles about Mathews; and copies of letter, citations, and certificates concerning the many awards received by Mathews. For her nursing services, Mathews was honored by the governments of France, Poland, and Greece, and awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal from the International Red Cross. Within the file of citations are photographs of Mathews and of the medals, and biographical information. Included is a list of nursing and civilian personnel from Milwaukee who served at Base Hospital No. 22, and typewritten minutes of the Wisconsin State Nurses Association, Districts 4 and 5, District Headquarters Committee, 1930-1933. Also included are items from 1949 regarding Stella Mathews which were collected by Mrs. Wayne D. Bird, including two obituaries of Mathews, a typescript article by Mrs. Bird, a printed article by Margaret E. Campbell; and three letters, one written by Campbell, and two written to Mrs. Bird (one from Sarah E. Mathews).
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Mrs. Wayne D. Bird, Madison, Wisconsin, 1949; and by Mrs. Percy Whittinham, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and by Mrs. Signe Cooper, Middleton, Wisconsin, 1962. Accession Number: M62-178
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