The records consist of files turned over to the Historical Society at the time of the school's closing in 1986 by Charmaine Endres, director of nursing. The collection presents a limited picture both in terms of period coverage and scope. First, the records date only to the 1930s (with the heaviest concentration of material from the late 1970s and early 1980s) although internal evidence suggests that some documentation dating to the earliest days of the school's operation was in existence at least as late as the 1950s. Secondly, the collection focuses primarily on the clinical curriculum and on the related matter of accreditation by the Wisconsin Bureau of Nursing and the National League of Nurses. Raw administrative correspondence files are limited. As a result, researchers concerned with the internal operation of the institution or with the life of its students and faculty will find little information here.
The collection includes four reels of microfilm which was made for the school by a commercial filmer in 1986. The original material from which the film was made was not turned over to the Society, and its ultimate disposition is unknown. In addition, Box 18 contains material that was loaned for copying in an unknown year; the originals of this material were not turned over to the Society after the school closed.
A substantial portion of the collection consists of information about individual students which are restricted by law. Under provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act these records, which are in boxes 5-10, should be considered confidential. They may be used, however, by researchers who sign the SHSW Archives' Use of Restricted Material Form certifying that they will not release any personally identifiable information. Student transcripts, which contain information of a similar character, are available on microfilm in the Registrar's Office of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
The collection is organized as administrative files, accreditation records, student records, and curriculum materials.
ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS includes documentation on the internal operation of the school. Included are catalogs and commemorative publications, historical clippings, annual reports to the Board of Directors, faculty handbooks, reports on workshops, and minutes of the Faculty Council from 1972 to 1980.
ACCREDITATION RECORDS, which make up a large part of the collection, are divided into four categories. Included is information on the work of the National Committee on the Grading of Nursing Schools carried out during the 1930s, files on the Wisconsin Bureau of Nursing and the National League of Nursing, and information on the work of St. Luke's Systematic Evaluation Committee, which with the cooperation of the state and the NLN carried out a very extensive curriculum review during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Both the NLN and the Wisconsin sections contain correspondence and numerous annual reports, as well as various specialized reports concerning faculty qualifications, the closing of the institution, and similar matters. The files on the Systematic Evaluation Committee include several reports and studies (although no supplementary correspondence) prepared at various stages of this study.
The majority of the STUDENT RECORDS consist of restricted information about individual students. Exceptions to this are minutes of the Student Association, student handbooks, and a general study of the school's graduates made in 1965. Together with the information contained in the student transcripts held in the Registrar's office of UW-Parkside, this section of the collection contains detailed demographic information on the types of students admitted to the school and their performance in class and on various professional evaluation tests. The graduate summaries, which differ somewhat from the transcripts, contain (after 1924) personality profiles on each graduate. Beginning in 1951 photographs of students are also included.
