1
25
9
-
https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/files/original/abfce141cef6acb552adc0a651ad33b0.jpg
9866dee50de76d389062d22c7a3d5268
Person - VNHOF Nurse
An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. - for Virginia Nursing Hall of Fame
Birth Date
1865-10-09
Birthplace
Petersburg, Virginia
Death Date
1921-07-11
Biographical Text
Sadie Heath Cabaniss was a pioneer nurse in Virginia. In 1895, Isabel Hampton Robb, Superintendent of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, referred Cabaniss to the Old Dominion Hospital to be supervisor of the operating room. Her skills as an organizer were soon recognized and she was asked to develop a training school for nurses. This school was the first in Virginia that followed the Nightingale plan. Cabaniss recognized the need for graduates to have evidence of competence and established a plan where graduates would receive certificates attesting to their schooling. Cabaniss's school continues to this day as the School of Nursing of Virginia Commonwealth University. <br /><br />Cabaniss provided leadership to the existing training schools in Virginia in the formation of Alumnae Associations and, at her call, these associations came together in 1901 to organize the Virginia State Association of Nurses (VSAN), later the Virginia Nurses Association (VNA). She served as first president of the VSAN. The first undertaking of this group was to obtain a registration law to regulate the practice of nursing in the Commonwealth. Working with her cousin Charles Lassiter, a member of the Virginia General Assembly, she helped to draft the proposed law introduced and enacted in 1903. Cabaniss was one of the original five members appointed to the Virginia State Board of Examiners of Nurses and served as its president through her two terms on the Board. <br /><br />Cabaniss was second vice president of the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada, later the American Nurses Association. <br /><br />Cabaniss left the Old Dominion Hospital to found the Nurses Settlement of Richmond, Virginia. From this agency, nurses provided care for patients in their homes and Cabaniss aided in the development of dispensaries for patients with tuberculosis who could not be admitted to local hospitals. She extended her concerns about public health by establishing the first rural visiting nursing service in Virginia in Hanover County, working in public health in North Carolina, and Georgia, and establishing a nurses settlement in St. Augustine, Florida. Her last service was as a public health nurse in Westmoreland County, Virginia. <br /><br />Two memorials at the University of Virginia honor Sadie Heath Cabaniss. One is the Cabaniss Chair of Nursing established by funds in the amount of $50,000 raised in the 1920s by the members of the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia. The second was the establishment of the Cabaniss Memorial School of Nursing Education. At Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, the Cabaniss Society, named for Sadie Heath Cabaniss, recognizes the contributions of alumni and the community to the School. Two buildings on the Medical College of Virginia Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University have been named for Cabaniss. The first dormitory on the campus was built in 1928 and named Cabaniss Hall to honor her. Today this building is the Nursing Education Building. In 1967, a residence hall for women was opened and the Cabaniss Hall name was transferred to this building. In 2000, the Virginia Nurses Association recognized Cabaniss as one of fifty-one Pioneer Nurses in Virginia. <br /><br />Sadie Health Cabaniss was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame on 1 July 2002 at the ANA Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Bibliography
<strong>Writings of Sadie Health Cabaniss<br /><br /></strong> Sadie Heath Cabaniss and Nannie Minor. "Nurses' Settlement in Richmond," <em>American Journal of Nursing</em> v.3: 624-25, 1902-03.<br /> "Ethics," <em>American Journal of Nursing</em> v.3: 875-79, 1902-03.<br /> "Justice of Examining Board Composed of Nurses," <em>American Journal of Nursing</em> v.4: 775-777, 1903-04.<br />Sadie Heath Cabaniss and Nannie Minor. "Enforcement of State Registration for Nurses in Virginia," <em>American Journal of Nursing</em> v.7: 628, 1906-07. <br />"Hospital Care for Advanced and Incurable Cases of Consumption," <em>American Journal of Nursing</em> v.9: 260-64, 1908-09. <br /><br /><strong>Writings about Sadie Health Cabaniss</strong> <br /><br />Parsons, Anne F. "Sadie Heath Cabaniss, Virginia's Pioneer Nurse <em>Bits of News</em> v.8 (July 1940): 35-41
Highlights
<ul>
<li>Founder, Charter Member and First President of the Virginia State Association of Nurses (now the Virginia Nurses Association)</li>
<li>First President and original member of the Virginia State Board of Examiners of Nurses</li>
<li>Founder of the Nurses Settlement, forerunner of the Instructive Visiting Nurses Association</li>
<li>Organized the Old Dominion Training School for Nurses in the Nightingale method</li>
</ul>
Education
<ul>
<li><span>St. Timothy's School, Catonsville, Maryland, Graduated 1874 </span></li>
<li>John Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, Graduated 1893</li>
</ul>
Nursing CV
<ul>
<li><span>Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, Night Supervisor, 1893</span></li>
<li>Old Dominion Hospital, Richmond, Virginia, Supervisor of Operating Room Nurses and Superintendent Old Dominion Hospital Training School, 1895-1900</li>
<li> <span>Nurses Settlement of Richmond, Virginia (later Instructive Visiting Nurses Association) 1900-1909</span></li>
<li>Hanover County, Virginia, Public Health Nurse, 1909</li>
<li>North Carolina State Health Department, ca. 1914</li>
<li> <span>Nurses Settlement, St. Augustine, Florida, Director, ca. 1915</span></li>
<li>Westmoreland County, Virginia, Visiting Nurse, 1918</li>
</ul>
Death Place
Richmond, Virginia
Introduction
<p>Sadie Heath Cabaniss laid the foundation for professional nursing in Virginia. Cabaniss, who held leadership positions in both state and national nursing organizations, led the movement to secure licensing registration for Virginia nurses in 1903. As superintendent of the Old Dominion Training School, Cabaniss molded Virginia's first generation of professional nurses. Her devotion to the cause of public health led her to develop a nurses settlement in Richmond, Virginia and St. Augustine, Florida. She also established the first rural health visiting nurse service in Virginia for Hanover, County.</p>
<p class="quote">"It is fortunate indeed for the nursing profession of Virginia that the pioneer in our State was a lady, of rare intelligence, who possessed a character of such outstanding force as to impress itself on the profession not only then but for years to come, who inspired in her pupils a realization of the nobility of their calling, who emphasized the necessity of intelligence and systematic education to insure the best results and who dedicated her own life to laying the foundation for nursing education in our state." <br /><br /><span class="quote-attrib">Charles R. Robins, February 15, 1929</span></p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Sadie Heath Cabaniss
Class of 2001
-
https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/files/original/a886233512830da3dd31ce255d3649af.jpg
6c2fc67e2de4b06d881b86b32a7cb32d
Person - VNHOF Nurse
An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. - for Virginia Nursing Hall of Fame
Birth Date
1897-11-30
Birthplace
Kansas City, Missouri
Death Date
1996-03-19
Biographical Text
Virginia Avenel Henderson has been called the "first lady of nursing" and the "first truly international nurse." Her writing, presentations, and research and contacts with nurses have profoundly affected nursing and impacted the recipients of care by nurses throughout the world. She began her career in public health nursing in the Henry Street Settlement and in the visiting nurse service in Washington, D.C. She was the first full-time instructor in nursing in Virginia when she was at Norfolk Protestant Hospital in Norfolk. While in the state, she was active in the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia. She designed a plan to create district organizations within the state. Henderson was an early advocate for the inclusion of psychiatric nursing in the curriculum and served on a committee to develop such a course at Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1929. <br /><br />During her years at Teachers College, Columbia University, Henderson was an outstanding teacher and drew students from many countries to study with her. Nurses throughout the United States studied with her without ever leaving their home schools when her revision of Bertha Harmer's <em>Textbook of the Principles and Practice of Nursing</em> became widely used. Other important publications grew out of Henderson's years at Yale University including <em>Nursing Research: A Survey</em> <em>and Assessment</em> written in collaboration with Leo Simmons. She also directed a twelve-year project entitled <em>Nursing Studies Index</em>, four volumes recognized as an essential reference for many years. Henderson's book, <em>Nature of Nursing</em>, published in 1966 expressed her belief about the essence of nursing and influenced the hearts and minds of those who read it. <br /><br />At the age of 75, Henderson directed her career to international teaching and speaking. This enabled another generation to reap the benefits of contact with this quintessential nurse of the twentieth century. <br /><br />The honors bestowed on Henderson are numerous. To mention just a few, she held honorary degrees from thirteen universities; she was selected for the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame and had the Sigma Theta Tau International Library named in her honor. She was honored by the Virginia Nurses Association in 1988 when the Virginia Historical Nurse Leadership Award was presented to her. In 2000, the Virginia Nurses Association recognized Henderson as one of fifty-one Pioneer Nurses in Virginia.
Highlights
<ul>
<li>First full-time nursing instructor in Virginia</li>
<li>Recipient of the Virginia Historical Nurse Leader Award</li>
<li>Member of the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame</li>
<li>Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing</li>
<li>Authored one of the most widely used definitions of nursing</li>
<li>Proposed plan to create districts within the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia (now <a href="http://www.library.vcu.edu/tml/speccoll/nursing/organizations/vna/">Virginia Nurses Association</a>)</li>
</ul>
Education
<ul>
<li><span>Early education at home in Virginia with her aunts, her sister and an uncle, Charles Abbott, at his school for boys in the community</span></li>
<li>Army School of Nursing, Washington, D.C., Graduated 1921</li>
<li>Teachers College, Columbia University, BS, 1931; MS, 1934</li>
</ul>
Nursing CV
<ul>
<li><span>Henry Street Visiting Nurse Association, New York, New York, 1921</span></li>
<li>Visiting Nurse Association, Washington, D.C., 1923-1924</li>
<li><span>Norfolk Protestant Hospital, Norfolk, Virginia, Instructor and Educational Director, 1924-1929</span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, New York, Supervisor and Clinical Instructor, Outpatient Department, 1930</span></li>
<li><span>Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, Instructor and Associate Professor, 1934-1948</span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Yale University School of Nursing, New Haven, Connecticut, Research Associate, 1953-1971; Research Associate Emeritus, 1971-1996</span></li>
</ul>
Death Place
Branford, Connecticut
Introduction
<p>Virginia Avenel Henderson's national and international achievements made her the quintessential nurse of the twentieth century. Her professional career was launched in Virginia where she served as the first full-time nursing instructor at Norfolk Protestant School of Nursing and took an active role in the state nurses association. A pioneer nurse educator, Henderson was instrumental in pushing for the inclusion of psychiatric nursing in educational programs in Virginia.</p>
<p class="quote">"Henderson through her efforts as an author, researcher, scholar, consultant, and beloved teacher has touched the minds and hearts of thousands of nurses. In reading her writings, in listening to her speak, one is impressed with the clarity of her vision, prose, and insight into the nature of nursing's relations to patients." <br /><br /><span class="quote-attrib">Barbara Brodie, October 21, 1988</span></p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Virginia Avenel Henderson
Class of 2001
-
https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/files/original/96a53bdaa2e175b388107c177d3e92e4.jpg
45876cd0b20e04dbfb51c6fa4fab5917
Person - VNHOF Nurse
An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. - for Virginia Nursing Hall of Fame
Birth Date
1871-06-15
Birthplace
Charlottesville, Virginia
Death Date
1934-01-30
Biographical Text
Nannie Jacquelin Minor was one of the pioneers in public health nursing in Virginia. Working with Sadie Heath Cabaniss, she helped to found the Nurses Settlement in Richmond. She became director and the Settlement became the Instructive Visiting Nurses Association (IVNA). The IVNA existed before the Richmond Health Department was established and was the only source of social and health services during the first six years of its existence. <br /><br />After twenty years with the IVNA, Minor became the director of Public Health Nursing in the Bureau of Child Welfare with the Virginia Sate Health Department. She organized 45 public health nursing services throughout the Commonwealth during her ten years. By 1932, public health nurses in rural Virginia were conducting one hundred classes in home nursing and hygiene.<br /><br /> Influenced by her teacher and friend Sadie Cabaniss, Minor was a charter member of the Virginia State Association of Nurses and worked to secure passage of the Virginia Nurse Practice Act. She was one of the five original appointees to the Virginia State Board of Examiners of Nurses and served as the second president of the board. Throughout her career, Minor was a proponent of public health education for nurses. In 1924, she published an article in <em>Public Health Nurse</em> entitled, "The Status of the Colored Public Health Nurses in Virginia" where she outlined the instructional programs available for African American women in Virginia. <br /><br />In her later years, Minor devoted time to gathering information on the history and development of public health nursing in Virginia. She corresponded with nurses across the Commonwealth in an effort to compile a complete record of public health activities during the first quarter of the twentieth century. In 1952, the Medical College of Virginia named its new dormitory facility Randolph-Minor Hall in honor of Minor and Agnes D. Randolph. Minor was also honored by the Virginia Nurses Association in 2000 when she was selected as one of fifty-one Pioneer Nurses in Virginia. <br /><br />Douglas Southall Freeman said in part, in an editorial in the <em>Richmond News Leader</em> on January 31, 1934: "How readily the historian of Virginia will find and fix her place, we cannot say; but always in the memory of those who knew her and were privileged to share even to a small degree in her work, she will remain a gracious and appealing figure, "Virginia's Sister of Charity."
Highlights
<ul>
<li>Charter member of the Virginia State Association of Nurses (now Virginia Nurses Association)</li>
<li>First Staff Nurse and later Director of the Nurses Settlement, Richmond, Virginia</li>
<li>Original member of the Virginia State Board of Examiners of Nurses</li>
<li>First Director of the Bureau of Public Health Nursing, Virginia Department of Health</li>
</ul>
Education
<ul>
<li><span>Early education at home with governess</span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Old Dominion Hospital Training School, Graduated 1900</span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, postgraduate studies</span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Thomas Wilson Sanatorium, Pikesville, Maryland, postgraduate" studies</span></li>
</ul>
Nursing CV
<ul>
<li><span>Private Duty, 1900-1902</span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Nurses Settlement, Richmond, Virginia, Staff Nurse and later Director, 1902-1922</span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Virginia Board of Health, Bureau of Child Welfare, First Director of Public Health Nursing, 1922-1932</span></li>
</ul>
Death Place
Lewisburg, West Virginia
Introduction
Nannie Jacquelin Minor lives today in the work of the Virginia Nurses Association, the Virginia Board of Nursing, the Instructive Visiting Nurse Association of Richmond (IVNA) and wherever public health nursing exists in the Commonwealth. For twenty years, she led the IVNA in providing care to the citizens of Richmond. As the founding director of the Bureau of Public Health Nursing in Virginia, she established forty-five public health nursing services throughout the state.<br /><br /> "As sure as any woman who came to Jamestown, she was a pioneer; but she was more than a pioneer. Her dream was not that of some new adventure beyond the traveled world; it was that of a city eased of pain, a social order free of injustice, a society of happiness."<br /><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Douglas Southall Freeman, <em>Richmond News Leader</em>, January 31, 1934</div>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Nannie Jacquelin Minor
Class of 2001
-
https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/files/original/56e1105f88693ce35bda374a2baeaa44.jpg
02646fe6dd9c666c2b3c41c4b2cc56bb
Person - VNHOF Nurse
An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. - for Virginia Nursing Hall of Fame
Birth Date
1875-07-12
Birthplace
Albemarle County, Virginia
Death Date
1930-12-04
Biographical Text
Agnes Dillon Randolph, a charter member of the Virginia State Association of Nurses, worked for the 1903 passage of the act to require the registration of nurses in Virginia. She was well known for her ability to influence legislation. Randolph was instrumental in securing changes in the Nurse Practice Act, particularly the provision added in 1918 to provide licensed attendants to meet a need that arose when registered nurses entered the military service during World War I.
Randolph, Superintendent at the Virginia Hospital Training School for Nurses, worked with Nannie Minor to develop an elective course in public health for students. It was here that Nora Hamner was the first student to take this elective and became the first Virginia nurse with public health training.
As executive secretary of the Virginia Tuberculosis Association, Randolph influenced the appointment by the General Assembly of the Tuberculosis Commission. Recommendations from this Commission changed the course of tuberculosis treatment in Virginia. She then joined the staff of the State Board of Health and organized the Tuberculosis Bureau. Under her influence, Piedmont Sanatorium was opened. This was the first tuberculosis sanatorium for African Americans in the United States. Other sanatoriums opened as well. Dr. Ennion G. Williams, State Commission of Health, described Randolph as "one of the most able executives in the public health field."
Beginning in 1923, Randolph led a committee to raise funds for the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Chair of Nursing at the University of Virginia. In four short years, $50,000 was raised and presented to the University.
In 1952, the Medical College of Virginia named its new dormitory facility Randolph-Minor Hall in honor of Randolph and Nannie J. Minor. Randolph was also honored by the Virginia Nurses Association in 2000 when she was selected as one of fifty-one Pioneer Nurses in Virginia.
Randolph served two terms as president of the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia and she led the activities that culminated in the Sick Benefit Fund for Nurses and the Catawba Cottage, a place for nurses needing care for tuberculosis. In 1926, while serving as president, Randolph was invited to be the honorary member from Virginia by the American Woman's Association of New York. At that time she was the only nurse in the country to receive this much coveted invitation.
The great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson, Randolph was buried at Monticello.
Highlights
<ul>
<li>Charter member of the Virginia State Association of Nurses (now Virginia Nurses Association)</li>
<li>Organized the Tuberculosis Bureau of the Virginia Department of Health</li>
<li>Twice President of the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia (now Virginia Nurses Association)</li>
<li>Spearheaded the development of the Sick Benefit Fund for Nurses and the Catawba Nurses Cottage for nurses with tuberculosis</li>
</ul>
Education
<ul>
<li><span>Edge Hill (private school)</span></li>
<li>Virginia Hospital Training School, Richmond, Virginia, Graduated 1898</li>
</ul>
Nursing CV
<ul>
<li><span>Virginia Hospital Training School, Richmond, Virginia, Superintendent and Director of Nurses, 1900-1913</span></li>
<li>Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, Richmond, Virginia, Superintendent 1913-1914</li>
<li>Virginia Tuberculosis Association, Richmond, Virginia, Executive Director, 1914-? </li>
<li><span>Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia, Staff Member, 1920</span></li>
</ul>
Death Place
Richmond, Virginia
Introduction
<p>Agnes Dillon Randolph, a life-long political activist, worked for passage of the act to require registration of nurses. She was instrumental in getting later amendments to the Nurse Practice Act passed including one in 1918 to provide licensed attendants to meet the need resulting from the service of registered nurses in the military during World War I. Randolph led the GNAV committee that raised funds to establish the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Chair of Nursing at the University of Virginia. Using her political influence to advance important health issues, she was the driving force behind the legislation that secured funding to establish statewide tuberculosis sanitariums and clinics. Randolph assisted with the establishment of Piedmont Sanitarium for African Americans, the first of its kind in the United States.</p>
<p class="quote">"She was the best lobbyist, male or female, that this generation has seen on Shockoe Hill." <br /><br /><span class="quote-attrib">Douglas Southall Freeman, Richmond News Leader, 1934</span></p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Agnes Dillon Randolph
Class of 2001
-
https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/files/original/41b37f235eca6ab696c8b25156516c85.jpg
1e6a0adcac746b7fe87acb50fa84638c
Person - VNHOF Nurse
An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. - for Virginia Nursing Hall of Fame
Birth Date
1881-11-01
Birthplace
Saltville, Virginia
Death Date
1967-04-12
Biographical Text
Carrie Marie Sharp, a role model for African American nurses, was an active participant in professional nursing organizations and set a standard for generations to follow. In 1914, Sharp was elected president of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN). She was also appointed to be a delegate to the 1915 International Council of Nurses meeting. However, the Council did not meet because of World War I. <br /><br />She became a national organizer for the NACGN in 1915. Sharp assembled a small group of nurses in Petersburg for the purpose of forming an organization, the State Association of Colored Graduate Nurses. The organization elected her as the first president and she subsequently held the office of corresponding secretary and treasurer. Sharp served on an advisory committee with the eleven other presidents. In 1932 she was honored by being named "Treasurer for Life or as long as she was eligible." At her suggestion the name of the organization was changed in 1936 to the Old Dominion Graduate Nurses Association (ODGNA). At the annual meeting of the ODGNA on June 14, 1949, Sharp received a scroll inscribed with the following: "presented in recognition of your true leadership, devotion and faithfulness." <br /><br />Sharp became an American Red Cross Nurse in September of 1918. Through the efforts of Adah Thoms and the NACGN, African American nurses were first enrolled in the American Red Cross in July of 1918. Therefore, Sharp can be said to be one of those who sought enrollment as soon as it was available. <br /><br />Adah Thoms in her 1929 book, <em>The Pathfinders</em>, described Sharp as "one of he best known school nurses in Virginia" and states that she had been associated with the school system in Petersburg for many years. Sharp was committed to her work with children. Her family remembers her as "a strong matriarch for many brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews." <br /><br />Anecdotal reports showed that she was a Girl Scout Leader and encouraged and enlisted a large number of African American girls in the troop that she led over a number of years. A building at Camp Holly Dell in Chesterfield County, Virginia, (once a camp for Girl Scouts) bore her name. According to the Commonwealth Council of the Girl Scouts, a "Carrie Sharp Unit" was among the five structures listed at the camp and was described as a large house that served as the camp directors building.
Highlights
<ul>
<li>Founder and first President of the State Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, later Old Dominion Graduate Nurses Association</li>
<li>President of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses</li>
<li>One of the first African American nurses enrolled in the American Red Cross</li>
<li>Lifelong advocate for children as a school nurse and Girl Scout leader in Petersburg, VA</li>
</ul>
Education
<ul>
<li><span>Morristown Normal College, Morristown, Tennessee, Graduated 1900</span></li>
<li>Freedmen's Hospital Training School, Washington, D.C., Graduated 1903</li>
</ul>
Nursing CV
<ul>
<li><span>Central State Hospital, Petersburg Virginia, nursing staff, 1904-1914</span></li>
<li>School Nurse, Petersburg Public Schools, 1914-?</li>
</ul>
Death Place
Petersburg, Virginia
Introduction
<p>Carrie Marie Sharp, an active member of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, called a meeting in Petersburg, Virginia on April 11, 1916, to organize the State Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, later the Old Dominion Graduate Nurses Association. Her career in nursing was devoted to her work as a school nurse in Petersburg. She is remembered with respect and affection by the women who were in the Girl Scout Troop she led.</p>
<p class="quote">"Miss Sharp is one of the best known school nurses in Virginia." <br /><br /><span class="quote-attrib">Adah Belle Samuels Thoms, <em>The Pathfinders</em>, 1929</span></p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Carrie Marie Sharp
Class of 2001
-
https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/files/original/93ed0ebeaf37d89b9f55886dc29957cc.jpg
1259e0f5c5ea3ad9016e5541cccb7196
Person - VNHOF Nurse
An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. - for Virginia Nursing Hall of Fame
Birth Date
1873-06-27
Birthplace
Strathroy, Ontario, Canada
Death Date
1948-02-28
Biographical Text
Ethel Mary Smith established her position in Virginia through her work at Norfolk Protestant Hospital and at the Norfolk City Union of the King's Daughters. She was the fifth president of the Graduate Nurses Association. In 1917, she was appointed to the Virginia State Board of Examiners of Nurses and continued on that Board until 1937. In 1920, the Board elected Smith as its secretary-treasurer and inspector of training schools. In these positions, she became the first full-time administrator on the Board. She established the first office of the Board of Examiners of Nurses in her home in Craigsville, Virginia. During her first year as inspector of training schools, Smith visited every training school in the state and made the first comprehensive report of her findings to the Board as the basis for the accreditation for the schools. She initiated a record system for tracking nurses from enrollment in nursing school to licensure, to renewal of license
Smith made annual reports to the Graduate Nurses Association each year at the convention. These reports became a much anticipated part of the convention and the presentation of such a report by either a member or the executive officer of the Board has continued. The detail of the minutes she recorded and the statistical reports remain a valuable source of information about the history of nursing in Virginia. Smith defined the position she held with the Board and set the standard for the two Board members who followed her as secretary-treasurer through 1970.
A chance visit to Richmond and a stop by the office of her state senator brought her attention to a bill pending in the General Assembly to change the composition of the Board of Examiners of Nurses from five nurses to three physicians and three nurses. Her response to notify and involve the leadership of both the Board and the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia led to negotiations and changes that resulted in the defeat of the bill.
Following her resignation from the Board in 1937, Smith continued to assist with the licensing examinations and during World War II, she served as chair of the Red Cross Nursing Services in Augusta County, Virginia. She also organized and conducted classes in Red Cross home nursing and classes for Red Cross nurse aides.
Eloise Lanford, in a paper about Smith said, "there is no tangible memorial in Virginia to this remarkable woman but the intangible will be felt far down into future generations of nursing; and the countless number of those who live because of expert nursing care will serve as a monument to her work with the Board." In 2000, the Virginia Nurses Association recognized Smith as one of fifty-one Pioneer Nurses in Virginia.
Highlights
<ul>
<li>First full-time administrative officer for the Virginia State Board of Examiners of Nurses</li>
<li>Director, Visiting Nurse Association of Norfolk, Virginia</li>
<li>Superintendent of the Norfolk Protestant Hospital Training School</li>
</ul>
Education
<ul>
<li><span>Collegiate Institute, Ontario, Canada</span></li>
<li>St. Luke's Training School for Nurses, New York, New York, Graduated 1902</li>
</ul>
Nursing CV
<ul>
<li><span>Private Duty Nurse, 1902 </span></li>
<li>Protestant Hospital, Norfolk, Virginia, 1903-1913 </li>
<li>Norfolk City Union of the King's Daughters, Norfolk, Virginia, Director, Visiting Nurse Service, 1914-1920</li>
<li>Virginia State Board of Examiners of Nurses, Secretary-Treasurer and Inspector of Training Schools, 1920-1937</li>
</ul>
Death Place
Craigsville, Virginia
Introduction
<p>Ethel Mary Smith, elected secretary-treasurer and inspector of training schools of the Virginia State Board of Examiners of Nurses in 1920, established the office as a full-time position and set the standard to be followed by her two successors during the next fifty years. She began a record keeping system for tracking nursing students from enrollment through licensure and renewal. Her annual reports became a much anticipated part of the annual Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia conventions and the tradition she established of reporting on Board of Nursing activities continues to this day. Her legacy to nursing in Virginia are the detailed minutes and statistics she dutifully kept while serving the Board of Nursing that are invaluable to understanding the history of nursing in Virginia.</p>
<p class="quote">"So, be it resolved, that as long as the Nursing Profession stands, that she be remembered as a leader-an ideal-by all nurses, for her unfailing loyalty, her endless interest, and her untiring efforts for advancement of the profession." <br /><br /><span class="quote-attrib">Memorial Resolution Honoring Miss Smith from District IX of the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia, 1948</span></p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Ethel Mary Smith
Class of 2001
-
https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/files/original/f8c3ee5413d0141d4385e71d0fe177f4.jpg
672fafeb14f7ed607ee987b1ea05ae83
Person - VNHOF Nurse
An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. - for Virginia Nursing Hall of Fame
Birth Date
1870-01-12
Birthplace
Richmond, Virginia
Death Date
1943-02-21
Biographical Text
Adah Samuels Thoms was in the forefront of efforts directed toward achieving equal opportunity for women. She was committed to organizations as a way to achieve goals. She organized and served as president for ten years of the Lincoln Hospital Alumnae Association. In that capacity, she invited Martha Franklin, founder of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) to hold the first meeting of that Association in New York under the sponsorship of the Alumnae Association. Thoms was a charter member of the NACGN and served as its first treasurer. She was later president and was the first recipient of the Mary Mahoney Award from NACGN. This award later became one of the highest honors bestowed by the American Nurses Association.
Thoms campaigned for the enrollment of black nurses by the American Red Cross, the path to the United States Army Nurse Corps. She urged black nurses to enroll in 1917 when war was declared against Germany and refused to accept their rejection because of race. Jane A. Delano, Chairman of the American Red Cross Nursing Service became an ally in this campaign and eventually the Surgeon General agreed to a limited enrollment. The first African American nurses were enrolled in July 1918, but it was not until the height of the flu epidemic in December and after the war was over that 18 black nurses were appointed to the Army Nurse Corps.
In 1921, during the NACGN Convention in Washington, D.C., Thoms was received at the White House by President and Mrs. Warren G. Harding. Concerned about ethics in nursing, Thoms encouraged older nurses to work in the development of younger nurses to promote professional ideals. When a movement began to merge the NACGN with the National Medical Association, Thoms was an outspoken critic of the idea. She believed there could be a connection short of merger that would allow nurses to retain their identity. She supported a movement toward the consolidation with the American Nurses Association and the National Organization of Public Health Nurses. Thoms was an original inductee in the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 1976.
Highlights
<ul>
<li>Charter member and later President of the National Association for Colored Graduate Nurses</li>
<li>First recipient of the Mary Mahoney Award</li>
<li>Original inductee of the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame</li>
<li>Author of <em>The Pathfinders</em>, the first history of African American nurses</li>
</ul>
Education
<ul>
<li><span>Elementary public and normal school, Richmond, Virginia</span></li>
<li><span>Cooper Union, New York, New York, 1890s, studied elocution and speech</span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Woman's Infirmary and School of Therapeutic Massage, New York, Graduated in 1900 (nursing course)</span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Lincoln Hospital and Home School of Nursing, New York, New York, Graduated in 1905</span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Continuing education courses at the New York School of Social Work, Hunter College and New School for Social Research, New York, New York</span></li>
</ul>
Nursing CV
<ul>
<li><span>St. Agnes Hospital, Raleigh, North Carolina, Nurse, 1900-1903</span></li>
<li><span>Lincoln Hospital and Home, New York, New York, Head Nurse, Surgical Ward, 1905; Operating Room Nurse and Supervisor of Surgical Division, 1905-1906; Assistant Superintendent of Nurses, 1906-1923; Served as Acting Director of the School of Nursing for this same period but was never named director because, at that time, African American women were seldom promoted to upper-level positions.</span></li>
</ul>
Death Place
New York, New York
Introduction
<p>Born and educated in Richmond, Virginia, Adah Belle Samuels Thoms championed equal opportunity for African American women first as a teacher in Virginia and later during her professional nursing career. As President of the Lincoln Hospital Alumnae Association, she hosted the organizational meeting of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses in New York City. Thoms campaigned for the enrollment of black nurses by the American Red Cross during World War I and was influential in increasing the number of African American nurses in public health nursing positions.</p>
<p class="quote">"Mrs. Thoms' leadership is significant not only for her own race but for those socially minded person of every race who cherish high purposes and unselfish accomplishments that bring promise of better relationships between people." <br /><br /><span class="quote-attrib">Lillian Wald, Henry Street Settlement, 1929</span></p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Adah Belle Samuels Thoms
Class of 2001
-
https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/files/original/79921a895d18da8c04c855b76b6e7d7f.jpg
09893ae619adc8998042b3be22409ede
Person - VNHOF Nurse
An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. - for Virginia Nursing Hall of Fame
Birth Date
1886-10-10
Birthplace
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Death Date
1942-02-18
Biographical Text
Nancy Vance came to the Virginia Department of Health in 1919, "to assist in the promotion of health education in the schools." Jessie Faris wrote, "being possessed of a true pioneer spirit she continually sought new and effective methods to advance the work." Most significant was the Five-Point Program of Child Health whereby students in the public schools received certificates for meeting standards for weight, vision, hearing, throat and dental health. In 1926, 27,816 children received certificates and through her efforts in 1932-1933 there were 139, 828 with the numbers climbing in subsequent years. <br /><br />Vance traveled the state tirelessly working with mothers and children in churches, schools, and wherever she found them. She helped many children obtain correction of physical defects. An article in the <em>Richmond Times-Dispatch</em> just prior to her death stated: "the fact that Virginia today has one of the best school health programs in the Union is due in no small degree to the indefatigable zeal and unconquerable devotion of Nancy Vance." <br /><br />Vance was awarded a five-point, star shaped pearl-studded pin by Dr. Ennion G. Williams, Commissioner of Health for Virginia in 1925 for her efforts to make the Five-Point Standard of Health a working program for the school children of the Commonwealth. She was also selected to be on the Virginia Honor Roll of 1941, one of only two women in the group of thirteen to be recognized as a person "who reflected credit upon the state through the display of courage, ability, intelligence, tenacity, generosity or unselfishness." <br /><br />While hospitalized during her terminal illness with cancer, Vance established a fund to help cancer patients when she found there was little or no assistance for "the care and treatment of incurable cases." Before her death in 1942, the fund had grown to over $2,000. The money was given to the University of Virginia for the purpose established. Today there is a Nancy Vance Fund for Cancer Research at the University with a current market value in excess of $250,000. <br /><br />Vance gave her treasured five-point star pin to her friend Ellen Smith. Smith in turn, gave the pin to Richmond Professional Institute as an annual award to the public health nurse in Virginia doing outstanding work in her field. The pin was first awarded to Nora Spencer Hamner in 1942. Subsequently the pin was presented to the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia for presentation every two years. The qualifications for the recipient were expanded to include outstanding nurses in addition those in public health. Jessie Wetzel Faris, first executive secretary of the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia was the first to be so honored by the Association. Twenty-five outstanding nurses have received the award since. In 2000, the Virginia Nurses Association recognized Vance as one of fifty-one Pioneer Nurses in Virginia.
Bibliography
<strong>Writings about Nancy Vance</strong> <br />"Memorial to Nancy Vance" <em>Bits of News</em> v.10 (March 1942): 2-12
Highlights
<ul>
<li>Developed Five-Point Standard of Health Program for children in Virginia's public schools</li>
<li>Established the Nancy Vance Fund for Cancer Research at the University of Virginia</li>
<li>Awarded a five-point, star-shaped, pearl-studded pin by Virginia Health Commissioner Dr. E.G. Williams for her work in maternal-child heath nursing</li>
</ul>
Education
<ul>
<li><span>Public Schools, Mecklenburg, County, North Carolina, Graduated 1901</span></li>
<li>State Normal School, Asheville, North Carolina, two terms<span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>State Hospital Training School, Morgantown, North Carolina, Graduated, 1908</span></li>
</ul>
Nursing CV
<ul>
<li><span>Soldiers Home, Phoebus, Virginia, Nursing Staff</span></li>
<li>Soldiers Home, Columbus, Ohio, Nursing Staff</li>
<li>Soldiers Home, Johnson City, Tennessee, Nursing Staff</li>
<li><span>Virginia Department of Health, Bureau of Child Health, State School Nurse, 1919-1941</span></li>
</ul>
Death Place
Charlottesville, Virginia
Introduction
<p>A pioneer in public health nursing, Nancy Vance devoted her career to improving the health of school children in Virginia. For over twenty years, Vance traveled the state tirelessly to work with mothers and children. Although her career was cut short by her untimely death in 1942 her spirit lives on through the Nancy Vance Pin Award, an honor bestowed biannually by the Virginia Nurses Association for nurses who exemplify her life and character.</p>
<p class="quote">"The fact that Virginia today has one of the best school health programs in the Union is due in no small degree to the indefatigable zeal and unconquerable devotion of Nancy Vance"<br /><br /><span class="quote-attrib"><em>Richmond Times-Dispatch</em> January 4, 1942</span></p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Nancy Vance
Class of 2001
-
https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/files/original/3f502283a4c02cf3f25a6640fcd665cd.jpg
0f5b5d3f87bf702ee06b9a7363cf49e5
Person - VNHOF Nurse
An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. - for Virginia Nursing Hall of Fame
Birth Date
1922-05-26
Death Date
1977-10-01
Biographical Text
Phyllis Jean Verhonick was educated as a nurse in Oregon and developed her knowledge of research at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Hagen. She further refined her research skills by working with Dr. Helen Bunge in the Institute for Research and Service in Nursing Education at Teachers College while pursuing her masters and doctoral degrees. <br /><br />Verhonick was an early leader in advocating clinical nursing research and a strong proponent of research education at the baccalaureate level. She has been recognized nationally and internationally for her research in care of decubitus ulcers and the skin. Her great wish was for young students to develop an awareness of what research could mean for nurses. At the University of Virginia she taught a course on introductory research with great effectiveness. Many of her students have become productive nursing researchers. <br /><br />Verhonick was active in many nursing organizations. She served on the Standing Committee on Research and Studies for the American Nurses Association and was the first chair of the Virginia Nurses Association Research Professional Practice Group. She served on committees with the American Nurses Foundation and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing. She was a charter member of the American Academy of Nursing and later served as vice president of the Academy. <br /><br />Her honors are many and include the Legion of Merit presented by the U.S. Army for exceptionally meritorious service. Following her death, the U.S. Army Nurse Corps established the Phyllis J. Verhonick Award presented to an army nurse who demonstrates excellence in research that significantly contributes to nursing and improves patient care outcomes. The University of Virginia established the Phyllis J. Verhonick Annual Nursing Research Conference where an outstanding student receives the Verhonick Research Award.
Highlights
<ul>
<li>Charter fellow of the American Academy of Nursing</li>
<li>Awarded Legion of Merit for her military service</li>
<li>Advocate for research education in the baccalaureate nursing curriculum</li>
<li>First Chair of the Virginia Nurses Association Research Professional Practice Group</li>
</ul>
Education
<ul>
<li><span>Public Schools, Missoula, Montana</span></li>
<li>University of Portland, College of Nursing, Portland, Oregon, BSN<span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>1944 Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York, MA 1956, EdD 1958</span></li>
</ul>
Nursing CV
<ul>
<li><span>Columbus Hospital, Great Falls, Montana, Instructor, 1944-1945</span></li>
<li><span>United States Army Nurse Corps, Staff Nurse and Head Nurse 1945-1948 </span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>Seattle University, Seattle Washington, Instructor, 1948-1949 </span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>United States Army Nurse Corps, Staff Nurse, Head Nurse, Educational Coordinator, Nursing Methods Analyst and Clinical Supervisor, 1949-1958 United States Army Nurse Corps, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Department of Nursing, Assistant Chief for Research 1958-1962; Chief of Research 1962-1968 </span><span><br /></span></li>
<li><span>University of Virginia School of Nursing, Charlottesville, Virginia, Professor and Director of Research 1968-1977; Acting Dean 1972-1974</span></li>
</ul>
Introduction
<p>Phyllis Jean Verhonick, an early leader in advocating clinical nursing research, was recognized internationally for her research in the care of decubitus ulcers and the skin. Following a career in the United States Army Nurse Corps where she was chief of the Department of Nursing at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, she became the first director of nursing research at the University of Virginia School of Nursing.</p>
<p class="quote">"[Phyllis] is a part of the history of modern nursing research and a greater brand of humor and fun could not have been found. She has left a considerable legacy that the history of nursing and particularly nursing research will not forget." <br /><br /><span class="quote-attrib">Gloria Francis, <em>Virginia Nurse</em>, 1978</span></p>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Phyllis Jean Verhonick
Class of 2001