Library Homepage: Nursing Theory: History of Nursing

A collection of credible weblinks to resources on the history of nursing around the world. Learn about: wartime nursing, the history of the nurse's uniform, the experience of African-American women in nursing, access letters by Florence Nightingale, view photographs of nurses throughout the years and explore the lives of frontier nurses.

International

Elephind (historical newspaper archives)
Eurodocs: Online Sources for European History
Florence Nightingale Museum
The Florence Nightingale Museum celebrates the life and work of the world’s most famous nurse. Located on the banks of the river Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament, the museum attracts visitors from all over the world who want to learn more about the Lady with the Lamp and her Victorian world. We also examine Florence’s legacy, her influence on nursing today and the continuing relevance of her work.
Nursing Uniforms of the Past and Present
An extensive photo archive, with written annotations of the history of nursing uniforms from the middle of the 13th century to the 1970's.
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Featured on the Pulse Uniform commercial website
Edith Cavell
World War I British nurse who is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers in Brussels from all sides without distinction.

National

AAHN: Gravesites of Prominent Nurses
Provides an image of the gravesite and a brief biography of the nurse.
AAHN: Archives, HIstory Centers & Museums (International)
This is a listing of some centers and archives available for study of the history of nursing. It is not a comprehensive list; historical research involves considerable searching for source material. There are presently two searchable databases for archival holdings in the United States but inclusion in the database is voluntary and entry may lag behind submission. This list includes regional centers which serve as nursing repositories, and some specialty nursing organizations with archives as well as institutions with significant holdings in nursing.
AAHN: Archives, History Centers & Museums (Canada)
This is a listing of some centers and archives available for study of the history of nursing. It is not a comprehensive list; historical research involves considerable searching for source material. There are presently two searchable databases for archival holdings in the United States but inclusion in the database is voluntary and entry may lag behind submission. This list includes regional centers which serve as nursing repositories, and some specialty nursing organizations with archives as well as institutions with significant holdings in nursing
AAHN: Archives, HIstory Centers & Museums (United States)
This is a listing of resources available for study of the history of nursing. It is not a comprehensive list; historical research involves considerable searching for source material. But this list includes regional centers which serve as nursing repositories, a selection of web sites with both nursing and general history content, as well as other nursing history organizations.
AAHN: American Association for the HIstory of Nursing
A professional organization open to everyone interested in the history of nursing. Publishes the Nursing History Review (Proquest Central in the library)
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Gravesites of Prominent Nurses provides a biography and the Nursing HIstory Calendar provides important dates in the history of nursing in the United States.
AAHN: Nursing History Calendar
Calendar outlines important dates in the history of nurses in the United States.
ANCA: Topics in Army Nurse Corps History
The ANCA Newsletter, The Connection, has since 2009 included a regular column entitled "ANC History," written by the ANCA Historian, Colonel (Retired) Constance J. Moore. We share here these brief accounts of some of the many fascinating events and people in the Army Nurse Corps' past.
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ANCA is an organization dedicated to the Army Nurse Corps and its officers. We are a voluntary Membership organization consisting of Army nurses who are Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard, whether currently serving, previously served, or retired.
Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the HIstory of Nursing: Digital Collections
The Bates Center is committed to efforts to digitize collections and make materials available online through various means.
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Provides access to these collections: Albert Einstein Medical center, Brandywine HOme Health Agency, Mary V. Clymer diaries, Laneknau Hospital School of Nursing, Chloe Cudsworth Littlefield diaries, Mercy Douglas Hospital School of Nursing student records pre-1920, National League of Nursing, Philadelphia General Hospital School of Nursing Photo collection, Presbyterian Hospital school of Nursing, Visiting Nurse Association of Hudson Valley, Visiting Nursing Society of Philadelphia records, Women's Auxiliary of the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania's Ward G (Children's Ward)
Discovering American Women's History Online
This database provides access to digital collections of primary sources (photos, letters, diaries, artifacts, etc.) that document the history of women in the United States. These diverse collections range from Ancestral Pueblo pottery to interviews with women engineers from the 1970s.
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This site has been recognized by the ABC-CLIO Online History Award (2009) and the ACRL WSS Significant Achievement Award (2009); it is maintained by Ken Middleton (ken.middleton@mtsu.edu), Digital Initiatives Librarian at Middle Tennessee State University's Walker Library.
Black Nurses in History: A Bibliography and Guide to Web Resources
Hosted by the Rowan University, Campbell Library, features profiles of 12 Black nurses, including Sojourner Truth.
Historic American Newspapers
The Online Collections and Catalog of Rockefeller Archive Center
Extensive collections in the area of nursing history. The easiest method is to search on the keyword nurs* and then limit by subject on the left and side. Most useful if you have a specific topic you are looking for in the history of nursing.
U.S. National Library of Medicine: Visual Culture and Public Health Posters
This online exhibit is designed to introduce you to the history of images used in public health posters in the twentieth century. It utilizes the world's largest collection of poster art dealing with questions of health in the United States, housed at the National Library of Medicine.
U.S. National Library of Medicine: Pictures of Nursing
The History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine acquired an archive of 2,588 postcards from American nurse and collector Michael Zwerdling, RN.
U.S. National Library of Medicine: Guide to Library and Archival Collections of African Americans in Medicine and Biomedical Research
The collections in this Guide are to assist in identifying useful medical history collections for researchers and scholars interested in African Americans in Medicine and Biomedical Research
U.S. National Library of Medicine: Frontier Nursing Service
The Forgotten Frontier: Nursing Done in Wild Places

Regional

Civil War Medicine: Hospitals, Nurses, and Surgeons
This portion of the "Home of the American Civil War" website attempts to put into perspective some of the medical aspects of the war.
Mississippi Public Health Nursing in the 1930's
A Project of the Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry. Organized by headings: Public Health, Communicable Disease, Maternal Health, Child Health, Photographs, Documents
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The Caroline H. Benoist collection includes materials owned and used by Miss Benoist during her career as a Public Health Nurse in Mississippi during the 1930s. The materials originated from various public health resources of the time period, located in different states and cities throughout the U.S.
North Carolina Nursing History
A project of the Appalachian State University. Includes a Timeline, Biographies of NC Nurses and Oral History transcripts.
North Carolina History of Health Digital Archive
Access full-text holdings of the Tar Heel Nurse, starting in 1939.
Official Publication of the North Carolina Nurses Association
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The North Carolina History of Health Digital Collection consists of books, journals, reports, bulletins, minutes, proceedings, and histories covering topics in medicine, public health, dentistry, pharmacy, and nursing, dating from 1849 to the present. These materials thoroughly document the development of health care and the health professions within North Carolina and is thus a significant part of the state’s cultural heritage and history.
Pioneer Nurses of West Virginia
Pioneer Nurses are defined as those who were nurses in West Virginia from the 1860s through 1935. Also included are nurses from West Virginia who served in wars, from the Civil War through the Korean War.
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Maintained by Linda Cunningham Fluharty
Philadelphia General Hospital Photo Collection
Totals over 1500 images spanning the years 1880 to the 1970s. The collection features not only the School of Nursing, but also the wards and campus of the Philadelphia Almshouse and the Philadelphia General Hospital.