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Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing records and historical collection
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing [Contact Us]Claire Fagin Hall, 418 Curie Boulevard, Floor 2U, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4217
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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The Jewish Hospital: Philadelphia has had a Jewish population from an early date, but it was not until the mid-1860s that steps were taken to establish an institution for sick and needy members of the city’s Jewish community. The Jewish Hospital Association of Philadelphia came into existence in 1864, and a subscription drive aimed at members of the district lodge of the Independent Order of B’Nai Brith followed. The association obtained property near the present intersection of Haverford Road and 56th Street and built a three-story stone establishment on the site. It was the third Jewish hospital founded in the United States, following those of Cincinnati and New York. The inscription over the door proclaimed the goals of the hospital’s founders to create an institution that would be “dedicated to the relief of the sick and wounded without regard to creed, color or nationality.” But the hospital was primarily a Jewish mutual aid program sponsored by the German Jewish community which developed in Philadelphia in these years.
Jewish residents of the city shared many of the old traditions of their faith regarding mutual aid for the needy, including tzedakah (the duty of the fortunate to care for those who were less so), bikur holim (visiting the sick as a sacred duty), and hesed (acts of loving-kindness, compassion, and mercy as divine qualities). A number of Jewish charitable organizations had developed by the mid-19th century in Philadelphia, including a society for visiting the sick and burying the dead. But as the population grew, community leaders became more conscious of the need for a formal establishment for the sick. Tales of poor Jewish immigrants, arriving in the city ill or diseased, with no friends or relatives of their faith whom they could turn to, flourished, as did the belief that many of these individuals avoided treatment at existing hospitals because they feared exposure to anti-Semitic ridicule or other harassment arising from Jewish dietary restrictions, burial rites, and other religiously-based practices which were neither appreciated nor understood by the dominant Gentile population.
In 1872, the managers purchased a new site for the Jewish Hospital at Olney Avenue and Tabor Road and laid the cornerstone of the first building which developed at this location. In 1901 the Lucien Moss Home for Incurables was completed. The Guggenheim Building for private patients and the Loeb Operating Building followed by 1903. The Jewish Hospital played an important role in research and treatment of poliomyelitis during an epidemic in 1916-1917 and provided care to the many residents of the city who were struck by the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919. The Jewish Hospital distinguished itself by building a network of medical and social services to promote public health.
Mt. Sinai Hospital: Mt. Sinai Hospital was founded as a result of the activities of the Beth Israel Hospital Association and the Mt. Sinai Hospital Association in 1900. Beginning in the early 1880s, Philadelphia received a massive influx of Jews fleeing Eastern Europe and Russia to escape the pogroms and persecution they experienced in their countries of origin. Between 1882 and 1904, Philadelphia’s Jewish population grew from 15,000 to an estimated 60,000. The new immigrants were largely poor and unskilled and soon became a drain on Jewish charitable organizations. They concentrated largely in South Philadelphia in some of the worst tenement districts in the city.
The stated aim of Mt. Sinai’s founders was to provide a hospital and dispensary to provide medical and surgical relief to the sick poor of the Jewish faith residing in Philadelphia but not to exclude other sects. The associations acquired a building on Fifth and Reed streets in South Philadelphia where the hospital opened in 1905. Jacob D. Lit of Lit Brothers department store took a leading financial role and went on to serve as president of the hospital’s board of directors for 25 years.
The Mt. Sinai Training School for Nurses was established in 1905 under the direction of Alice Frankel. By 1911 the graduates had joined together to form their own nurse alumnae association. Because the school’s graduate nurses gained varied clinical experience in working with the urban immigrant population, the school became well known for training public health nurses through programs focusing on personal hygiene, diet, infant feeding, and pre-natal care offered to the residents of the surrounding neighborhood. By 1953, when the Mt. Sinai nurse training school merged with the Jewish Hospital nursing school, 703 nurses had graduated from Mt. Sinai.
Merger of Jewish Hospital and Mt. Sinai Hospital: After World War II, officers of the Jewish Hospital commissioned a report to study future trends in medical care for the Jewish population and postwar Philadelphia. In the report, entitled A Report to the Federation of Jewish Charities of Philadelphia on a Program for Health and Medical Services, author Henry B. Makover, MD, stressed the need for an amalgamated medical center that would not only provide care for the sick but also play a role in medical research and in training medical and nursing personnel. Both the Jewish and Mt. Sinai hospitals had been hard hit by the Depression, prompting these institutions to look toward consolidation as a means of ensuring future growth. Officials at both establishments believed that by combining their financial, physical, and human resources, they would be better able to meet their operating costs. Moreover, they believed that consolidation would make it possible for each facility to be able to diversify and specialize in order to build major care and treatment centers which were more than just local in scope. The many scientific discoveries which followed the war years underscored the importance of research in the modern medical institution and inspired the group to rename the proposed complex after a secular leader—the physicist, Albert Einstein.
The consolidation would clearly enhance educational and training opportunities. Despite the postwar expansion of the medical field, it was still common for hospitals to discriminate against Jews in admitting candidates to residency programs. According to the report, nursing would also benefit from the plan which proposed to change the nature of nursing instruction so that it focused more on technology—thereby increasing the institution’s capabilities to attract qualified medical researchers and develop new means of improving patient care.
Because the Jewish Hospital was larger, with more property available for future construction, the founders envisioned the Jewish Hospital’s North Philadelphia site as the focal point for their expansion, with Mt. Sinai, in the heart of South Philadelphia, providing a supporting role which built on that institution’s mission to meet the health needs of residents of its surrounding neighborhood. A third partner, the Northern Liberties (originally Lebanon) Hospital, a small proprietary hospital founded in the 1920s north of Philadelphia’s central business district, also joined in the merger.
In February 1952, the facility which had been the Jewish Hospital became the Albert Einstein Medical Center—Northern Division. The facility which had been Mt. Sinai Hospital became the Albert Einstein Medical Center—Southern Division. The Northern Liberties Hospital became the central, or Eastern, Division, but that facility closed a year after the merger, and the site was incorporated into the city’s urban renewal program for the area between Market Street and Girard Avenue. The Southern Division was renamed the Daroff Division of the Albert Einstein Medical Center in 1970 after Samuel Daroff, M.D.
MC 127-A contains materials documenting the development of nursing and nurse alumni groups at institutions founded by Jewish benevolent groups and organizations in Philadelphia from the 1890s through the 1990s. The collection includes both the records of the Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing as well as the historical collection which the association gathered. The AEMC SON alumni group records are described in detail under the series description for Series 9 [MC 127-9] Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing (See section [MC 127-9] Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing, p. 42).
The historical material primarily concerns three establishments which were merged to form the AEMC in 1952: the Jewish Hospital, established 1867; the Mt. Sinai Hospital, established in 1905; and the Northern Liberties Hospital established in 1920. (It should be noted that there are no significant records of the Northern Liberties Hospital in this collection.) Two of these institutions had nursing schools: the Jewish Hospital SON, founded in 1892; and the Mt. Sinai SON, founded in 1905. These two nursing schools were merged to form the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing (AEMC SON) in 1953. Each of these nurse training schools also had active nurse alumnae associations. The holdings contain a variety of records which give a cross-section look at each school from the time it graduated its first class until the school closed. The records further document the work of the respective nurse alumnae associations in fundraising for hospital and nursing care; providing continuing education for members, aiding graduates in finding employment, and promoting awareness of nursing’s heritage.
The Albert Einstein Medical Center of Philadelphia has been a major provider of health services in the Philadelphia area since its creation in 1953. The Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing, established in 1954, has been equally active in providing nurse training and education in the region. The Einstein nursing alumni association, named the Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing—and established in the same year as the School—soon flourished, even after the close of the AEMC nursing school in 1987.
The Einstein alumni association became deeply involved in preserving the history and heritage of nursing at Einstein. Under the aegis of the association’s Archives Committee, established in 1961, the alumni gathered a large and valuable array of records of the Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing including minutes, reports, administrative files, artifacts, and photographs depicting nursing and nurse education at that institution.
Fortunately for posterity, the group also sought materials pertaining to a number of predecessor establishments which provided nurse training opportunities in the Jewish community in Philadelphia prior to 1954. These earlier institutions included the nursing schools operated by the Jewish Hospital and the Mt. Sinai Hospital, which merged to form the AEMC in 1953. The Association collected records of the Jewish and Mt. Sinai hospitals and their nursing schools as well as records of their affiliated nursing alumni groups. Additionally, they gathered records of several other nurse training programs associated with the Jewish and Mt. Sinai nurse training schools including records of organizations involved in public health and maternity care. Finally, the group collected and preserved the records of its own organization, the Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing.
The material gathered by Archives Committee, including original manuscripts, photographs, and printed items, became the heart of a nursing history center located at the Einstein Medical Center complex in North Philadelphia. The center featured a research room, library, and collection storage space as well as exhibits highlighting nursing’s heritage at Einstein. But when the hospital needed the space for other purposes, the alumni moved the collection to other parts of the Einstein facility. Some of the records remained in the former office of the AEMC nursing school until this, too, was needed for other uses. Under the circumstances, it became increasingly difficult for the alumni association to make the collection available to researchers and to protect its fragile contents from deterioration. Anxious to place the materials in a secure, climate-controlled environment and yet make them accessible to researchers, the officers sought advice from the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. To the great delight of the Center, the Association donated its historical collection to the Center in 2001.
A grant from the Pennsylvania History and Museum Commission’s Archives and Records Management Grant Program enabled the Center to transport the collection to the University of Pennsylvania and to hire additional staff to re-house, arrange, and describe the material in 2002-2003. The Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center generously offered a matching grant which made it possible to purchase archival storage supplies to protect and preserve the documents.
The Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing would like to thank the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing for supporting these important activities.
Gift of the Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing.
Folder numbers include both the box folder number (to indicate folder order within the boxes) and the series folder number (to indicate folder number sequentially through the whole series). They are given as hyphenated folder numbers, e.g. Folder 2-3 indicates the second folder in the box, which is also the third folder in the series.
When hyphenated numbers are separated by another hyphen, this indicates a range of folders on each side of the central hyphen, e.g. Folder 3-4 - 20-21 would include material in two folders: Box folder 3/series folder 20 and box folder 4/series folder 21.
The following materials have been transferred to the Center’s Artifact Collection:
1) Jewish Hospital Training School for Nurses Pin, class of 1935, Helen Lillian Howe 2) American National Red Cross Pin, 7/21/68, Helen L. Howe also (These both came with note from Jane Tate identifying them.) 3) Package of gold buttons marked: “Pa. Buttons” on envelope. 4) “Matilda Kaufman Medal” 5) Northern Liberties Pin, M.Y.M, Dec. 8th, 1924 inscribed on back 6) One bag pearl buttons 7) One Ford’s Stethoscope in box 8) Five white starched nursing caps 9) One Constitution /By-Laws of Alumni Association. of Jewish Hospital Training School for Nurses, duplicate, [192?] 10) One Pennsylvania State Nurses’ Association By-Laws, [193?] 11) One Pennsylvania State Nurses’ Association, District Association #1 By-Laws [195?] 12) One postcard to Helen Howe 13) One glass container 14) One glass thermometer, [?] 15) One requisition note about stop date Jewish Hospital, from S. Mel to Miss Kissinger, 1-11-41 9-15 items all in a cigar box
16) One medical bag 17) One Mt. Sinai Hospital Women’s Basketball League Championship Pennant from 1933
Other items:
1) Class will, 1929, Mt. Sinai Hospital SON 2) Framed seat reservation for Jewish Hospital SON, 44th commencement, May 31, 1937 3) Mounted invitation to 1920 Mt. Sinai SON graduation 4) Framed invitation to graduation of Jewish Hospital Training School for Nurses, 1937. 5) Invitation to reception for Centennial Award winner, Lulu Wolf Hassenplug, 12/7/65. 6) Mounted invitation to commencement, 1923, JHTSN. 7) Framed invitation to 25th Anniversary dinner, Jewish Hospital SON, Alumnae Association, 5/29/1917. 8) Commencement Invitation, JHTSN, 1915 9) Mt. Sinai Hospital Training School for Nurses, Circular of Information, [?] 10) Contract (framed) of Sylvia L. Meltz with JHTSN, Feb. 8, 1938 11) Mounted Dedication, Classes of 1961, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1972 for AEMC SON 12) Bound diploma (3 year completion) of Harriet Louise Gordon, Sept. 13, 1962, AEMC SON. 13) Framed 50 years of service testimonial to Beatrice R. Nelson, Oct. 22, 1978. 14) AEMC SON Pin layout/design, 1982. 15) Framed AEMCSON Ring Picture, 1977. 16) Cartoon, Jane Tate [?]
Printed Matter:
Four cartons of printed matter from the AEMC SON library have been separated from the collection for further processing prior to addition to the Center’s Book Collection.
People
Organization
- Albert Einstein Medical Center (Philadelphia, Pa.).
- Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing.
- Alumnae Association of the Training School for Nurses of the Jewish Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.).
- Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing.
- Jewish Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.). Training School for Nurses.
- Jewish Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.).
- Jewish Hospital Association of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pa.).
- Jewish Maternity Association of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pa.).
- Jewish Maternity Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.).
- Mt. Sinai Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.).
- Mt. Sinai Hospital Training School for Nurses (Philadelphia, Pa.).
- Mt. Sinai Nurses’ Alumnae Association (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.).
- Northern Liberties Hospital (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.).
- Nurses Alumnae Association of the Jewish Maternity Hospital (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.).
Subject
- Jews--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History
- Jews--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--Periodicals
- Maternal and infant welfare
- Nursing
- Nursing schools
- Nursing--History
- Women--Employment
Place
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Russell Scarboro, Nathan Kennedy, and Gail E. Farr. Updated by Bethany Myers.
- Sponsor
- This collection was processed with funds provided by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (Project Grant ME 230342) and the Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing in 2002-03.
- Access Restrictions
-
This collection is unrestricted.
- Use Restrictions
-
Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the Center with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.
Collection Inventory
Includes reports on wages, salaries and sick leave, job classifications, and fiscal analysis. Of particular importance is a report from 1948 by Morris Wolf, Chairman of the Health and Medical Committee of the Federation of Jewish Charities, to the Board of Directors on the necessary merger of the Jewish hospitals into one medical center.
Included are a copy of the Jewish Hospital Bulletin (1944) containing comments from former Jewish Hospital medical staff serving in the U.S. military overseas; copies of rules for the medical staff; a charge booklet listing rates for private, semi-private, and ward services; a charge booklet for private duty nursing; and programs.
This series contains various records related to the development of the institution with the largest components being the nurse training materials. There are administrative records such as student census and time records, nursing committee minutes, student council organization minutes, and Pennsylvania. State Board of Examiners for Registration of Nurses Survey Reports. Printed materials in this series include student yearbooks, student government association bulletins, nurse alumnae association bulletins and some practice and administrative manuals of the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing.
These volumes provide data about where students came from, religious affiliations, evaluations of their work, why they might leave the program and the areas where they trained. They were prepared by nurse supervisors and instructors to identify and evaluate personality traits, work habits, and special skills as they worked the various clinical areas, as well as note examination scores.
The Nurse Training Committee was formed in 1901 to support the Director of Nursing, especially regarding policy-making and disciplinary activity. Discussions of these issues are frequent . Yearly information about demographic data, the number of students, where they trained, the subjects of instruction and who taught them is provided as are writings on grades, duties, salaries and hours of work changes. Particularly informative are the annual reports to the Jewish Hospital Association of Philadelphia as they report awards to staff and students, types of lectures and social events, health problems of the nurses and personnel changes.
These reports provide an excellent data-base of the working conditions, medical and surgical departments, nursing residence difficulties, educational expansion or lack thereof, student population increases, and the way the institution responded to the recommendations of the Pennsylvania Board for accreditations throughout this period.
This hard bound volume has the hand-written minutes of the student government organization. The meetings are presided over by Miss Krewson, the director of the SON. The meetings consist primarily of reports from the committees they formed: dining room, linen, hostess (focusing on the quality of food they received), problems with maintaining their uniforms and other linens, and disciplinary issues.
These records include early catalogs and course outlines for Jewish Hospital SON. The correspondences range from a 1909 letter from a prospective student who cannot get a letter of recommendation from a rabbi because it’s for a nursing school to letters about private duty nursling’s struggles to get the 8 hour day and $10/day wages. There are commencement programs from 1900 to 1952. The 1908 commencement program and cornerstone laying ceremony brochure for the Pennsylvania Building are particularly interesting in that they have orations by Dr. Max H. Bacharach on the historical significance of nursing, Dr. Edwin Jarecki’s history of Jewish Hospital Training School for Nurses and Mayer Sulzberger’s remarks on the growth of the Jewish Hospital.
These include individual student photos, biographies, class histories written by the students, greetings from other notables at the hospital, and a class prophecy profiling how, why and where particular students would end up.
Question Mark was the bulletin of the student government association. It began publication in 1930 soon after the formation of the student government body. It was issued quarterly, generally with a winter, spring, commencement and fall publication. Regular features included: a class history, a feature article on a topical issue, a class prophecy, student composed poetry, and an occasional short story focusing on life as a nursing student. Articles discuss such issues as areas of work interest, private duty issues, concerns about salaries, living and housing conditions. Especially good re: WWII, efforts to integrate nursing school, a student history of the school (1942 anniversary issue), a history of the alumnae association by its president Catherine Beardsley and a history of the Jewish Hospital Association by Arthur B. Fleisher, president of the Board of Officers in the 1940 fall issue.
This series consists of nursing procedure manuals for 1932, 1947, and 1951, and includes a nursing administrative outline for 1932. These materials were utilized by the Jewish Hospital and SON for training and reference purposes
This series consists primarily of reports on the Mt. Sinai Hospital School of Nursing filed by various accreditation agencies from 1921 to 1951.
These reports comment on the condition of the hospital physical facility, bed and patient numbers, number of operations performed, number of students attending the SON, their hours of instruction, their practical experience with patients, their living conditions, number and background of faculty, affiliated associations of the SON for training, and the improvements recommended and those made in the program. They average approximately 12 pages in length.
These records use similar categories as the Pennsylvania. State Board Reports to evaluate the Sinai SON. However, there is a more specific listing of all staff and their positions and qualifications in these records.
These records give detailed curriculum descriptions, discuss reasons for student withdrawals, point to problem areas (such as 52% of hospital occupied by psychiatric patients nationally with only 3-5% of nurses being in psychiatric facilities.), and present more thorough faculty background data. There is also discussion of the merger of the SON into AEMC in the correspondence and its accreditation approval.
These records similar to above, with extensive faculty information and discussion on improvements in SON programs and facilities.
These are annual reports for the years listed included in a bound volume. They provide information on the types and numbers of diseases and surgeries seen and performed for these years as well as reports from medical staff, nursing school, nurse alumnae association and lists names of staff and board of directors, executive officers etc, of the institution. Also included is the only copy of a Mt. Sinai Bulletin existing in the collection. It is from January 1924, and is a summation of all the varied activities of the hospital.
These include a news sheet written for residents in the Nurses Residence, some catalog/announcements for the SON, commencement programs, employment policies, a manual of accreditation policies, a blank student experience record and minutes from the faculty organization and its committees.
This publication began in 1930 and was published by the senior classes. Each edition featured a listing of faculty and staff usually with photos and similarly for senior students, though with a biographical/character note for them. A class history and class prophecy were written, as were popular jokes, and articles on social life and athletics, especially the basketball team.
These are typescript manuals produced for nurse education and use by hospital nursing staff. They cover the full range of nursing procedures for their time from treatment of pediculosis, to application of flaxseed poultices, to preparation of a patient for the operating room.
This folder contains a night nurse sign, a badge, a Student's Nursing Practice Record, and an invitation and program for the 1943 commencement.
Annual reports of the Jewish Maternity Hospital Training School for Nurses appear in the annual reports of the Jewish Maternity Association. The Association’s reports for the years 1896-1907 are bound together in one volume which is filed in with the Jewish Maternity Hospital Training School for Nurses files.
The collection contains a certificate of completion indicating that Wanda E. Groth of the Jewish Hospital satisfactorily completed her term of Obstetric Nursing at the Jewish Maternity Hospital, signed by Jas. [?] J. Greenberg, Chairman, Committee on Nurses Training School, and Jacob Walker, M.D., resident physician, on September 1, 1915.
See also: Records of the Nurses Alumnae Association of the Jewish Maternity Hospital in Series 127-6.
This is one of the largest segments of MC 127. The administrative records contain: Jewish and Mt. Sinai SON Census Workbooks, Curriculum Reviews, Annual Nursing Education Organization Meeting Minutes, National League for Nursing Survey and Progress Reports (including the closing school report of 1986), annual survey reports and correspondence to Pennsylvania State Board of Examiners, course outlines, some Nursing Committee Meeting Minutes, student research Papers (including Marilyn Berman’s 1960 history of the development of the SONs), nursing technique and procedure manuals, policy statements, correspondence and financial data. The printed materials include: SON Bulletins and catalogs, Student Handbooks, SON Yearbooks. issues of Stat Page, AEMC News, the AEMC Monthly and a few copies of Nursing Times.
These census records were prepared by the AEMC SON office of the Director of Nursing as part of their record-policy post-merger of these programs. It presents a complete census of all students and graduates at the two institutions, lists all administrators and gives a general summary of any changes in classes and when they occurred. The records also give withdrawal summaries which provide information about why particular students did not stay in the respective programs. Finally they have a summary and graphic representation of where recruits came from geographically, their religious affiliation and lists of the African-American graduates (essentially post-1950).
This material examines virtually all aspects of the AEMC nurse training program on a yearly basis. It looks at philosophy and objectives of the program, all its courses, include student evaluations of the education they are receiving, makes recommendations for improvements and possibly necessary additions to the curriculum. There are also comparisons of how they are doing on the board exams. Clinical experiences and requirements are also evaluated.
This is basically a continuation of the same type of information and analysis done by the curriculum review above. However, it is now and hereafter done by the Nursing Education Organization. Included also are meeting minutes of the Curriculum Committee of this body for 1971-1974 which shows discussions on how changes were to be implemented at the SON.
These records document the school’s efforts to receive accreditation and provide information on philosophy and objectives, administration and organization, faculty, students, curriculum and resources and facilities. The closing report refers to SON announcement to the NLN of its intention to discontinue their three year diploma program and spells out the provisions it must make.
These documents indicate what the institution needed to change and improve in their educational program to have their graduates prepared to sit for their licensing exams. They also continue to give information similar to that found in the accreditation reports about the SON.
For First, Second and Third Years, 1959-1962. First and second year course outlines,1968-1976. Proposal to change from 33 month to 24 month diploma program in 1968. These records list and describe the courses student nurses take in their program. In 1968 the SON changed from a 3 year to a two year program and these documents discuss the why and how of that change.
These minutes of the primary nursing body of the AEMC continue to discuss nursing education issues as they develop, but also discuss nursing service issues at the institution such as problems with staffing, salary, hours of work, and nursing policy matters.
Also included are a self-learning module on nursing documentation from 1985 and a blank Experience Record Book for Student Nurses from 1956.
These records discuss the various durations of the SON training program and why the changes occurred going from a 36 to a 33 month then 24 month in 1968 and 22 month in 1976. The alternate time frame program initiated in 1981 allowed for students with economic or other constraints to complete the two-year program in a longer period. The 1969-1976 summer study project tried to improve the weaknesses of students in English or Math who otherwise expressed interest in going to the AEMC SON.
Though these documents range in subject - from the 1954 State Board of Examiners Approval, to contract affiliations with other institutions, to graduation awards from 1964-1973, to student evaluations of the school in 1963, to the student basketball game schedules from 1958-1973 - they in some ways give the best insights into the overall operation of the SON. Especially of note are the speeches and reports of Ella Allison, the Director of Nursing and the SON, as they reveal much of her vision of what AEMC SON could be.
These programs list the students of the particular classes, the place and date, and usually the guests who spoke or presented awards for the respective ceremony.
These class yearbooks written by students follow a similar format: a dedication, a short class and sometimes institutional history, names of faculty and administrative personnel (sometimes with photos), individual class members' brief biographies with photos, and photos with brief captions of social and sports activities.
These materials were what students felt should be included to facilitate their adjustment to the school and to serve as a guide through their time in school. It was written by the student government association and usually started with a statement identifying the philosophy of the school. It went on to provide information on what the student government was and how it operated, the honor system and honor board, social privileges, uniforms, nurses’ residence rules, available student health services, and general information thought important for students at the school.
This was developed to serve as a reference for new and current faculty members. Each faculty received a copy at the beginning of their tenure. It was written by the Faculty Development Committee and periodically revised by them. It focused on benefits, policies and procedures, rules and regulations, positions with qualifications, areas of responsibility, evaluation and promotion guidelines for instructional personnel. It is the only copy noted to be in the collection.
These Bulletins were published by the SON to let prospective students familiarize themselves with what AEMC SON had to offer. They listed faculty and facilities, discussed admission requirements, provided course descriptions, and had photos of various school activities, and listed tuition and scholarship information.
This magazine was published for all personnel at the hospital in cooperation with the Associated Hospital Association of Philadelphia and late with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. It focused on various aspects of the operation of the hospital, its departments, the SON, Patient issues and administrative concerns.
This magazine was published four times a year by the AEMC for the institution and its employees and friends. William F. Balthazar was an early editor and later it was Frank F. Wundhol. Pascal F. Lucchesi, M.D., Executive Vice-President and Medical Director had a regular column, “On My Mind.” The articles touched upon most aspects of the operation of the hospital.
Published periodically for the Board and Membership and the Women’s Auxiliary of Albert Einstein Medical Center, the AEMC Newsletter discusses administrative, educational, physical plant, research, and social and financial activities of the hospital.
Published generally on a monthly basis by the Department of Development and Public Relations of AEMC, Northern Division. It was primarily directed at employees.
Reflections was published by the Department of Public Affairs of the AEMC Daroff Division for it staff and employees.
The Daroff Digest was published for the medical staff of AEMC’s Daroff Division by Daroff’s public relations department. The Summer 1977 Digest is the issue found in this collection.
Published by the Department of Nursing Service at AEMC Northern Division for the nursing staff, this publication featured an individual employee in each issue. Articles focused on issues in nursing education and practice.
Published by the Department of Communications at AEMC, the Monthly addressed issues germane to the entire AEMC medical system.
Aimed at prospective nursing student candidates and employees, these pamphlets highlight the various ways in which a nursing education at Einstein might lead to a rewarding career.
“Gala Dedication at Einstein Medical Center”, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 12, 1959. Article discusses new building completion of Medical/Surgical Building and Paley Clinic at Northern division. Also describes how AEMC is most modern facility in the area. “Einstein Accelerates its Training of Nurses”, Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, June 11, 1970. Features the new 24 month training at SON which allows and encourages more local students. Follows the experience of a student nurse, Karen Forst from Olney. “Einstein Lists First Showing of ‘4th Floor’”, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 22 1971. Review of a film utilized for recruiting African-American students into SON.
These student research papers were written as part of fulfillment of course work at University of Pennsylvania and range in subject from studies on curriculum changes to use of textbooks to factors student illnesses.
This series contains the most complete set of original documentation found in the Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing’s historical collection. It includes administrative records, meeting minutes, monthly reports, monthly bulletins, annual reports, and financial records.
These bound volumes contain the minutes of the monthly meetings of the Nurses’ Alumnae Association of the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing. They chronicle the involvement of the association in their efforts to aid the sick and needy, establish an endowed bed at the hospital, plan and conduct fundraising events, and develop links with national, state, and local nursing associations. There is discussion of such topics as accreditation, job registries, educational, licensing, and legislative issues.
Reports for 1904-1911 are found in Volume 1 of 127-6-1.1, Meeting Minutes. The remainder are in Box 42. The reports consist of an address or report from each of the officers of the association on the year’s activities. Typically they include a president’s report and reports from members of the program committee and from delegates who attended national nursing association meetings. Also included are reports from the private duty nurses’ section of the association. Sometimes there is a listing of the membership. Prominent among the topics mentioned are membership drives, the struggles for an eight hour day for nurses (both hospital-based staff and private duty), news of the nearly 100 Jewish Hospital-trained nurses who served in World War II, salary and wage issues, and legislative concerns. Commentary reflects the perspectives of the association, the private duty nurses, and the hospital administration in the late 1940s.
The association prepared printed reports of their monthly meetings which contain meeting minutes. Additionally, the reports contain additional material such as a personals section which carried news of graduates’ work experiences in Philadelphia and elsewhere, their social lives, illnesses, and births, marriages, and deaths. They also include discussion of the members’ attendance at local, state, and national nursing conventions and their involvement with various medical issues and legislative concerns of the day.
See also: Volume 1, 127-6-1.1. See also: Bulletin, 127-6-1.4.
The bulletins replaced the monthly reports for the membership and were issued on a monthly basis. The format was similar to the monthly reports, typed and printed either as flyers or mimeographed sheets and later as Pamphlets. These publications were originally monthly, then became bi-monthly, and sometimes tri-monthly, publications. They included summaries of the association’s own meetings as well as members’ Participation in other bodies such as the Pennsylvania Nurses’ Association, the American Nurses’ Association, the American Red Cross, the National League for Nursing Education, and the National Organization for Public Health Nursing. Also included are occasional texts of lectures on medical topics and reports of Alumnae Day and fundraising activities. Additional items of interest are numerous letters from Jewish Hospital SON graduates relating to subsequent career activities. Among these are the 1914 letters from Mary Graham who worked for the American Red Cross Hospital in Budapest, Hungary, during World War I, and later teamed up with Olga and Natalie Schoettle (also Jewish Hospital SON alumnae) to travel to Russia; those from an alumnae group member in North Dakota describing the beginnings of public health work in that state in 1921; and from Frieda Doernbach, a missionary nurse serving in Huchuetenango, Guatemala, in 1930.
See also: Volume 1, 127-6-1.1 (1910-1930). See also: Box (1930-1953). See also: Monthly Reports, 127-6-1.3.
These records are found in two bound volumes. The first contains handwritten Pages which are sometimes difficult to read; the pages in the second volume are typed. They contain minutes of the monthly meetings of the board of directors of the Jewish Hospital SON alumnae group which sought to provide direction and leadership for the general organization and to oversee the group’s activities. Among other things, the board developed a code of ethics for the school, established rules for the use of the organization’s sick and needy benefit funds, and created instituted policies for dealing with delinquent repayments of educational loans. Other topics discussed at meetings include the eight-hour day for nurses, the participation of nurses in World War II, the integration of African-Americans into the hospital nursing staff in 1944, and eventually their admission into the student body. Minutes from the early 1950s contain discussion of the projected merger of Jewish-affiliated hospitals and nursing schools in Philadelphia.
A handwritten record of those members who attended the Alumnae Association meetings on the first Tuesday of each month for the years 1949-1954.
These records include correspondences about disagreements amongst individual members at different times regarding actions of the Board and vice-versa. They also include issues such as failure to reply educational loans, letters of resignation from various board members, discussions about the Mother Rubin endowed room and the case of a loan to Mrs. E.C. Shaw-Cushing.
Arranged by exhibit and schedule number. Reports are available for the Alumnae Association of the Training School for Nurses of the Jewish Hospital are available for years ending on the following dates: April 30, 1927, April 30, 1928, and April 1935; September 1938, September 1940, September 1941, and September 1942; and December for each of the following years: 1943-1947 and 1949-1952.
These bound (one regular size and four oversize) volumes document the financial history of the Jewish Hospital alumnae group. Included are records of dues payments, income from fundraising activities, and expenditures.
Although the minutes for the Mt. Sinai Hospital Alumnae are not complete (this folder for 1948-1953 contains the only ones available in the Center’s collection), the surviving examples provide an indication of the group’s activities and interests. Meetings focused primarily on the election of officers, membership building, and fundraising events and activities, along with regular lectures on medical topics. The minutes for 1948-1953 also include discussion of the impending merger into AEMC and what it will mean for the Sinai Association.
The Minutes of the Meetings of the Nurses Alumnae Association of the Jewish Maternity Hospital 1925-1951. These handwritten minutes, though sometimes difficult to read, provide valuable information about the functions of this body. There are also some newspaper clippings attached to some of the minutes and loose correspondences and reports which have been placed in folders in chronological order. The treasurer’s reports in this series also contain loose clippings, correspondence, and reports.
This folder primarily contains loose manuscript and printed items which were removed from the minute book (127-7.1). Included is the second annual report of the NAA-JMH (1904-05).
This folder contains handwritten reports which were removed from the minute volume.
See also: MC 116, Evelyn Benson papers. Benson was an active member in the Alumni Association of the AEMC.
These materials present a similar format each meeting. They present the various committee, project and sometimes president’s reports summarily and then proceed to old and new business of the month. Presentations usually focus on member welfare and health, and on to nursing service and education and accreditation concerns. The planning of fund-raising events is also prominent in the minutes.
These records consist of committee reports so are full of information about finances, elections, relations with other nursing organizations, planning for their annual alumnae day and luncheon, member health and welfare, by-laws of the organization, nursing service and education issues, programs for each meeting and finally frequent about the status of their archives and materials.
These handwritten minutes of the private duty section of the Jewish Hospital Alumnae are in a composition book and focus primarily on work rules for private duty nurses. Other issues include how to generate more interest among new graduate nurses in private duty, how to insure that they get more work in hospitals, what they should be paid and group nursing as a possible way to improve conditions.
These reports from the president and the standing and special committees present a thorough summation of the activity and concerns of the organization for the years noted.
These Bulletins prepared by the association and sent to all members was published four times a year. It gave perhaps the most comprehensive news about classmates and their births, marriages, graduates, trips, SON, and hospital concerns. (Please note that the first entries are 1951. This came from the way they were found in the alumni association's organization of this material to show continuity, as AEMC alumni was actually started as such in 1954.)
The annual Alumnae Day began in May 1958 and continued each year until 1983. The event provided an opportunity for all alumni to get together socially as well as hear lectures and receive information on topical medical and nursing issues. The annual dinner/dances were solely social affairs. These records consist of invitations, programs and other printed materials and correspondence related to the Alumnae Days from #1-# 13 and then #26 in 1983. The contracts and correspondence existent for the Dinner/Dances are for the years 1955-1961.
The Archives Committee of the Alumni Association of AEMC SON was formed in 1961. Through the initiatives of Sadie Sorrow ( at that time the AENC alumni association president), Beatrice G. Feibus, Geraldine Pritzker, and Ella Allison (AEMC Director of Nursing), and with the cooperation of the alumni membership who sent in class photos, artifacts, old books, letters and records the archives was started in 1962. The materials here consist of some of the initial correspondence, meeting minutes, contributor’s lists which led to the formation of the archives. Their work essentially accounted for the manuscript and photo collection documenting the history of these three SONS.
These widely varied letters and records spread across the organization’s history and provide some of the more interesting details related to it. There is the account by missionary RN Frieda Doernbach in 1963 and 1969 of her time in Guatemala and the book of poems, reflections and prayers she wrote for the association. There is a history of the AEMC SON written by a former student, M. I. Klayman, class of 1966. Ella Allison, former Director of Nursing at AEMC and Lulu Wolf-Hassenplug, former Director of Education at Jewish Hospital SON, have biographical information here. Pennsylvania Nurse Association materials and numerous other correspondences are also included.
These applications give demographic information such as: address, phone number, marriage/children, year of graduation, date of registration, registration number, current position and/or title. Sometimes applicants are noted to be resident/non-resident and sometimes whether reinstated or a new member.
Though not existent for each year, still get fairly complete lists of alumni membership including names, addresses, telephone numbers and often whether they were honorary, resident, non-resident or associate members and which SON they graduated from. Lastly, if they had used endowed bed. Also included is a class of 1966 member list.
These records state the name of the member, their address, whether resident or non-resident, sometimes their marital status and whether they are active or inactive, paid or unpaid. They are listed alphabetically by name but are in three different bulk lots. Their original order as they appeared in the records was maintained.
Auditors Reports by D.H. Shapiro Company, C.P.A.s, which indicate the financial status of the alumni association. Arranged by exhibit and schedule number.
Alumnae Association of the Training School for Nurses of the Jewish Hospital: for years ending on the following dates: April 30, 1927, 1928, and1935; September 1938, 1940, 1941, and1942; December 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951; and 1952.
Mt. Sinai Nurses’ Alumnae Association: for the year ending December 1952.
Nurses’ Alumni Association of the Albert Einstein Medical Center: for year ending December 1953; December 16, 1953-May 15, 1954; May 15, 1954; December 13, 1953-1952-December 15, 1953 May 15, 1954, December 1954, December 1954-April 13, 1956, April 14, 1956-April 17, 1957, April 1958, December 1959, December 1960, December 1961, December 1962, December 1963, December 1964, 1965-1972, and 1974.
Arranged chronologically by date of payment, the entries record dates of dues payment, names of member, dues category (resident, non-resident, associate), and deposits.
Arranged chronologically by date of receipt. Entries record income from individual cash contributors, savings accounts and certificates, sale of caps, cookbooks and other items. Entries record income from individual cash contributors, savings accounts and certificates, sale of caps, cookbooks, and other items.
Arranged chronologically by date of receipt. Carbon copies of receipts for funds collected by committees of the alumni. Organization and individual members to various special funds including the Fund for Sick and Needy Nurses, Scholarship Fund, Graduate Nurses’ Education Grant Fund, and the Archives Fund. Also included are entries for interest income from these funds.
There are three bound volumes of check/money receipts primarily for dues and contributions to various funds and committees. (1957, 2 volumes and 1960, 1 volume). Three account booklets with the Pennsylvania Company for Banking and Trusts for 1953-1954 show deposits, withdrawals and balances.
Includes paid bill receipts, check stubs, and monthly financial reports.
These pieces are here arranged as much as possible by date and include mostly newspaper clippings on individuals either graduated from or working at AEMC. There are also several articles written by alumnae.
Various printed material which announces different aspects of AEMC SON, nursing legislation in Pennsylvania, PNA information, annual AEMC reports (1959-1970) and the publication Images (1968 and 1972).
In 1943, Congress passed the Bolton Act in an effort to recruit student nurses to support the war effort. The goal of the program—named the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps—was to recruit about 65,000 nurse student candidates a year who could be trained for service in hospitals in the U.S. and overseas. Both the Jewish Hospital and Mt. Sinai hospital nursing schools participated in the program which expanded enrollment at both establishments. The federally-financed program covered tuition, room and board, and expenses for books and uniforms while the student completed training, with the agreement that the student would stay in the Corps for the duration of the war. The effect was to enhance the attractions of nursing to young women who were interested in lifelong career in nursing and who could meet the entrance requirements: all applicants had to be mentally and physically fit, a high school graduate, at least 17 years of age, and take the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
These records concern the implementation and progress of the 24 month (later, 30 month) U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps program at the Jewish Hospital. Included are preliminary correspondence and planning files, application information, uniform requirements, and affiliated agencies, agency reports of boards of examiners and other agencies, and recruitment pamphlets.
These scrapbooks were prepared by AEMC alumni association members. They consist of newspaper clippings from area papers including the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia Public Ledger, Jewish Exponent, Jewish Times, Olney Times, and the Germantown Courier. Items document the activities of the AEMC system, research and medical developments, system expansion, as well as activities at the nursing school such as individual student awards, program changes, and participation in community programs.
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