Nurses Celebrate Their School's History
Nurses Celebrate Their School's History
By Scott Pesner '87
In May 1977, Cornell and New York Hospital announced they would close the School of Nursing. Despite a long, proud history, a list of distinguished alumni, and a reputation as one of the top nursing schools in the country, the school closed its doors in 1979, due mostly to economic factors. Today a whole generation of Cornellians likely doesn't know it ever existed.
During the 1990s, the Nursing School Alumni Association laid the groundwork for its own dissolution— and decided what to do with the group's remaining funds. They also wanted to leave a legacy so future generations would remember the school and its contributions to nursing education. That legacy is showcased in a new book, Go, And Do Thou Likewise: A History of Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing, 1877-1979. Written by nursing historian Shirley Fondiller, the project was overseen by a committee headed by alumna Mary Millar '54. "We want people to realize the contribution the nursing school made in improving American society," says Millar.
In 1877, the New York Training School for Nurses opened, as its bylaws said, for "women of superior character, education, and refinement." The students, most from well-to-do families, wanted to go beyond the domestic roles expected of them and participate in a social service movement that was taking place around the country.
Many alumni would go on to become distinguished leaders. Lillian Wald, Class of 1891, along with classmate Mary Brewster, founded the Henry Street Settlement/Visiting Nurse Service (now the Visiting Nurse Service of New York), to provide health care to immigrants on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Clara Weeks, Class of 1890, wrote A Textbook of Nursing for the Use of Training Schools, Families, and Private Students, the first textbook written by an American nurse. And Irene Sutliffe, Class of 1890, created the first hospital diet kitchen and the first hospital social services department.
The school's graduates also played important roles in both world wars, working in military hospitals in the battlefields of France and the South Pacific. One was Julia Stimson, Class of 1908. During World War I, she was chief nurse of the Red Cross Nursing Service in France. Following the war, she became the Army Corps of Nurses superintendent, the first woman ever to attain the rank of major. During World War II, as president of the American Nurses Association, she played a key role in unifying nurses and nursing activities through the Nursing Council of National Defense.
In 1942, the school was renamed the Cornell University -New York Hospital School of Nursing. As part of this new affiliation, entering students were required to have completed two years of college coursework. For the next thirty-five years, the school led the field in combining clinical and academic studies for nurses.
By the 1970s, the school was in financial distress. Hospital administrators failed to foresee the need to create a large endowment to keep it running. To make matters worse, federal medical insurance regulations limited the hospital's reimbursement for the school. And because financial support came mostly from New York Hospital and not Cornell, there was little funding from Ithaca to support it.
As the Alumni Association considered disbanding in the 1990s, the members decided they were too proud of their school's history to let it be forgotten. Today, almost thirty years after the final class graduated, more than 2,000 alumni participate in Cornell activities throughout the country. The Alumni Association's officers still meet six times per year and publish a newsletter. And 150 graduates gather annually at Alumni Day, when they present the Distinguished Alumni Award for service to the nursing profession.
The Alumni Association is headed by Linda Vecchiotti Saal '71, a program director at the School of Continuing Education for Nurses at Weill Cornell Medical Center, who extols the pride of nursing alumni. "We're very proud of our school and where we came from," says Saal. "We did have a nursing school, and it was one of the best."
Copies of Go, and Do Thou Likewise can be purchased by sending a check, payable to CU-NYHSNAA, for $25 to: CU-NYH School of Nursing Alumni Association, c/o Office of Alumni Affairs, 1300 York Avenue, Box 61, New York, NY 10021, Attn: Michelle Vale-Marti. Please include shipping address.