'I had it all my own way:' College Women, Control and Professional Nursing

Time: 12:00pm

Location: Claire Fagin Hall, Room 2019, Floor 2U

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries more and more occupations were opening for women. But even the most elitely educated women had difficulty finding professional lives that allowed for authority and control. This paper explores the ways in which nursing offered college women a profession like no other available to them at the time. As nurses, these women found that they had opportunities for control over their own work, control over other nurses, control over patients, control over educational institutions for nurses and control over the set up and work of the hospital wards. Many of the writings of college alumnae to their fellow classmates long after graduation chronicles these women’s reflections upon their experiences in nurse training school, and their following careers. These ‘class notes’ serve as the basis for the paper bringing out the voices of these college women as they found opportunities for control within their work as nurses.

To register for the seminar, please visit nursinghistory.eventbrite.com.