Former BCHNS member Gloria Stephens, who now resides in Nova Scotia, announced the Victoria General Hospital School of Nursing Alumni’s brand- new website: www.halifaxvghnursesalumni.ca.
Of interest is an impressive richly illustrated account of the history of the Victoria General Hospital and the role of nursing within its walls over the years. The story of the Halifax Explosion (1917) is also found on the website.
The school of nursing graduated approximately 5000 nurses from 1892-1995 when the school closed.
The VGH School of Nursing Archives is dedicated to the preservation of the history of nursing. Their mandate is “to acquire and preserve memorabilia pertaining to the Victoria General Hospital, the School of Nursing and its graduates”.
The Alumni remains vibrant with plans to celebrate 100 years in 20/20 with a three- day event.
In 1918 the Spanish Flu swept around the globe and Nanaimo was not immune. Local business, industries and schools closed and an emergency hospital opened. To coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Spanish Flu Epidemic, Vancouver Island University history students, supervised by Katharine Rollwagen, have developed an exhibit in the Community Gallery in the Nanaimo Museum.that looks at how the Spanish Flu affected Nanaimo. The exhibit closes on February 15th.
We are saddened to hear of the passing of Helen Niskala, one of the founding members of the BC History of Nursing Society, and a supporter of the group for many years. A tribute to Helen can be found on the UBC School of Nursing website at:
https://nursing.ubc.ca/news-events/news/04-dec-2018/dr-helen-niskala-1929-2018
At Helen’s request, there will not be a service. Her ashes will be taken home to Ontario, where they will be placed in with those of her mother in South Porcupine. At that time, there will be a small family gathering to say farewell.
Associate member DR. SUSAN ARMSTRONG-REID received the 2018 Lavinia M. Dock award for her recent book China Gadabouts: New Frontiers of Humanitarian Nursing, 1941-51. The book, published by UBC Press, examines previously unexplored and undervalued roles of Western and Chinese nurses in the famous China Convoy’s humanitarian efforts from 1941 to 1951.
The American Association for the History of Nursing gives the Dock award to the author of a book noted for its outstanding research and writing. Susan writes “it was exciting to win the award. It would be lovely to share the news with BC colleagues. Your organization and Glennis Zilm have been extremely supportive of my work.”
For more information about the book, see https://www.ubcpress.ca/china-gadabouts.
Lydia Wytenbroek PhD
Member LYDIA WYTENBROEK successfully defended her doctoral dissertation for a PhD in the Graduate Program in History at York University in September. Her dissertation title is “American Mission Nurses in Iran, 1907-1947: Faith, Gender and Profession.” Lydia writes “I am very grateful for BCHNS support of my work over the years. I am currently the Rice Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellow in Nursing and Health Care History at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, where I am working on transforming my dissertation into a book!”
For more information about Lydia’s dissertation and her current challenges, check out the Fall Issue of the BC History of Nursing Society Newsletter, page 10.
Jennifer Stephens PhDDr. Sally Thorne,, Jennifer Stephens & her children
Member JENNIFER STEPHENS received her PhD from UBC in May 2018. Her dissertation titled “Exploring issues of identity for Adult Hematology Patients” won the best dissertation award. She received the 2018 Kristine Griffith Memorial Graduate Scholarship in Nursing for Outstanding Dissertation. Dr. Sally Thorne was her advisor.
Jennifer is a member of the BCHNS website committee and manages our Facebook and Twitter accounts. She is also on the Archives Committee and responsible for oral histories.
The British Columbia Historical Federation BUZZ provides timely information and is a forum for member societies to publicize events and activities. The following request appeared in the November 2018 issue. Search underway for public nursing monuments
The BC History of Nursing Society invites you to join them as they search for public monuments and memorials throughout British Columbia that honour nurses. Does your community have any buildings, monuments, memorials, stained glass windows or sculptures that honour nurses?
The society wants to enhance the online exhibits/nursing presentations section on its website that currently features Vancouver Monuments (completed 1996). Please take time to review this presentation and see the memorials currently recorded.
If you know of any monuments throughout BC that honour nurses, please contact the society through their website: bcnursinghistory.ca
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the annual Marion Woodward Lecture series hosted by the UBC School of Nursing and supported by the Mr. and Mrs. P.A. Woodward’s Foundation.
Date: 08 Nov 2018
Presented by: Dr. Dawn Stacey, Professor & University Research Chair in Knowledge Translation to Patients, University of Ottawa
The 2019 joint meeting of the Canadian Society for the History of Medicine and the Canadian Association for the History of Nursing will take place June 1-3, 2019 at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) territory. In conjunction with the 2019 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Programme Committee calls for papers that address the theme of this year’s Congress: “Circles of Conversation.”
President Kathy Murphy sends this photo of the BC representatives at the CAHN/ACHN Conference held in Halifax from June 15-17, 2018. Gloria Stephens, formerly from BC, was Chair of the Hosting Committee.
“In the three days we heard 32 interesting research papers, viewed excellent displays, consumed delicious food, enjoyed some of the Halifax sights and were entertained by some wonderful Maritime musicians and dancers. The Hosting Committee were so gracious, and even the weather cooperated!”
Look for more details about the Conference in an upcoming BCHNS Newsletter.
