Holland, Laura (1883-1956)

holland-1See also the Laura Holland fonds in UBC Archives

Laura Holland’s outstanding leadership and influence on health and social policies in Canada earned her an honorary Doctor of Laws from UBC in 1950.  After graduation from the Montreal General Hospital School of Nursing in 1914, she distinguished herself with service in the Canadian Army Medical Corps and was awarded the Royal Red Cross.  She was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1923 for her work in establishing the first four outpost hospitals in Ontario.  With the Vancouver Children’s Aid Society she reorganized child welfare in BC.

In 1932 she was appointed Superintendent of Neglected Children, and worked to select and prepare qualified applicants for the Welfare Service Field.  In 1938 she was appointed Advisor to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and later took an active role in development of the Placement Service and Labour Relations Program of RNABC.   In 2007 she was nominated a “National Historic Person of Canada”.

Contents of Biographical File

  1. Biographical information by Esther Paulson
  2. Curriculum Vitae
  3. “An Important Appointment”, The Canadian Association of Social Workers, June 1927, pp. 447-448.
  4. Notices in The Canadian Nurse, 1934, 1936, 1946, 1950.
  5. Comments by Ethel Warbinek on excerpts of E.F. Watson’s A Summary and Discussion of the History of Child Welfare Services in Vancouver…..related to Laura Holland.
  6. Harry Cassidy, “Laura Holland”.
  7. Correspondence.-1937-1945; 1971.
  8. Citation for honorary doctorate
  9. Laura Holland, “A Better World for the Children of Tomorrow”, Offprint from Canadian Welfare, XXIX, no. 8 (March 1, 1944).
  10. Newspaper clippings
  11. Vignette on Laura Holland for consideration for History of Canadian Nursing
  12. Zilm, Glennis, Comp., “Nomination of Laura Holland as a ‘National Historic Person of Canada’ to Parks Canada, National Historic Sites and Monuments Board,” January 26, 2007. E-mails and letter included.
  13. Glennis Zilm, Ethel Warbinek and Esther Paulson, “Portrait of a Leader: Laura Holland, 1853-1956”.
  14. Two photographs, one photocopied
  15. Biographical notes by Ethel Warbinek