Alcott, Louisa May
Authored Little Women; volunteered for 6 weeks as a nurse in the Union Army during the American Civil War and wrote a book called Hospital Sketches (pub. 1863) based on her experience; Hospital Sketches received popular and critical acclaim at the time of publication
Freely available resources
Image: Louisa May Alcott as a nurse
UVA School of Nursing blog: Flashback Friday – Louisa May Alcott, Nurse
Text of Hospital Sketches, access provided by Tufts University
Subscription/paid resources
Choperena, A., & Fairman, J. (2018). Louisa May Alcott and Hospital Sketches: An innovative approach to gender and nursing professionalization. Journal of advanced nursing, 74(5), 1059–1067. doi: 101111/jan.13510
Seiple, S. (2019). Louisa on the front lines: Louisa May Alcott in the Civil War. Seal Press, Hatchett Book Group.
Barton, Clara (Clarissa Harlowe Barton)
Founded the Red Cross; known as the “angel of the battlefield” during the American Civil War
Freely available resources
Clara Barton’s Nursing Career, from the Clara Barton Museum
Founder Clara Barton, from the American Red Cross
Subscription resources
“Clara Barton angel of the battlefield,” Strickler (2018)
“One vision followed by thousands: Clara Barton turned caring into a global call to action,” Schmidt (2004)
Bickerdyke, Mary Ann
Hospital administrator and nurse during the American Civil War; established 300 field hospitals during the war and advocated for soldiers, veterans, and helped many secure pensions with legal assistance
Freely available resources
“’Commissioned by God’: Mother Bickerdyke during the Civil War,” Sartin (2003) in Oxford Military Medicine
Bio from the Ohio History Collection
Bio from the Library of Congress collection
Subscription resources
WALKER, MARCENA. (2003). MARY ANN BICKERDYKE: Mother to the Union Boys. Journal of Christian Nursing, 20, 35-36.
Blake, Florence Guinness
Instrumental in the development of advanced nursing education programs; pioneer in pediatric nursing
Freely available resources
ANA Hall of Fame Inductee (1996)
Bio from the American Association for the History of Nursing (1907-1983)
Bio from OAAPN (2016)
Bradley, Ruby
A US Army Nurse Corps Officer; a POW of the Japanese in WWII; one of the most decorated women in military history
Freely available resources
Bio from the Drexel University Online News
Feature article in the LA Times (2002)
“Prisoners of war in the Far East,” from the US Army Medical Department Office of Medical History
Breckenridge, Mary
Driver of rural healthcare in US; instrumental in development of the professional role of the nurse midwife; founded the Fronter Nursing Service
Freely available resources
Bio from AAHN, Mary Breckenridge (1881-1965)
History of the Frontier Nursing University, and offshoot of the Frontier Nursing Service
ANA Hall of Fame Inductee (1982)
Cannary, Martha Jane (Calamity Jane)
Cared for the sick in Deadwood, SD during the smallpox epidemic of 1878
Freely available resources
Rapid City Journal: Calamity Jane was a complex western character
See AlsoBook Review: Jennifer Eberhardt, Biased: Uncovering the Hidden … · 2020. 7. 15. · Dr. Eberhardt begins with seemingly simple questions re-lated to various research methodologies, - [PDF Document]99 está contratando CX Fintech Analyst em: Greater São Paulo Area | LinkedIn99 está contratando Management & Control Manager - Affirmative for Women em: Greater São Paulo Area | LinkedInBlack Hills Visitor: Calamity Jane
Gehrke, K. (2015). Dakota Midday interview with author Richard W. Etulain
Subscription/paid resources
Herda, D.J. (2018). Calamity Jane: The life and legend of Martha Jane Cannary. TwoDot.
Carnegie, Mary Elizabeth
Dix, Dorothea
Directed nurses during the American Civil War; advocated for the mentally ill; there is some debate about whether she should be considered a nurse
Freely available resources
Dorothea L. Dix, from the American Association for the History of Nursing
“Dorothea Dix: Mental health reformer and Civil War nurse,” Desrochers (2021), The Smithsonian Institute Archives
“’I will tell what I have seen’ the reports of asylum reformer Dorothea Dix,” American Journal of Public Health (2006)
Subscription resources
Field, P. (1999). Less than Meets the Eye: The Strange Career of Dorothea Dix. Reviews in American History, 27(3), 389-396. Retrieved September 3, 2021, from https://login.libproxy.uthscsa.edu/login?url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3003107
Dock, Lavinia
Pioneer in nursing education and suffragette
Freely available resources
Garofalo, M. E., & Fee, E. (2015). Lavinia Dock (1858-1956): picketing, parading, and protesting. American journal of public health, 105(2), 276–277. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302021
Bio on the AAHN site (1858-1956)
Fu, Mei R.
Current nurse researcher in the area of lymphedema; helped to found the Chinese American Nurses Association
Freely available resources
Profile on Boston College News page (2019)
Dr. Fu’s Google Scholar profile
Mei Fu, NYU Scholars Profile
Henderson, Virginia Avenel
Developed “Need Theory,” which promoted patient independence; wrote and published Basic Principles of Nursing Care, which is likened to Notes on Nursing in importance and relevance; global impact on nursing research
Freely available resources
Subscription resources
She published quite a lot, most of it is prior to the 1990’s and isn’t digital. I can provide a bibliography, but there wouldn’t be live links in all likelihood.
Johnson-Brown, Hazel W.
Served as Chief of the Army Nurse Corps and was the first black female to become a General in the Army
Freely available resources
Kofoworola, Abeni Pratt
Kofoworola Abeni Pratt (1915-92) was an outstanding nursing leader, well recognized for her work in her home country, Nigeria, but scarcely known in the United Kingdom, despite her significant British connections and international reputation. She was the first Black person to train at the Nightingale School, then based at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, starting in 1946.
Lincoln, Mary Todd
Volunteered in the hospitals in Washington, DC after the Battle of the First Bull Run and in the Union hospitals during the American Civil War
Freely available resources
“The Life of Mary Todd Lincoln,” from OSU
Nurses who led the way: Mary Todd Lincoln, from Lippincott’s NursingCenter blog
Subscription/paid resources
Baker, Jean Harvey. "Lincoln, Mary Todd." Americans at War, edited by John P. Resch, vol. 2: 1816-1900, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, pp. 105-106. Gale eBooks
Lynch, Virginia
Instrumental in developing and defining forensic nursing; established the first post-sexual assault care clinic
Freely available resources
Bio from the Academy of Forensic Nursing
History of forensic nursing, from Springer
Subscription resources
Maguire, K., & Raso, M. (2017). Reflections on Forensic Nursing: An Interview With Virginia A. Lynch. Journal of forensic nursing, 13(4), 210–215. https://oce-ovid-com.libproxy.uthscsa.edu/article/01263942-201712000-00012/HTML
Mahoney, Mary E.
First black female nurse professionally licensed in the US;
Freely available resources
“Nursing stories: Mary Eliza Mahoney,” from the Simmons University blog
Founding of the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization, from marymahoney.org
Mary Eliza Mahoney, ANA Hall of Fame inductee 1976
Subscription resources
“Black women in medicine: rising above invisibility.” Eke (2021), The Lancet
Chayer, M. (1954). Mary Eliza Mahoney. The American Journal of Nursing, 54(4), 429-431. https://login.libproxy.uthscsa.edu/login?url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3460941
Maxwell, Anna Caroline
Contributed to nursing education validating the effectiveness of training nurses during the Spanish-American War; influenced the establishment of the Army Nurse Corps (1901)
Murillo-Rohde, Ildaura
Instrumental in founding the National Association of Hispanic Nurses; began her nursing career in San Antonio; first Hispanic Dean of Nursing at NYU
Freely available resources
Bio from the NAHN
10 Hispanic Pioneers in Medicine, AAMC (2020)
Subscription resources
This is a link to her works indexed in PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/emme.lopez.1/collections/61089773/public/
Peplau, Hildegard
Major contributor nursing theory; first published nursing theorist since Nightingale; created Middle Range Nursing theory and contributed to mental health law reform; “Mother” of psychiatric nursing
Freely available resources
Obituary in the New York Times (1999)
Subscription resourcesThis volume of the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association was dedicated to Peplau
Pettus, Viola
Black nurse in Texas who is remembered for her bravery during the 1918 Influenza Epidemic; famous for caring for all those who sought treatment
Freely available resources
Review of American Night, a modern play in which Viola Pettus is a character that explores the American Identity
Richards, Linda
First professionally trained American nurse; established nurse training programs in the US and Japan; invented patient medical records
Freely available resources
Sanger, Margaret
Pioneering advocate for women’s health and access to safe and effective contraception; founded the Birth Control Federation of America, which later became Planned Parenthood after Sanger’s departure; there has been some debate recently about her attitude toward ethnic minorities
Freely available resources
Margaret Sanger, profile in The American Experience provided by PBS
“What Margaret Sanger really said about eugenics and race,” Time magazine (2016)
“Fact check: Was Planned Parenthood started to ‘control’ the black population?” Kelly, NPR (2015)
Subscription resources
Dhont M. History of oral contraception. Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care. 2010 Dec;15 Suppl 2: S12-8. https://libkey.io/libraries/244/pmid/21091163.
Theroux R, Hawkins JW. If Margaret Sanger could see us now. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2008 May-Jun;37(3):353. https://libkey.io/libraries/244/pmid/18507606.
O’Brien, G. V. (2013). Margaret Sanger and the Nazis: How Many Degrees of Separation? Social Work, 58(3), 285–287. doi:10.1093/sw/swt026
Seacole, Mary
Set up the “British Hotel” for convalescent British Officers during the Crimean War; tended to battlefield wounded; the British War Office rejected her application to join their Nursing Contingent; there is debate about her status as a nurse due to lack of formal training, or as potentially the first nurse practitioner due to the practical application of her “doctress” skills
Freely available resources
“Mary Seacole: Nursing care in many lands,” Anionwu (2012)
She wrote an autobiography entitled, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, which may be read in the UPENN digital library
Biographical overview from the National Library of Jamaica, with links to further resources
Pitts D. Two Narratives, One History: Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale. Windows Time. 2018 Apr;26(1):7-9. PMID: 29714895.
Subscription resources
Paquet, S. P. (2017). The Enigma of Arrival: The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands. African American Review, 50(4), 864–876. https://doi-org.libproxy.uthscsa.edu/10.1353/afa.2017.0142
Clendon J. Mary Seacole - the world's first nurse entrepreneur? J Adv Nurs. 2014 Jun;70(6):1445-6. doi: 10.1111/jan.12290. PMID: 24730722. https://libkey.io/libraries/244/pmid/24730722
Togasaki, Kazue
Trained as a nurse, but was unable to secure employment due to discrimination; enrolled in medical school becoming one of the first Japanese women in the US to earn an MD; led a medical team at the Tanforan Assembly Center where she was detained during WWII
Freely available resources
Biographical overview from the National Park Service
Image from the Drexel University archive
Subscription resources
FISET, L. (1999). Public Health in World War II Assembly Centers for Japanese Americans. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 73(4), 565-584. Retrieved September 3, 2021, from https://login.libproxy.uthscsa.edu/login?url=https://www.jstor.org/stabl…
Tubman, Harriet
Having escaped enslavement, she served as a nurse to the Gullah people and in the Union hospitals during the American Civil War
Freely available resources
“First nurse and abolitionist icon to grace $20 bill,” from New York State Nurses Association
“Flashback Friday – Harriet Tubman’s overlooked story as a nurse,” from the UVA School of Nursing blog
Subscription/paid resources
Spy, Nurse, Cook, Commander. (2015). American History, 50(2), 8.
Villaescusa, Henrieta
First Hispanic nurse to be appointed Health Administrator, in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare
Whitman, Walt
Whitman moved to Washington, DC especially to volunteer to care for the wounded at Union hospitals during the American Civil; many of his works were inspired by his experiences there
Freely available resources
“Walt Whitman: Civil War poet and caregiver,” from the Smithsonian
“Traveling with the wounded: Walt Whitman and Washington’s Civil War hospitals,” from the Walt Whitman Archive
“Walt Whitman’s Civil War poetry,” from the National Humanities Center
“The wound dresser,” by Walt Whitman, access by the Poetry Foundation
Subscription/paid resources
Hsu D. (2010). Walt Whitman: an American Civil War nurse who witnessed the advent of modern American medicine. Archives of environmental & occupational health, 65(4), 238–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/19338244.2010.524510
Foley, S., Sofer, D., & Jacobson, J. (2000). I Am Faithful, I Do Not Give out. The American Journal of Nursing, 100(10), 48-49. 2307/3522316">doi:10.2307/352231
Native American and Indigenous Nurses You Should Know About
Jean Cuthand Goodwill
Cuthand Goodwill
Betty Mae Tiger Jumper
Edith Anderson Monture
Margaret Moss
Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail