Manuscript Collections
at the Bellevue Alumnae Center for Nursing History

Artifacts and Memorabilia

Miscellaneous Small Manuscript Collections

Records on New York State Nurses' Military Service

Personal papers

Karen Ballard Papers (no finding aid available)

Sylvia M. Barker Papers and Memorabilia

Elaine E. Beletz Papers

Nettie Birnbach Papers (no finding aid available)

Barbara Bishop Papers (no finding aid available)

Eileen Bonner Papers and Memorabilia (no finding aid available)

Janie Brown Papers (no finding aid available)

D'Ann Campbell Papers (no finding aid available)

Grace E. Davidson Papers and Memorabilia

Harriet Forman Papers (no finding aid available)

Marguerite B. Harris Papers and Artifacts

Marjorie Elizabeth Goodier Hemenway (no finding aid available)

Eleanor Hill Scrapbooks

Cynthia Kinsella Papers (no finding aid available)

Rita LaCouture Papers (no finding aid available)

Eleanor Lambertsen Papers

Ann M. Lewis Papers and Memorabilia (no finding aid available)

Erline P. McGriff Papers

Julie Pavri Papers (no finding aid available)

Robert Piemonte Papers (no finding aid available)

Martha Rogers Papers

Elizabeth Dorsey Smith Papers (no finding aid available)

Ivy Nathan Tinkler Papers (no finding aid available)

Gail Kuhn Weissman Papers (no finding aid available)

Rita Reis Wieczorek Papers (no finding aid available)

Please contact the Center's archivist for further information about unprocessed holdings. Under certain circumstances, permission will be granted to examine unprocessed materials.

Artifacts and Memorabilia,

Artifacts and memorabilia from various donors. Included are a public health nurse's bag used at the Schenectady Visiting Nurses Association, ca. 1918, a collection of glass slides depicting the history of nursing, a nurse's delivery bag, and a nurse's kit used in private duty practice.

See the finding aid for this collection.

Miscellaneous Small Manuscript Collections

Miscellaneous small manuscript collections include letters, reports, speeches, awards, diplomas, examination papers, photographs and miscellaneous materials. These records provide information on the development of nursing in New York state. Included are papers of Janet P. Mance, president of NYSNA from 1974-1975. Other notable items are papers of NYSNA leaders Beatrice Van Homrigh Stevenson and Marion Sheahan Bailey; an 1878 letter from Florence Nightingale; and correspondence of Lavinia Dock which provides information on and insight into the political activities and liaisons involved in the passage and signing into law of New York's Nurse Registration Bill of 1903. Also included are the records of some small nursing organizations such as the Schenectady R.N. Club.

Records on New York State Nurses' Military Service.

In late 1990 the Foundation of the New York State Nurses Association Center for History of Nursing initiated a project to document New York state nurses' service in the Persian Gulf. The project was subsequently expanded to include documentation of all New York nurses' military service and contributions, from the Civil War to the present. Scrapbooks, letters, photographs, audio tapes, artifacts, and memorabilia document the service and contributions of New York state military nurses. Included are photographs and other materials from the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. Of particular note are nurses' uniforms from the Korean War, scrapbooks from World War II and the Persian Gulf War, and photographs of New York nurses at Iwo Jima.

See the finding aid for this collection.

Sylvia M. Barker Papers and Memorabilia.

Papers and memorabilia of Sylvia M. Barker, a 1936 Mt. Sinai Hospital School of Nursing graduate whose nursing career spanned almost seven decades. She held several key leadership positions at Mt. Sinai Hospital. She has been professionally active in District 13 of the New York State Nurses Association, the Alumnae Association of the Mt. Sinai School of Nursing, the New York State Nurses Association and Nurses House. She has won numerous awards and accolades over the course of her career. Collection includes photographs, scrapbooks, uniforms and personal records.

See the finding aid for this collection.

Elaine E. Beletz Papers.

6.25 linear ft.
MC8

Unprocessed papers of Elaine E. Beletz, graduate of the Mt. Sinai Hospital School of Nursing, with an EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University. She was President of the New York State Nurses Association from 1979-1981. In addition to her involvement in professional organizations at a state and national level, Dr. Beletz has also written many articles and is currently an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing at Villanova University. The papers include a number of books and materials collected through her involvement with the American Nurses Association (ANA) and NYSNA.

Nettie Birnbach Papers and Memorabilia.

Unprocessed papers of Nettie Birnbach, EdD, RN, FAAN, who served in the Cadet Nurse Corps and received her doctoral degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Birnbach is a clinical nurse specialist in community health and has spent most of her career in nursing education. She served on the faculty of the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn as an associate professor and the director of the Center for Nursing Research. She served as president of the New York State Nurses Association and was active in NYSNA District 19. Throughout her career she has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Award for Leadership in Professional Organizations from the Nurses Educations Alumni Association, Teachers College, Columbia University and a Fellowship in the American Academy of Nursing. The papers include Cadet Nurse Corps material, including her uniform; Dr. Birnbach’s doctoral dissertation; District 19 records; and various professional papers from throughout her career including correspondence, programs, and certificates and awards.

Barbara Bishop Papers.

Barbara Bishop is a maternity and pediatric nurse. She is a 1962 graduate of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota and received an M.N. from the University of Washington in Maternal Child Health. She began her career as a staff nurse in the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle. Soon she began teaching and worked as an instructor at Central Washington Deaconness in Wenatchee, Washington from 1964 to 1965, and then at St. Olaf College from 1965-1967. Bishop attained the rank of Assistant Professor of Maternal-Child Health Nursing at St. Olaf College in 1968, and became Assistant Professor for the Division of Public Health Nursing at the University of Minnesota from 1969 through 1971, a dual position during which she also served as Maternity Nurse Clinical Specialist at Pilot City Health Center. She has also worked as Nurse-Coordinator for Special Education Programs for the Minneapolis Health Dept and MCN Consultant to public health nurses from 1971 through 1973. She was the Program Coordinator for the Division of Maternal Child Nursing at the American Nurses Association from 1973 to 1975, and was the founder and editor of MCN, The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing from 1975 to 1997. Throughout her career, she has also worked as a private consultant and writer.

Barbara Bishop has published numerous articles in publications such as the American Journal of Nursing (AJN), Nursing Outlook, and Press Agent (the newsletter of the Third District of the Minnesota Nurses Association). In 1975 she published, with Aleda V. Roth, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Their Practice Today. She published Maternity Cycle: One Nurse’s Reflections in 1979, which was awarded AJN’s Book of the Year Award. With Thelma Schorr she edited Readings for Today’s Maternal/Child Nurse, published in 1987.

Bishop has been the recipient of many awards and honors throughout her career. She was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau in 1965 and was honored as a Nurse Who’s Made Significant Contributions to Women’s Health by the Foundation of New York Counties Registered Nurses Association in 1988.

Her papers include publications and the background material for many of her writings, unpublished writings and research material, professional correspondence, photographs, and awards and honors.

10 cubic ft.
MC24

Papers and memorabilia of Col. Eileen Bonner, a nurse who held chief nurse positions in various New York hospitals and numerous leadership positions in other professional nursing organizations in New York State. She was the first woman to be elected President of the Reserves Officers Association. Collection includes papers, military uniforms and materials collected over the course of her career.

3 cubic ft.
MC31

Janie Brown, graduate of the Mt. Sinai School of Nursing, is a nursing educator and author. She has done some work on a project with Stephen Spielberg on holocaust survivors. Collection includes papers, books, and a taped interview with R. Louise McManus.

3 cubic ft.
MC26

Collection of Army Nurse Corps and Red Cross recruitment posters, primarily from WWII, donated by Dr. D'Ann Campbell, a researcher and academic administrator who has written extensively on women's history, social and military history.

3 cubic ft.
MC25

Grace Davidson (1920-2001) was a graduate of Butler University in Indiana, the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, and Teachers College, Columbia University. She served in the Army Nurse Corps in WWII, and eventually retired from the Army Reserves with the rank of Major. She was a faculty member at Skidmore College, and later served as the Chief Nursing Officer at the NYU Medical Center in New York. Her collection includes Army Nurse Corps and student nurse uniforms, a scrapbook from WWII, some clippings and publication from the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, and miscellaneous papers accumulated through her time at Columbia Presbyterian and Teachers College. There is also an oral history interview with her on tape.

See the finding aid for this collection.

Erline P. McGriff Papers.

This collection contains primarily professional papers and memorabilia of Dr. Erline P. McGriff spanning 1924-2004. The largest amount of materials in this collection represent the many publications with which she she was involved throughout her career, the various awards Dr. McGriff received, and professional correspondence and papers relating to her positions at Trenton College and New York University.

Highlights of the collection include memorabilia and photographs from Dr. McGriff’s trips to Asia. Also among the artifacts in this collection are plaques and medals received as honors by Dr. McGriff. While the photograph collection is small, it is highlighted by a photograph of a young Erline Perkins dressed as Florence Nightingale for a pageant.

Finally, the collection includes items relating to Martha Rogers, a colleague and friend of Erline McGriff’s, including a great deal of correspondence at the time of Martha Rogers's death.

See the finding aid for this collection.

Julie M. Pavri Papers

From the “About the Author” for Honoring Our Past, Building Our Future:

Julie M. Pavri is former associate librarian of NYSNA and former archivist of the Foundation of New York State Nurses. She has developed displays on military nursing, public health nursing, the United States Public Health Service Cadet Nurse Corps, and other historical topics. She has presented papers to both state and national groups, and has authored articles on the history of nursing and the management and preservation of historical nursing materials. Pavri received a master of science degree in nursing from the University of Cincinnati, and a master of library science degree from the State University of New York at Albany. She is a member of the American Association for the History of Nursing.

The Pavri collections consists of books, articles, publications and other documents used in the process of writing the book Honoring Our Past, Building Our Future: A History of the New York State Nurses Association.

Margeurite B. Harris Papers.

The Marguerite Harris Papers include personal and professional papers created and collected by Marguerite Harris throughout her career as a public health nurse. As well as paper records, this collection includes some photographs, uniforms, framed material and other artifacts. Of particular interest are two scrapbooks created by American Red Cross home nursing classes, Harris’ personal correspondence and material from Harris’ time in Puerto Rico.

The collection is divided into five series: Series 1, Rockland Count; Series 2, Dominican College; Series 3, Personal Papers; Series 4, Clippings; Series 5, Books. It also includes some artifacts and oversized material.

See the finding aid for this collection.

Marjorie Elizabeth Goodier Hemenway

Marjorie Elizabeth Goodier Hemenway was a graduate of St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing in Utica. Her collection contains historical nursing books and texts from the late 19th century through the 1940s, papers from her involvement in the St. Luke's Alumni Association, and various nursing artifacts and tools.

Eleanor Lee Hill Scrapbooks

Eleanor Lee Hill was born at Samaritan Hospital in Troy, NY in 1929. She would go on to graduate from the Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing in 1950. Following graduation, Hill continued to work at the Hospital, holding a variety of positions including Assistant Clinical Instructor and Head Nurse of Mens Medical Ward then Head Nurse in Labor and Delivery. In 1955, Hill left Samaritan to begin a course of study and Field Work in Obstetrics at the University of Rochester. Hill returned to Samaritan in 1956 and continued to work in Labor and Delivery, then as Acting Supervisor in Obstetrics. She became office nurse for Thomas F. D’Aurio, M.D. in 1958 and held this position until 1967. In 1967, Hill accepted a position at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula in California. At the end of the year, she returned to Samaritan Hospital as Head Nurse on a 46-bed Medical/Surgical unit. Following her marriage, Hill left the Hospital for a period of time but returned to the life of a hospital nurse for one more year in 1979. Hill is now retired and is a resident of North Greenbush, NY. She is currently active in the Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Association and the Brunswick Historical Society. Hill has been an avid scrapbooker all of her life. The seven volumes held in the archives represent only her nursing education and career. She also maintains family scrapbooks and scrapbooks that represent other aspects of her life. The scrapbooking began in 1936 when Eleanor was seven years old and received a scrapbook from a neighbor for her birthday.

This collection of seven scrapbooks contains biographical and explanatory narratives, correspondence, photographs, newsclippings, pamphlets, programs, invitations, newsletters and publications, charts, drawings, receipts, reports, and much more personal and professional memorabilia.

See the finding aid for this collection.

Eleanor C. Lambertsen

Papers of Eleanor Lambertsen (1916-1998) documenting her illustrious nursing career.

Eleanor Lambertsen was a leader in American nursing education. She trained at the Overlook Hospital School of Nursing in Summit, NJ, and completed her education—BS and EdD—at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her dissertation, “Education for Nursing Leaders,” completed in 1957, introduced the model of team nursing, a model that is still influential in nursing practice today. In 1958, she became the first Director of the Division of Nursing of the American Hospital Association. She remained in this position until 1961, whereupon she returned to Teachers College as the director of the nursing education division. From 1963 to 1969, she was President of the American Nurses Foundation. In 1970 she moved on to the post of Dean of the School of Nursing at Cornell University-New York Hospital. Her scholarly work created the basis for the revised legal definition of nursing in the landmark revision of the New York State Nurse Practice Act in 1972; she served consultant for the NYSNA Special Committee to Study the Nurse Practice Act from 1969 to 1972. In the 1970s and 1980s, she served on various boards and committees, such as that of Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the World Health Organization’s expert advisory council on nursing. She continued teaching well into the 1980s.

See the finding aid for this collection.

Robert Piemonte Papers.

Materials of Robert V. Piemonte, EdD, RN, FAAN, a registered nurse, retired executive director of the National Student Nurses Association, and current president of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA). He was the second male president in the Association's 100-year history. Educated at the Pilgrim State Hospital School of Nursing, Long Island University and Teachers College, Columbia University, he has held various teaching and administrative positions in New York State and in national nursing organizations, among them the American Nurses Foundation and Nurses House. He served as Chief Nurse of the 8th Army Medical Unit. This collection contains papers and memorabilia from his professional and military nursing involvement, as well as military uniforms and many of the plaques and awards he has received over the course of his career.

Martha Rogers Papers.

This very small collection contains some of the personal and professional papers and memorabilia of Martha Rogers spanning her life, 1914-1994. It includes such professional papers as publications of which Martha Rogers was involved in the research and creation, fliers and notes relating to speeches and presentations performed throughout the world, and many awards and certificates received by Rogers throughout her career.

The collection also includes a few items which provide insight into the personal life of Martha Rogers. Among these are a copy of a poem Rogers wrote at age 16, memorabilia from traveling in Rome for an ICN conference in 1956, her bible and a floral patterned handbag.

Finally, the collection includes historical items, such as the transcript from an oral history interview Rogers gave in 1993, not long before her death, items from her funeral and awards bestowed upon her after her death.

See the finding aid for this collection.

2.3 cubic ft.
MC23

Papers of Gail Kuhn Weissman, EdD, RN, FAAN, a nurse executive and administrator who has held senior nursing positions at institutions such as the Montefiore Medical Center, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Massachusetts General Hospital, among others. She has also served nationally and internationally as a nursing consultant. Her education was completed at the Vanderbilt School of Nursing and Teachers College, Columbia University.

10 cubic ft.
MC16

Papers of Rita Reis Wieczorek, EdD, RN, FAAN, a distinguished nurse educator and researcher who has worked throughout her career to promote the advancement of the nursing profession and nursing education in New York State. Over the course of her career, she served as Dean of the College of Nursing at SUNY Health Sciences Center at Brooklyn, as a faculty member at the Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing, and as Director of Education, Standards and Research at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. She has also been active in Districts 13 and 14 of NYSNA, as well as with Nurses House.