The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Spring 1989, Volume 35, Number 2
Thomas L. Scharf, Editor
By Donna Fosbinder, MSN, RN
Fenn Memorial Award and
Jane Booth Award, Women in San Diego History
San Diego History Center
1988 Institute of History
When Father Junípero Serra arrived in San Diego on the first of July, 1769 he found the earlier arrival of two Spanish sailing vessels had brought both death and illness to the area. Father Serra made rounds in two tents that were serving as a hospital ministering to the sick made rounds in two tents that were serving as a hospital ministering to the sick and lonely men.
A century after the evangelization of California begun by the saintly Serra, the President and Trustees of the City of San Diego appointed Dr. Jacob Allen, Dr. Edward Burr and George Hyde Esq to constitute a Board of Health for the city. They were empowered to vaccinate the population, employ watchmen over infected places and make all necessary rules for the prevention of the spread of smallpox. Their authority also extended to the care of the sick, and to provide suitable provisions and medicines for poor patients. The Board of Health was charged also with the timely selection of a site for a small hospital as well as reporting cost estimates for the building.1
The collapse of San Diego’s land boom of the late 1880s brought a serious recession to the city in 1890. The population had dropped from 40,000 to 16,159. Business was at a standstill.
The turn of the century saw an upsurge in population, an improved financial condition, and a new and remarkable trend of people seeking health cures.2 Hospitals and sanitaria arose, and with them, schools appeared to train nurses for these hospitals.
San Diego County General Hospital Training School for Nurses
The first San Diego County Hospital was located in Emmett House on Twiggs Street near Casa de Lopez, Old Town. Emmett House was used as a hospital by Dr. Edward Burr, one of the members of the first Board of Health, who lived in Casa de Lopez and was County Physician from 1869-1871.3
By June 30, 1889 the hospital had accommodated 1,237 patients and had been relocated three and one half miles from the city of San Diego at the foot of the grade leading to Mission Valley, about midway between Old Town San Diego and Mission San Diego. The grounds and farm covered an area of 140 acres. The hospital could accommodate about sixty patients and the farm had four acres of garden producing vegetables enough ton supply the patient demand.4
A new three story County Hospital building located atop what became known as “Pill Hill” at the north end of Front Street costing approximately $60,000 opened March 15, 1904.5 County hospital was a general care hospital staffed by volunteer physicians who provided care to the patients; taught and supervised the interns and residents as they cared for county patients in various specialties.6
The Training School for Nurses opened in 1903 with ten women in the first class at the San Diego County General Hospital. Three years later, four of them graduated as trained nurses.7 A sixty percent attrition rate was not uncommon among nurses because of exposure to communicable and infectious disease, the servile nature of the work, and poor diet. An article written about nurses at County Hospital, describes these conditions in 1912.8
A home for nurses next door to the hospital opened in 1913. Students were awakened at 5:30 a.m., and were expected to make their beds neatly, dust their room, and leave everything in good order and ready for inspection at any time. The Nurse’s Home was closed at 10:00 p.m.; the lights were turned off, and each nurse had to be in her own room.9 In 1920, student progress in theory, practice and general efficiency was recorded in official documents. The twenty eight month program was enriched and included a variety of clinical nursing experience. Training at Vauclain Tuberculosis Sanitarium was optional; by 1946, it was a required educational experience. In 1920, four classes of students were enrolled yearly, and the probationary period was lengthened from three to four months.10 When the school was accredited in 1923 by the Bureau of the California State Board of Health, there were forty student nurses enrolled.11 The expectations for a student entering the Training School for Nurses at San Diego County General Hospital in 1925 are illustrated in a letter asking for a reference on the character, conduct, and physical and mental health of an applicant.12
The training program was lengthened to three years in 1936. In addition, the curriculum was extended to include periods of visiting nurse service and at Mercy Hospital to care for private patients.13
In 1940, controversy raged about the right of a county to issue diplomas to nurses. James B. Abbey, district attorney, upheld the legality of the county’s right to conduct a nurses’ training school in connection with the county hospital and to issue diplomas and certificates at the school. The ruling came as a result of a complaint by the head of a Los Angeles private nursing school against the issuance of certificates by the hospital charging that state law stated that institutions operating under corporate charters were the only ones eligible to issue diplomas.14
Experience as charge, medicine, and treatment nurse. . .dressing changes. . . not starting IV’s till physician shortage in World War II. . . pride in care of our indigent patients.
Hospital overcrowded, beds in hallways on every floor. . . limitations of nursing arts lab. . .long list of regulations for students. . .limited library facilities. . .emphasis on practice rather than principles of science application. . .
Four year program appropriate for the future of professional nursing. . .in 1948, discussion with San Diego State College — distantly receptive. . . previous committee recommendations regarding transfer in1946. . . questions regarding scholastic ability of nursing students – two honor students in first class. . . county provided free room and board at nursing home and free bus transportation to San Diego State College. Transition complete in 1953.
Many students left in first six weeks, “it was just too hard”. . .at 6 months received cap and a $38.50 monthly stipend. . .student staffing of the hospital. . .upon graduation, emphasize on furthering your specialty skills.
“We treated physicians with respect, everyone did, we called them Dr. and we stood up”. . .the nurses lived by specific rules and regulations…”I loved our nursing school. I had a good time.”
The Nightingale yearbooks of 1927 and 1929 list 217 graduates from 1906 through 1929.20 There is no official total of the graduates from the County General Hospital Training School for Nurses. However, a count of the official training records at University of California, San Diego Medical Center shows an additional 450 graduates from 1930 through 1956.21
A glimpse at the class of 1942 reveals about seventy-five percent serving in the armed forces, with Marge Camper, and O. Doxey losing their lives in the service of their country. Emily Greenwood served on hospital train duty taking the wounded to their homes. Upon release from the Army Nurse Corp, Marjorie Ready served twenty years in the Presbyterian Mission on the Navajo Reservation and in Ethiopia. While in Ethiopia, Marjorie provided nursing care to the wife of Emperor Haile Selassie for the last few months preceding her death. Unable to serve in the Armed Forces, because of a medical condition, Doris Bogan took advantage of the Bolten-Bailey funds for the education of graduate nurses in the field of Public Health. After receiving her Public Health Certificate, at the University of Minnesota, she returned to San Diego and entered school nursing. Later, she received her BSN from the University of Colorado, and her Masters Degree from the University of San Diego. She continued employment as an administrator of Clinical Nurses in the Central Office of the City Schools.22
St. Joseph’s Sanitarium Training School for Nurses
When Father Ubach arrived in San Diego October, 1866 the town hardly presented a cheerful prospect. It was a cluster of adobe house with tile roofs and a few frame buildings at the foot of Presido hill. With the growth of population in 1890, the need for a hospital in the city had become more acute. Since the Sisters of Mercy had established a Mission in San Francisco in 1854, Father Ubach wrote to the Archibishop asking for Sisters to come to San Diego. None were available.23
Mother Mary Michael Cummings left St. Louis to come west with the missionary movement. She left Durango, Colorado in 1889, and founded the mission in San Diego June, 1890. Mother Mary Michael was left to her own resources when she arrived in San Diego, receiving moral support from her religious community.24 When the Catholic Sisters sought to secure a loan to build a hospital, the San Diego community was hostile to their request. Despite the hostilities she faced in San Diego, Mother M. Michael believed she was under the inspiration of the Spirit in following the wishes of the good Archbishop. “Surely God would provide.” This indomitable trust was probably the special charisma of Mother M. Michael.25
“The Beginning of a Dream. . . . .” With determination and courage, twenty-nine year old Mother M. Michael and her fellow Sisters undertook the mission of opening St. Joseph’s Dispensary with only fifty dollars in their pockets. This hospital provided care for all patients in the San Diego area in two floors rented from the Grant Central Hotel, at Sixth and Market on July 9, 1890.26 As the Sisters struggled to make their dream come true they were gradually accepted as an asset by the San Diego community. During the year after the opening of St. Joseph’s Dispensary, the Sisters’ diligent work made it possible for them to build a more adequate hospital. On April 25, 1891, the doors were opened to the people. It was a three-story building on ten acres of land, built at a cost of $5,000. Nineteen patients were housed there.27
St. Joseph’s Training School for Nurses was started in 1903 to meet the hospital’s expanding needs for patient care. Miss Kate Sullivan, graduate of Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, with post graduate experience at St. Mary’s Hospital, New York City, came to serve as superintendent of the new school. On May 31,1906, ten Sisters of Mercy graduated.28
Mrs. Carrie Stimmel was director when the nursing school was accredited by the California State Board of Health on February 1, 1915.29 Plans for expanding the school were overshadowed by World War I and the demand for nurses to enter active duty in the armed forces. On November 14, 1924, a new hospital, nurse’s home and school of nursing were opened on Hillcrest Drive overlooking Mission Valley. The facilities were named Mercy Hospital and Mercy School of Nursing. The graduates of that year were the first to participate in a twenty-eight month training course established by the California Bureau of Registration of Nurses. The school of nursing expanded its enrollment and by 1926, Mercy had graduated 155 nurses.30
On January 28, 1932, Mercy Hospital School of Nursing became Mercy College of Nursing.31 Despite popular notions to the contrary, the name change to “college” brought only minimal changes in the curriculum.32 The most notable change was that students now received a whole day instead of a half day off.33
A personal interview with a graduate from the class of 1934 reveals a typical day of any student at that time.34
7:00 a.m.-breakfast & fresh water. . .”the same thermometer was used for all patients; we cleaned it between patients by dipping it in alcohol and rubbing it with a cotton ball” . . .students not allowed to take blood pressures; only the nuns and the graduate nurses could do that. . .after breakfast, bed baths, linen changes, treatments and medicines that were ordered. . .students owned their syringes and carried them in their pockets…”in the utility room, we boiled our needles using a bent spoon held over an alcohol lamp. . .I carried two needles, because to use a dull needle, oh! the poor patient”…classes in the afternoon and then return to work on the nursing units till 7:00 PM. . .work from 7:00 PM till 7:00 AM, did not relieve students of afternoon class time.
The graduates of 1939 were required by the State Board of Nursing to receive three years of formalized training. The entry of the United States into World War II, and an ubiquitous shortage of qualified nurses, was responsible for many changes in the responsibilities of students for providing patient care; the most obvious was that student nurses were assigned to administer all patient care. Due to the influx of military wives and the fact that Mercy had the ninth highest delivery rate in the nation, students received an increase in obstetrical education and experience.35 A ten hour training course was added to the basic curriculum in Basic Civilian Protection.36 The U.S. Cadet Corps program, which subsidized the entire education of nursing students was implemented at Mercy in 1943 in an effort to increase nursing manpower. In 1945, all thirty graduates of Mercy entered military service.37
The rapid escalation of scientific knowledge reflected in increased complexity of medical regimens and the broadening of college education for career opportunities for women were characteristics of a post World War II society. They resulted in two factors which played a role in the closing of the school in 1970: increased cost, and lack of applicants. By 1956, Mercy College of Nursing and the University of San Diego College for Women instituted a system of course affiliations. The increased cost associated was with the increase in required college units as it fulfilled it responsibilities for establishing educational requirements for safe practitioners mandated by the Board of Nursing. The increase from the requisite of ten units in 1957 to twenty-four units in 1967 caused a tremendous financial burden to the students and the hospital based nursing school. High school counselors were not recommending less than baccalaureate education for women. Also, the recommendation by professional associations that schools of nursing be completely lodged in Universities did not encourage high school seniors to enroll in hospital nursing schools.38 In 1967, Sister Helen Marie, now Sister Felice Sauers stated on behalf of the Board of Directors that a decision had been made to close the hospital school.39
When the final class received their diplomas in June, 1970 a total of 1550 nurses had graduated from Mercy College of Nursing. Over 100 alumni served as nurses in the Army, Navy and Air Force during World Ward I and II and the Korean conflict.40
Mercy Alumni have a record of outstanding service. In World War I, Mae Murphy, a graduate of the class of 1911 distinguished herself as an Army Nurse and received many commendations for her work. This Mercy nurse went on to compile an enviable record of achievement in professional fields which included service on the Board of Directors of the California Nurses Association and as Vice Commander at Large of the American Legion. Another alumni, Melba Love, class of 1944, was Director of Nurses at St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital in Puerto Rico and served as a medical missionary for several years. Ann Sverdrup, a member of the 1945 class demonstrated Mercy education and San Diego influence in Norway where she worked in the Norwegian Federal Public Health Service. Margaret Small, a graduate of 1944 took the Mercy “esprit de corps” into every country on the European continent. During the reorganization years following World War II, she served as a member of the Army Nurse Corps and was particularly active in establishing adequate health services for the civilian populace of the war-torn areas. Others who distinguished themselves in the armed services are: Lt. Clara Duley, awarded the Bronze Star for duty with the 41st Evacuation Hospital which was first unit to cross the Normandy beachhead in World War II. Lt. Margaret Berry, a graduate of 1938, was the voice of “Pacific War Report,” an official Armed Forces Radio production, emanating from Hawaii. Mary Jensen was on duty on the USS Comfort when it was bombed, earning both the Meritorious Service award and the Bronze Star. Two other Mercy graduates, Lieutenants Pegeen Nugent and Esther Banks, received commendations for their service with front-line field hospitals in France during World War II. One of many nurses to give her life in the service of her country was Lieutenant Rebecca Britton, Navy Nurse Corps, of the Mercy class of 1939. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, Miss Britton disregarded her own discomfort and pain to care for the multitudinous injured immediately after the bombing. Her collapse and subsequent death, were the result of a ruptured appendix. Such selfless devotion to duty is exemplary of the character and essence of the finest traditions of nurses everywhere and a reflection of the spiritual guidance embued by the Sisters of Mercy. Another Mercy graduate, Mrs. Ceil Sutton has gained many honors as a Red Cross Nurse working in the defense effort, the training of youth and in events of local disaster in San Diego.41
Agnew Hospital Training School for Nurses
In 1900, the first hospital training school for nurses began in San Diego at Agnew Sanitarium, a six-room residence at Fifth Avenue and Beech Street. Five graduates received their diplomas in 1903. Sophia Cole, a graduate of 1903, practiced nursing for nearly half a century. While the exact number of graduates from the Agnew school is unknown, photographs and newspaper records indicate nineteen graduated in 1909;42 and nursing certificates were presented to eighteen girls in 1919.43 As late as 1964, the Agnew Hospital Alumni Association was still going strong. Annual reunions were held the first Saturday in October with between eighteen and twenty-five active members in attendance. In addition, these nurses kept in touch through meetings in the San Diego area. During those meetings they recalled the jubilance of receiving twenty-five dollars a week for working twenty- hour shifts. Miss Mary Wolking, a graduate of 1913, had memories of traipsing over rugged terrain to San Diego County’s Indian reservations and, with mud up to her knees, standing beside a makeshift kitchen “operating” table to aid in tonsillectomies for 40 or 50 children. Miss Wolking spent nearly 30 years in the San Diego County Department of Health.44
Nine Agnew graduates served in World War I. Three served overseas. One alumni, Mrs. Flynn, recalled, “We were scared of our superintendent, Mrs. Carrie Stimmel, but the girls who served overseas were so glad they’d had her strict training when they got over there and were on their own. “It was the consensus that nurses’ training at Agnew was “three long, hard years,” but the women said, “we’d swell with pride when any doctor said, ‘I can tell you’re an Agnew girl.'”45
In 1919 when the hospital was sold to become an apartment house,46 Miss M.C. Steward was nursing superintendent of Agnew. She was an outstanding example of patriotic bravery, having served in the war in France where she was superintendent of the Queen’s Canadian hospital. In this role she was under enemy fire repeatedly, received the Royal Red Cross decoration, and was invested by the King at Buckingham Palace.47
Hearne Training School for Nurses
The Hearne Training School for Nurses located on Ash Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues had the shortest life span. Dr. Joseph Carter Hearne owned and lived in the hospital. An article written January 12,1907 in a San Diego newspaper indicates the modernity of the building providing an excellent facility for the care and treatment of patients.48
The Hearne Surgical Hospital, erected in 1906, filed Articles of Incorporation for the Hearne Training School for Nurses, January 14,1907.49
“The purposes for which it is formed are to establish and maintain a school and college in the city of San Diego, State of CA, wherein persons shall be instructed and trained in the science of nursing sick people, and shall undergo a course of instruction to prepare them to become capable practitioners of the profession of nurse.”
No records of the nursing school survive. In 1914, the hospital was deeded as the Ashforth Hotel.50
Paradise Valley Sanitarium, School of Nursing
In 1883, Dr. Anna L. Potts began construction of the Mount Paradise Sanitarium on a hill seven miles from San Diego. Completion of the thirty room sanitarium in 1887 was soon followed by a severe drought in Southern California that forced its closure and ended Dr. Pott’s dream. She had spared no expense in the construction of a modern sanitarium which, with the help of her medical skill and the prevailing balmy climate, was at first a success. But in 1895, for lack of water and patronage, Dr. Potts admitted defeat and closed Potts Sanitarium, mortgaging the property for $14,000-a fraction of its original cost.51
It was in 1900, during those barren years in Paradise Valley, that Mrs. Ellen G. White one of the founders of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church repeatedly received strong impressions which she believed were direct from God, that this drought-stricken region would flourish again and would be an ideal location for a sanitarium and hospital. “I have been shown that in Southern California there are properties for sale on which buildings are already erected that could be utilized for our work and that such properties will be offered to us at much less than their original cost.” During Mrs. White’s first visit to San Diego in 1902, The Paradise Sanitarium was for sale at $11,000. Real estate values steadily declined as the drought continued. In 1904, the asking price was down to $6,000, but still local Adventist conference officials did not wish to purchase it. Finally, Mrs. White called on a wealthy friend, a Mrs. Josephine Gotzain, and putting up $2,000 apiece they purchased the property for only $4,000.52
Still there was no water. But the faith of Ellen White was rewarded when the well digger she had employed struck water at ninety-eight feet with a stream “as large as a man’s arm.” Thanks to that miracle and the persistence of a woman, the destiny of Paradise Valley Hospital began. Before the new Paradise Valley Sanitarium officially opened its doors, Mrs. Julia Ulrich arrived and insisted on staying, thus becoming the institution’s first patient. Others followed and within a short time twenty guests were receiving treatment at the sanitarium putting off the formal opening and dedicatory services until 1906. After five years of operating at full capacity management of the Paradise Valley Sanitarium was turned over to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1910.53
Mabel White, the Sanitarium’s first nurse admitted patients and did all the sanitarium’s cooking and cleaning. The sanitarium was not designed for people with serious illnesses but instead attracted well-to-do guests who came there for rest and relaxation. It offered natural remedies, a healthy diet and clean living. Some guests enjoyed themselves so much they stayed for weeks and months.54
A training school for nurses was organized in 1909 at the Paradise Valley Sanitarium. A few years later there were three graduates of the school. From the time of its inception the school featured a three year training program for nurses. Shortly after the registration of nurses became effective in California in 1914 the school was approved by the state and continued as such until 1967. During the fifty-eight years the program was in existence, 729 nurses were graduated.55
The primary stated objective of the school of Nursing was to prepare young men and women to meet the needs of the medical institutions, the schools and conferences of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination both at home and in the mission fields. The objectives of the school were characterized in some of the statements found in the yearbook from the class of 1959. Some examples include: “AIM: To Answer His Call; MOTTO: Duty is Ours; and Results are God’s.56 Many of the graduates went overseas for missionary duty. The influence of Christianity was pervasive in the nursing school. All nursing students attended chapel for one half hour every day, and students regularly sang hymns to the patients.57
One of the things that set Paradise Valley Hospital School of Nursing apart from other local programs was its willingness to accept men students. From its inception almost all classes had at least one male student in each class, sometimes as many as seven; in all eighty-four men graduated from the school. Less than fifteen percent of the student body was from San Diego. One unusual curriculum item was the sixty hours of hydrotherapy required. The school affiliated with hospitals in both the Los Angeles area and San Diego area for pediatric nursing, psychiatric nursing, and care of patients with communicable diseases.58
Professionalism was a strongly felt sentiment among the administrators at Paradise Valley and they encouraged students and graduates to join the California Nurses’ Association (CNA). Later, when CNA began collective bargaining activities, student memberships were no longer paid by the hospital.59
The school of nursing closed its doors in 1966, just as the new Paradise Valley Hospital was opened on the corner of Euclid and Fourth Streets, National City. Many of the traditions started by student nurses are still to be found in the practices of the hospital today.60
Summary
Five schools of nursing began in San Diego between 1900 and 1910. Four of the schools were located in the heart of San Diego. Paradise Valley School of Nursing was located south of San Diego in National City.
It is interesting to note that the two schools of nursing longest in operation were founded by women. Furthermore, the determination and endurance of these two women are directly responsible for the existence of these schools.
The cutting edge of educational and professional reform in nursing is best illustrated by the opinion of Dr. Stadel, Superintendent of County General Hospital who believed a four year baccalaureate degree in nursing appropriate for the future of the profession of nursing. After his arrival at County Hospital in 1948, he specifically hired Neva Nye, a woman well qualified to be the Director of the County Hospital School of Nursing and to facilitate the transition to and organization of the School of Nursing at San Diego State College. Dr. Stadel’s visionary leadership made it possible for San Diego to retain its forward momentum in providing educational opportunities for students in San Diego to receive professional academic preparation in nursing and for the citizens of San Diego to receive the professional nursing care to which they are entitled.
None of the five schools of nursing established in San Diego between 1900 and 1909 survive in their original form. One of the schools, San Diego County Hospital School of Nursing was absorbed into the program at San Diego State University in 1953 and so may be said to continue in modern format. Two proprietary schools, Agnew and Hearne had the shortest life. The schools at the religious institutions, Mercy and Paradise Valley closed their diploma programs in 1970, and 1967 respectively.
A footnote to history is provided in the realization that five years after Mercy closed its School of Nursing, the University of San Diego established a nursing school where the registered nurse can pursue baccalaureate education and which now offers Masters and Doctorate nursing programs.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research for this paper was assisted by many people most of whom are cited in the reference notes. A special thank you goes to Harriet Draper, RN, for the provision of historical papers.
The author acknowledges with gratitude the consultation of Irene Sabelberg Palmer, Ph.D., F.A.A.N., in the final preparation of the manuscript.
1. Dixon: 1954 Notes, “Smallpox Ordinance 1869.” Collection #354, Hospitals, Box 1 of 2, San Diego History Center Research Archives (hereafter cited as SDHC).
2. 979.8 HSB. San Diego Historical Site Board Register, Hospitals. SDHC.
3. Emmett House (First San Diego County Hospital), Sign Post, Collection #354, Hospitals. Box 1 of 2, SDHC.
4. First Annual Report of County Hospital and Poor Farm, (1889), Collection #354, Hospitals, SDHC.
5. When the old hospital was new, (news dispatch, August 11, 1936), Union, 286.3 VF. Hospitals, SDHC.
6. Dr. W. Stadel, personal communication, October 12,1987.
7. Hemoglobin ’53. San Diego County General Hospital, School of Nursing.
8. Doctors and supervisors for control of hospital, (editorial, May 3, 1912), Union, Collection #354, Hospitals, Box 1 of 2, File 4, SDHC.
“Inventory revealed too few nurses, and many of these are doing ordinary domestic service instead of the professional work for which there is great need. There are no male nurses in attendance.” A Sun reporter commented, “Very inflamed report, food, cleanliness are all bad. Only one “trained nurse in the whole hospital and that is the Superintendant or Head Nurse. All the other nurses, about 25 in all are undergraduates. One nurse, (during this reporters visit) an undergraduate was frail looking, with thin pale cheeks and an unsmiling countenance.”
9. San Diego County General Hospital, School of Nursing 1903-1953, (1953).
10. Hemoglobin ’53.
11. O.G. Wicherski, “San Diego County hospital service,” Hospital and Nurses Review. Collection #354, Hospitals, Box 1 of 2, File 4. (1923):34, SDHC.
12. Reference letter, (March 20, 1925), UCSD Medical Center, County Nursing School Archives.
“. . . . . . . . . .has applied for admission to our Training School for Nurses and has given us your name in reference. The work of nursing demands intelligence, good temper, clean and orderly habits, thorough trustworthiness and a willing spirit. No one should enter upon this work except from a strong sense of duty and a readiness to conform to the strict rules of discipline, and with the intention of making it a life work. It is essential that the candidate should be of unblemished character, and in sound health of mind and body. If you will kindly communicate to me, such information as you possess respecting the character and conduct of the applicant, it will very materially advance her interest, as well as to aid us in making the right decision.”
13. “Homecoming Celebration,” News Bulletin, California State Nurses’ Association, District 8. IV, No. 8, August, 1953.
14. Abbey Supported in Opinion on Nurses’ School, (news dispatch, October 29, 1940). Tribune Sun, 286.3 VF. SDHC.
15. B. Enis, personal communication, November 3, 1987.
16. B.A. Thomas, personal communication, October 28, 1987.
17. Stadel, personal communication.
18. M. Kuehle, personal communication, October 24, 1987.
19. G. Showalter, personal communication, October 28, 1987.
20. “Nightingale,” (1927 & 1929), Collection #353, Health. SDHC.
21. Transcript Records, (1920-1956), UCSD Medical Center, County Nursing School Archives.
22. E. Greenwood, D. Bogan, M. Ready, personal communication, January 24, 1987.
23. D. R. Clark, Anthony Dominic Ubach (1835-1970), “Pioneer Priest of San Diego (1855-1907).” 920 CLA, SDHC.
24. Sister Rose McArdle, personal communication, January 22, 1988.
25. M.F. Powers, Foundations of Sisters of Mercy in the United States, 1843-1929).
26. Mercy College of Nursing. (1903-1970), Sisters of Mercy Convent, Mercy Hospital, 12.
27. Ibid, 13.
28. “End of An Era,” Mercy Shield, v, No. 2, (May, 1970), pp. 1-2.
29. California State Board of Health, Bureau of Registration of Nurses. (February 19, 1915), Mercy College of Nursing Archives.
30. “End of An Era.”
31. Mercy College of Nursing, 44.
32. Transcript records, (1915-1970), Mercy College of Nursing Archives.
33. Sister Felice Sauers, personal communication, December 8, 1987.
34. E. Smith personal communication, October 10, 1987.
35. Sauers, personal communication.
36. Transcript records.
37. Mercy College of Nursing, 56.
38. Sauers, personal communication.
39. End of An Era.
40. Golden Jubilee. (1903-1953), Collection #353, Health, Box 1, Folder 6, SDHC.
41. Ibid.
42. Photographs. Hospitals Reference Book #79:222. SDHC.
43. D.Bowman, “Old Agnew Hospital,” (Friday Morning, March 27, 1964), Tribune 286, Vf. SDHC.
44. M. Brown, “Registered Nurses Recall Muddy Treks, Long Hours,” (February 6, 1961), Tribune. 286, VF. SDHC.
45. Bowman, “Old Agnew Hospital.”
46. Brown, “Registered Nurses.”
47. Agnew Sanitarium changes ownership, (news dispatch, 1919), Sun. 286, VF. SDHC.
48. 286, VF. Hospitals. SDHC.
49. Collection R. 2.5, Box #14. Articles of Incorporation of the Hearne Training School for Nurses. (January 14, 1907), SDHC.
50. 979.8 HSB.
51. “Paradise Valley Hospital: Beginnings,” Progress News, (June, 1975), XVIII, No. 6.
52. Ibid.
53. Diamond Celebration, 75 Years, (1979), Paradise Valley Hospital.
54. M. Wood, “Paradise Valley: A Vision Come True,” The Star News, (Thursday, May 3, 1979).
55. Diamond Celebration, 75 Years.
56. Class of 1959. Maltese Cross. Paradise Valley Hospital, School of Nursing.
57. J. Peterson, personal communication, November 2, 1987.
58. Transcript records, (1952). Paradise Valley, School of Nursing.
59. Peterson, personal communication.
60. Diamond Celebration, 75 Years.
PHOTOGRAPHS are from the San Diego History Center’s Title Insurance & Trust Collection.
