Isabel Harris, dean of the School of Nursing from 1969 to 1975, passed away on March 2, 2008. The beginning of her tenure as dean at the School of Nursing coincided with the formation of the Academic Health Center and the reorganization of its six schools and colleges including the School of Nursing. Dean Harris was the first woman dean of an academic unit at the University of Minnesota. Prior to the reorganization in the health sciences, the School of Nursing was a unit of the College of Medical Sciences and lead by a director.

Originally from Michigan, Dean Harris' early career focused on psychiatry nursing and institutional care. She earned her diploma in nursing from Johns Hopkins after earning a BA from the University of Michigan. During World War II she served in the Johns Hopkins medical unit in Australia. After her service she returned to Michigan for a year and then was invited by Katharine Densford, Director of the School of Nursing, to come to Minnesota to help establish a program in psychiatric nursing. Harris earned an MEd and PhD at Minnesota and later specialized in nursing administration and education. During her time as dean, Harris focused on growing the nursing program through increasing student retention, hiring talented faculty, and working toward the expansion of space. Dean Harris finished her term as dean in 1975 and retired from teaching in 1981. The School of Nursing moved into its new building (Unit F/Weaver-Densford Hall) that same year.

In an interview conducted with Dean Harris in 1999 she stated that "I'd always wanted to be a nurse or at least since I was five years old." Her devotion and commitment to the profession and the University are reflected in the School of Nursing today.

Posted by Erik Moore at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Nursing |

In the 1950s and 1960s the University of Minnesota partnered with Seoul National University in a cooperative relationship to develop educational and research programs in agriculture, the medical sciences, and engineering. The effort allowed University of Minnesota faculty and civil service staff to learn from their counterparts in Korea and assisted in SNU’s reconstruction after the war as an institution and as a source of intellectual labor to strengthen Korea’s post-war economy.

Recently, a cooperative partnership between the SNU Archives and the U of M Archives has worked to identify materials held by the two institutions documenting the cooperative arrangement. Currently, researchers from SNU are mining the materials at the U of M to locate unique items not known or held by SNU.

This is an opportune time to locate and identify individuals in the AHC that have a connection to the original partnership or departments and offices that may still have material related to the University’s work with SNU. The Medical School, School of Nursing, and Veterinary Medicine were all involved in the cooperative.

I have already noted that the small sampling of John Arnold’s papers have some correspondence resulting from the partnership. The School of Nursing has a binder of related documents as well. Dr. Neal Gault, former dean of the Medical School, was also a participant. We are working to identify additional individuals and I hope the current interest in the SNU partnership will generate collection leads and accessions for the AHC archives project.

Posted by Erik Moore at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Medical school | Nursing | Partners | Veterinary medicine |

I recently stumbled across the proceedings for the 1993 Conference on Expressions of Caring in Nursing: Exploring Our Environmental Connections (ed. Eleanor Schuster & Carolyn Brown, NY: National League for Nursing Press, 1994). I thumbed through several of the articles for two primary purposes. First, I am enjoying becoming more connected to health sciences literature. It helps me better understand the materials I work with as well as connect to the people I meet. Second, I was curious to see the connections depicted that draw the field of nursing closer to environmental studies. As you may recall, I previously mentioned my own interest in examining archives as a single field among many interested in the long-term use and access to rare and unique resources as is the case in environmental protection.

The preface to the first chapter states

The phrase domain of nursing knowledge calls forth old images of ownership, territoriality, and control. We use the word domain in the sense of laying claim to an area of knowledge development for nursing. (p. 1)

The semantics of ownership and control are present in environmental literature. The shift in language from land management to land stewardship parallels the shift in nursing knowledge from a domain of knowledge ownership to a domain of knowledge growth.

As for archives, a recent article by Joel Wurl (Archival Issues 29, 2005) echoes this shift in language and, thus, perception. Wurl writes

In the custodial approach to archives, property is relinquished… material is now owned by the repository. A stewardship ethos… is characterized by partnership and continuity of association… jointly held and invested in by the archive and the community of origin. (p. 72)

In each of the three fields, nursing, environmental protection, and archives, a clear break with past paradigms of ownership and control are made and replaced with growth and partnerships.

When discussing incorporating an environmental awareness into nursing, Dorothy Kleffel recommended

(a) making the community and the broader environment our nursing client, (b) redirecting our nursing activities to the macro-level environment, and (c) moving the profession from oppression to empowerment. (p. 11)

I find all three suggestions applicable to archives as well. If we document human activities and the broader environment then archivists follow the suggestion of Candace Loewen (Archivaria 33, 1991-92) to be "survival-oriented," meaning we document "records of value to humans and to the planet as a whole." Second, archivists are becoming more aware of provenance and appraisal issues at the macro level and are engaging records at their creation, not just at their deposit. A macro level approach is also becoming a part of our processing and description activities. Finally, the third point is again evident in Wurl’s discussion of stewardship of a community’s resources rather than control.

So what is the ultimate connection between nursing, environmental protection, and archives? All are primarily interested in the long-term survival and improvement of the communities they serve. And by doing so, cross over to the other fields with a measure of support as well.

Posted by Erik Moore at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as MPLP | Nursing | Perspectives |

School of Nursing records, supplement
Eight more boxes have arrived from the Dean's office bringing the total to 14 linear feet. It is all in need of reboxing and some foldering. There are perhaps a few more boxes to go. I've begun looking through the materials and have reboxed the first box and some of the second.

Board of Governors records
I finally had a chance to pull the previously accessioned material. It was half a linear foot and contains only material from 1984-1985. This is the final period of the construction of the hospital and most of the material is related to this event. Now I will be able to go through the recent BoG acquisition to see if these same materials are duplicated or if they are unique.

John Arnold papers
I received a small package containing a few folders of material related to Dr. John Arnold (retired) a former faculty member of the College of Veterinary Medicine and head of the Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology. Along with materials related to his leadership position in the College there is some information regarding his work with Seoul National University and veterinary programs in Iran during the 1970s.

Posted by Erik Moore at 09:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Acquisitions | Hospitals | Nursing | Veterinary medicine |

The School of Nursing recently transferred a collection of administrative and programming records to University Archives. These materials will be added to the existing School of Nursing collection.

The records include files and correspondence from the two previous deans, Sandra Edwardson (1991-2004) and Ellen Fahy (1980-1990). Other administrative records include credentialing, grant reporting, and the proposal for establishing a Ph.D. program. Also included are files for the block nurse program, the Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC), and work related to the Center for American Indians and GLBT Studies. In addition, materials related to the alumni association and the School of Nursing Diamond Jubilee (1984) are part of this transfer.

The collection is approximately 6 linear feet at its acquisition. The boxes are all labeled with content information at the folder level. The material is in good condition although it will need to be reboxed and hanging file folders removed. Further accruals are expected.

I’d like to commend the School of Nursing for taking a proactive approach to securing a permanent home for its records. The current dean, Connie Delaney, is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics and is a past faculty member of the School of Library Science at the University of Iowa, so she understands the importance of preserving and using information.

Posted by Erik Moore at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Tagged as Acquisitions | Nursing |