Florence Nightingale Letters Collection on Exhibit
A new exhibit at the Library of the Health Sciences features facsimiles of letters written by Florence Nightingale from the Midwest Nursing History Resource Center at the UIC College of Nursing’s collection. The Florence Nightingale Letters Collection highlights aspects of Nightingale’s work throughout her life. The correspondence exemplifies her engagement in policy matters as well as her leadership in the field of nursing. Many are written on Victorian black-bordered mourning stationery.
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was a pioneer in the field of nursing and a reformer of medical sanitation practices. She developed a model of statistical gathering and reporting for medical data, distinguishing herself as a professional statistician. She authored several books on the topics of nursing, medical practices, and women’s rights, and effected legislation related to medical practices and military medicine.
The exhibit at LHS currently includes two letters relating to Florence Nightingale’s service in the Crimean War (1854-1856). Letters on display will change periodically throughout the summer and fall.
In addition to the exhibit at the Library of the Health Sciences, the Special Collections department has mounted an online exhibit of the letters. The online exhibit includes images of the complete set of nine letters in addition to transcriptions. View the online exhibit at http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/specialcoll/exhibits/nightingale/.
Karl A. Meyer, MD, former Medical Superintendent of Cook County Institutions acquired the Nightingale letters at an estate auction in England and presented them to the Cook County School of Nursing in 1954 for display in its library. When the school closed in 1971, Dr. Meyer donated the letters to the Alumni Association of the Cook County School of Nursing (AACCSN.) In 2003, AACCSN Board Member and UIC Associate Professor Emerita Chieko Onoda spearheaded the effort to transfer the letters to the Midwest Nursing History Resource Center at the UIC College of Nursing. The letters are stored in an environmentally controlled vault at the UIC Library.
For more information about the exhibit or the Florence Nightingale Letters Collection, contact the Library of the Health Sciences Special Collections.
