Finding Aid of the Dorothea Dix School of Nursing Related Papers, 1905 - 1951, ORG.140

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Finding Aid of the Dorothea Dix School of Nursing Related Papers, 1905 - 1951, ORG.140

Abstract

The Dorothea Dix School of Nursing opened in 1902 and trained nurses through World War II, becoming a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps. After the last graduating class of 1949, the school still offered an affiliation in psychiatric nursing to students who had completed 21 months of basic nursing course from approved schools of nursing, until 1951.

Descriptive Summary

Title
Dorothea Dix School of Nursing Related Papers
Call Number
ORG.140
Creator
Dorothea Dix School of Nursing
Date
1905-1951
Extent
1.00 manuscript boxes
Language
English
Repository
State Archives of North Carolina

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], ORG.140, Dorothea Dix School of Nursing Related Papers, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA.

Collection Overview

The collection includes Letters of Incorporation for the School; also publications and ; photographs of the graduating classes from 1930 through 1948; a photograph of nursing students dated approximately between 1905 and 1908; and miscellaneous materials from the school.

Arrangement Note

Chronological within each record type.

Finding Aid prepared by: Gwen Thomas Mays on 8 October 2008.

Historical Note

As the need became apparent for trained nurses and personnel, a nurses' home was built and the Dorothea Dix School of Nursing opened in 1902 with eight female students. It continued until October 1913 when the school was reorganized and arrangements were made for the students to receive the second year of their education at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. The first class graduated in June 1915. The school was incorporated as Dix Hill Hospital Training School for Nurses, in 1916. Anderson Hall was built to accommodate the school offices, classrooms and living quarters for student nurses in 1918.

During the year 1930 the School of Nursing was brought up to the standards required by the Standardization Board, the accrediting agency for schools of nursing in North Carolina. The school for nurses at the State Hospital was reincorporated as the Dorothea Dix School of Nursing in 1933. The student nurses received two years' training in the hospital and in their third year affiliated with a general hospital which made them eligible for the North Carolina state examinations and for reciprocity with other states.

In 1936 the Dorothea Dix School of Nursing was operating according to the standards set by the North Carolina Board of Nursing. Students received the second year of their education at the General Hospital of the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. That same year the Dorothea Dix School of Nursing began to offer a three-month affiliation in psychiatric nursing for senior students in approved nursing schools.

During World War II the Dorothea Dix School of Nursing became a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, increasing student enrollment by sixty percent. The annex, which was the nurses' home in the forties, was completed in January, 1946. In the forties the student nurses traveled to Morisania Hospital in New York City for their second year of education. After the war, the number of student nurses decreased so much that the nursing education program was discontinued with the last class graduating in 1949. At that time, the affiliation in psychiatric nursing was still being offered to students who had completed 21 months of the basic nursing course from approved schools of nursing, and sixty student nurses arrived at the hospital for a three month affiliating period in psychiatric nursing.

Contents of the Collection

1. Letters of Incorporation, 1916, 1933

Arrangement:

Chronological.

2. Applications, 1942

3. Publications, 1947, 1951

"Dixiana", 1951
ORG.140.1
The Dorothea Dix School of Nursing, 1947
ORG.140.1

4. Miscellaneous

5. Photographs, 1905-1948

Arrangement:

Chronological.

Nursing Students, 1905-1908
ORG.140.1
Graduating Classes, 1930-1939
ORG.140.1
Graduating Classes, 1940-1948
ORG.140.1
Cadet Class, 1944
ORG.140.1

Subject Headings

  • Dorothea Dix School of Nursing
  • United States. Cadet Nurse Corps
  • Dorothea Dix Hospital (Raleigh, N.C.)
  • United States. Cadet Nurse Corps
  • Nursing
  • Psychiatric hospitals
  • Nursing schools
  • Raleigh (N.C.)
  • Raleigh (N.C.)
  • Wake County (N.C.)
  • Acquisitions Information

    Records were received from the Librarian of Dorothea Dix Hospital, and accessioned as a transfer October, 2008.

    Processing Information

  • Processed by Gwen Thomas Mays, October, 2008
  • Encoded by Gwen Thomas Mays, December, 2008