MEDICAL 1921 Nurse Recruitment Correspondence

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 14:MEDICAL HEALTH & HYGIENE
Nurses Correspondence
Applicants and Discussion 1921

MEDICAL 1921 Nurse Recruitment Correspondence

MEDICAL 1921 Nurse Recruitment Correspondence

04a Nurse weighing young girl. [62_life_work_gen_health_003c1]


TAGS: nursing, correspondence, applications, 1921, Line Fork Settlement, Pine Mountain Settlement School, Medical Settlement at Big Laurel, medical staffing, nurses, nurse applicants, Ethel de Long Zande, Katherine Pettit, The Outlook, questionnaires, Florence M. Patterson, National Organization for Public Health Nursing, Evelyn Carter, nurses placement organizations


INTRODUCTION: MEDICAL 1921 Nurse Recruitment Correspondence

Nurses who applied for a position at Pine Mountain Settlement School in its early years faced difficult requirements. Not only must they be experienced professionally but also psychologically capable of handling diverse and sometimes serious medical needs of about 100 students, 20 workers, and the surrounding community. Since the School was in a rural and isolated location, a nurse must determine whether a situation is dire enough to require the services of the nearest doctor, who worked at the School’s Medical Settlement at Big Laurel some four miles away, and who was already overloaded with the health needs of the community residents. In addition, Ethel de Long Zande, PMSS Co-Director, stressed that “It is really highly desirable to have all workers imbued with an interest in the people and the problems of the mountains….”

The following are brief descriptions of letters between the School’s co-directors and nurses who were responding to an advertisement for nurses in The Outlook, a weekly family magazine published in New York City in the late 19th and early 20th century which focused on social and political issues. Several of the letters are to and from individuals who were assisting the School in recruiting nurses. 

The numbers of the descriptions correspond to those of the images in the Gallery of images at the end of the page.

CONTENTS: MEDICAL 1921 Nurse Recruitment Correspondence

[Note: Letters from PMSS staff in the PMSS Collections are carbon copies, typewritten, unsigned, and meant for the Office files. The original signed copies were sent to the correspondents. The initials at the bottom left of most PMSS letters indicate the writer (along with initials of the secretary). For example, “EZ” are the initials for Ethel de Long Zande. Letters from others are typewritten originals unless specified otherwise. The following list of contents is in chronological order and not necessarily in the order of the image numbers.]

August 1921

001-001a August 4, 1921. Two-page handwritten letter to Ethel de Long Zande from Margaret S. Wallace (Mrs. R. B. Wallace), Hagerstown, MD, answering the PMSS advertisement in The Outlook for a registered nurse. A widow, she worked as a trained nurse for “a number of years.” 

002 August 10, 1921. To Mrs. Wallace from EZ (Zande), enclosing a questionnaire for Wallace to complete and asking for references. Zande will be sending PMSS literature.

003-003a August 11, 1921. Two-page handwritten letter to Zande from Dorothy Hatch, House of Mercy, Pittsfield, MA, responding to the advertisement in The Outlook. She is a registered nurse (NY), graduate of United Hospital, Port Chester, NY, 1920. She describes her experiences and asks for more information about PMSS.

004 August 10 (sic), 1921. To Miss Hatch from EZ (Zande), thanking Hatch for detailing her work experience, but fearing that she may be too young for PMSS work. Zande encloses a questionnaire and describes the School: 120 persons living at the school; the school physician who works at PMSS’s Medical Settlement, about 4 miles away, “and has a large country practice. This, of course, means that our nurse must be experienced enough to know when she does not need to call the doctor.” Zande is sending PMSS literature.

005-005c August 11, 1921. Four-page handwritten letter to Zande from Miss Ottilie L. Scherer, Atlantic City, NJ, responding to The Outlook advertisement for a nurse. She is a graduate of the Lying-In Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, class 1903. She describes her work experience at Chirurgical Hospital (Philadelphia), Williamson Trade School (Delaware Co, PA). and New Haven (CT) Orphan Asylum. She requests further information about the position.

006-006a August 16, 1921. Two-page letter to Miss Scherer from EZ (Zande), [006] who explains the current situation at PMSS; the doctor at the Medical Center; 90 to 100 boarding children; about 20 workers. Zande then describes the duties of a PMSS nurse, including community work and supervision of the Infirmary with help from two girls. She mentions the types of medical concerns at PMSS: mumps, measles, pneumonia, trachoma, hookworm treatments. She also covers the nurse’s hours of duty (which vary) and if she would have assistance. “You see, this is not a city place at all, but a country place where we all just try to be equal to the situation.” She asks how low a salary would Scherer accept. The last nurse earned $50 a month and living expenses. “I realize that this must sound very, very small to you. It is really highly desirable to have all workers imbued with an interest in the people and the problems of the mountains….” [006a] Zande encloses a questionnaire; asks if Scherer would consider “doing district work at one of our settlements?” 

007-007a August 16, 1921. To Miss Ruth E. Harrington, White Rock, NC, from EZ (Zande). [Handwritten notation at top of page: “Form.”] who will be sending PMSS literature. [This letter is mostly a duplicate of 006-006a in content,]

008 August 22, 1921. To Zande from Florence M. Patterson, R.N. Director, National Organization for Public Health Nursing, NYC, expressing regret that she has not been able ”to secure a person interested in your position.” Suggest advertising in the American Journal of Nursing. 

010-010f August 23, 1921. Seven-page handwritten letter to Miss (Katherine) Pettit from Evelyn Carter, Chatham, MA, [010] who tells about her visits to “five hospitals which have training schools for nurses and [are] likely to be in touch with past graduates.” She talked with hospital officials about “the value of the work at Pine Mountain and the qualifications desired in candidates.” [010a] She describes her procedures; includes a list of persons who should receive PMSS literature or letters. She talked to Miss Daly, in charge at the Boston city hospital, about possible candidates, Miss Monk and Miss Perry, [010b] and lists their credentials. Carter writes that Miss Carrie M. Half at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, suggested that Zande contact the Placement Bureau, Headquarter National Nursing Associations at the Pennsylvania Terminal Building in [010c] New York. It was “established at the close of the war when numbers of nurses were returning from overseas and seeking new work.” [010d] Carter mentions another possible source, the Central Directory of Nurses in Boston, a place she had contacted “when we were inquiring for Oneida.” [010e] “…[]n speaking of Pine Mountain I emphasize the great interest of the work and the wide opportunity for usefulness open to the right sort of person.”

September 1921

009 September 1, 1921. To Miss Patterson, from EZ (Zande), thanking her for her efforts to secure a PMSS nurse, and asking her to keep PMSS’s need for district work in mind, as it “is growing constantly.”


GALLERY: MEDICAL 1921 Nurse Recruitment Correspondence 


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MEDICAL Health and Hygiene
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