About AAHN

The American Association for the History of Nursing (AAHN) is a professional organization open to everyone interested in the history of nursing. Originally founded in 1978 as a historical methodology group, the association was briefly named the International History of Nursing Society. The purpose of the Association shall be to foster the importance of history as relevant to understanding the past, defining the present, and influencing the future of nursing by:

The association sponsors a Conference on Nursing History in the Fall of every year. Members receive both a quarterly newsletter, the Bulletin, and the AAHN official publication, the annual Nursing History Review.   AAHN also offers three prestigious Awards for completed historical research, and post-doctoral grant and a research grant for students.

AAHN Logo

The Association's logo was officially adopted at the 1991 AAHN Conference in San Francisco, CA. The AAHN logo, also called a "cipher," is a decorative interwoven presentation of the first letters in the association's name. The use of ciphers was common during the l8th Century.