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Virtual Speaker SeriesJoin us for the AAHN Virtual Speaker Series! This exciting series features monthly nursing history research talks from January to May and September to December. Free for AAHN members; $30 for non-members. March Virtual Speaker Series Date: March 6, 2026 Brief Abstract: TBD Missed one of our Virtual Speaker Series sessions? Not a member but interested in viewing a session? Fill out our form and let us know which one you'd like to access. Recordings are $15 each for non-members. Please note that it may take up to 72 hours to receive your recording link. February Virtual Speaker Series Brief Abstract: Since 1988, the Independence Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has funded nursing education as well as nurse-managed health centers: clinics where nurse practitioners serve as the primary health-care providers for patients. Although the literature highlights nurses’ autonomy in nurse-managed health clinics, few studies have examined the role of private, non-profit philanthropy in influencing state and federal policy related to nurse practitioners and nurse-managed health centers. This presentation documents the Independence Foundation’s support for its first nurse-managed health centers and its first endowed professorships in nursing. It also highlights the foundation’s role in advocating for state-level Medicaid policies that would support nurse practitioners serving as primary-care providers. Relying on organizational documents, academic nursing publications, and original oral-history interviews with Independence Foundation staff and Independence Foundation Endowed Chairs, this presentation examines key figures in the expansion of the nurse-managed health center model as well as barriers to the model scaling beyond Philadelphia. What started as the Independence Foundation’s funding for academic nursing and for nurse-managed health centers ultimately led to evidence and experiences that the foundation leveraged to define the nurse-managed health center model and to call for expanded scope of practice for nurse practitioners. The new findings presented here elucidate the role of philanthropy in nurse-managed clinics and policy related to the settings. January Virtual Speaker Series Brief Abstract: While Hildegard Peplau would become one of the most important nurse leaders of the 20th century, she was nearly booted from her doctoral program and required to resign her faculty position at Columbia University Teachers College in 1953, in the wake of whispered allegations of homosexual advances. This presentation will situate Peplau's experiences at Teacher's College in the broader social, political, and academic context of the Cold War timeframe while teasing out implications for the maturing discipline of nursing. December Virtual Speaker Series Brief Abstract: On March 8, 1757, the Physician and Council of Haslar Naval Hospital issued a new regulation: “Whereas we find great Inconveniences from Nurses Marrying to the Patients in this House, we are resolved to Discharge such Nurses as soon as such Marriages are known (ADM 305/1, p. 61).” This new regulation suggests that marriage between nurses and patients was common, but how common was it? This presentation will examine the marriage between nurses and patients, as well as the working relationship between husbands and wives in the hospital, and how hospital administrators handled nurse pregnancies. Considering the personal relationships between hospital staff, including nurses, also indicates how clinical naval hospitals functioned as institutional households throughout the British Atlantic World. November Virtual Speaker Series Brief Abstract: The Nurses of Ellis Island: Life and Work inside the Golden Door tells the story of the U.S. Public Health Service nurses who cared for more than 150,000 immigrants hospitalized on Ellis Island during the first half of the twentieth century. In the modern hospital complex built between the Main Immigration Building and the Statue of Liberty, these nurses confronted every imaginable illness and injury, caring for vulnerable patients in a challenging environment. They served simultaneously as compassionate caregivers and agents of the state, negotiating their responsibilities in the midst of two world wars, a global pandemic, and increasingly restrictive immigration laws. This presentation examines both the historical findings and the process behind reconstructing this story. The research drew upon memoirs, government records, and archival materials that gave voice to the Ellis Island nurses, as well as multiple site visits that allowed the authors to immerse themselves in the physical spaces where the nurses lived and worked. The book also reflects a deliberate choice to write in a more narrative and accessible style, one that remains grounded in rigor and historical accuracy but crafted to engage readers beyond academic audiences. By illuminating the lived experience of nursing at the intersection of immigration and public health policy, and by reflecting on the methodological decisions that shaped the project, this presentation underscores both the need and the value of bringing nursing history to life, as well as the importance of presenting it in ways that resonate widely. October Virtual Speaker Series September Virtual Speaker Series Title: Nursing the Metropolis: the female ward staff of St Bartholomew's hospital in London, 1660-1820 Brief Abstract: The history of nursing in London before the early nineteenth century used to occasion sweeping generalisations about the flaws of pre-reform nurses (if it attracted any comment at all). In contrast, this investigation of the St Bartholomew's Hospital archives showcases the experiences of over 600 women who worked at Barts 1660-1820. Tracing their individual histories, both in the hospital and where possible outside it, provides illustrations of nurses' biographies, the work culture they found at the hospital, and their relationships with one another. This talk draws on material contained in chapter two of my recent book, Nursing the English from Plague to Peterloo. The Nurses of Ellis Island: Life and Work inside the Golden Door tells the story of the U.S. Public Health Service nurses who cared for more than 150,000 immigrants hospitalized on Ellis Island during the first half of the twentieth century. In the modern hospital complex built between the Main Immigration Building and the Statue of Liberty, these nurses confronted every imaginable illness and injury, caring for vulnerable patients in a challenging environment. They served simultaneously as compassionate caregivers and agents of the state, negotiating their responsibilities in the midst of two world wars, a global pandemic, and increasingly restrictive immigration laws. This presentation examines both the historical findings and the process behind reconstructing this story. The research drew upon memoirs, government records, and archival materials that gave voice to the Ellis Island nurses, as well as multiple site visits that allowed the authors to immerse themselves in the physical spaces where the nurses lived and worked. The book also reflects a deliberate choice to write in a more narrative and accessible style, one that remains grounded in rigor and historical accuracy but crafted to engage readers beyond academic audiences. By illuminating the lived experience of nursing at the intersection of immigration and public health policy, and by reflecting on the methodological decisions that shaped the project, this presentation underscores both the need and the value of bringing nursing history to life, as well as the importance of presenting it in ways that resonate widely. |