Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

Page 21 text:

in the work of John Howard, who was helping to improve the condi- tions of prisons, workhouses, and hospitals. When she returned to America, she made investigations in our hospitals, prisons, and poor- houses. Her work resulted in the awakening of the American people to the horrifying conditions here. After this dark period came the revival of nursing. The first hospi- tal training school worthy of the name was founded by Theodor and Friederike Fliedner in Germany in 1836. One of their pupils, Florence Nightingale, v as destined to use this school as a cornerstone for the building of a world-wide system of training schools— forerunners of the present type of school. Florence Nightingale, from child- hood, had an urgent desire to be- come a nurse despite the fact that girls of her class were supposed to be above the menial task that nurs- ing v as thought to be in those times. Guided by her own enthusiasm for an ideal that others could not un- derstand, she visited hospitals all over Europe and became greatly in- terested in the Fliedner school. Here she took the course offered and graduated. Later she organized a hospital training school in England, and the influence of this school ex- tended all over the world, and train- ing schools were established in many hospitals. No history of nursing is complete without the mention of our own Clara Barton. She was America’s “Angel of the Battlefield’’ in the Civil War. She was appalled by the conditions she found in the hospitals in Washington where the wounded soldiers vmre taken. Despite the sneers and charges of impropriety on the part of narrow-minded peo- ple, a band of loyal women went on- to the field of battle to help the sol- diers where help was most needed. After the war she was instrumental in founding the American Red Cross, which, in time of war or peace, brings aid to communities in an emergency and restores order to chaos. After the Civil War modern methods of nursing were introduced by the discovery of anesthesia, anti- toxins for many diseases, the X-ray, and many other wonderful scientific inventions. These new methods of treatment required other and more skillful methods of nursing, thus making nursing an outstanding art, until to-day it is a profession requir- ing of the highest degree of effi- ciencv and is regarded as one of the most helpful and wonderful profes- sions in existence. In time of war and peace alike the nurse will stand fearlessly at her post as she has from time immemo- rial. It was of her that Longfellow wrote : “A lady with a lamp shall stand In the great history of the land A noble type of good, Heroic womanhood.” 19

Page 20 text:

hood or chivalry. These were men of a hijih type of character who be- came imbued with the idea that the Holy Land should belong to the Christians. Therefore, knights set out in shining armor to conquer Jerusalem. On the long wearisome trail across the European continent, many became ill or wounded by the bandits who set upon any one who had money so that it became neces- sary to establish hospitals along the way. The monks organized these impromptu hospitals, but later, knights established a well-managed hospital of a military type. Half of the nursing v as done by men, for it was thought improper for a ymman to nurse a man who was not a near relative. The military training in hospitals has remained to the pres- ent day. After the Crusades, the Knights of St. John, which was one of the strongest nursing organiza- tions, carried on the v ork in the hospitals and established branches in many parts of the world. The completion of the Crusades marked the ending of the age of chivalry ; and with the passing of this age, the death of many of those interested in hospitals, and the abol- ishment of the monasteries by Henry VIII, nursing bevan to de- cline in about 1500. The higher class of women stayed at home, and nursing Tvas left to women of the lowest class in society. Vincent de Paul, a French Catholic priest, saw the dire conditions in the sickroom and tried to alleviate the suffering, but he found his v ork did little good because of the ignorance and disinclination or inability to work of the people whom he tried to help. Nevertheless, he set about to recon- struct society, and humanity owes him a great debt of thanks for his splendid work. In the period from 1675 to 1850 conditions became almost intoler- able. The civilian influence made conditions so distressing that only the poorest class of women could be induced to take up the work. They were absolutely without ideals of proper technique or of service to hu- manity. Their nursing was extreme- ly crude, and their personal lives were degrading. Charles Dickens, the English novelist, who lived at the latter part of this period, is known now for his entertaining stories, but in reality he was a so- cial reformer. In h:s novel “Martin Chuzzlewit” one of his characters, “Sairy Gamp,’’ represents the pro- fessional nurse of this period. She was drunken and untrustworthy and dishonest in the care of her pa- tients, always making herself com- fortable before them and eating the food found in their rooms. She was a large woman with a husky voice and a red and swollen face. People found it difficult to enjoy her so- ciety without soon becoming con- scious of a strong smell of spirits. She always wore a rusty black gown with a shawl and a large black bon- net, and carried a large bag in which were her necessities, includ- ing a bottle of her favorite liquor. Dickens’ creation of this character made people realize the existing conditions and helped to induce public opinion to bring about the needed changes in the care of the sick. Through Dickens and others interested in the problem reform spread throughout England, and through Dorothea Lynde Dix, to America. Miss Dix went to Eng- land and became greatly interested 18

Page 22 text:

kVVVVWVVVVV«» ' S W« S8 JS XSSS3a6 3SSSS3S X363S3SSSS36SSSSSSSt3« The Growth of the American Penal System By Theodore Machaj I N this country less is known about crime than about any other im- portant matter; yet, crime is one of our greatest national problems. There are at the present time in the prisons of United States approxi- mately 125,000 men or the same number of men that are in the standing army of our country. Hove than fifteen million of our people have been at some time arrested, and more than five million of these have at one time or another been in some jail. Because of the import- ance of the crime problem, I shall endeavor to give a brief history of prisons. Prisons have been used from the days of antiquity as places of deten- tion or seclusion but only in modern times as places of punishment for crime. In the first class were such famous institutions as the Bastille and the Tower of London. All of America’s prisons are in the latter class. Early prison conditions in Amer- ica were exceedingly bad. At Sims- bury, Connecticut, an abandoned copper mine was used as a state prison from 1773 to 1827. Prison buildings were of poor construction with little means of heating them. There were very few conveniences for the well-being of the inmates. The cells had very little light in the daytime and practically no light at all at night. Moreover, the inmates were usually treated very cruelly. They were forced to work hard and to maintain complete silence at all times. Long sentences were served for minor infractions of the strin- gent laws. After an inmate served his term, he received no aid in se- curing work or reestablishing him- self in society. Reform began with the building of the Eastern Penitentiary at Phila- delphia in 1817 and the Auburn State prison of New York at the same time. These prisons formed two distinct plans for the reform of criminals. In the Auburn Plan the prisoners have separate cells but eat and work together. The Eastern Penitentiary Plan provided that prisoners eat, work, and sleep in their cells apart from all other in- mates. Between the two systems fierce rivalry arose, but after many trials the Auburn Plan has been generally adopted. Manv factors have contributed in revolutionizing the Auburn System to its present status. With the in- troduction of steam heat, the age- old problem of heating the prisons was solved. The invention of arti- ficial light solved a like problem. It was possible then to use the time after work hours to better advan- tage. It also brought about manv new types of work that were not nossible before. Modern sanitary conveniences have also done their share in the improvement of prison conditions. Medical science has controlled disease and kept up the health of inmates. Merciless plagues can no longer take their toll of hu- man lives. 20