Presbyterian St Lukes Hospital School of Nursing - Alpha Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

Page 17 text:

C SAINT LUKE ' S 1| ANNUAL 1 9 28 t were provided. Her interest in the nurses finally culminated in a bequest of fifty-five thousand dollars in memory of her husband. With this money pleasant quarters for the nurses were provided. This building was opened m 1898 when there were forty-two nurses on the roll. It is interesting to note that in Miss Lett ' s off ice the first committee met for the purpose of organi2;ing the American Society of Superintendents, which in 1911 became the National League of Nursing Education. The Clinton, now the Saranac, was built on a piece of land given by Mr. N. K. Fairbanks in 1893 in the hope of increasing the income of the Hospital. The Saranac was later converted into a dormitory for nurses. In 1894 Dr. Locke retired from the presidency of the institution and was succeeded by Mr. A. Ryerson, who served for eight years, when he was succeeded by Mr. Leslie Carter, who served until his death in 1909. The present president is Mr. Charles Schweppe. Although St. Luke ' s was started as a free Hospital, an urgent need for a private paviHon had developed and in 1908 Mr. James A. Smith gave the Hospital five hundred thousand dollars for the erection of a memorial to his cousin, George Smith. One h undred and twenty-seven patients may be accommodated in the Smith Memorial Building. The income of this building is used to increase the number of charity patients cared for, which is numbered about one-third free. A check from Thomas S. Kirkwood provided funds for the purchase of one hundred feet of land on Indiana Avenue and the erection of a build- ing known as Kirkwood. It was used to accommodate women and children patients, but is now used as a domestic building. In 1919 plans for a nineteen-story building, to replace the Indiana Avenue building, were made. In January, 1924, the ground was broken for this building. In March, 1925, the first patients were admitted to the Main Building. The Main Building is of the most modern type of steel construction, resting on caisons which reach down to bedrock on an average depth of one hundred feet. It is fireproof, not in the ordinary sense, but with no wood in the structure except the revolving door in the lobby. Including the Smith Memorial, the Hospital now accommodates six hundred and seventy-eight patients which will be increased to seven hun- dred and seventy-eight when the third, fourth, and fifth floors, which at this time are used as dormitories for the nurses pending the erection of a new nurses ' home, are turned over to the use of patients.

Page 16 text:

[ SAINT LUKE ' S ANNUAL 19 28 3 ' school for nurses was now felt and was organi2,ed on the general plan of the Illinois Training School for Nurses, and as a separate corporation, but later merged with the Hospital. The first class graduated in 1887. The record of the Training School is an enviable one. Mr. Byron Smith, in 1886, furnished funds for the addition of two floors to the west wing. The Johnston wing of the Hospital was completed in 1891 through funds provided by the legacy of Mr. Samuel Johnston. Mrs. W. G. Hibbard, Mr. W. H. Getty, Miss Florence Pullman, now Mrs. Frank Lowden, each provided for the full equipment of a floor in the new wing. This increased the capacity of the Hospital to one hundred and fifty-two beds. The Association of the Blue Cross was incorporated in August, 1881, to provide means of every character for the benefit of nurses and to take care of them in case of illness, accident or misfortune. Pupil nurses, and others interested in the School, were eligible to membership and were admitted formally by proper service in the Chapel. The badge of member- ship was a Latin Cross worked in blue on the sleeve of the left arm and is still used as the School insignia. The prayer of the Blue Cross was also written at this time. Later, by raising the attic of the northwest pavilion, for which purpose Mrs. E. H. Stickney gave nine hundred dollars, additional rooms for nurses (12) 3i

Page 18 text:

CS A I N T lAJ K E ' S ANNUAL 19 2 8