Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing - Blue and White Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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BLUE AND WHITE Mrs. McKay CMrs. Earl Sargentj. Miss Frederika Wilson-whose passing into the Other World last year was felt so keenly by all those who knew and loved her. Miss Mabel Gray-who succeeded Miss Wil- son in 1914. Miss Gray is now Associate Profes- sor of Public Health in the University of British Columbia. Miss Powell. Miss Edith Martin fnow Mrs. Champ of Mont- reall. Miss Grant. Miss Ellis-who has recently accepted the appointment of Advisor of Schools of Nursing in the Province of Saskatchewan. Miss Tryphina Wiggins-at present acting Superintendent-who has been closely associ- ated with the life of the Hospital and served in the capacity of Assistant to the Superintendent of Nurses for several years. In July, 1889, the first Graduating Class, con- sisting of five Nurses who had completed the required two years' course, received their Di- plomas, at a very impressive and memorable ceremony which took place in the Hospital. One of those Nurses, the first one to receive her diploma. was Miss Mary E. Birtles, who subse- quently had charge of the Operating Unit, and has the distinction of having operated the first Lister spray in Western Canada. Later, Miss Birtles was asked to accept the position of Matron in the Brandon General Hospital, dis- charging her duties creditably and serving de- votedly for twenty years. Miss Birtles is at present enjoying a few years of retirement and rest at Alexandra, Manitoba. In 1895, the School of Nursing lengthened its course of study to three years, in order to aug- ment the Nurses' clinical experience. The year 1899 saw the erection of the first Nurses Home. Previous to this, they had had residence quarters in the Hospital. Now, with the opening of the new Home in 1899, they re- joiced in its many new comforts, and the free- dom it offered from Hospital matters. They added to the luxury of their own sitting room, a piano, the funds for which they raised by per- sonally canvassing the downtown business men. In the very early years of the School, the Alumnae Association had been organized bv Mrs. Moody, and this was reorganized in 1901. at a memorable meeting in the Y.W.C.A., Miss Gilroy having been elected President, and Mrs. White Cthen Miss A. C. Newtonj, Secretary- Treasurer. The following year, the desire for Registra- tion began to crystallize in the minds of the Graduate Nurses in Winnipeg. Graduates of the School accepted with eagerness their profes- sional responsibilities. They worked indefat- Pag igibly for the Legislation which has made our Provincial Association, and brought into being our Manitoba Registered Nurses Act, in 1913. How long and bitter was that struggle, by which they led the way to Provincial Registration fall of which we, of today, are only too prone to accept casuallyb, only those courageous women can fully know. Perhaps, today, those who are still with the Profession can indulge in philo- sophical amusement when they remember the many hungry lions in the way',-that must needs be slain or in some way appeased. 31: sg :ga pg: In 1907, the Alumnae began the publication of a quarterly magazine, the first issue making its appearance in February of that year. Miss Ethel Incledon Johns was appointed Literary Editor, and Miss Isabel Manson Stewart, Busi- ness Manager Looking back through the many issues of the Journal, one is impressed with the great vitality which permeates its pages, even when those pages were very much fewer than those of the Journal today. 1914! Disruption in International relation- ships let slip the dogs of warf' Our young nurses of those August days quite suddenly grew up. Life revealed, all too abruptly, new and difficult problems. The Empire was rocked to its foundations, the tremors were felt very vividly in Canada, and, although far inland, far away from the noise of the immense guns of Flanders, with only imagination to help them realize the horrors of the battlefield, and the intense need, they drew not back. The call to Service was not merely National, nor, indeed, one of Empire . . . It was yet another crisis in the affairs of humanity. Resolutely those young women set aside their personal dreams and am- bitions and answered the Call. They created a record for the School-having formed the larg- est contingent of graduates sent overseas from any School on the North American continent. Four of those gallant women made the supreme sacrifice! 1918! The flare of trumpets! The roll of drums! The rejoicing that came with Ver- sailles!,' And those who did not return to us? They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old, Age shall not weary them, not the years condemn . . . Truly, there is for them, in our hearts Nothing but well and fair, and what may quiet us in a death so noble? P14 24 2? 214 It all seems so far away from us now . . . and not wishing ever to forget what they did, and lest we forget -the Alumnae Association erec- ted a Memorial Tablet to them, which was un- veiled at an impressive ceremony on the 8th of October, 1924. The tablet is placed on the north wall of the rotunda, near the Hospital entrance. e Twelve

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B L u E AN D WH IT E 'dlgliese gifty fyears M 1887-1937 O, Far-to-Seek! O, the keen call of Thy fluteli' 66 T IS 1872! Something of unusual interest is occupying the attention of the residents of the little trading post on the banks of the Red River! Small groups gather here and there and talk with animation. We heard about it at the General Store, and we, too, have been swept into the current of interest and excitement. Mystery surrounds the poor dere- lict who was left yesterday on the river bank to die. It is said that he is very ill. We have heard much that makes us, wonder and fairly shudder at the mere thought of it-Leprosy! How fortunate, though, that our village boasts of the possession of a small hospital. The Typhoid epidemic has been sosevere, that Gov- ernor Archibald called a mass meeting in order to discuss the formation of a Board of Health, and our Hospital was organized. The possession of such an Institution in our village gives us a feeling of security. We are far inland! We are a motley company, blown together 'from the four corners of the earth, by the winds of cir- cumstance' to learn the scorching heat of prairie winds in summer, and realize how keen the frost in the depth of winter. Endurance is sorely tried in the grim struggle for existence! And now, the little Hospital has been called into being: has been born out of our own daily needs in answer to an inarticulate cry from within us. Yes, it brings with it security and the assurance that as a Community we are not blind to our moral obligations, that amidst the exigencies of pioneer life on the prairies, we have 'built an house' where the needy may receive tender caref' ' Pk 214 is rs All winter, the little Trading Post battled against fierce winds and bitter cold, the snow drifted in. great banks along the trails. The Red River slept under the spell of frost and dreamed many dreams. There wasfa dream of spring, of the blue of the crocus and the first liquid trill of the meadowlark. There was also a very color- ful and gay dream of many, many people com- ing and going hurriedly along her shores, of many churches, schools, stores, and other forms -TAGORE. of architecture, to satisfy the needs of life . . . and a greater and larger Hospital reborn each year, in response to an inarticulate cry from the soul of the Community. And another dream, there was, too, that stirred the slumbers of the silent river . . . and into it were woven the dreams, the hopes, the fulfilled ambitions of thousands of eager, bright- eyed young women, led by the call of Service into the School of Nursing that was to be born within the walls of the Hospital. Pl' Pls Pls Pi: The Hospital has known many homes since that day. As the Community needs grew, the Hospital must also expand to embrace those needs. The little village of 1872 occupied a com- manding position on the Prairies. The Gateway to the East, the Gateway to lands of unexplored romance in the West, Winnipeg was destined to become the greatest city of the-Prairies, and become a part of a dynamic Society, at whose feet Science has laid her rich gifts of the past fifty years. It is a far cry from our present im- posing home to that little hut at the fork of the rivers. We, too, have been dynamic, we too have kept pace with the evolution of truths revealed by the light of scientific'research. I 1 :if Pk Pls Pls In 1887, having long felt the need of an or- ganized training for Nurses, the Hospital opened its doorsfto admit the first School of Nursing in Manitoba! It is one of the oldest in Canada. Providedwwith the advantages of a scientific background, and a progressive hospital field for clinical experience, that School was destined to develop and distinguish itself among its Sis- ter Schools in Canada. Miss Laidlaw was appointed first Lady Su- perintendent. Following her resignation in 1893, she was sugceegled as follows: Miss Hollandmfnow Mrs. A. Moodyj, who has servedher profession through her Alumnae so faithfully down' the years. Miss Patterson. ,UT , . Page Eleven

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B LU E AN D WHITE That War record is something of which to be justly proud. It is also a challenge to us down the years. There are victories of peace for us to win-Uno less renouned than war. Many and varied have been the changes created in the School since its birth in 1877! Nursing activities have altered with the march of Science, and it has been necessary to keep a fairly flexible curriculum in order that our Nurse Education might fit the individual for her life experiences. In 1920, the Psychopathic Department was opened, and experience in this field was at once given to the student nurses. This arms the nurse with greater intelligence and understanding in the care of mentally ill. The old fearfulness that at one time gripped the heart of the nurse on being called to attend such a patient, has now given place to a feeling of strength and under- standing, and has resulted in better care of the patient. The year 1920 also saw the introduction of the eight-hour day for Student Nurses. When we realized the necessity of seeing the patient in the light of his past experience, as a unit in the social structure, and that his prob- lems, physical and mental, were the result of that past, we enlarged our Curriculum in 1923, to include an introduction to Social Service and Public Health fields. Truly, we had always been Public Health nurses , . . every nurse is that . . . but we came to realize that our service to the patient could be so inestimably greater, could we but understand the forces which were at work in bringing him into his present condition, and the need for completing that service by follow-up work after his discharge from the Hospital. This gave us a newer conception of Nursing as a more socialized work in contrast with the consideration of the patient merely in terms of his life within our Hospital walls. de Pls Pls FK We are passing through a very difficult era in Nurse Education. Our problems seem to in- crease in number and complexity. The general plan of Nurse Education is bound to change. The methods used in the early days of the School, while meeting the needs of professional life at that time, are not adequate for us today. Nor will our present methods be considered adequate for a later generation of student nurses. We are anxious to maintain an open mind on this subject, so that we will not fail in achiev- ing the purpose behind our very existence. Today, our School still calls to the hearts of young womanhood, drawing them into the field of service to humanity, offering them a rich op- portunity for self-development, for self-realiza- tion, and equipping them to take their places in the world's larger field of human endeavor. That Service is great! The needs of mankind were never more urgent and pressing than to- day. There are changes in the social structure, financial insecurity still threatens, a train of evils presses upon a society battling sometimes brokenly against unemployment and sickness. Society in its every phase suffers from the re- percussions of International disharmony, and the rumors of war. We look back over the story of the birth and development of the School and its Alumnae. It is a lovely mosaic of iieeting lights and shadows, of rich colors, and pastels, all built into its structure by that vast army of Graduates who call it Alma Mater. We follow them into their various spheres of activity in the great world beyond the walls of the School. There are those who scintilate among the leaders of our Pro- fession. There is also that myriad throng who, in the quiet, more obscure byways of life, have given themselves up to devoted service. They have gone to the far-Hung outposts of Empire, they serve in alien lands, and labor in the Mission Fields of life. With justifiable pride, we may say indeed, that our School of Nursing possesses an Alumnae upon which the sun never sets. S4 tis PK 214 They labor, that vast army of Women, to ease humanity of its suffering and distress, striving to bring the dawn of the true Brotherhood of Man. They recognize not the human-made boundaries of race and color, they have not hesitated before National and Social distinctions. P24 if Pl: Pls The rich story of the past should bring us to a more full realization of our endowment as a School. It should tend, strongly, to counteract the spirit of materialism that has had a tendency to creep into all social and professional groups. It should bring us to a very acute sense of our responsibility for the present and the future. Without that history, we would cease to be greater, or even as great as the institutions which we have inherited. And so we turn to face the future! lt is all unknown, but it holds very definite responsi- bilities. The Past has not failed us, and we must not break faith, by any act or word, with that past. Thus we join hands with the Past and the Future, knowing that whatever changes may come, one thing will remain . . . something very precious for us to nurture and enjoy . . . some- thing quite intangible . . . but sacred to the heart of every Alumnus . . . that is, the Spirit of the School. That Spirit makes an undeniable de- mand upon our lives, its voice is insistent, it demands our efforts, our loyalties. It is urgent in pressing its claims upon our efforts-that it might live! It is our rich heritage. It calls us- To prove all things, and hold fast that which is good. E. M. MCD. Page Thirteen