The Medical Heritage Center’s (MHC) curators and Friends of Nursing History Steering Committee are committed to collecting, preserving, promoting, teaching and celebrating the legacy of nursing in central Ohio. The curators’ and committee’s ongoing outreach encourages Ohio nurses to share and preserve their experiences in and important contributions to the nursing profession. This continuing effort has expanded the number of archival collections donated by nurses, oral history recordings by nurses and records of the Ohio State College of Nursing that are now preserved and available for research.

New Nursing Collections

Recently processed collections of nurses’ personal papers and memorabilia illustrate the significant contributions of nurses to medical care, education, hospital administration, public health and their communities. In addition to providing care, nurses strive to share their knowledge. The Jeannette K. Chambers, PhD, RN Papers document Chambers’ career as a Medical-Surgical Clinical Specialist in nephrology (kidney) nursing, writer and educator. Her papers include academic articles she wrote about treating patients with kidney disease and materials to educate adults with kidney disease.

Nursing experience and skills are often applicable to administrative roles. The Lillian Singer Will Papers contain material related to Will’s education and career as a nurse and administrator. A graduate of the Mt. Carmel School of Nursing and long-serving nurse at Mt. Carmel Hospital, she eventually became the Director of Nursing at Mt. Carmel. Not all nurses work in hospitals. The Mary Stockman Papers includes publications from the Columbus Health Department and the Ohio Department of Health where Stockman was a public health nurse consultant. The Sally Morgan RN Papers has copies of Ohio’s Health magazine published by the Ohio Department of Health.

In paragraph Nursing careers may take turns in surprising directions. The Barbara Nash, RN Papers documents her campaigns for South Carolina House Seat 124. An alumna of both Ohio University and The Ohio State University, Nash taught nursing at multiple colleges in central Ohio. After relocating to South Carolina, she began teaching as adjunct nursing faculty at the University of South Carolina, Beaufort, but found another way to apply her medical knowledge. When she ran for a South Carolina House Seat in 2020 and 2022, expanding access to healthcare and Medicaid were part of her campaign platform.

Nursing Oral Histories Are Growing and Easier to Find

While preserving physical materials is important, there are multiple ways to save and tell nurses stories. As the first activity of MHC’s Friends of Nursing History Steering Committee, Carol Robinson began recording oral history interviews with Ohio nurses in 2000. The oral history program compliments and strengthens the Medical Heritage Center’s nursing collections by giving nurses an opportunity to share personal insights that may not come across in written records. Recording interviews can bridge distances as they can now be recorded online. Oral histories may be accompanied by obituaries, funeral programs, curriculum vitae, resumes, news clippings, photographs or other items by or about the interviewee that provide context for the topics discussed. Nurses are on both sides of the table; it is usually nurses who conduct as well as give the interviews.

Over the course of 2025, archives staff worked to create individual finding aids for earlier interviews that were previously described in one large document. The individual finding aids provide more context for each interview and make it easier to locate individual recordings. The most current information about oral histories available online is in the Special Collections Registry. Transcripts of interviews will eventually be posted in The Ohio State University Knowledge Bank. However, there is time needed for processing before more are published.

Since 2022, more than 20 new oral histories have been recorded with Ohio nurses in a variety of roles. While many of the nurses interviewed are alumni of The Ohio State University, there are graduates of other nursing programs represented, including, but not limited to Capital University, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio University, Otterbein University, Sinclair Community College, Wright State University, the University of Cincinnati and schools of nursing affiliated with hospital systems. Most of the nurses interviewed have multiple degrees and certifications, usually master’s degrees in nursing, public health or science. There are several who hold PhDs, two who are also attorneys and one who obtained a business degree. Nurses interviewed have practiced or continue to practice in fields such as mental health nursing, public health nursing, teaching, consulting and administration of professional organizations, among many others.

Alumni Are Adding to College of Nursing Records

A significant collection in the MHC archives are records from The Ohio State University College of Nursing. While materials have been transferred to the MHC from the College, the collection primarily grows through thoughtful and generous donations from alumni. Of special interest are materials that document their time as students, including records of student organizations. Documents from the National Student Nurses Association and the Ohio Nursing Students Association dating from the 1980s and 1990s were recently added. They provide insight into how nursing students were learning outside of the classroom, networking and organizing to build their careers.

Curatorial and archives staff were particularly excited to receive more examples of syllabi for nursing courses taught at Ohio State. These documents are particularly useful for research, as they illustrate changes in the nursing curriculum over time. Recent additions of syllabi included a series of 900 level courses taught from 1985 through 1987, including but not limited to “Theoretical Foundations of Nursing Science,” “Individual Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis in Nursing Science,” “Family/Community Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis in Nursing Science,” “Nursing Theory Synthesis I and II,” “Issues and Trends in Nursing Science at the Individual System Level” and “Logic and Verification in Nursing Science.” This material filled a gap in the College of Nursing Records as there were not previously course syllabi or course catalogs for the years 1985, 1986 and 1987 in the MHC archives.