Record Accession Number: 1284
First UVA program NURS Second UVA program
Comments on UVA programs
Home town Alexandria Home state VA
Comments on Home town and state
Home town classification Small city
Comments on Home town classification
High school classification Public
Comments on High school classification
Was your high school co-ed? Yes
Comments on Co-ed high school
Did you come directly from high school to UVA? Yes
Comments if not directly from high school
Important activities before coming to UVA
Comments on important activities George Washington High School Band Class of 1954 - played clarinet. Enjoyed ballroom dancing.
If married, was it before, during, or after UVA? After
Comments on time of marriage
Was your spouse associated with UVA? Other
Comments on spouses association with UVA School teacher from California, serving in US Army at Fort Belvoir, Alexandria, Va.
Mother's first degree Mother's first college
Mother's second college Mother's second degree
Mother's third college Mother's third degree
Father's first degree Law Father's first college
Father's second college Father's second degree
Father's third school Father's third degree
Comments on parents' schooling
First sister's level of schooling Second sister's level of schooling
Third sister's level of schooling First brother's level of schooling
Second brother's level of schooling Third brother's level of schooling
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Family members at UVA
Comments on family members at UVA
Mother's first occupation Mother's second occupation
Mother's third occupation Father's first occupation
Father's second occupation Father's third occupation
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Date entered UVA Date left UVA
First other college First other concentration
First other degree First other dates of attendance
Second other college Second other concentration
Second other degree Second other dates of attendance
Third other college Third other concentration
Third other degree Third other dates of attendance
Fourth other college Fourth other concentration
Fourth other degree Fourth other dates of attendance
Fifth other college Fifth other concentration
Fifth other degree Fifth other dates of attendance
Comments on college experiences
Why did you choose UVA?
Comments on choice to attend UVA I felt it offered the ultimate nursing education and experience.
How did you finance UVA?
Comments on financing parents
Why did you choose your UVA concentration(s)?
Comments on choice of concentration I wanted to be a nurse since I was a child. I thought it was a miracle when my life was saved by a surgeon at age 7, and I wanted to do the same for others.
Description of UVA classroom experiences
Comments on classroom experiences Very interesting and diversified between classroom lab and clinical. Was particularly interested when doctors came to lecture and lab experiences.
Description of UVA professor interactions
Comments on professor interactions Some were very strict and business like while some were very warm and personable.
Who impacted your life at UVA?
Comments on life impact Mrs. Chapman, our class sponsor for her warmth and understanding. Mrs. Ludwig - Chemistry and microbiology lab for the great sense of honor and patience. Miss M.J. Morris and Miss Zula Mae Baber (Bice) for their approachability and dignity. Housemothers at the dorm were terrfic.
Most memorable UVA educational experience
Comments on memorable educational experience Overall, I felt I had made the very best choice of where to train for my nursing career. The diploma program was an excellent preparation hands-on for our professional career, and we should bring it back! Today's nurses are very limited in scope.
UVA weekend activities
Comments on weekend activities Mostly working at the hospital and studying. Sometimes I went out on dates or home on the train for respite. Rehearsed and played clarinet with U.Va. Convalescent Band.
UVA extra-curricular organizations
Comments on extra-curricular organizations Didn't have time or energy for extra clubs and very little was available to us in those days. U.Va. Convalescent Band - Dr. Bernard Busse, Director.
Important local, state, national, and international issues while at UVA
Comments on important issues Eisenhower's presidential election. Keeping track of federal government issues. A better quarters for nursing students.
How interest in issues was expressed
Comments on how interest was expressed I was discouraged from expressing my concerns for better quarters for the nursing students and my parents were told to keep me quiet and not cause a fuss. Much later new quarters were provided.
UVA housing
Comments on housing dorm - McKim Hall
Likes and dislikes about housing
Comments on likes and dislikes Cockroaches caused lots of problems and fumigation was a killer! No air conditioning was suffocating in warm weather. Radiators were HOT in winter but the rooms were not. I remember dressing underneath the covers.
Where were meals eaten
Comments on meal location hospital cafeteria
Did you interact outside of UVA?
Interaction detail Did not participate in activities outside the University.
Memories of Charlottesville
Comments on Charlottesville memories I remember the gorgeous magnolia trees around the Rotunda, the U.Va. Chapel, the serpentine walls, Edgar Allen Poe's room, and most of all Monticello and the life of Thomas Jefferson. Also my graduation and concert experience in Cabell Hall.
Did you feel part of UVA community? Did you feel part of community?
Incidents that caused these community feelings Not especially. I was mostly too busy studying and working hospital shifts night and day.
Vivid UVA memories
Comments on vivid memories My first experience with a dying patient. I was shut in a "quiet room" with him and told to monitor his vital signs and record the time of death. Fortunately in my fear I received a spiritual vision from the Lord which steadied my nerves. Many years later I became a hospice nurse and never feared death again. I found many of "life's lessons" at U.Va.
Did marital status affect UVA experiences
Comments on influence of marital status I was not married until after (underlined) graduation.
Did cultural background affect UVA experiences
Comments on influence of cultural background Not at all. At that time most students were white people. There were only 2 black male medical students that I remember, and they were confined to patients in black wards only. Segregation was still strict and whites did not fraternize with people of color. Also there were only 2 female medical students that I remember!
Did UVA prepare you for post-UVA life?
Comments on preparedness Very much so. I became able to manage and deal with most anything that came along afterwards.
Most significant post-UVA events
Comments on most significant event My marriage and family life. The death of my and my husband's parents. My 3 sons and grandchildren. My hospice training and work in that field including teaching.
Personal factors that affected professional life
Comments on personal factors I was devastated by my mother's death and then my fathers death 8 months later (1976). By chance 8 months after that a family friend introduced me to the book "Death and Dying" by Elizabeth Kubler Ross. I wrote her and met her and became hospice trained in 1979. That event changed my whole life!
Other factors affecting life after the university
Comments on other factors Moving to California in the fall of 1958 introduced me to a whole new world. That's where my husband taught and I worked and raised a family. Now I like the clean air and peace of Mountain life in Arizona!
First post-UVA job First job dates
Second post-UVA job Second job dates
Third post-UVA job Third job dates
Comments on post-UVA jobs
First post-UVA volunteer position First volunteer dates
Second post-UVA volunteer position Second volunteer dates
Third post-UVA volunteer position Third volunteer dates
Comments on volunteering
Do you think of yourself as a career woman?
Comments on career woman question retired
Barriers faced in work and volunteering
Comments on barriers question None come to mind.
Current marital status
Comments on current marital status
Current age range
Comments on current age range
Number of children
Comments on number of children
Current employment status
Comments on employment status Busy with many hobby crafts! Also lots of friends and family and fun activities that combine with my health problem restrictions (asthma, diabetes, and arthritis).
Additional comments Put it all in a book and try to sell it! Class experiences could be listed by decades. Interesting note: As "probationers" the first six months we were required to wear black shoes and stockings with out student uniforms to identify us by sight. Ugh! The dye on our feet and smell was atrocious! We took a lot of showers! We lay on our beds with our legs propped up the wall to improve circulation and help the pain after our first few 8 hour shifts on our sore feet and legs! Soaking in a tub helped too. These are just two of our "professional secrets"! The diploma class of Sept. 1957 was the first to receive nurses caps from day one. The previous classes had to work for six months to "earn" their caps. They did not appreciate this fact one bit! The upperclassmen thought we were "spoiled." Curfews were 8 P.M. weeknights and two 10:30 P.M.'s and one 11:45 P.M. weekends. If you violated one, another was taken away back to 8 P.M. No blue jeans or shorts were allowed to be worn. Dress Code. Afternoon tea served by social director at 4 P.M, Main Lounge. We also had 2 "parlors" - the only place to have "date" visits. No unauthorized fraternity house visits (only approved parties). 3 missed curfews and your parents were called. Don't you love it? This stuff would make a great book!

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