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     MANUSCRIPTS and ARCHIVAL MATERIAL

Maury Schwartz Smith Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 2022-066

Scope and Contents

The Smith Papers offer a glimpse into the life of an army nurse through keepsakes and photograph albums, and highlight as well Smith's later career in public health nursing. Included are Army publications and pamphlets relative to World War One, and a rare complete set of hospital magazines produced for the patients and staff of the Camp Grant Base Hospital, Illinois, in 1919. Among other items Smith saved is a spectacular collection of panoramic photographs, with views of Fort Sheridan, Illinois; the 1921 Army School of Nursing graduation ceremony in a forest at the Presidio, San Francisco, California; and of the nearby facilities at Letterman General Hospital.

Dates

  • Creation: Majority of material found in 1916-1919

Biographical / Historical

Maury Schwarz Smith (1891-1989) was a native of Lebanon, Kansas. After the United States joined the allies in World War One, Smith enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps. She received on-the-job training at Camp Grant, Illinois, beginning in the summer of 1918, and cared both for soldiers returned from the front and victims of the great influenza epidemic. Smith also saw service at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, where she studied obstetrics and pediatrics in Chicago hospitals, and at the Henry Street Settlement in New York City, where she obtained a certificate in public health nursing. Smith completed her Army School of Nursing degree at Letterman General Hospital, San Francisco, California, in 1921, and embarked on a career in public health nursing in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, where she also raised her family. In the 1950s and 60s, she joined the nursing staff of the Catholic Hospital in Tonkawa.

Extent

1.25 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

(1891–1989) World War One Nurse, keepsakes and photographs related to military nursing and her later career in public health nursing. Served at Camp Grant Base Hospital, Illinois; complete set of hospital-produced magazines for 1919. Spectacular panoramic photographs including Army Nurse graduation, 1921, the Presidio; also Fort Sheridan, Illinois; and Letterman General Hospital, San Francisco.

Arrangement

The paper items are arranged chronologically in box 01, following a folder containing biographical and general collection information. The photograph albums and collections are as donated, and find a place in box 02; oversized items are as indicated.

Author
Henry K. Sharp
Date
2018
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the The Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry Repository

Contact:
University of Virginia School of Nursing
P.O. Box 800782
Charlottesville Virginia 22908-0782 United States