The UIC Library is pleased to exhibit the Florence Nightingale Letters Collection held by the Midwest Nursing History Research Center at the UIC College of Nursing. The nine letters written by and to Florence Nightgale highlight aspects of Nightingale's work throughout her life. The correspondence exemplifies her engagement in policy matters as well as her leadership in the field of Nursing. Many appear on black-bordered mourning stationery. (Letters | Finding Aid)
Image from the Library of Congress
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was a pioneer in the field of nursing and a reformer of medical sanitation
practices. She developed a model of statistical gathering and reporting for medical data, distinguishing herself
as a professional statistician. She authored several books on the topics of medical practices and women's rights,
and influenced legislation related to medical practices and military medicine.
Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy (her namesake) to a wealthy British family and was raised
in England. Her father believed strongly in education, and as a result both she and her sister were well educated
in a variety of subjects. Throughout her early adulthood, Florence rejected various suitors and at 25 declared an
interest in nursing. After training in Germany at the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserwerth,
she was appointed superintendent of the Institution for the Care of Sick Gentlewomen in London in 1853.
She was recruited by an old friend, Sidney Herbert, then Secretary of State at War, for service in an army hospital
in Scutari (Turkey) in 1854 during the Crimean War. It was there that she became horrified with sanitary practices
and began to campaign for improvement. Nightingale returned to England in 1856 as a national heroine for her efforts
on the soldiers' behalf and gave testimony before the Royal Commission to Investigate the Health of the British Army.
In 1860, she established the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St Thomas' Hospital. Though bedridden for
many years, Florence continued to advocate for a wide variety of social reform issues. She was awarded the Royal
Red Cross in 1883 and the Order of Merit in 1907, becoming the first woman recipient. She died on August 13, 1910
in London.
Illustrated London News, 1855
Karl A. Meyer, MD, former Medical Superintendent of Cook County Institutions acquired the Nightingale letters at an
estate auction in England and presented them to the Cook County School of Nursing in 1954 for display in its library.
When the school closed in 1971, Dr. Meyer donated the letters to the Alumni Association of the Cook County School of
Nursing (AACCSN) with the proviso that should the School ever reopen, the letters would be returned to that institution
and again be put on display.
In 2003, AACCSN Board Member Chieko Onoda spearheaded the effort to transfer the letters to the Midwest Nursing History
Resource Center at the UIC College of Nursing. The letters are stored in an environmentally controlled vault at the
UIC Library.
Brief descriptions of the letters come from the catalog of the first exhibit at the Cook County School of Nursing, 1954. Transcriptions of the letters are provided by the Midwest Nursing History Resource Center at the UIC College of Nursing.
Letters
- Letter from Florence Nightingale to unknown man,
1855
Image | Transcription
- Letter from Florence Nightingale to Queen Victoria, 1863 Image | Transcription
- Letter from John F. Clark to Florence Nightingale, 1863 Image | Transcription
- Letter from John F. Clark to Florence Nightingale, 1863 Image | Transcription
- Letter from Florence Nightingale to Gathorne Hardy, 1866 Image | Transcription
- Letter from Florence Nightingale to Colonel Baird, 1874 Image | Transcription
- Letter from Florence Nightingale to Henry Fawcett, 1880 Image | Transcription
- Letter from Florence Nightingale to Henry Fawcett, 1880 Image | Transcription
- Letter from Florence Nightingale to unknown man, 1881 Image | Transcription
A finding aid to the collection is available at http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/specialcoll/services/rjd/findingaids/FNightingaleb.html
For more information or for permission to reproduce any of the
images found in this exhibit, please contact UIC Ask-A-Librarian service.
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