Global Health
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The Midwest Nursing History Resource Center

Nightingale Letters

The Midwest Nursing History Resource Center was entrusted with the care of nine letters written by and to Florence Nightingale. Karl A. Meyer, MD, former Medical Superintendent, Cook County Hospital, acquired the Nightingale letters at an estate auction in England and presented them to the Cook County School of Nursing 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).

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, with the proviso that should the AACCSN ever reopen, the letters would be returned to that institution. Museum quality replicas of the letters are available for display purposes, while the original letters are stored in an environmentally controlled vault at the Daley Library for rare manuscripts.

 

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