SPEECHES & WRITINGS FILE Address at the Commencement of the Nurses . . . at The Providence Hospital of Baltimore, May 25, 1934 that is the kind of service we hope and expect our nurses will render our group. Except in serious cases it is easier to impress the mind. It is impossible to overestimate the power for good who is willing to use it can wield Some of us have a hard time to keep a lump from rising Those of you who are completing your course tonight may have the satisfaction of knowing you have chosen a high calling indeed [?]rom the nature of the case the duties and obligations. For that reason our nurses deserve all the greater credit for the work they do so well. I want to urge the nurses who are completing their course tonight to set the highest possible standard. Keep as much the idea which this medal symbolizes. I hope you will use your brains. I hope you will aim to discover something new in your profession which will be an improvement upon anything that has been done before. Colored women have always been interested in nursing. When Mrs. Roosevelt addressed a convention of 7000 nurses here who possess such tremendous possibilities for doing good. Last January Pres. Roosevelt presented to Congress a summary of the National Health Program this country concerned about the health are as properly agents of the State as, for example, are teachers. If the plans of the National Health Program are carried out the responsibility resting upon the nurses' shoulders is heavy and her life is sometimes strenuous and hard. If any human being is obliged deliberately to decide nursing is not overcrowded and really needs recruits 20000 nurses will graduate this year. you are one of the grand divisions of an army__ Address at the Commencement of the Nurses Completing the Course at the Provident Hospital of Baltimore, MD. May 25 1934. It is a privilege and a pleasure to be invited to address a group of people who are capable of doing so much to alleviate the pain and suffering of the world, and who are capable of making the world so much better to live in as are those who are completing their course in their chosen vocation here to night. Last month more than 7000 nurses gathered in the nation's capital to attend a convention there. It was a joint effort of the American Nurses Association, the National League of Nursing Education and the National Organization of Public Health Nursing. Those who were able to attend the sessions and those who read the proceedings from day to day were amazed at the prodigious amount of work which is being done by the nurses of this country to improve the health not only of those who come directly under their guidance and care but to improve the health of the nation as a whole. It was a revelation to many of us to hear how rapidly methods of caring for the sick are being improved. It was gratifying and encouraging to [hear] learn how efforts are being made to spread the services which well-trained nurses are able to give those who need their care over a wider surface than has ever been covered before. The opinion was emphatically expressed that more and more people are accepting the notion that nurses are very important agents of the State that they are as properly agents of the State for example as are teachers, [for example] The hope is being entertained by many that the day is not far distant when communities will adopt a plan by which those who can not afford to pay for the ministration of a good nurse may in some other way receive the care which they so sadly need. There is no doubt whatever that people generally are recognizing more and more the important work which nurses are doing to improve the health conditions in their respective communities. Beforetheir very eyes, so to speak, they see the concrete, tangible evidence of this fact. No better illustration of this could be cited than the improvement of the health condi- right here in Baltimore since the Provident Hospital was opened. I do not When I think how capable of making the world healthier and happier the members of this graduating class are I am filled with joy and hope 2 want to take from the doctors any of the credit which they so richly de-ser deserve. Bless the heart of the doctors. We couldn't live without them if we wanted to and we would not if we could. There is no doubt whatever that the improvement of the health conditions of this city has largely due to the work which Provident Hospital has done. The effect of the training which the nurses as well as the physicians have received here can easily be seen if you visit the Health Department of Baltimore & read the records there. The records of the Health Department of this city show an actual decrease in the death rate among the colored people of this city each year since the opening of the Provident Hospital. During the convention in Washington a member of the Red Cross Committee from Geneva, Switzerland, a French woman, referred to nursing as "a beautiful profession." She described it correctly. It is really a beautiful profession. When one thinks of the power which a nurse has to assuage pain by the [*[skill] which she has acquired;*] various methods she has learned when one thinks of her power to compose the troubled burdened mind of a suffering, worried patient because of the confidence in her which her skill has inspired; when one thinks of the happiness and the joy which she is able to bring, not only to the patient himself, but to those who lo ve him and are eager to see him or her restored health, one is almost tempted to envy a human being who possesses so many possibilities as a nurse does for doing good in the world. I do not overlook the fact that the life of a nurse is often strenuous and hard. If any human being is obliged deliberately to decide that she must be willing to work [hard] early and late, in season and out, and make many sacrifices when she chooses a profession, it is certainly the woman who makes up her mind to be a nurse. If she knows anything at all about the training she will be obliged to take, she will know that completing her course will not be like going to heaven on flowery beds of ease. She will soon realize that [in order] she will have to fight to win the prize of efficiency and skill [she] and will have to sail through bloody seas. Everybody acquainted with the duties which a nurse has to perform 3 is well aware that they are exacting to the last degree. The power of endurance which a good nurse displays in certain emergencies seems little short of a miracle of modern times. The realization that the life of a human being depends upon her ability to render [the] the right kind of service at the right time seems to endue her with indomitable courage and superhuman strength. Thousands of people are alive to day who would be sleeping under the sod had it not been for the skill, and patience,and endurance and the self abnegation of a good nurse. It is not necessary to underrate the service rendered by the physician in charge to pay this tribute to the nurse. No matter how well a physician may diagnose the case of a patient, and no matter wisely he may prescribe, if the patient does not receive the proper care, his recovery will be doubtful, and is alas in many cases impossible. I have heard physicians say more than once that a patient owed his life to the care which a nurse had given quite as much as [he] the patient did to the service which the doctor himself had rendered. From the nature of the case the duties and obligations which the nurses in our group have to discharge are more numerous and more exacting than are those which confront nurses of the dominant race. The conditions under which some of the patients live to whom colored nurses [they] must minister often make their work more difficult. But for that very reason the nurses in our group will deserve all the more credit for doing their work well. I want to urge the nurses who are completing their course to night to set the highest possible standard in their profession. I hope each and every one of you will keep abreast of the times in everything affecting the work of a nurse. Magazine I have been informed that the Walter Burns Saunders Memorial Medal is the greatest honor which a nurse can receive from her profession. It is bestowed because a nurse has given to the profession or to the public some outstanding contribution either in personal service or in the discovery of technique that may be to the advantage of the patient or of the profession. I hope that you who are completing the course to night will keep [the] in mind the idea which this medal symbolizes. I mean I hope 4 you will use your brains, and be open to conviction and be on the alert. I hope you will aim constantly to discover something new in your profession which will be an improvement upon what has been done.before. Colored women have been interested in nursing for many years. More than thirty years ago a group of colored women established The Phyllis Wheatley Sanitarium a Sanatarium with a Training School for Nurses in New Orleans.The reasons which caused these colored women to choose this special field in which to operate are such as obtain in many places to day. From the city hospitals colored physicians were excluded altogether, not even being allowed to practice in the colored wards. And colored patients, no matter how wealthy or how ill they were were not received in the city hospitals at all, unless they were willing to go into the charity wards. The establishment of this sanitarium, therefore, answered a variety of purposes. It [furnished] provided a well equipped hospital [in which] for colored patients [might go] who did not want to go to the charity ward of the city hospital and it furnished an opportunity for colored physicians to get a practical knowledge of their profession. The surgical department was supplied with all the modern appliances. Many operations have been performed by the colored surgeon-in chief, most of which have resulted successfully. During an epidemic of Yellow Fever in New Orleans, the colored nurses from this Phyllis Wheatley Training School rendered such efficient service that they have been employed by the best people of the city ever since. In recognition of the valuable services rendered by these colored nurses the municipal government voted to make an annual appropriation of several hundred dollars to help defray the expenses of the training school which a few, forward-looking, public spirit colored women established. [*colored women*] [*Begin*] When Mrs. Roosevelt spoke to the nurses in Washington last month she made a statement with which we all agree. She said that more and more we expect nurses to show us how to live physically so we may be healthier and happier people. That is certainly true of the service which we expect our nurses [of our group] to render their own group. Except in very serious cases [of serious illness] it is I thank you very much for inviting me [was very glad to receive an invitation to attend] to this banquet tonight. I accepted it with pleasure. I consider it an honor to be invited to be the guest speaker. Of course I know I shall not be able to [say anything] tell you say anything wonderful or new but I am happy to think that a group of such capable useful [and charitable] women as you are wants me to be with you [at this delightful banquet] while you are taking time out to relax & enjoy your selves to night. In the first place I want to congratulate you on organizing this Chi Eta Phi Sorority because you recognized the need for a higher educational standard for the nursing profession a closer wanted and more friendly relationship and a correlation of all branches of your profession After I received the invitation I wrote to Mrs Van Crossan and requested her to give some facts about your Sorority. When I read about the work which you have actually accomplished in the few years you have been organized I was amazed you have given an award to a student who excelled in Pediatrics you have distributed food on thanksgiving to indigent families, you have encouraged the student nurses to set a high standard and to continue their studies after graduating. You have given nearly fifty underprivileged children an outing at Rock Creek Park. You have given health talks to adolescent girls & mothers at community Houses in those sections where such information is needed most and at one of our Junior High Schools. At one Community House SIGMUND WEISS 9. 1910 Arthur Avenue New York N. Y. 153. Gibson, Prof. and Mrs J. W. asstd. by W. J. Truitt. Golden Gleans of Thought on Chastity and Procreation, including heredity, prenatal influence, etc. sensible hints and wholesome advice for maiden and young man, wife and husband, mother and father. Intr. by Henry R. Butler. Illus. 8vo.cl. Atlanta, Ga, J. L. Nichols Co. 1903 $3.50 154. Gilbert Academy and Agricultural College. Winsted, La. Sketches and incidents. Selections from Journal III. 12mo.cl. N. Y., Hunt 1893 2.50 155. Gilmore, F. Grant. The Problem. A military novel. port.of author 12mo. cl. (F. Grant Gilmore 1915) 3.00 156. Gollock, Georgiana A. Sons of Africa. Decorations by Aaron Douglas. 8vol. bds Map. Friendship Press, N.Y. 1928 2.50 157. Goodwin, Rev. A.M. comp. by--The Sunday School Scholar's treasury of practical, helpful and interesting Biblical and Historical information, fr.port. 63 pgs. prtd wrappers.Morristown,Tenn.n.d .75 158. Gordon, Asa H. The Georgia Negro, a history. (Students' edi) Illus. oct. cl. Edwards Bros.Inc,Ann Arbor,Mich. 1937. 3.50 159. Gordon, Asa H. Sketches of Negro Life and History in South Carolina. Special Contributors, Dr. D.H. Sims, Mr. B.E. Mays, Mr. B.B. Bernwell. 8vo. cl. (1929 A.H. Gordon, Industrial College, Ga. 3.00 160. Gordon, Taylor. Born to Be. With an intro by Muriel Draper, a foreword by Carl Van Vechten and Illus. by Covarrubias. 12mo. cl. N.Y. Covici, Frieds, 1929. 2.50 161. Gregory, James M.-Frederick Douglass, the Orator, containing an account of his life, his eminent public services, his brilliant career as orator, selections from his speeches and writings,with an intro. by W.S. Scarborough, 8vo. 215 p Springfield, Mass. Wiley & Co. 1893. cl. 3.50 162. Griffiths, Julia. edi by.. Autographs for Freedom, Illus. Oct. cl. Auburn, Alden, Beardsley & Co. 1854. 1st Ed. 4.00 163. Griggs, Sutton E. Hindered Hand, or, The Reign of the Repressionist. 3rd ed. rev. 8vo. 333p, Nashville, Orion, Publ. 1905 cl. 3.00 164. Griggs, S.E. Kingdom Builders Manual, companion book to 'Guide to Racial Greatness' 100 pages. prtd wrappers. Natl. Publ. Welfare League, Memphis, Tenn. (1924) .90 165. Grimke, Angelina W.-Rachel, a play in 3 acts. 12mo.bds.cl.back Cornhill, Boston (1920) 1.50 166. Grimke, Archibald H.- Life of Charles Sumner, the scholar in politics. 8vo. 415p front N.Y. Funk & Wagnells. 1892. cl. 3.00 167. Grimke, Archibald H.- William Lloyd Garrison, the Abolitionist. American Reformers series. fr. port. sm. 8vo. cl.Funk & Wagnells, N.Y. (1891) 2.00 168. Hammond, L.H. In the vanguard of a Race. 12mo. 176p. per Council of Women for Home Missions and Missionary Educ. movement. N.Y.1922 1.00 169. Hampton, Memories of Old Publ. by the Armstrong League of Hampton Workers. Illus. 8vo. cl. Institute Press, Hampton,Va.1909. 3.00 170. Hampton Normal and Agricultural Inst. at Hampton, Va. 22 years work of the-- Records of Negro and Indian graduates and ex-students with historical and personal sketches and testimony on important race questions--, to which are added some of the songs of the races gathered in the Schools, Illus. with views and maps.large octavo, cl. Hampton Normal School Press. 1893. 3.50 171. Hampton Normal and Agric.Inst, arr. by the Musical Directors of-- Religious Folk Songs of the Negro, new edi. from the orig.edi. by Thomas P. Fenner. 8vo. cl. The Institute Press,Hampton,Va. 1920 1.50 2. you inoculated nearly fifty children for diphtheria I was delighted to learn that the National Negro Health Monument awarded your sorority a certificate of merit for the manner in which you observed National Negro Health week. Too much praise can not be bestowed. The three Sorors who went to Louisville,Ky four years ago [this] gave their services to aid in the flood relief and I am sure the clothing which was donated was greatly needed and thankfully received. I congratulate you heartily upon the efforts which [*the efforts which*] you are now making to plan a library for convalescent patients at Freedmen's Hospital and feel sure you will succeed SIGMUND EISS 8. 1910 Arthur Avenue New York, N.Y. 139. Flipper, Henry Ossian. cadeat West Point; autobiography, first graduate of color from the U.S. Military Academy. 12mo. 322p front, N.Y. Homer Lee & Co. 1878. $6.00 140. Floyd, Silas Xavier, Life of Charles T. Walker, d.d. (The Black Spurgeon) intro. by Robert Stuart, MacArthur.8vo.cl.Nashville, Tenn. Natl Baptist Publ. Board. 1902. 1st ed. Illius. 3.00 141. Ford, Theodore P. God WIlls the Negro an Anthropological and geographical restoration of the lost history of the American Negro People, being in part a theological interpretation of Egyptian and EThiopian backgrounds. comp. from ancient and modern sources, with a special chapter of 8 Negro Spirituals. Illus. 8vo., cl. 1939. Geographical Inst.Press. Chicago. 2.50 142. Fortune, T. Thomas. Black and White. Land. Labor and Politics in the South. 12mo. cl. N.Y. Fords, Howard & Hulbert 1884. 2.50 143. Fortune, T. Thomas. Dreams of Life. Miscellaneous poems. fr.port. 8 vo. cl. N.Y. Fortune & peterson, 1905. 2.50 144. (Freemasonry) Program. 13th annual session of the Imperial Council of the Ancient Egyptian Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of North and South America. Convened in the Mosgue Fitzgerald's auditorium. Oasis of Atlantic City, N.J. program Imperial Council. Illus. 7 pgs. printed wrappers. n.d. 145. Freemasons. Historical and souvenir journal commemorating the forty-fourth session of the United Supreme Council 33 degree ancient and accepted Scottish rite free masonry of the Northern jurisdiction, Grand East, Phila. 1925. Q np.il n pub.C.E.Cyril literary editor. pa 1.75 146. From Servitude to Service being the old South lectures on the History and Work of Southern Institutions for the Education of the Negro, (various authors) 12mo. cl. Boston American Unitarian Assoc. 1905. 1st. gilt top. 4.00 147. Fuller, T.O. Bridging the Racial Chasms. A brief survey of interracial attitudes and relations. Illus. 8vo. cl. T.O. Fuller, Memphis, Tenn. (1937) 1.00 148. Gaines, Bishop W.J. D.D. The Negro and the White Man, 12mo. cl. A.M.E. Publ. House, Phila. 1897 1st. 149. Gardner, Benj. Franklin (Poems) Biographical Sketch of author by Glen Perrins. Thin, 12mo.cl. Caldwell,O.Caxton. 1933, 1st 79p 1.50 150. Gardner, Brudder. Stump speeches and comic lectures, containing some of the best hits of the leading Negro delineators of the present day, comprising the most amusing and side-splitting contribution of oratorical offusions which has ever been produced to the public, 16mo. 88p. no. pub. n.d. pa. 1.00 151. Garvey, Marcus. Philosophy and Opinions of--ed. by Amy Jacques-Garvey. vol. 1-2nd. cd. Illus. octavo cl. The Universal Publishing House, N.Y.C. 1923 and volume 2--Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey or Africa for the Africans. comp.by Amy Jacques-Garvey. Illus. octavo.cl.Universal Publ.Hse.1926 8.00 152. Gay, Joseph R. Progress and achievements of the colored people, containing the story of the wonderful advancement of the colored Americans--the most marvelous in the history of the nations. a handbook for self-improvement which leads to greater success. illus. with 60 photographic pictures...8vo. 434p Austin Jenkins Co., Washington, D.C. cl. 2.00 On the principle that an open confession is good for the soul I am about to confess that it is hard for me to keep from breaking one of the ten commandments when I think of the many and wonderful opportunities [*of doing good in the world*] which the women who are completing the course to night in this school of Nursing will have of doing good in the world. We are told we must not envy certain things which our neighbor possess. But it is hard for me not to envy the skill and the training possessed by the members of this graduating class to night, [*I once heard a French woman.*] because of the opportunities it will afford them of relieving the pain & suffering of human beings teaching them how to preserve their health and of helping them to regain their health when they are weak and discouraged and need assistance most. Last January Pres Roosevelt presented to Congress a summary of the National Health Program and asked the members to give it serious consideration. The country is becoming more and more concerned about preserving and restoring the health of its citizens. They want them to make use of the hospitals, the clinics and the health centers. Doctors of course will have charge of these institutions and where there are doctors, where there is a health department there -2- Mrs. Kittle asked how many of the group had been advised as to the Social Security program for Washington. Discussion followed and it was agreed that the next meeting could be devoted to the Security program and that rather than have a speaker from the outside, Miss Myrtle Cohen would be asked to give a report for the committee showing procedure and types of service that can be secured for the clients in Washington. Miss Coulson was instructed to go through the minutes of the year and make a summary and for the June meeting the committee will discuss the whole program as developed through the year and make plans for the future on the basis of these findings. There being no further business the meeting adjourned. 2 2 must necessarily be nurses. There would be no hospitals without nurses. People who are acquainted with the health conditions of the country are amazed at the prodigious amount of work which is being done by the nurses of the country to improve the health not only of those to whom they administer directly but to improve the health of the nation as a whole. At a nurses convention held not long ago it was a revelation to many of us to learn how rapidly methods of caring for the sick are being improved. It was both gratifying and encouraging to hear how efforts are being made to spread the services which well-trained nurses are able to give those [*their patients*] who need their care over a wider service than has ever been covered before. More and more people are expressing the opinion that nurses are [a] very important agents of the State, that they are as properly agents for the State, for example as are teachers. [Many believe that the day is not far distant when communities will adopt a plan by which those who can not afford to pay for the ministrations of a good nurse may receive the care they so sadly need.] SETTLEMENT COUNCIL A meeting of the Settlement Council was held at 918 M Street, N.W. on Thursday, April 8, 1937. Those present were: Miss Burklin, Miss Cohen, Miss Merrill, Mrs. Pinkett, Miss Cross, Mrs. Scott and Miss Coulson. Mrs. Kittle presided. Minutes of the Presidents' meeting read by the Secretary and approved. Mrs. Kittle made further report stating that there was a good deal of interest expressed by this group and it was thought that at a later time another meeting would be suggested. Miss Burklin made a report on the sub-committee for the Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration of the Settlements. She stated that there would be a choice of two dates - Tuesday, May 4th or Thursday, May 6th. After discussion May 6th was agreed upon. The program will be divided into two parts. Each Executive will take eight minutes to give a short account of the historical background of her own Settlement. There will be twenty minutes given to a speaker. This speaker to be selected by the committee. The program by the Settlement groups will be songs under the leadership of Mrs. Streets and Miss Olin, and a folk dance under the leadership of Miss Cross for an adult group, also for a group from Juanita K. Nye House. The program will not last longer than two hours and it was agreed, if possible, to serve punch and cookies. The celebration will take place in Barker Hall at a rental of $5.00 for the evening. Mrs. Kittle made a report on the mass meeting at the Congregational Church for relief and also the contact which has been made with the Commissioners. There was a discussion of the whole situation and it was learned that a study was being suggested for the Family Agencies, which will be worked out in detail by the National organizations, Family Service, Jewish Social Service, etc. A motion was passed that the Council go on record as approving the study and requesting that the Chairman, Mrs. Kittle, be asked to sit in with the group which will determine advisability of the study. The Secretary was asked to draft such a letter to be sent to the Council of Social Agencies. A letter from the National Federation of Settlements was read and it was suggested that nothing further be done about the Workers' Alliance until some word from Chicago could be received as to their plan which had been worked out at Chicago Commons. Mrs. Kittle made a report on the proposed plan for the Self-Help Program in Washington and stated that the Community Chest had allocated $1,000.00 for a study to be made by Mrs. Guy of Richmond and that a committee of sponsors had been set up to study the situation and to work out a plan for Washington. Discussion of the Self-help plan brought out interesting facts regarding the possibilities in Washington and the advisability of such a program being set up, which will be financed ultimately through the P. W. A. 3 If the plans of the National Health Program which President Roosevelt presented to congress last January are carried out much will be required to render much more service in certain fields than they have ever given before- and many more nurses will be needed to do this work. The special fields in which increased effort will be made and which will require additional nursing service include tuberculosis control, pneumonia maternal and infant care, syphilis, cancer, industrial hygiene, orthopedic nursing and mental health and several other diseases which are making terrible inroads upon the nations health. For a long time the nurses work in the control of tuberculosis has been considered of prime importance. Finding cases of tuberculosis, teaching the patients and those who come into contact with them how to treat and protect themselves, supervising arrested cases - all this is general conceded to be the nurses job. There is no doubt the nurses work is often strenuous & hard. Now I do not want to take from the doctors any of the credit which they so richly deserve Bless the heart of our doctors. We couldn't live a minute without them and we wouldn't if we could. There is no doubt that the improvement of the health conditions of the country are largely due to the work which the doctors have done. - 2 - what salaries should be paid. Recently additional staff workers have been authorized for the three Negro houses, though t very low salaries. I have the impression that these houses are trying to do too extensive a job in proportion both to space and staff. The situation at Southeast House has further been greatly handicapped because of uncertainty regarding the future development. At one time both the board and the neighborhood groups were interested in developing a center in a new location which failed of accomplishment. The proposal to take over Friendship House has also been uncertain and has hung over a long period, and has not developed the enthusiasm which was felt for the original proposition. The work in the Negro centers can take care of a very small proportion of the Negro population of any of the neighborhoods and therefore should be promotive rather than extensive. Probably Negro work in Washington, as well as all over the country, is seriously under-financed and does not in any degree reach the amount in proportion to the population which is spent on the white population. As a rule, Negro workers receive less that similarly qualified white workers. It is true that there has been a scarcity of well trained and well equipped Negro workers, but this is no longer a great difficulty, as more and more the better type Negroes are being graduated from schools and colleges. The low economic level of the Negro population as a whole operates to make more difficult such neighborhood work. In the first place, there is less inclination on the part of the neighbors to support their own work and it is hard to collect fees and to secure contributions from the Negro groups. Moreover, confusion with government agencies for which no fees are charged adds to this difficulty. One of the negro workers stated that the margin on which many of the students and educated Negroes operate is so slight that they cannot afford to give the type of volunteer service found in the white groups. This statement has been questioned by other workers. In view of all these conditions, it seemed best to delay the final decision in regard to full admission to the National Federation of Settlements until the board meeting in May, when the questions of personnel and budget might have been adjusted. Meanwhile, all the houses have been put on the mailing list and any help that the office can give has been offered in working out the problems. Since the last visit, there has been a change in the situation at Southeast House. A new headworker has been appointed who has adequate background but no settlement experience. In the choosing of a headworker the board has learned a great deal. They have interviewed a large number of candidates. have visited other cities and have taken a definite stand as to the kind of person waned. It is more than ever necessary that the National Federation give support and active assistance to these houses whether they are admitted to membership or not. I over heard a distinguished tell an audience that in pneumonia nursing care is almost as important, and in some cases more important than the administration of service. Doctors know said he that a good pneumonia nurse is rare. We need a great increase in the number of skilled nurses he said and in the amount of nursing the patient receives. The doctor never spoke a truer word than when he declared we need a great increase of skilled nurses and right here I want to call your attention to the fact that while some of the other professions are so overcrowded young men and women are advised against trying to enter them, nursing is the one profession that is sorely in need of recruits -- Even though 20000 nurses will graduate in the U.S this year that number is not is not sufficient enough to satisfy the demand. The profession of nursing stands with open arms inviting all who are qualified by education, character and temperament to enter and remain. THE CHESAPEAKE AND POTOMAC TELEPHONE COMPANY 723 THIRTEENTH STREET NORTHWEST WASHINGTON, D.C. RONALD ORR TELEPHONE MANAGER METROPOLITAN 9900 NORTH-POTOMAC NOTHING GIVES SO MUCH FOR SO LITTLE MARYLAND Baltimore........30c Cumberland...65c Easton..............45c Frederick.........35c Hagerstown...50c Leonardtown.45c Salisbury..........55c VIRGINIA Charlottesvillle.65c Fredericksburg.45c Front Royal........50c Harrisonburg.....65c Leesburg.............30c Lynchburg..........85c Norfolk................85c Richmond..........60c Warrenton.........40c Winchester........45c WEST VIRGINIA Charleston.........$1.15 Wheeling..............1.05 ELSEWHERE Atlanta,Ga.........$2.00 Birm'ham, Ala.....2.30 Boston, Mass......1.50 Chicago, Ill............2.10 Cincinnati..............1.60 Detroit, Mich........1.55 Ind'apolis, Ind......1.80 Kansas City. Mo...3.25 Louisville, Ky..........1.80 New York, N.Y.......1.05 Omaha. Neb...........3.25 Philadelphia, Pa...... .75 Pittsburgh, Pa..........1.00 St. Louis, Mo.............2.40 These are station- to-station day rates. Night and Sunday rates are usually lower. The long distance operator will supply rates to other points. October 5, 1936. Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, 1615 S Street N.W., Washington, D.C. Dear Mrs. Terrell: In accordance with your request, I am enclosing an application form transferring you to the service of Honorable Robert H. Terrell, NOrth 3691. Will you please verify the item shown in the space "Information for Directory Listing," and sign your full name, in ink, on the line above the word "Applicant." We take this opportunity to direct your attention to the front or informational pages of the telephone directory. This section contains valuable information which will assist you in the full use of your service. Important facts concerning the rendition and payment of telephone bills are covered on Page 3 of this section. We appreciate this opportunity of service you, and to hasten completion of this work, an advance order has been issued in anticipation of the prompt return of this application. Very truly yours, R. Orr. Manager. L. Enclosure: Application Form. 5 easier to touch the heart and impress the kind of an individual when he is ill than when he is well. If while he is confined to his bed , he has more time to reflect and is in a more receptive state of mind. A nurse who has the interests of her patients at heart can not only [help] influence them to lead saner lives from a physical point of view , but she can throw her influence on the side of right living, correct conduct and high ideals. It is impossible to overestimate the power for good which a nurse who is willing to use it can wield. [The nurse has high calling indeed.] [*For some of us to keep a lump from rising in our throat when we speak about the nurse who has traveled with us through the valley of pain and helped [mankind] us bear up under the affliction which has laid us low. *] It is difficult for some of us who have almost passed through the valley of the shadow of death to speak about care given us by the nurse who has snatched us from the very jaws of death I can understand perfectly why a poor workman who had become conscious after an accident thought he beheld an angel when he saw a woman with sympathy in her face and a nurse's cap on her head standing at the foot of his hospital cot. [Those of you who are completing your course to night may have the satisfaction of knowing that you have chosen a high calling indeed. No matter what difficulties confront you of what obstacles mayappear] No matter what vocation in life one chooses there are always difficulties to meet and obstacles to over come. And , of course, your profession is no exception to a general rule. But you certainly can have the satisfaction of knowing that you have chosen a high calling indeed. [You] You are one of the grand divisions of an army which is steadily marching against disease and death. But you will not fight with guns or poison gas or the diabolical inventions which can snuff out the lives of countless human beings in the twinkling of an eye. The weapons with which you will fight are the knowledge and skill acquired in this training school plus sympathy, patience, endurance and dogged determination to render every kind of service to suffering human beings which it is in your power to give. Everybody who loves his fellow man and who wishes to promote the welfare [*next page 6x] of the world is interested and will continue to be interested in your career Address at the Commencement of the Nurses Completing the Course at the Provident Hospital of Baltimore, Md. May 25, 1934. It is a privilege and a pleasure to be invited to address a group of people who are capable of doing so much to alleviate the pain and suffering of the world, and who are capable of making the world so much better to live in as are those who are completing their courses in their chosen vocation here to night. Last month more than 7000 nurses gathered in the nation's capital to attend a convention there. It was a joint effort of the American Nurses Association, The National League of Nursing Education and the National Organization of Public Health Nursing. Those who were able to attend the sessions and those who read the proceedings from day to day were amazed at the prodigious amount of work which is being done by nurses of this country to improve the health not only of those who come directly under their guidance and care but to improve the health of the nation as a whole. It was a revelation to many of us to hear how rapidly methods of caring for the sick are being improved. It was gratifying and encouraging to hear how efforts are being made to spread the service which well-trained nurses are able to give those who need their care over a wider surface than has ever been covered before. The opinion was emphatically expressed that more and more people are accepting the notion that nurses are [a] very important agents of the State that they are as properly agents of the State for example as are teachers, [for example.] The hope is being entertained by many that the day is not far distant when communities will adopt a plan by which those who can not afford to pay for the ministrations of a good nurse may receive the care which they so sadly need. There is no doubt whatever that people generally are recognizing more and more the important work which nurses are doing to improve the health conditions in their respective communities. Before their very eye, so to speak, they see the concrete, tangible evidence of this fact. No better illustration of this could be cited than the improvement of health condi- right here in Baltimore since the Provident Hospital was opened. I do not 2 want to take from the doctors any of the credit which they so richly de-ser deserve. Bless the heart of the doctors. We couldn't live without them if we wanted to and we would not if we could. There is no doubt whatever that the improvement of the health conditions of this city is largely due to the work which Provident Hospital has done. The effect of the training which the nurses as well as the physicians have received here can easily be seen if you visit the Health Department of Baltimore. The records of the Health Department of this city show an actual decrease[s] in the death rate among colored people of this city each year since the opening of the Provident Hospital. During the convention in Washington a member of the Red Cross Committee from Geneva, Switzerland, a French woman, referred to nursing as "a beautiful profession." She described it correctly. It is a beautiful profession. When one thinks of the power which a nurse has to assuage pain by the skill which she as acquired; various methods she has learned when one thinks of her power to compose the troubled mind of a suffering, worried patient because of the confidence in her which her skill has inspired; when one thinks of the happiness and joy which she is able to bring not only to the patient himself but to those who love him and are eager to see him or her restored to health, one is almost tempted to envy a human being who possesses so many possibilities for doing good in the world. I do not overlook the fact that the life of a nurse is often strenuous and hard. If any human being is obliged deliberately to decide that she must be willing to work [hard] early and late and make many sacrifices when she chooses a professions it is the woman who makes up her mind to be a nurse. If she knows anything at all about the training she will be obliged to take, she will know that completing her course will not be like going to heaven on flowery beds of ease. She will soon realize that in order to win the prize of efficiency and skill she will have to sail through bloody seas. Everybody acquainted with the duties which a nurse has to perform 3 is well aware that they are exacting to the last degree. The power of endurance which a good nurse displays in certain emergencies seems little short of a miracle of modern times. The realization that the life of a human being depends upon her ability to render the the right kind of service at the right time seems to endue her with superhuman courage and strength. Thousands of people are alive to day who would be sleeping under the sod had it not been for the skill, and patience, and endurance and the self abnegation of a good nurse. It is not necessary to underrate the service rendered by the physician in charge to pay this tribute to the nurse. No matter how well a physician may diagnose the case of a patient, and no matter wisely he may prescribe, if the patient does not receive the proper care, his recovery will be doubtful, and is alas in many cases impossible. I have heard physicians say more than once that a patient owed his life to the care which a nurse had given quite as much as [he] the patient to the services which the doctor himself had rendered. From the nature of the case the duties and obligations which the nurses in our group have to discharge are more numerous and more exacting than are those which confront nurses of the dominant race. The conditions under which some of the patients live to whom they must minister often make their work more difficult. But the nurses in our group will deserve all th emore credit for doing their work well. I want to urge the nurses who are completing their course to night to set the highest possible standard in their profession. I hope each and every one of you will keep abreast of the times in everything affecting the work of a nurse. I have been informed that the Walter Burns Saunders Memorial Medal is the greatest honor which a nurse can receive from her profession. It is bestowed because a nurse has given to the profession or to the public some outstanding conttibution either in personal service or in the discovery of technique that may be to the advantage of the patient or of the profession. I hope that you who are completing the course to night will keep the in mind the idea which this medal symbolizes. I mean I hope 4 you will use your brains, and be open to conviction and be on the alert I hope you will aim constantly to discover something new in your profession which will be an improvement upon what has been done.before. Colored women have been interested in nursing for many years. More than thirty years ago a group of colored women established The Phyllis Wheatley Sanitarium a Sanitarium with a Training School for Nurses in New Orleans. The reasons which caused these colored women to choose this special field in which to operate are such as obtain in many places to day. From the city hospitals colored physicians were excluded altogether, not even being allowed to practice in the colored wards. And colored patients, no matter how wealthy or how ill they were were not received in the city hospitals at all, unless they were willing to go into the charity wards. The establishment of this sanitarium, therefore, answered a variety of purposes. It [furnished] provided a well equipped hospital [to which] for colored patients [might go] who did not wnat to go to the charity ward of the city hospital and it furnished an opportunity for colored physicians to get a practical knowledge of their profession. The surgical department was supplied with all the modern appliances. Many operations have been performed by the colored surgeon-in-chief, most of which have resulted successfully. During an epidemic of Yellow Fever in New Orleans, the colored nurses from this Phyllis Wheatley Training School rendered such efficient service that they have been employed by the best people of the city ever since. [and] In recognition of the valuable services rendered by these colored nurses the municipal government voted to make an annual appropriation of several hundred dollars to help defray the expenses of the training school which a few, forward-looking, public spirit colored women established. When Mrs. Roosevelt spoke to the nurses in Washington last month she made a statement with which we all agree. She said that more and more we expect nurses to showus how to live physically so we may be healthier and happier people. That is certainly true of the service which we expect [the] our nurses of [our] group to render their own group. Except in cases of serious illness it is 5 easier to touch the heart and impress the kind of an individual when he is ill than when he is well. If while he is confined to his bed, he has more time to reflect and is in a more receptive state of mind. A nurse who has the interests of her patients at heart can not only [influence] teach them to lead saner lives from a physical point of view, but she can throw her influence on the side of right living, correct conduct and high ideals. It is impossible to overestimate the power for good which a nurse who is willing to use it can wield. The nurse has high calling indeed. [*to keep a lump from rising in our throat when we speak about the nurse who has traveled with us through the valley of pain and helped [soothed] us bear up under the affliction which has laid us low*] It is difficult for some of us who have almost passed though the valley of the shadow of death to speak about care given us by the nurse who has snatched us I can understand perfectly why a poor workman who had [become] regained consciousness after an accident thought he beheld an angel when he saw a woman with sympathy in her face and a nurse's cap on her head standing at the foot of his hospital cot. Those of you who are completing your course to night may have the satisfaction of knowing that you have chosen a high calling indeed. No matter what difficulties confront you or what obstacles mayappear No matter what vocation in life one chooses there are always difficulties to meet and obstacles to over come. And, of course, your profession is no exception to a general rule. But you certainly can have the satisfaction of knowing that you have chosen a high calling indeed. You You are one of the grand divisions of an army which is steadily marching against disease and death. But you will not fight with guns or poison gas or the diabolical inventions which can snuff out the lives of human beings in the twinkling of an eye. The weapons with which you will fight are the knowledge and skill acquired in this training school plus sympathy, patience, endurance and dogged determination to render every service to suffering human beings which it is in your power to give. Everybody who loves his fellow man and who wishes to promote the welfare of the world is interested and will continue to be interested in your career 6 career. We all wish you God speed and the highest, fullest success. The sentiments which we and all other bright thinking people feel toward you has been beautifully expressed as following "Sail on, nor fear to breat the sea! Our hearts, our hopes are all with thee, Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee-are all with thee. [*X*] Some of us have a hard time to keep a lump from rising in our throats and keep our eyes dry when we think of a nurse who has gone with us down into the deep, dark valley of pain, who has supported and sustained us when we were too weak physically to help ourselves, and who has encouraged and soothed us when hope had fled and we were plunged into the very abyss of despair. God alone knows what a nurse has meant in the lives of some of us who have been snatched from the very jaws of death. No words however eloquent [of praise or gratitude] can pay a good nurse the tribute of praise and gratitude which she so richly deserves. I can understand perfectly why a poor workman who had become conscious after an accident thought he beheld an angel when he saw a woman with sympathy in her face and a nurse's cap on her head standing at the foot of his hospital cot [*Page 5*] Some of us have had a hard time to keep a lump from rising in our throats and keep our eyes dry when we think of a nurse who has gone with us down into the deep, dark valley of pain, who had supported and sustained us when we were too weak physically to help ourself, and who has encouraged and soothed us when we hope had fled and we were plunged into the very abyss of deeper. God alone knows what a nurse has meant in the lives of some of us who have been snatched from the very jaws of death. No works become eloquent can ray a good nurse the tribute of praise and gratitude which she richly deserves. I can understand perfectly ? truly a poor workman who had become evasiaul (?) after an accident thoughtful be beheld an awful husband be raw a woman urlle ? you really ? her face and a nurses cap on her head .... Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.