Gallant American Women 40-04-02 22 Women In Nursing

Summary

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Harold's Old Time Radio: Gallant American Women 40-04-02 – 22: Women In Nursing

Original Broadcast Date: April 2, 1940
Podcast Release Date: August 23, 2025
Host: Harolds Old Time Radio
Episode Focus: The Evolution and Impact of American Women in Nursing

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Gallant American Women" delivers a dramatised history of American women in nursing, spotlighting their pivotal role from colonial times through the Civil War and into the 20th century. The story is both inspirational and factual, celebrating the heroines who transformed nursing from informal care into a respected, professionalized field. The narrative honors both renowned figures—like Dorothea Dix, Harriet Tubman, Mother Bickerdike, and Jane Delano—and countless unnamed volunteers, while charting the profession’s progress from ad hoc care to organized public service.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Calling and Rigor of Nursing

• The episode opens in the setting of a nursing school. Through the experiences of Lucy Blake, a high school graduate eager to become a nurse, listeners learn about the requirements, training, and expectations for nurses in the early 20th century.

  • Nursing is more than tending to patients; it is a vocation requiring strength, empathy, and a robust education.
  • Training includes chemistry, bacteriology, anatomy, hygiene, and physiology. (03:49-04:54)
  • Quote:
    “Nursing isn’t just wearing a white uniform and taking temperatures… there’s nothing so good as a good nurse, and nothing so bad as a bad one.”
    —Dr. Putnam, [03:11]

2. Early Nursing in America

• Historically, women’s nursing care was typically informal or provided by nuns until public health crises and war demanded organized action.
• Civil War as a turning point: Epidemics and war sparked large-scale nursing activity. (06:21-06:34)

3. Civil War Era: The Founding Mothers of Professional Nursing

Dorothea Dix

• Improved prison and asylum conditions; led the organizing of female nurses in the Civil War.

• Defied stereotypes about women’s roles in war.

• Advocated for the importance of skilled nursing, citing Florence Nightingale’s achievements in the Crimean War. (07:41-10:24)

  • Quote:
    “The Crimean War was a place for Florence Nightingale. Queen Victoria says that she actually saved thousands of lives through nursing care.”
    —Dorothea Dix, [08:47]

• Secured official status: Became Superintendent of Women Nurses for the Union Army.

  • Quote:
    “I shall make you superintendent of women nurses. With full authority to select and assign women nurses to general or permanent military hospital.”
    —Surgeon General, [11:00]

Notable Nurse Volunteers

• Harriet Tubman: Former slave, renowned for the Underground Railroad, volunteered to nurse soldiers of all races.

  • Quote:
    “Feel that muscle. Why, it’s like a man’s… Reckon I could tote a Poor little sick soldier boy.”
    —Harriet Tubman, [12:01-12:21]

• Mother Bickerdike: Renowned for organizational skills and fierce advocacy for soldiers’ welfare.

  • Famous for overriding inefficient or neglectful officers to provide proper care. (13:48–17:16)

  • Memorable Exchange:

    • “Who gave order to feed these men?”
      —Surgeon, [16:46]
    • “I did. You miserable, drunken, heartless Kellogg.”
      —Mother Bickerdike, [16:49]

4. Post-War Reform and Professionalization

• Louisa Lee Schuyler and allies pushed for reform, recognizing the dire need for skilled, trained nursing staff.
  • Insisted on founding formal training schools in America, inspired by Florence Nightingale's model. (18:19–21:46)
  • Quote:
    “Doctor, we’ve learned that one way of improving hospitals is by improving the nursing personnel. If we could only have a training school here in America with a woman in charge…”
    —Louisa Lee Schuyler, [18:59]
• Early Hospitals' dire conditions:
  • Patients cared for by untrained workers; poor sanitation and lack of oversight.
  • Visits to hospital wards inspire resolve to train skilled women nurses.

5. Struggles and Triumphs in Building a Profession

• Training schools opened against resistance.

• Innovated with patient records, improved conditions, and demanded night shifts for nurses. (22:05–23:37)

  • Quote:
    “It’s all tommy rot anyhow, this idea of having a nurse on duty at night. We got along all right before with only a night watchman.”
    —Hospital administrator, [22:05]

• Advocated for shorter hours and better pay so nursing could be a serious and rewarding career.

  • “No nurse can give efficient service if she has to work 18 hours a day… We shall never secure the best type of student while nursing pays only $12 a month.”
    —Narration, [23:27]

• Noted pioneers:

  • Isabel Hampton Robb: Expanded nursing program duration and pushed for humane working conditions.
  • Adelaide Nutting: Brought nursing to the university level.
  • Annie Goodrich: Established Yale’s School of Nursing.

6. The World Wars and Onward

• Nurses were ready to serve in huge numbers during world crises, thanks to their training and professional organization.

  • Jane Delano: Organized the Red Cross nursing corps in WWI.
  • “Those boys have enough horror in the trenches. They need a little beauty and a cheering smile.”
    —Jane Delano, [26:09]

• Nurses also played critical civilian roles—public health, school nursing, home visits, disaster relief.

  • Lillian Wald: Founded the Henry Street Settlement for community nursing in New York.
    • “Today there are 265 Henry Street nurses of different races and creeds making their rounds in New York City.” [27:03]

7. The Modern Legacy

• By the 1940s, nursing was a respected, standardized profession, vital to both peace and wartime America.
• Inspirational Message to New Graduates:
  • “No devotion is too great, no task too menial for a good nurse. And remember: there is nothing so good as a good nurse.”
    —Narration, [28:33]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Moment | |-----------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:11 | Dr. Putnam | “There’s nothing so good as a good nurse, and nothing so bad as a bad one.” | | 08:47 | Dorothea Dix | “The Crimean War was a place for Florence Nightingale… she actually saved thousands of lives through nursing.” | | 11:00 | Surgeon General | “I shall make you superintendent of women nurses...” | | 12:21 | Harriet Tubman | “Feel that muscle. Why, it’s like a man’s. Reckon I could tote a poor little sick soldier boy…” | | 16:49 | Mother Bickerdike | “I did. You miserable, drunken, heartless Kellogg.” | | 22:05 | Hospital administrator | “It’s all tommy rot anyhow, this idea of having a nurse on duty at night...” | | 23:27 | Narration | “No nurse can give efficient service if she has to work 18 hours a day… must have higher wages…” | | 28:33 | Narration | “No devotion is too great, no task too menial, for a good nurse...” |

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Segment Timestamps

• Opening & Introduction: [00:39–01:53]
• Nursing School & Requirements: [01:53–04:54]
• Early American & Civil War Nursing: [06:21–13:29]
• Mother Bickerdike Story: [13:48–17:16]
• Post-War Reform – Schuyler & Bellevue: [18:19–21:46]
• Professionalization & School Challenges: [22:05–23:37]
• World Wars & Modern Nursing: [26:09–28:33]
• Graduation Ceremony & Closing Reflections: [27:14–29:06]

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Conclusion | Tone and Legacy

The episode is a spirited, reverent dramatization—rich with period language and pride—honoring women’s unflagging courage, tenacity, and empathy. It underscores how generations of women, despite resistance and hardship, built nursing into one of America’s most honorable and vital professions. The closing message charges new nurses to honor that legacy by upholding the standards and compassion of those who came before.

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(End of summary)

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Gallant American women.

[A]

This is the story of women who have helped to develop the American way of life. Daughters of destiny. Mothers of might. Co makers of history. Women whose names are written large upon the honor rolls of our nation's grave.

[C]

Women courageous, who have served and sacrificed, worked and dreamed, pioneered and persevered. Women whose names, deeds and claims to fame have often been forgotten.

[B]

This is their story. And it is your story. Three centuries of women whose deeds are rooted deep in our past and whose influence will reach far into the future. It's the story of you, the pioneer woman of today, who are blazing the trails of tomorrow. The United States Office of Education and the National Broadcasting Company take pride in presenting the 22nd chapter in this epic tale of women in the making of America.

[A]

Today we bring you the story of 250,000 women in white Women in Nursing. School of Nursing. Yes, I'll connect you. Pardon me. Can you direct me to the superintendent of nurses? Into the hall and turn to your right. Thank you. School of nursing. No, Ms. Brown is off duty. You're welcome, Dr. Putnam. Dr. Mary Putnam. Calling Dr. Putnam. Calling Dr. PutNam. Good morning. Can I help you? Yes, I. I want to learn to become a nurse. I see. And what is your name? You see, Blake, I'm a graduate of Central High School. I was third highest in my class. Well, that should certainly recommend you. Some schools of nursing require college work. But we think a high school diploma is sufficient if the student meets all our other requirements. Oh, I hope I do. I hope so, too. Tell me, Ms. Blake, what makes you so sure you want to enter the nursing profession? Why? I like people. I like to be with them and help them, try to understand them. Sympathy and understanding, yes, those are requisites. And you look like a good, strong girl. That's important, too. You know, nursing isn't just wearing a white uniform and taking temperatures. I know, I know. I must carry trays and lift patients and bathe them and make beds. But I don't care What I have to do, I. I just want to be a nurse. Well, if you are, I hope you'll be a good nurse. In our profession, Miss Blake, we have a saying that there's nothing so good as a good nurse and nothing so bad as a bad one. I'll do my very best. I'm sure you will. This year there are 25,000 young people like you, most of them girls, entering the 1400 Schools of Nursing in this country. Some of them will never become nurses. Here in this school, before we finally admit students to our three year course, we put them through a test period. A test period? Yes. Your first four months will be spent in the classroom, in intensive study. After that, you will be gradually introduced to caring for the sick in the wards. One month of such experience will help you decide whether or not you really want to learn to become a nurse. But I know now. And it will help us to decide whether or not you're fitted for the profession. Oh, I see. I. I hope we shall both agree upon the answer, Miss Blake. If we do, you will receive the official badge of acceptance. Your student nurse's cap. You must study chemistry, Ms. Blake. 30 hours of bacteriology, anatomy, hygiene, physiology.

[C]

Miss Blake, will you describe the symptoms of pneumonia? Miss Blake, will you practice injecting serum into this rubber ball?

[A]

It's against the ethics of the nursing profession, Miss Blake, for a nurse to contradict a doctor.

[C]

Miss Blake, why didn't you give this patient a sedative?

[A]

You see, it's the doctor's job to diagnose and prescribe, and the nurse's job to care for the patient. You kept this case record, Ms. Blake. Very well done. You see, Ms. Blake, in choosing our students, we must consider whether they're the sort of persons we would want to entrust with our care, our lives. And we have chosen you, Lucy Blake, as one of them. Oh, thank you. You. I give this white cat cap badge of a student nurse. May you continue to learn the skill and science of your profession and someday become one of the women in nursing. Women in nursing. A profession that requires years of study and patient skills. A profession second only to teaching in the number of women it employees. Nursing. A profession created largely by women themselves, now standardized to conform to the best medical practices.

[C]

In early America, as in every other age and country, all women did what they could to nurse the sick whenever their services were needed. But except for the nuns of many religious orders, their nursing was usually confined to their families and neighbors.

[A]

In the early years of the United States, when plagues of cholera and yellow fever swept the growing cities and a dreaded death stop. From town to town, women banded together to stop its march. But their work was never organized on a large scale. Until a greater disaster than any other suddenly threatened the life of the nation. It is a day in April, 1861. In the hospital at Trenton, New Jersey, a frail little woman is resting after a trip to England. Her name is Dorothea Dick, famous as the woman who improved prison conditions in America and established separate institutions for the insane. She has just returned from an inspection of English prisons and hospitals at the request of Queen Victoria. Now she is resting. Well, I. I must say it feels rather good to lie down for a bit, Doctor. Today I. I almost peeled my 60 years.

[C]

You've overtaxed yourself, Ms. Dix. I. I might as well be frank with you. Unless you stay right here in bed for a while, you may find yourself in bed permanently.

[A]

Tuberculosis?

[C]

Yes, I'm afraid there's danger of it.

[A]

I rather suspected so. Guess I'm not as pry as I was 20 years ago. Why, back then, between 1842 and 45, I traveled 10,000 miles through these United States. Visited 300 jails, 500 almes and hospitals.

[C]

Forded rivers, braved rainstorms.

[A]

Doctor, what's all that noise outside? Can you see?

[C]

I say, there's quite a crowd in the street here. I'll open the window. Say, mister, what's the matter down there?

[A]

It's war. War? Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers. 75,000 volunteers?

[C]

So it's come at last.

[A]

Who do you suppose will take care of the wounded among the 75,000 after they've been fired upon?

[C]

Who? Why, the Medical corps, of course. I, for one.

[A]

But you'll need women to help you as nurses.

[C]

We'll use men for nurses if we need them. War is no place for a woman.

[A]

The Crimean War was a place for Florence Nightingale. Queen Victoria says that she actually saved thousands of lives through nursing care.

[C]

Oh, she undoubtedly did a great deal of good. But nursing is not that important.

[A]

Oh, it isn't? Do you realize, doctor, that before she came, 50% of the wounded in hospitals were dying of neglect of disease and infection.

[C]

All right, all right, Ms. Dix. Nursing is important. I'd agree to anything to avoid taxing you with an argument. Remember, I prescribed rest.

[A]

A young woman like me?

[C]

Yes, young woman. And I'll expect you to obey the other doctors while I'm gone. I'll leave instructions and before I go to offer my services to the surgeon general.

[A]

You needn't bother to leave instructions, Doctor. You can give them to me on the way.

[C]

I can what? Dorothea Dix, just exactly what are you cooking up?

[A]

Oh, a little trip, Doctor. I think it would be good for my health to have a change. You see, I, too, must pay a call on the Surgeon general.

[C]

You'll be paying a call on St. Peter if you don't watch out.

[A]

Well, when I do, St. Peter Peter won't be able to say I was a worthless old woman who sat with her hands folded while her countrymen lay bleeding. But seriously, Ms. Dick, you said yourself that I shouldn't be drawn into an argument. You said you'd agree to anything to avoid it. And so, Mr. Surgeon General, I. I've come to volunteer. If you will let me organize a nursing corps.

[C]

Oh, my dear Miss Dix. Even if you do find women who are willing and able to help with nursing, most of our nurses must still be men. They'd never take orders from a woman.

[A]

Well, then just let me organize the women nurses.

[C]

But even that would be very irregular to appoint a woman to such a responsible position, Especially in time of war.

[A]

Well, perhaps you. You're right. Perhaps you should appoint a man to choose the nurses. Well, in that case, I might as well go right back to rest. He'd never choose me with my wrinkles and white hair.

[C]

I see your point. All right, Miss Dix. I shall make you superintendent of women nurses. With full authority to select and assign women nurses to general or permanent military hospital.

[A]

No, I'm sorry, miss. You're too young to serve as a nurse, and much too pretty. We need strong women, not so lavishly endowed with personal attractions. Next, please. I'm Sister Anthony, head of St. John's Hospital in Cincinnati. Oh, a woman who really knows nursing. Good. We shall need women like you to train the others, if you will wait, please. Next. My name's Harriet Tubman. Not the Harriet Tubman. The one they call the conductor of the Underground Railroad. Yeah. Some I specs, that's me. Well, sometimes they calls me the Moses of my people. Cause I done led bout 300 slaves out of bondage to the promised land. Now I wants to help nurse our soldiers. The white as well as the colored. Well, Miss Tubman, I. I appreciate your spirit, but you're so small. Are you sure you're strong enough for this work? Miss Dick, feel that muscle. Why, it's like a man's. That from when I was a child, working as a field hand, planting and plowing and toting heavy sacks of cotton. Reckon I could tote a Poor little sick soldier boy. Don't you, ma'? Am? Yes, Ms. Tubman, I think you could. Will you wait with Sister Anthony, please? Next. I'm known as Mother Bickerdike. I'm old enough, homely enough, strong enough and a widow. I've come to work and I intend to see that those boys are cared for. Gallant American women, hundreds of them, volunteering as nurses. Women of all kinds and creeds working together for a common cause. North and south, that cause was the same. The life of the soldiers. As men rallied to face death, women rose to defeat that death with every weapon at their command.

[C]

Women of the south tearing their tablecloth into bandages, making substitute medicines or braving the Union lines to smuggle in Northern medicines and hiding the packets in their quilted petticoats.

[A]

Women of the north trading their medicines for Southern food supplies. Holding fairs to raise money for the army's sanitary commission. Confederate and Union, their work bred great leaders. In the south, there was Captain Sally Tompkins, who secured a military commission so that she might conduct her own hospital. In the north, there was Mother Bickerdike.

[C]

Mother Bickerdike, beloved by the lowly soldiers whom she nursed through 19 battles feared by any inefficient officers.

[A]

The tale is told of one morning in a Memphis hospital when Mother Biteite found her boys unsaid. What's the matter here? Why haven't these soldiers had their breakfast?

[C]

Why? Why? The surgeon for this ward hasn't come in yet, ma'.

[A]

Am.

[C]

We can't feed them until he gives the order for their special diet.

[A]

No. Well, I'll give the orders then. You scamper out and fetch some soup.

[C]

Yes, ma'.

[A]

Am. And you there.

[C]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[A]

You can help me pour this coffee.

[C]

Surgeon say?

[A]

Who cares what he says?

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[A]

Fine way he attends to beauty. Here, give this cup of coffee to that boy with the bandaged head.

[C]

What's going on here? Who gave order to feed these men?

[A]

I did. You miserable, drunken, heartless Kellogg.

[C]

Mrs. Bickerdike, I've told you before that all control and direction here belongs to the medical officer in charge.

[A]

So you can sleep, eh? And leave these fainting, suffering men go till noon without food or attention. What do you mean by such conduct, sir? Your shoulder straps should be taken from me.

[C]

Why you are.

[A]

I shall demand your dismissal, sir. I shall report you for criminal neglect of duty.

[C]

You do, and I'll go directly to General Sharma.

[A]

Go where you like. I'll do all I can to have those shoulder straps off you in three days.

[C]

And that's what she said, sir. General Sherman, that woman must be dismissed. She assumed entirely too much authority. What woman is it, Doctor? Why, that spiteful old hag Bickerdike. Oh, mother Bickerdike. Well, she's beyond me. She has more power than I. You'll. You'll have to go to President Lincoln about it.

[A]

Six million men had been nursed in Union Hospital during the war. Of those, 219,000 had died of wounds and disease. The women who nursed them had learned two important things. First, that America needed better hospitals, better nursing, trained people who could take responsibility and give skilled care. Secondly, the women had learned that they must do it.

[C]

The smoke of battle had barely cleared away before one of these women, Louisa Lee Schuyler, was sitting in an office at Bellevue Hospital talking with one of.

[A]

The doctors, Dr. Wylie. Some of us women who are active in the Sanitary commission have now organized a charity's aid association for the state of New York. We intend to visit the various charitable institutions such as this hospital with the hope of helping and improving them.

[C]

Well, do our other doctors know about this?

[A]

Not yet. I've come to you because I know you feel that the conditions here could be improved.

[C]

Well, I used to think so, Ms. Schuyler, but there's so much graft involved.

[A]

Doctor, we've learned that one way of improving hospitals is by improving the nursing personnel. If we could only have a training school here in America with a woman in charge of the nurses, as Ms. Nightingale recommends.

[C]

Ms. Schuyler, if there's any way in which I can aid such a project, I'll be glad to do it.

[A]

There is a way, doctor. You can persuade the other men on the medical board to let us use Bellevue Hospital as our training school.

[C]

Bellevue? You mean let young, inexperienced women come in here to nurse our patients?

[A]

Well, I thought perhaps since it's a charity hospital. Oh, you mean you think they might endanger the patient's lives?

[C]

Endanger the patients? Ms. Schuyler, have you ever seen our patients?

[A]

No.

[C]

Come with me. We'll visit the women's surgical ward. Of course, the situation would be even worse in the men's wards.

[A]

Well, if it's. If it's the character of our students you're worried about, Doctor, I assure you we choose only the finest type.

[C]

Wait till you see here through this door. Follow me and look, but don't speak too loud. Look at the unmade beds, the filthy clothing.

[A]

It looks as if it hadn't been washed for weeks.

[C]

It hasn't only boiled, there's no soap in the laundry.

[A]

But all this dirt on the floor, I should think they'd be wrecked.

[C]

There are. At night, they eat the crumbs that fall from that table in the center of the room. See where the nurse is dumping out her bag of food? Feeding time. You see, the convalescents Help themselves and then serve those that are in bed, if there's anything left.

[A]

Oh, it's incredible.

[C]

And there's the bathroom where the nurse sleeps, of course, the only tub is filled with rubbish.

[A]

And that. That nurse, as you call her, she's entrusted with the care of all these women?

[C]

Oh, she has a couple of assistants. See that old woman with her straggly hair? She was loaned to us by the prison workhouse.

[A]

A convict serving as a nurse.

[C]

Oh, she's not dangerous, just charged with drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

[A]

Dr. Wylie, seen enough?

[C]

Let's go out.

[A]

I didn't dream that such conditions existed.

[C]

Now you think you want to bring your young women into this place?

[A]

Now I'm sure of it.

[C]

I'd hope you'd say that. God knows we need you here. Of course, you meet with opposition from some of the doctors.

[A]

Opposition or no, I'll never be able to rest again until this place is cleaned up.

[C]

Good. I'll help you all I can, Ms. Schuyler, but you must be very careful not to be seen with me. It might cost me my position here if anyone knew I had a hand in it.

[A]

Of course, Dr. Wylie. We shall be most discreet until we have our training school. It opened in May 1873, that first American training school founded on the Nightingale system. The first and most important step toward making nursing a profession. And every step of the way, the women had to struggle against opposition.

[C]

No, of course you can't have the gas turned on full at night. If you want to see the patients faces, you'll have to use candles. Two candles a week. If you need any more, you'll have to buy them yourself. It's all tommy rot anyhow. This idea of having a nurse on duty at night. We got along all right before with only a night watchman. He always reported it if he saw anybody in his rounds who looked like he was very sick or dying. Of course, he missed one now and then. But what if he did? This is a charity hospital.

[A]

We must have a nurse on duty at night. We must have light to work by. We must have decent food for our patients. We must have clean sheep. We must have up to date equipment. So they built a profession, those women, in nursing, and built better hospitals along with it.

[C]

Nurse Richards, these notes you took last night showing the changes in condition of that pneumonia patient. Did you intend them for me?

[A]

Why, no, Dr. Wylie. I made them for one of the student nurses who has to write a case history of that patient. I hope you don't mind.

[C]

Mind? I think it's a wonderful idea. After this, we shall keep a record of every patient. It will be an invaluable aid to the doctors.

[A]

We must have more training schools, better teachers. We must have better working hours. No nurse can give efficient service if she has to work 18 hours a day. We must have higher wages so that women can make a career of nursing. We shall never secure the best type of student while nursing pays only $12 a month. So they built a profession, those pioneer women in nursing. Isabel Hampton Robb, superintendent of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, extending the course of instruction from one or two years by working toward a three year course and an eight hour day. And Adelaide Nutting, organizing a department of nursing under the auspices of Columbia University, providing a postgraduate course on the college level. And Annie Goodrich helping to establish a school of nursing at Yale University and serving as its dean. So they built. In the 50 years, from the War between the States to the World War, women had actually created a profession from what had been an untrained voluntary service. Now, when America again needed an army nursing corps, they stood ready, skilled, efficient, thousands strong. Miss Jones, registered nurse, volunteering for service. Ms. Goldstein, registered nurse. Ms. Johnson. Ms. O', Leary, volunteering for service. So they came, those American nurses, descendants of immigrants from almost every nation in the world, banding together to preserve the lives of American soldiers. And this time, in place of Dorothea Dick, another woman selected them. Another woman, nearly 60 years old. Jane Delano, organizer and director of the Red Cross nursing service. Yes, Ms. O', Leary, you look strong enough to serve at the front with Major Julia Stimson. And I know you're skilled if you're a registered nurse. And I'm glad you're young and pretty. Those boys have enough horror in the trenches. They need a little beauty and a cheering smile. Good luck to you, Ms. O'. Leary. I hope you'll be back with us at the close of the war. A Red Cross nurse in peacetime service. Next, please. Women in nursing, feeding and clothing the victims of floods, bandit after disastrous fire. Women braving storms, fording streams, riding through deep drifts of snow to reach a sick patient in a lonely mountain cabin. And down in the city slum where the snow is gray before it even touches the crowded streets, a young woman with a little black bag goes trudging through the slush. Miss Rogers. Oh, Miss Rogers. Oh, hello, Mary. How's your baby brother? Oh, he's just swelling, Miss Rogers. Ma says he would have died if you hadn't come to take care of him. Well, I'm Glad he's all right. I'll have to drop in and see you, Mother. Oh, Miss Rogers, I went to that dental clinic you sent me to. Oh, that's fine, Mary. Well, I've got to be getting along. Got four more supps to make the visiting nurse a disciple of Lillian Walsh, who opened her house on Henry street in 1893 and started her pilgrimage to the stricken poor on New York's Lower east side. Today there are 265 Henry Street. Nurses of different races and creeds making their rounds in New York City.

[C]

Part of a gallant army of women skilled in a profession of their own making, working together in homes and schools and hospices for a common cause.

[A]

This year, 20,000 student nurses will graduate to join that army. 20,000 new recruits. Ms. Betty Brown, graduate nurse. Miss Rosa Pinelli. Miss Lucy Blake. Yes. You girls are now graduate nurses. When you've passed the state board examinations, you will be recognized as graduate registered nurses. From there on, the field is unlimited. Hundreds of you will go into hospitals. Others into public health, nursing and private homes. Some of you will become teachers. But wherever you go, whatever you do, remember that yours is a position of trust. Whether you stand guard through the night counting the heartbeats of a sleeping child, or whether you bathe and dress that child while his mother lies ill. Do your job well. No devotion is too great, no task too menial for a good nurse. And remember, there is nothing so good as a good nurse. Women in nursing. Ladies with a lamp. Passing the knowledge of nursing from one generation to the next, creating a great modern profession from a hereditary service, developing better hospital care, better health and better living for America.

[B]

You have heard the 22nd chapter in the panorama of gallant American Women. Today's program was devoted to women in nursing. Next week we bring you the story of taverns and tea rooms and the week following. Women in Science. In presenting these educational radio programs, the United States Office of Education endeavors to treat all problems and subject matter in a strictly nonpartisan spirit. Gallant American Women, an NBC public service feature, is a series of dramatizations prepared and presented by the United States Office of Education, Federal Security Agency and the National Broadcasting Company, with the assistance of the Work Projects Administration. Script by Jean Ashman. Special research assistance by the Nursing Information Bureau of the American Nurses Association Program, supervised by Eva hansel, historical consultant Mrs. Mary R. Beard of the World center for women's Archives and Dr. Eugenie Leonard. Original music by Rudolph Schramm.

[C]

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