Guide to the St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing student attendance books

St. Mark's Hospital opened in 1872 under the direction of the Episcopal Church in a two room adobe house on 500 East and 300 South in Salt Lake City. Two years later it admitted its first patients. The 1879 expansion saw the purchase of land and the erection of a new building with room for fifteen beds to better treat the infirm miner lead poisoning, industrial injuries, and typhoid fever.

St. Marks Hospital School of Nursing: On March 24, 1893, the St. Mark's Hospital Board of Directors authorized the establishment of a training school for nurses in connection with the hospital. In 1894, a new 50-bed St. Mark's hospital opened with a nurses training program at 200 North 700 West. Twenty-three year old, Miss Mary Edith Newitt, a recent graduate of New York City's St. Luke's Training School, served as the head nurse. The first class of four nurses graduated from the two year program in 1896. While St. Mark's Nursing School began as a two-year program, a third year was added in 1898. Between 1892 and 1898, the hospital more than doubled its capacity when it added a new wing to house the surgical, medical, and women's wards.

The nursing students were initially housed in a cottage owned by the hospital on Reed Street, later they lived in the basement of the new wing, and finally they moved into a new three-story residence constructed in 1906. The Nurses Home was opened on May 8, 1907, as a memorial to Episcopal Bishop Abel Leonard. Its first floor apartments housed the head nurse, the assistant head nurse, and the night nurse plus a living room, while the second and third floors housed the nursing students.

The school's curriculum evolved as state and national standards and trends changed. Initially, the program required extensive clinical training and little classroom work. New students were assigned to the hospital a day after their arrival. Student nurses, known as probationers, spent their first year assisting in general cleaning, food preparation, and other tasks as well as nursing. Each nurse was assigned to a particular ward on regular rotations. Between 1896 and 1920, more than 200 nurses graduated from St. Mark's. Students worked twelve hours per day and attended classes in the evening. Students were provided board and lodging, reasonable laundry and a monthly allowance of $5 for the purchase of uniforms and textbooks and to meet other expenses. In 1927, requirements were tightened requiring high school diplomas for students to be admitted into the program. From 1914 to 1966, clinical work requirements fell from seventy-six hours per week to twenty-eight hours while total classroom hours increased from 208 to 1,543.

Between 1935 and 1950, the need for nurses increased dramatically as the number of patients in U.S. hospitals doubled while the number of stateside nurses declined as more nurses joined military service during World War II. The U.S. Congress responded by creating the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps as an incentive to increase the number of students in the program by providing financial aid to nursing students. Additionally, St. Mark's Nursing School created its own incentive by making it possible for students to gain university credit at the school. Students could graduate with a Bachelor of Sciences by taking courses in conjunction with the University of Utah. However, this program ended in 1948 when the University tried to gain control of St. Mark's Nursing Program. St. Mark's declined the University's offer and instead became academically affiliated with Westminster College that same year.

The diversity of the school's student body broadened with the addition of the first graduating African American student (Nancy Bankhead) in 1955, and the first graduating male student (Kenneth Ross Church) in 1963. The 1960s saw a national decline in the supply of highly skilled nurses.

On August 15, 1968, the Board of Directors of St. Mark's Hospital voted to terminate the Diploma Program of the St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing as of June 1970. In an effort to build support for the program, Westminster College and St. Mark's Nursing School commenced a baccalaureate-nursing program together, completing the transition in 1970, in time for the first Westminster students to graduate from the program in 1972.

Dr. Galen O. Belden (secretary of the medical staff at St. Mark's Hospital) established a memorial scholarship in 1991 shortly after his wife's death. The Irene Bunch Belden Memorial Nursing Scholarship is awarded to nursing students at Westminster College who have completed their freshman year and demonstrate financial need. In the 2009-2010 year, 12 student nurses were each awarded $3,100.

More information on the current Westminster College School of Nursing and Health Sciences is available online.

Sources of information for this biographical/historical note:

• Felkner, Lottie. A century of caring : 1895-1995, St. Mark's-Westminster School of Nursing (Salt Lake City, Utah : Westminster College of Salt Lake City, 1995), p. 1.
• Felkner, Lottie and Mildren Larsen. St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing story (Salt Lake City, Utah : St. Mark's Hospital Nurses' Alumni Association, 1970).
• Sillito, John "A conflict and contributions : women in churches, 1847-1920", in Women in Utah history : paradigm or paradox, edited by Patricia Lyn Scott and Linda Thatcher. (Logan : Utah State University Press, 2005), p. 110-111.
• Westminster College website, viewed November 20, 2014.
• Willes, Laura G. "St. Mark's Nospital : excerpts from St. Mark's Hospital Nursing School, a history (hospital)", in St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing administrative records, 1913-1969, ACC-066A, Giovale Library Archives, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah.)
• Willes, Laura G. "Untitled speech given to the Meeting of the Utah State Nurses Association, April 30, 1927", in St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing administrative records, 1913-1969, ACC-066A, Giovale Library Archives, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah)

This collection consists of St. Mark's Hospital (Salt Lake City, Utah) School of Nursing student attendance books dating 1894-1970 (bulk 1894-1939).

This series contains six books and one folder recording student nurses' attendance and grades at St. Mark's Hospital Nursing School. The six volumes within the series contain similar formats in organizing students' names, classes, and grades. Each volume is labeled with the years covered.

The first volume (1894-1917) covers students from the graduating classes of 1896 through 1917. Students graduating in 1896 and 1897 completed only two years of coursework in order to graduate. It is for this reason that students are listed under each year according to their classes, as "first year" or "second year" student. Nurses in training were thereafter required to complete three years of training, as evident in the book. Each page contains the list of students down the left margin, with grids to the right of the names spanning across the two open pages for marking attendance and grades. On the right margin of the right page, there are listed average grades for the students in their coursework. The class of 1917 has a modified format, wherein the students' names are listed in accordance to their classes under the following three headings: junior, intermediate, and senior.

The second volume (1899-1904) is a similar book to the previous volume. The format is similar to the previous volume, except in place of grades there are notations for attendance for students' classes. At the bottom of some pages (for example, page 15) there are listed the names of students on probation for poor attendance or performance. With no evident order, entire pages appear to be devoted to a single student. These pages are headed by the student's name and class. The body of the pages are comprised of dates attended and areas worked by the students. This continues without organization until the end of the volume.

The third volume (1922-1927) is comprised of much of the same type of information as the previous volumes--classes, grades, and attendance--but arranged in a different format. Each page lists classes individually, under which are tables listing the names of students taking the course on the left, and their individual daily grades along the rows. This volume marks the first occasion where the course titles are listed, including such curriculum as "Dietetics," "Bacteriology," "Pediatrics," "Gynecology." and "Materia Medica." Each year's course concludes with the students' scores on the State Board Review. The Class of 1927 marks the introduction of a new element to the grading system: that of "Note Books," "Charts," and "Practiced Work." This grade continues for each class thereafter.

The fourth volume (1925-1929) contains similar content and formatting to the third volume. The three classes included in this volume (1928, 1929, 1930) are organized as those in previous volumes.

The fifth volume (1929-1933) is similar to previous volumes, differing only in that the book has tabs on the pages for the four years contained within (i.e., Classes of 1931, 1932, 1933, and 1934). The content is in the same layout as previous volumes. This volume shows evidence of the practice of splitting up the courses among nursing students. A portion of students would take certain courses, while other students would take different courses.

The sixth volume (1932-1938) contains records of the classes of 1935-1939. The contents of this volume are much narrower than previous ones, detailing for the months that the students took the courses. There are some tabs on the pages indicating classes or months, but these are an incomplete representation of the contents of the volume.

The collection also contains the typewritten records of grades and attendance from 1967-1969. Classes listed on these documents are abbreviated variations on "Nursing xx" (e.g., Nsg III, or Nsg IV). The content of each page are similar to those found in previous volumes, containing tables of attendance and grades filled in by hand.

Gaps in the series: There are no records for the years 1940-1967. The St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing time books, 1902-1968 (ACC-061) provide coverage for that period.

Restrictions on Access:

Open to public research.

Access is restricted to Box 2, Folder 2 (materials dating 1967-1970) until the year 2045 (i.e. for 75 years after creation) in accordance with the provisions of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) except to subjects of the record and to parties without written permission or other authorization outlined in FERPA (34 CFR § 99.31).

Twenty-four hours advance notice is encouraged.

Restrictions on Use:

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material must be obtained from the director of the Giovale Library.

Preferred Citation:

St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing student attendance books, 1894-1970 (bulk 1894-1939), ACC-062, Giovale Library Archives, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Arrangement:

Volumes and unbound materials are arranged chronologically.

Processing Note:

Processed by Andrew Waterhouse in May 2006. The typed records were removed from a metal clipped folder with a plastic cover and placed in three new folders. The first folder contains records of the class of 1968 (June 1967-June 1968). The second contains records of the class of 1969 (September 1967-May 1969). The third folder contains records of the class of 1970 (January 1968–June 1970). One undated page is filed in the last folder.

Creator:

St. Mark's Hospital (Salt Lake City, Utah). School of Nursing

Language:

Collection materials are in English.

Quantity:

0.5 linear feet

Language of the Finding Aid:

English.

Author of the Finding Aid:

Finding aid written May 2006 by Andrew Waterhouse; revised and expanded December 2014 by Sarah Shaw.

EAD Creation Date:

2014 December 16 by Sarah Shaw

Standard:

Describing Archives : A Content Standard (DACS)

Subarea:

Related Material:

Related collections and photographs in Giovale Library Archives:

• St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing unit coordinators meeting minutes, 1939-1969) (ACC-060)
• St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing student time books, 1896-1968 (ACC-061)
• St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing student applicants and agreements book, 1894-1906 (ACC-064)
• St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing administrative records, 1913-1969 (ACC-066A)
• St. Mark's-Westminster College School of Nursing administrative records, 1973-1995 (ACC-067A)
• St. Mark's-Westminster College School of Nursing faculty records, 1974-1980 (ACC-148)
• Photograph of The Nurse
• Photograph of Entrance Stairway pose of nurses, ca. 1899?
• Photograph of Nurses graduating from St. Mark's Hospital
• Photograph of Fanny D. Lees Bulkley, 1907-1913 (head nurse, St. Mark's Hospital School of Nursing)
• Photograph of Nurse graduating Class of 1946
• Photograph of Nurse's training display, 1952
• Photograph of Nurse cradling newborn, 1952
• Photograph of Nurse Cathedral pinning ceremony June 3, 1965

Corporate Names:

St. Mark's Hospital (Salt Lake City, Utah). School of Nursing--Archives

Subject Terms:

Nursing--Study and teaching--History--Sources
Nursing students--Time management
Nursing students--Utah--Salt Lake City--History--Sources
Nursing schools--Utah--Salt Lake City--History--Sources
School attendance--Utah--Salt Lake City--History--Sources

Form or Genre Terms:

Administrative records
Attendance lists
Attendance records

Geographical Names:

Salt Lake City (Utah)--History--Sources