Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

NURSES UNIFORM

Materials

COTTON

No. Pieces

2

Length

52.5

Width

9.5

Description

2 WHITE HEAVILY STARCHED COTTON COLLARS, ONE MARKED "SMH-M-63" IN INK, "29" IN BLUE INK, AND "MARION FLETT" TYPED ON A TAG. OTHER COLLAR IS MARKED "S.M.H." "29", "M.", "62", AND "VEHNA CUNTHER" ON A TAG, BUT HAS BEEN CROSSED OUT WITH A PEN. ITEMS ARE PRESSED AND IN GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

CLOTHING-ACCESSORY

Historical Association

HEALTH SERVICES

History

FROM DONORS UNIFORM FROM ST. MICHAEL'S SCHOOL OF NURSING. DONORS MAIDEN NAME WAS FLETT. FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE P19970075001-GA. *UPDATE* IN 2016 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING A NURSE’S UNIFORM DONATED BY MARION WRIGHT. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION COMES FROM AN INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY RUTHANN LABLANCE WITH THE DONOR, MARION WRIGHT (NEE FLETT), AND HER CLASSMATES MARLENE SIMPSON (NEE BACHMEIER) AND MARY ANN PRASKACH (NEE SERA). THE THREE WOMEN STUDIED TOGETHER AT ST. MICHAEL’S NURSING SCHOOL AND GRADUATED IN 1966. THE WOMEN RECALLED THAT THE COLLAR WAS VERY STIFF AND COARSE AGAINST THEIR NECKS. MARION SAID: “AND THE STARCH COLLARS WERE SO ROUGH OUR NECKS WOULD GET RAW. AND THEN WE WERE TAUGHT TO USE SOAP. DID WE RUB THE COLLARS WITH SOAP OR OUR NECKS WITH SOAP?” MARY ANN ADDED: “AND THEN WE JUST HAD A BROWN RING AROUND OUR NECK FROM BEING CHAFED ALL THE TIME FROM THAT STARCHY COLLAR.” ASKED ABOUT THE OTHER NAMES WRITTEN IN HER UNIFORM, MARION REPLIED: “OH, IT WAS PROBABLY REUSED … THEY WOULD NEVER WASTE A THING, AT ST. MIKES WE WERE TAUGHT TO CONSERVE … NOTHING WAS THROWN OUT THAT COULD BE REUSED, WHETHER IT WAS ON THE NURSING UNIT OR AS FAR AS OUR UNIFORMS WERE CONCERNED. I REMEMBER ONE INCIDENT: I WORKED IN THE OPERATING ROOM AT ST. MIKES AND I BRIEFLY WORKED THE “OR” AT THE FOOTHILLS HOSPITAL AND I COULDN’T GET OVER [IT], I KEPT RUNNING TO THE GARBAGE AND PULLING OUT WHAT THEY WERE THROWING AWAY BECAUSE IT WAS STILL GOOD. AND WE WOULD NEVER CONSIDER THROWING AWAY THINGS THAT COULD BE RE-STERILIZED AND REUSED.” MARY ANN ADDED: “OUR UNIFORMS WERE WASHED FOR US. … SO WHEN WE GOT OUR UNIFORMS, SOMETIMES WE GOT THE WRONG HAT AND STUFF.” THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WAS COMPILED USING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AND “OUT OF THE BLUE: SCIENCE, SERVICE, SANCTITY: ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOL OF NURSING YEARBOOK 1966”. MARION WRIGHT (NEE FLETT) GRADUATED FROM THE ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOL OF NURSING IN 1966. SHE MARRIED DR. GERALD A. WRIGHT AND AT THE TIME OF HIS PASSING IN 2007, THEY HAD BEEN MARRIED FOR 25 YEARS. GERALD WAS BORN ON MAY 7, 1917 IN SOUTH WALES. HE IMMIGRATED TO LETHBRIDGE IN 1951. HE WAS PREDECEASED BY HIS FIRST WIFE, ISOBEL WRIGHT. GERALD PASSED AWAY ON MARCH 31, 2007. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR A TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW AND FOR HARD COPIES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AND “OUT OF THE BLUE:SCIENCE, SERVICE, SANCTITY: ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOL OF NURSING YEARBOOK 1966”.

Catalogue Number

P19970075003

Acquisition Date

1997-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail