Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

NURSE'S UNIFORM

Date Range From

1960

Date Range To

1970

Materials

COTTON

No. Pieces

1

Length

109.5

Width

85.5

Description

BLUE COTTON DRESS WITH SEAM AT WAIST. FRONT BUTTON CLOSURE; FOUR WHITE PLASTIC BUTTONS ON BODICE. MISSING 5 BUTTONS ON SKIRT. SHORT SLEEVES, TRIMMED WITH WHITE CUFFS. POCKET ON RIGHT FRONT OF SKIRT; REPAIRED TWICE WITH WHITE THREAD. TAG INSIDE COLLAR WITH "36"; ALSO LABEL TYPEWRITTEN "MARION FLETT".

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

HEALTH SERVICES

History

BELONGED TO DONOR, WHO ATTENDED ST. MICHAEL'S SCHOOL OF NURSING UNDER HER MAIDEN NAME OF FLETT. FOR MORE HISTORY 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. THIS BLUE DRESS WAS NOT ONLY WORN AT BANDING CEREMONIES, BUT WAS ALSO WORN BY THE NURSES DURING THEIR TRAINING. THE DRESS WOULD BE WORN UNDER THEIR BIBS AND APRONS. ASKED TO EXPLAIN WHAT A BANDING CEREMONY WAS MARION EXPLAINED THAT EACH YEAR OF THE TRAINING PROGRAM HAD ITS OWN COLOUR OF BAND ON THE NURSE’S CAP. EACH COLOUR SIGNIFIED A SPECIFIC YEAR, AND IN SOME CASES, A SPECIFIC SCHOOL. THE FINAL BAND, RECEIVED AT GRADUATION, WAS BLACK, THE UNIVERSAL COLOUR FOR A REGISTERED NURSE. MARION EXPLAINED THAT AT GRADUATION THEY WORE WHITE DRESSES, INSTEAD OF THIS BLUE DRESS: “WHITE WHEN WE GRADUATED. IT WAS A ONE-PIECE … STARCHED WHITE UNIFORM, A VERY LONG SLEEVED. IT WASN’T A PRACTICAL UNIFORM AS FAR AS WHAT WE WOULD NURSE IN.” THE THREE WOMEN ALSO RECALLED THAT THEY HAD A CLASS UNIFORM, WHICH CONSISTED OF A NAVY BLUE WOOL BLAZER, A WHITE BLOUSE, AND A PLEATED GREY SKIRT. 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

P19970075008

Acquisition Date

1997-11

Collection

Museum

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