Dee School of Nursing

Group of Nursing Students

The Dee School of Nursing was founded in 1910 to provide training for nurses who would staff the new Dee Memorial Hospital.  The first class of eight nurses graduated from the school in 1913 and the school continued to operate until completed in 1917 and all nursing students were required to live in the home during their training.

This oral history project was created to capture the memories of the school's alumni before their stories disappear in the same way the Dee Hospital has disappeared.  The oral interviews focus on how the women became involved with the school, their experiences going through training, and how they used the training.

Sandra Stauffer shares her recollections of her mother, Maxine Jackson Owens, who graduated from the Dee School of Nursing in 1943. The interview took place on October 30, 2008.

Edna Walchli Stratford shares her recollections of nursing school and discusses the advancements in medicine. Stratford graduated from the Dee School of Nursing in 1955. The interview took place on November 3, 2008.

Virginia Tanner discusses her memories of training at the Dee School of Nursing. She talks of her experiences taking classes, tending a surgeon's children for extra money, and graduating with the class of 1954. The interview took place on October 16, 2008.

Glorya Stokes Telleson discusses her training at the Dee School of Nursing and completing hours in each of the disciplines, including medical, surgical, nursery, pediatrics, operating room, emergency room, psychiatry and communicable disease. The interview took place on August 19, 2008.

Lou Ann Larsen Thurgood recalls her time spent as a nursing student at the Dee Hospital. She talks of her capping ceremony, repeating the Nightingale pledge, training for six weeks at the Tuberculosis Sanatorium, and the evolution of nursing. The interview took place on November 17, 2008.

Karla Paul Tripp graduated from the Dee School of Nursing in 1943. She shares her memories of using glass syringes and cutting and curling hair for other nursing students and their housemother. The interview took place on September 23, 2008.

Regina Urban Turner describes her training at the Dee School of Nursing during World War II, and experiencing supply rations, a shortage of practicing doctors, and the introduction of sulfa to the hospital. The interview took place on September 11, 2008.

Clair Walker shares his recollections of his mother, Olive Campbell Walker, and the Dee School of Nursing. The interview took place on September 3, 2008.

Grace Hall Walling shares her recollections of her mother, Dorothea Allen Hall, her aunt, Annie Jessie Hall, and the Dee School of Nursing during World War I. The interview took place on July 28, 2008.

Carol May Beutler Weeks shares her recollections and experiences with the Dee School of Nursing. The interview took place on October 13, 2009.