With and Without the White Nursing Cap

“Be a Trained Nurse” Recruitment Poster from World War I with nurse knocking on a door labeled “opportunity” (LOC print)

My latest article on The Ultimate History Project takes a look at the history of field nursing, particularly nurses and health aids who worked for the Office of Indian Affairs, the predecessor of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

As part of the nurse’s or nursing student’s uniform, the white cap often is synonymous with the history of nursing. However, I didn’t see many white nursing caps when I was working with the papers of the Field Nursing Program in Oklahoma, probably because public health nurses who worked “in the field” often wore their regular clothes for travel. This is just one of many details that requires a larger context beyond the confines of a single archival collection.

As a researcher, I often discover the container list or finding aid is not enough to tell me about the historical context of what I’m looking at. By context, I mean background information about the people, places, and events. This lack of information is not surprising. No one who processes a collection can include references to every detail mentioned in the documents, photos, etc. Books, scholarly articles, and digital resources can help both to broaden the story and to offer more specifics.

But where to find the history of nursing, First Aid, and Native American community health in Oklahoma during the interwar years (between WWI and WWII)? Check out the recommended readings at the end of my UHP article “By Paddle, By Wagon, By Car” to learn more.