The Australian Nursing and Midwifery History Project
Welcome: Dr Madonna Grehan, Director (Hon), ANMHP
Welcome to the Australian Nursing and Midwifery History Project (ANMHP), a self-funding autonomous project hosted by the Department of Nursing at the University of Melbourne's School of Health Sciences. The ANMHP aims to increase the profile of nursing and midwifery history in the community, and ensure that historically important nursing and midwifery resources are identified, conserved, and accessible.
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Objectives
- Support historical scholarship in nursing and midwifery, and improve the quality and scope of this scholarship
- Promote the study of nursing and midwifery history at schools during primary and secondary education, and at undergraduate and postgraduate levels
- Provide world-wide access to Australian nursing and midwifery resources
- Encourage cooperative links between ANMHP, nursing and midwifery groups, health organisations and institutions to facilitate collaborative work
- Assist in the preservation of historical materials through the registration of relevant archives, museums and collections
- Encourage sufficient resources to meet the ANMHP objectives by inviting contributions from the professions and the community to maintain the program
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Internet register of resources
- Centres which support Australian nursing and midwifery historiography of individual nurses and midwives
- Biographies of individual nurses and midwives
- Directory of nursing and midwifery historical collections within archives of Australian hospitals, government, professional associations, veterans' organisations, in local and state museums and in personal collections
The ANMHP offers a forum for staging exhibitions on healthcare history in Australia. Its inaugural exhibition was held at the University of Melbourne's Medical History Museum in 1998. The Medical History Museum is part of the University's Johnston-Need Medical History Unit. Curated by Dr Sioban Nelson, it was entitled: Feminine Industry: nursing work at the bedside and beyond.
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Research
Students in Nursing at the University of Melbourne's School of Health Sciences may undertake historical scholarship in the Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Nursing by Research programs.
The ANMHP is one of many interdisciplinary developments within the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences that welcome the contribution of scholarship from the humanities to the study of the health sciences. The ANMHP has links with the Centre for Health and Society, an interdisciplinary centre within the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.
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Advice: Preservation of historical materials
The ANMHP does not require historical material, but can offer advice on the preservation of nursing and midwifery historical material.
For guidelines on the specific management of health collections, see South East Sydney Area Health Service: Health Heritage Preservation Committee Policy.
For guidelines on documentary management, see the University of Melbourne's eScholarship Research Centre (eSRC).
ANMHP is linked to eSRC. eSRC continues earlier work of the Australian Science Archives Project (ASAP) and the Australian Science and Technology Institute Heritage Centre (AusTEHC).
For guides on preservation and conservation, see:
- Museum Methods from Museums Australia
- State Library of Queensland Conservation Advice
- Power House Museum Conservation Resources
- Caring for your wartime memorabilia. Department of Veterans' Affairs Canberra (2001)
- The Collections Council
- Collections Australia Network
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to our foundation sponsors: Peter and Tim Avery; Sydney Hospital Graduate Nurses Association; College of Nursing (incorporating the CoN NSW); Alfred Hospital Nurses League; Royal College of Nursing Australia; QLD University of Technology; Joan Durdin; School of Nursing; The University of Melbourne; Nurses Board of Western Australia; Richard Burbidge/Judith Godden; Nurses Board of the Australian Capital Territory; School of Nursing, Curtin University.
Australia's Nurses
Welcome to the Australian Nursing and Midwifery History Project (ANMHP), a self-funding autonomous project hosted by the Department of Nursing at the University of Melbourne's School of Health Sciences. The ANMHP aims to increase the profile of nursing and midwifery history in the community, and ensure that historically important nursing and midwifery resources are identified, conserved, and accessible.
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Biographical register
Encyclopaedia of Australian Science Database
The Federation Biographical Nursing Project
Contributing to the Encyclopaedia of Australian Science
(incorporating the Bright Sparcs database)
Thank you to the sponsors of the biographical entries completed by the ANMHP.
Background
The ANMHP's National Federation Biographical Nursing Project began in May 2001 to recognise the contribution of nurses and nursing in the development of Australian science, medicine and healthcare. Through the sponsorship of individuals and organisations, several biographies of nurses and midwives have been added to the Encyclopaedia of Australian Science database (EOAS).
The EOAS is a community resource and a research tool, receiving around 500,000 hits per week from an estimated 20,000 individuals, mostly secondary school students. The EOAS features information about individuals, organisations, societies, institutions, and industries. The database also lists the sources of data about each entry: published, archival, and material available online.
With support from nursing organisations, past trainee associations, nurses' boards and private individuals, the ANMHP has increased the number of nurses whose biographies features on the EOAS. It has also contributed information about nursing organisations and collections.
Nurse Sponsor of this biography Judy Parker School of Nursing, The University of Melbourne Lucy Osburn Sydney Hospital Graduate Nurses' Association Mavis Avery Tim and Peter Avery Betty Jeffrey Alfred Hospital Nurses League Annie Sage
Pat SlaterRoyal College of Nursing, Australia
Royal College of Nursing, AustraliaJoan Penridge
Joan Godfrey
Faith ThomasQueensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology
Joan DurdinOlive Anstey
Muriel Knox Doherty
Agnes Lions
Georgina McCready
Margaret GuyThe College of Nursing (incorporating the CoN NSW)
The College of Nursing (incorporating the CoN NSW)
The College of Nursing (incorporating the CoN NSW)
The College of Nursing (incorporating the CoN NSW)Sylvia Curley
Merle Parkes
Gwen BurbidgeACT Nursing and Midwifery Board
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Curtin University
Richard BurbidgeDora Bailey Nurses Board of Western Australia -
Nursing organisations
Nursing History Interest Groups
Around the world there are formal and informal groups which support nursing history activities and/or are engaged in nursing history scholarship.
Australia
Australian Nursing and Midwifery History Group (ANMHG), a network of nurses, midwives, historians, archivists, curators and scholars, all of whom are passionate about nursing history.
Location Contact ACT - Dr Maxine Dahl
Email: mcdahl@grapevine.com.au
Area of interest: All aspects of Royal Australian Air Force nursing, women in the military - Ms Marilyn Gendek
Email: mahgen@tpg.com.au
Area of interest: Ephemera, especially stamps and postcards
NSW - Dr Mavis Gaff-Smith
Email: mavis.gaff-smith@bigpond.com
Area of interest: Midwives, nurses, women's health, education, regulation and practice - Dr Judith Godden (Honorary Associate, Department of History (A14), University of Sydney)
Email: judith.godden@sydney.edu.au
Area of interest: History of the Women's Hospital (Crown Street) Sydney, biography, Nightingale nursing - Dr Trudy Rudge (Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney)
Email: trudy.rudge@sydney.edu.au
Area of interest: Biography, Nightingale nursing, social context of nursing - Ms Elizabeth Skinner (PhD Candidate, University of Sydney Medical School)
Email: 81_kensingtonst@live.com
Area of interest: Midwifery and women's health, feminist theory
QLD - Dr Odette Best
Email: odette.best@qut.edu.au
Area of interest: Indigenous nurses, policy, oral history - Ms Sue DeVries
Email: sue@de-vries.ws
Area of interest: All aspects of nursing history - Dr Wendy Madsen (Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Health, Central Queensland University)
Email: w.madsen@cqu.edu.au
Area of interest: Nursing, health, teaching nursing history - Dr Margaret McAllister (Centre for Mental Health Nursing Innovation, Central Queensland University)
Email: m.mcallister@cqu.edu.au
Area of interest: Teaching history of nursing in undergraduate curriculum, mental health
SA - Dr Mayumi Kako (School of Nursing and Midwifery, Flinders University)
Email: mayumi.kako@flinders.edu.au
Area of interest: Education and governance, disaster nursing
TAS VIC - Dr Janet Butler (School of Historical and European Studies, La Trobe University)
Email: J.Butler@latrobe.edu.au
Area of interest: World War I - Dr Madonna Grehan (Nursing, School of Health Science, The University of Melbourne)
Email: mgrehan@unimelb.edu.au
Area of interest: Women's health, nurses, midwives, education, regulation and practice, military nurses - Dr Kirsty Harris (School of Historical Studies, The University of Melbourne)
Email: kjharris@unimelb.edu.au
Area of interest: World War I, Australian Army Nursing Service, women in the military - Ms Helen Hamilton (Australian College of Nursing)
Email: helenham@bigpond.com
Area of interest: All aspects of nursing history - Ms Jennifer Rabach (School of Nursing and Midwifery, Victoria University)
Email: Jennifer.Rabach@vu.edu.au
Area of interest: Operating theatre nursing - Mrs Marie Rogers
Email: rogermr@alphalink.com.au
Area of interest: All aspects of nursing history - Dr Natisha Sands (School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University)
Email: natisha.sands@deakin.edu.au
Area of interest: Mental health nursing - Ms Susan Sherson
Email: susan.sherson@mh.org.au
Area of interest: All aspects of nursing history - Ms Robyn Waymouth (Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville)
Email: robyn.waymouth@thewomens.org.au
Area of interest: Women's health, archives and collections - Dr Pamela J Wood (School of Nursing and Midwifery, Federation University)
Email: pamela.wood@federation.edu.au
Area of interest: NZ nursing history, midwifery, maternity services, public health, history of dirt, typhoid fever, convalescence
WA - Dr Carol Piercey (School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Notre Dame)
Email: Carol.Piercey1@ndu.edu.au
Area of interest: All aspects of nursing history, education - Dr Linda Shields (Tropical Health Research Unit for Nursing and Midwifery Practice, James Cook University and Townsville Health Service District)
Email: linda.shields@jcu.edu.au
Area of interest: All aspects of nursing history, education, paediatrics
(New Zealand) - Dr Kate Prebble (School of Nursing, The University of Auckland)
Email: k.prebble@auckland.ac.nz
Area of interest: NZ nursing history, psychiatric and mental health, disability, gender
International networks/centres
Canada
- Canadian Association for the History of Nursing
- Margaret M Allemang Society for the History of Nursing
Europe
- European Association for the History of Nursing
- UK Association for the History of Nursing and Midwifery (disbanded in Sep 2018)
USA
- American Association for the History of Nursing
- Barbara Bates Centre for the Study of the History of Nursing
Research Centres
Australian Centres
- The Australian Nursing and Midwifery History Project, The University of Melbourne
- The Nursing History Research Unit, University of Sydney
International Centres
USA
- Barbara Bates Centre for the Study of the History of Nursing
Canada
- Nursing History Research Unit, University of Ottawa
Ireland
- UCD Irish Centre for Nursing & Midwifery History
UK
- UK Centre for the History of Nursing and Midwifery
- Nurses Voices Oral History Project
- Dr Maxine Dahl
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History topics
Military Nursing
Nurses have been involved in military nursing as civilian volunteers (as early as the 1880s) as and as members of the Australian Defence Forces (from the early 1900s). Other resources are also available at the Australian War Memorial, the National library and the National Archives.
World War I
World War II
- Australian Imperial Force Nominal Roll
- Sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur and Sister Ellen Savage
- Nurses Memorial (Vyner Brooke Memorial), Bangka Island, Indonesia
- Vivian Bullwinkel and survivors of the Vyner Brooke
- Betty Jeffrey and POWs in Sumatra
- Australia's War 1939-1945
Indigenous Nursing in Australia
TBC
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Bibliography
Bibliography
A bibliography of Australian nursing and midwifery history research is under construction.
If you would like to contribute items to the bibliography, please email us: anmhp-nursing@unimelb.edu.au
Journals
Featuring articles on nursing, midwifery and health history
- British Journal of Nursing (formerly Nursing Record and Hospital World)
- Bulletin for the History of Medicine
- Health & History, Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Society for the History of Medicine
- Nursing Inquiry History Edition
- Nursing History Review
- Social History of Medicine
- Temperamentvm, International Journal for the History of Nursing and Nursing Thinking (Spanish)
- Intute Medical History Resources (website closed Jul 2011)
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Archives, libraries and museums
National
National Collections and Archives with material on nursing/midwifery history. If you want to add a collection link here, please email us: anmhp-nursing@unimelb.edu.au
By state
New South Wales
- Australian Army Museum Bandiana
- College of Nursing (New South Wales)
- EM Lane Nurses' Museum, Concord Hospital (Tel: 02 9767 5256)
- Guide to Health and Medicine Museum Collections in NSW and ACT
- Kenmore Hospital Museum
- Lucy Osburn – Nightingale Foundation Museum
- Morriset Hospital Historical Society
- NSW Midwives Association Collection
- Royal Prince Alfred Hospital RPA Museum and Archives
- Powerhouse Museum
- Prince Henry Hospital Trained Nurses Association Nursing and Medical Museum
- Sydney University Nursing History Research Unit
- Society for the Preservation of the Artefacts of Surgery & Medicine
- Parramatta District Hospital: Brislington House Museum for Medicine and Nursing, 10 George Street, Parramatta NSW 2150
Northern Territory
- Charles Darwin University Nursing Museum, Casuarina Campus, Darwin NT 0909
Queensland
- Australian Country Hospitals Heritage Association and Museum
Rockhampton
- Mount Isa Underground Hospital Museum, Joan Street, Mt Isa QLD 4825
- Princess Alexandra Hospital Diamantina Health Care Museum
- Queensland State Archives
- Royal Brisbane and Royal Women's Hospitals' Museum of Nursing History
- State Library of Queensland
South Australia
- Royal Adelaide Hospital Heritage Office (Adelaide Hospital records)
- State Library of South Australia (visual resources, letters, oral history)
- State Records of South Australia (government records)
- Flinders University Library (Australasian Nurses' Journal: The Journal of the Australasian Trained Nurses' Association)
- Flinders University Library Special Collection (Nursing Education Collection)
Thanks to Dr Mayumi Kako for supplying these links.
Tasmania
- Royal Hobart Hospital Graduates Association Museum (by appointment only; email: anmhp@unimelb.edu.au)
- Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (State records)
Victoria
- Alfred Hospital Nursing Archives
- Fairfield Hospital Collection
- Australian Nurses Memorial Centre
- Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
- Royal Children's Hospital (Melbourne) Archives
- Royal Melbourne Hospital Archives
- Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne Tracy-Maund Historical Collection
- St Vincent's Hospital
- University of Melbourne Johnston-Need Medical History Museum and Collection
- Southern Health* (Tel: Dr Monica Lausch, Honorary Curator, 9594 1399)
*Incorporating Monash Medical formerly Queen Victoria Hospital and Prince Henry's/Homeopathic Hospital, Melbourne Benevolent Asylum/Kingston Centre, Dandenong and Moorabbin Hospitals
Western Australia
- Australian Inland Mission Museum
- Royal Perth Hospital Museum
- Western Australian Medical Museum, Cnr Barker & Railway Road, Subiaco WA 6008
How you can help
There are several ways in which you can support the activities of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery History Project (ANMHP).
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Sponsorship
Sponsor a biography through the ongoing National Federation Biographical Nursing Project (the Federation Project).
The ANMHP aims to achieve recognition of women's contributions to the welfare of the community. The ANMHP will increase the profile of nurses and midwives by contributing sponsored biographies to the Encyclopaedia of Australian Science (Bright Sparcs) database.
Nominate an individual whom you think deserves recognition. Mounting a biography on Encyclopaedia of Australian Science (Bright Sparcs) costs $1,000. The money is used to offset costs in researching the individual's biography, entering the data, and maintaining database.
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Donations
The ANMHP is a self-funding autonomous project within Nursing, School of Health Sciences, at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. The ANMHP is a charitable organisation in reference to Section 50(5) of the federal Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
The ANMHP accepts donations from individuals, professional associations and public institutions. Donations are fully tax-deductible. Donations are payable to the University of Melbourne, and should be forwarded to:
Director
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery History Project
Nursing, Melbourne School of Health Sciences
The University of Melbourne
Level 5, Alan Gilbert Building, Grattan St Carlton VIC 3010 Australia
Email: anmhp-nursing@unimelb.edu.auThe ANMHP thanks you for your support.