Shoes worn by Sandra Lindsay while working during the COVID-19 pandemic
date: label: date made
content: ca 2010
label: Associated Date
content: 2020
name: label: user
content: Lindsay, Sandra Leisa
notes: label: Description
content: A pair of brown leather and black rubber clogs worn by Sandra Lindsay, RN, during the years she spent as a bedside critical care nurse, and later as she led a nursing staff through the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. During her pandemic work, the shoes literally fell apart – the soles crumbling as she walked her hospital rounds. For Lindsay, the broken shoes seemed to represent much more than worn out rubber and leather and she couldn’t bring herself to throw them away. In her own words, “I feel like these shoes tell a story more than one story—stories about my journey, definitely about this pandemic. You know, in some ways, it kind of describes how I felt at times, broken, but now, I'm hopeful …”
label: Description
content: On December 14, 2020, Sandra Lindsay, RN, director of nursing for critical care at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, became the first person in the United States to receive the FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine. Following this event, Northwell Health donated material to the Smithsonian connected to the initial vaccination including Lindsay’s ID badge, vaccination record card, scrubs and socks (see accession 2021.0008). In a subsequent oral history interview recorded for the Smithsonian, Lindsay narrated the story of her nursing shoes. She agreed to donate them to the museum to further document her story and highlight the work of front-line nurses during the pandemic.
label: Description
content: Sandra Lindsay grew up in Jamaica and emigrated to the United States when she was 18. Living and working in New York City, she soon began training for a career in nursing and earned her associate degree from the Borough of Manhattan Community College in 1994. This training led to her first job as a clinical nurse at the Lenox Hill Hospital in the Upper East Side. Over the next six years, Lindsay continued her education, completing her bachelor’s degree (St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn) and master’s degree (Herbert H. Lehman College, Bronx). Her interest in a leadership role, inspired in part by nurse executives at Northwell Health, led her to pursue an MBA degree from Hofstra University. By the time she completed this program, Lindsay had been promoted to the position of director of critical care nursing at Northwell’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center. In 2020 she led her nursing team through the emerging COVID-19 crisis, and in December she was selected by Northwell management to be the first to receive the Pfizer vaccine at their health care facilities. Her unexpected role as the first in the United States to receive the vaccine launched Lindsay into the national spotlight. She used that spotlight to advocate for vaccination, and to help counteract doubt and hesitancy especially among people of color. In March 2021 she also completed her work toward her doctorate in health sciences, focused on global health, leadership and organizational behavior (A. T. Still University).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Nursing
label: Subject
content: COVID-19 (Disease)
label: associated subject
content: Infectious diseases
label: associated subject
content: Public Health
label: associated subject
content: 2019-nCoV disease
label: associated subject
content: Disease prevention
label: associated subject
content: 2019 novel coronavirus disease
label: related event
content: COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Dr. Sandra Leisa Lindsay
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2021.0084.01
label: catalog number
content: 2021.0084.01
label: accession number
content: 2021.0084
objectType: label: Object Name
content: shoes, nurse's
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: leather (upper material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (soles material)
label: Physical Description
content: imitation leather; stainless steel (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall, each shoe: 4 1/8 in x 10 3/8 in x 4 in; 10.4775 cm x 26.3525 cm x 10.16 cm