THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE IN NURSING IN AMERICA: 1881 TO 1955.
Contributors: Columbia University. Teachers College.
Published: 1996
Number of pages: 208
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; History, United States.; Women's Studies.
Description: Purpose. The purpose of this study was to provide a history of the Jewish experience in American nursing between 1881 and 1955. This was explored in the context of the ethnic, professional, and cultural factors that caused three Jewish nursing leaders--Amelia Greenwald, Regina Kaplan, and Naomi Deutsch--to select nursing as a career.

Relevance. This historiography enriches nursing history by identifying the role Jewish women played in the establishment of modern American nursing. Early leaders provide a legacy of pride. This study enriches nursing history, now, as we value multiculturalism; and will also contribute to a history of Jews in the professions as well as anti-Semitism in the United States.

Design. Archival material was extensively reviewed and compared to existing monographs of the period. Surviving daughters of Amelia Greenwald and Regina Kaplan were interviewed, along with those others identified as having known these women. Life for Jewish women in different countries in Europe was described. Similarly, life in the United States during the same time frame was sketched. Data were qualitatively analyzed and triangulated for confirmation and completeness.

Implications. Completion of this document will assist in the contemporary recruitment of ethnic minorities and contribute to a better understanding of Jewish minority recruitment and career development. These women were pioneers in nursing, women's history, and writing history on their own terms.

Conclusions. The Jewish experience in American nursing frequently included anti-Semitism, a system of quotas, and little regard for orthodox Jewish practice. The lasting legacy of these three women is the nurses they helped to educate and the people they aided. Teachers College, Columbia University emerged as a mecca for nurses.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-07, Section: B, page: 4300.

Thesis (ED.D.)--COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE, 1996.

School code: 0055.