Eloise Rallings Lewis Collection

Eloise Rallings Lewis in nurses uniform
Eloise Rallings Lewis in nurses uniform. Possibly taken while teaching at the University of Pennsylvania from 1946-1952.
Oral history interview with Eloise Patricia Rallings Lewis
Primarily documents Eloise Patricia Rallings Lewis's nursing education; service with the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) and Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II; and her career in nursing education, particularly her tenure as dean of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) from 1966 to 1985. Lewis discusses her own nursing education, describing her father's reaction to her decision to study nursing; the nursing program at Vanderbilt University; and the academic opportunities for nurses in the late 1930s and early 1940s. She also recalls teaching at the Women's Medical College in Philadelphia and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1941 to early 1945. " Lewis provides detailed descriptions of her work with the ANC from April through December 1945 as an assistant director of the Cadet Nurse Corps at the Valley Forge General Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Topics include the set-up of the hospital; working with burned and blind patients and the development of plastic surgery; teaching students and working with cadet nurses; and her feelings about the war effort. She also tells stories about several patients. " Lewis comments frequently on the nursing profession and the development of nursing education, including changes in the ANC during World War II, the establishment of the Cadet Nurse Corps in 1943, and various baccalaureate programs in nursing. She also extensively discusses her tenure at UNCG and the success of the baccalaureate program, the addition of master's and doctoral programs in nursing, and her pride in seeing graduates in good positions and contributing to the nursing profession.
Portrait of Eloise Rallings Lewis
Formal portrait of Eloise Rallings Lewis, taken while Assistant Director of Cadet Nurse Corps at Valley Forge General Hospital in 1945.
Valley Forge General Hospital staff
Hospital staff at Valley Forge General Hospital pose for a formal photo in front of the hospital building.