Hall of Fame Inductees

Jane Arminda Delano was the central figure in uniting the work of the Nurses' Associated Alumnae (renamed the American Nurses Association in 1911), Army Nurse Corps, and American Red Cross. From 1909-1912, she served as president of the Nurses' Associated Alumnae and became superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps. She resigned her army position in 1912 to give full time to the Red Cross. After 1905, the year the Red Cross was reorganized, she worked closely with that organization and the Nurses' Associated Alumnae to develop a nursing reserve for the Army Nurse Corps. Through her efforts, over 8,000 well prepared nurses were available when the United States entered World War I. Perhaps her greatest achievement was helping supply 20,000 professional nurses to meet the needs of that war. She died in Europe while in wartime service.

Julia Catherine Stimson was the first woman to receive the rank of major in the United States Army. She earned this distinction in 1920 while superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps. When Congress amended the National Defense Act in that year, giving members of the Army Nurse Corps relative rank, the head of the corps received the rank of major.

Stimson had served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War I. In 1918, less than a year after her arrival in Europe, she was assigned as chief nurse of the American Red Cross. In France, seven months later, she became director of nursing services of the American Expeditionary Forces in France. She returned to the U.S. in 1919 and became dean of the Army School of Nursing and Superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps, positions she held until 1932. After full commissioned rank was granted to army nurses, Stimson, a former president of the American Nurses Association, was promoted to the rank of colonel six weeks before her death.

Mary Breckinridge introduced a model rural health care system into the United States in 1925. To provide professional services to neglected people of a thousand square mile area in southeastern Kentucky, she created a decentralized system of nurse-midwives, district nursing centers, and hospital facilities. Originally called the Kentucky Committee for Mothers and Babies, later the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS), the system lowered the rate of death in childbirth in Leslie County, Kentucky, from the highest in the nation to substantially below the national average. Thanks to FNS, nurse-midwives were no more than six miles away from any patients. Providing both preventive and curative nursing, FNS continues to serve this region. Staff members of the FNS formed the beginnings of the American College of Nurse-Midwives in 1929. The first school of midwifery was started at the Maternity Center in New York in 1932 by a FNS-certified nurse-midwife member. The FNS began its own school in 1939.

Mary E.P. Davis served as a business manager of The American Journal of Nursing from 1900-1909. In 1900, with 550 stock subscriptions sold, she and her colleagues published the first issue of the Journal.

When the post office in Philadelphia refused to accept this issue for mailing, Davis made herself and her editor personally responsible for the magazine to the postal authorities.

Davis was among the founders of the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses, later renamed National League for Nursing. A supporter of a rigorous education for nurses, with its own theory and curriculum, Davis observed, "The hospital is the place par excellence to teach the art of nursing and to practice the science, but it is not the best place, or even a good place, to teach the concomitants...The school is...for the purpose of acquiring theoretical knowledge of the practical work required, so that the work from the beginning of the probation shall be intelligently, not mechanically, performed."

Ruth Benson Freeman's major contributions to nursing were as an educator, author, and speaker in the field of public health nursing. After receiving her doctorate, she became a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1962, retiring from that position in 1971.

Freeman was president and member of the board of directors of the National Health Council and the National League for Nursing. She served on the governing council and executive board of the American Public Health Association, as chairperson of the American Nurses Association (ANA) Committee on Functions, Standards, and Qualifications of Public Health Nurses, and as a member of the executive committee of the ANA Division on Community Health Nursing Practice. She received the ANA Pearl McIver Public Health Nurse Award, Florence Nightingale Medal from the International Red Cross, Mary Adelaide Nutting Award from the National League for Nursing, and Bronfman Prize from the American Public Health Association. She was named an honorary fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 1981.

Working through the state nurses associations and the American Nurses Association (ANA), Shirley Carew Titus championed nursing's responsibility to improve the economic security through collective bargaining, insurance plans, recommendations on salaries, benefits, and job responsibilities, consultation to private duty registries, and extending ANA's Professional Counseling and Placement Service into state and district offices. Her 1943 article, Economic Security Is Not Too Much to Ask, asserted that as employed professionals, nurses need the protection of, and the legal right to, collective bargaining. Organized nursing began to show recognition of Titus' commitment through a resolution of appreciation adopted at the 1946 ANA convention. Delegates had unanimously adopted the program for economic security endorsing the state nurses associations as bargaining representatives. "Miss T" was carried from the hall on the shoulders of delegates. In 1976, ANA established the Shirley Titus Award in her honor, to recognize the contributions individual nurses have made to ANA's economic and general welfare program.

Crusader for equal opportunity for blacks in nursing, Adah Belle Samuel Thoms felt a deep sense of responsibility to improve relationships between persons of all races. A graduate of Lincoln School for Nurses in New York, Thoms served 18 years there as assistant superintendent of nurses.

She became acting director at a time when blacks rarely held high-level positions. Thoms was among the first to recognize public health as a new field of nursing. In 1917, she added a course on this subject to the school's curriculum. During her seven-year term as president of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, Thoms worked for acceptance of black nurses as members of the American Red Cross. She also campaigned for equal rights for black nurses in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Thoms was an author as well as an educator and crusader. She wrote Pathfinders: A History of the Progress of Colored Graduate Nurses. In 1936, Thoms became the first nurse to receive the Mary Mahoney Medal.

Known as a crusader and diplomat among nurses, Annie Warburton Goodrich was constantly active in local, state, national, and international nursing affairs.

Goodrich, a graduate of the New York Hospital Training School for Nurses, served as president of the American Nurses Association from 1915 to 1918. During her career, Goodrich was also president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Nursing, New York State Inspector for Training Schools, director of nursing service at Henry Street Settlement, professor of nursing at Teacher's College, Columbia University, and dean of the Army School of Nursing. She developed, and in 1924 became dean of, the first nursing program at Yale University. She was responsible for developing the program into the Yale Graduate School of Nursing ten years later.

In her early career, Goodrich was superintendent of nurses at New York Post-Graduate Hospital and the New York Hospital, and general superintendent of Training Schools in New York City at Bellevue and Allied.

One of the nation's most courageous nurses, Clara Louise Maass lost her life during scientific studies to determine the cause of yellow fever. A graduate of Newark German Hospital Training School for Nurses, she worked as an Army nurse in Florida, Cuba, and the Philippines during the Spanish-American War.

In 1900, Maass returned to Cuba at the request of Maj. William Gorgas, chief sanitation officer. There she became embroiled in a controversy over the cause of yellow fever. To determine whether the tropical fever was caused by city filth or the bite of a mosquito, seven volunteers, including Maass, were bitten by the mosquitoes. Two men died, but she survived. Several months later she again volunteered to be bitten, this time suffering severe pain and fever. Maass died of yellow fever at the age of 25. In her memory, Newark German Hospital was renamed Clara Maass Memorial Hospital and in 1952, Cuba issued a national postage stamp in her name. In 1976, the U.S. Postal Service honored Clara Louise Maass with a commemorative stamp.

Honored in the nursing profession as an American scholar, educator, and crusader, Dorothea Lynde Dix earned universal renown for her interest, activity, and pioneer work for reform of mental institutions and psychiatric care.

Dix began her drive for improvement in the care of the mentally ill in Massachusetts in 1841. During the next 20 years, she carried the crusade to Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and into the south and west. Although she had no formal nurses training, Dix established such an impressive record of organizational skill in her humanitarian crusade that she was appointed superintendent of the female nurses of the Army by secretary of war, Simon Cameron, in 1861. Her tireless efforts led to the recruitment of more than 2,000 women to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War. At the end of the war, she returned to her lifelong crusade in psychiatric reform.

The American Nurses Association's first president, Isabel Adams Hampton Robb, was the nursing profession's prime mover in organizing at the national level. In 1896, Robb organized the group known as the Nurses' Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada. The group was renamed the American Nurses Association in 1911. Earlier, in 1893, Robb gathered together a nucleus of women who were superintendents of schools and founded the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses.

This organization became the National League of Nursing Education in 1912. Robb was one of the original members of the committee to found the American Journal of Nursing. While serving as superintendent of nurses at the Illinois Training School at Chicago and principal of the Training School for Nurses at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Robb was responsible for initiating many improvements in nursing education. She was a graduate of the Bellevue Hospital Training School for Nurses which she entered in 1881.

Prolific author and leader in the development of nursing school curriculum, Isabel Maitland Stewart also was instrumental in the early development of nursing research. Stewart spent her early years in Canada, then entered the program for nurses at Teachers College, Columbia University. At Teachers College, she earned both B.S. and M.A. degrees.

In 1925, she succeeded Adelaide Nutting as chairman of the Department of Nursing Education at Teachers College. In that capacity she was involved in writing three classics: The Standard Curriculum for Schools of Nursing, A Curriculum for Schools of Nursing and A Curriculum Guide for Schools of Nursing.Stewart co-authored A Short History of Nursing with Lavinia Dock and A History of Nursing with Anne Austin. During her career at Teachers College, Stewart participated in many early nursing research studies. She was not only recognized as a nursing leader, but also earned a national reputation as an eminent historian.

A staunch advocate of legislation to control nursing practice, Lavinia Lloyd Dock is also remembered for her outstanding contributions to nursing literature.

She graduated from Bellevue Training School for Nurses in 1886 and soon after became night supervisor at Bellevue. As both student and supervisor, Dock became aware of the problems students faced in studying drugs and solutions. As a result, she wrote Materia Medica for Nurses, one of the first nursing textbooks. In addition to serving as foreign editor of the American Journal of Nursing, she wrote Hygiene and Morality, and in 1907, co-authored with Adelaide Nutting the first two volumes of the four-volume History of Nursing. Volumes III and IV were completed by Dock alone in 1912. During her multi-faceted career, Dock worked with Lillian Wald at Henry Street Settlement and with Isabel Hampton Robb at Johns Hopkins School for Nursing. She was also secretary of the International Council of Nurses for more than 20 years. Throughout her life, she was a devoted suffragette and political activist.

Champion of the urban poor, Lillian D. Wald was a visionary leader and outstanding humanitarian. In 1893, two years after graduation from the New York Hospital Training School for Nurses, Wald founded the forerunner of the Henry Street Settlement. Henry Street eventually evolved into the Visiting Nurse Service of New York City. For more than 40 years, Wald directed the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service, at the same time tirelessly opposing political and social corruption. She helped initiate revision of child labor laws, improved housing conditions in tenement districts, enactment of pure food laws, education for the mentally handicapped, and passage of enlightened immigration regulations. Wald was instrumental in establishing the United States Children's Bureau, school nursing, and rural nursing in the Red Cross Town and Country Nursing Service. As first president of the National Organization for Public Health Nursing, Wald delivered an inaugural address which suggested a national health insurance plan. She is also in the Hall of Fame of New York University.

America's first trained nurse, Linda Anne Judson Richards, has long been recognized for her significant innovations in the nursing profession. Richards, who graduated from the New England Hospital for Women and Children in 1873, introduced the concept of keeping patient records, such as nurse's notes and doctor's orders. She also instituted the practice of nurses wearing uniforms. Richards added another "first" to her professional record when she became the first stockholder in the American Journal of Nursing.

She bought the initial share of stock for $100. Richards brought credit to nursing for her pioneer work in industrial and psychiatric nursing and for her missionary work in Japan. In 1911, she was named Emeritus Superintendent of Nurses at Taunton Asylum. Earlier in her career, Richards served as the first Superintendent of Nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital. In that capacity, she developed the program and proved that trained nurses gave better care than those without formal nurses training.

Founder of the American birth control movement, Margaret H. Sanger fought for revision of archaic legislation which prohibited publication of facts about contraception. In her early career, Sanger practiced nursing among the impoverished families of New York's lower east side.

There she became aware of the interrelationships between overpopulation, high infant and maternal mortality rates, and poverty. In 1914, Sanger began publishing material about contraception. In Brooklyn, two years later, she opened the first American birth control clinic. She served 30 days in the workhouse in 1917 for "maintaining a public nuisance," but this and other legal difficulties only served to garner public sympathy for her work. Sanger founded the American Birth Control League, serving as president for seven years. In 1927, she organized the first World Population Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, and was the first president of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. 

"In her time, Margaret Sanger's pioneering work on birth control had profound influence over women's health and nursing care of the poor. Since her induction into ANA's Hall of Fame, some of the approaches she and her colleagues advocated to help the poor migrated into population control methods deemed to be contrary to society's changing norms and are not accepted today." (ANA 2015)

One of the first to actively campaign for racial equality in nursing, Martha Minerva Franklin was the catalyst for collective action by black nurses in the early 1900s. The only black graduate of her class at Woman's Hospital Training School for Nurses in Philadelphia, Franklin recognized black nurses needed help to improve their professional status, and they would have to initiate it themselves.

Under Martha Franklin's guidance, 52 nurses assembled to form the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) in 1908 and Franklin was elected president. During the three-day meeting, the goals determined by the infant organization were to promote the standards and welfare of all trained nurses and to break down racial discrimination in the profession. A year later, NACGN stated black nurses must meet required standards for all nurses so that a double standard based on race could not be practiced. By 1951, many of the group's aspirations had been met and NACGN merged with the American Nurses Association.

Honored for her outstanding contributions to nursing and nursing education, Mary Adelaide Nutting was a noted educator, historian, and scholar. She was a strong advocate of university education for nurses and was instrumental in developing the first programs of this type.

When Nutting accepted the chairmanship of the newly developing Department of Nursing Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, she became the first nurse ever to be appointed to a university professorship. Earlier in her career, in 1894, Nutting became principal of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, where she had graduated from in 1891. During her lifetime, Nutting made significant contributions to nursing literature. She wrote A Sound Economic Basis for Nursing, co-authored with Lavinia Dock the first two volumes of the four-volume History of Nursing, and wrote many articles for nursing and health periodicals.

America's first black professional nurse, Mary Eliza Mahoney is known not only for her outstanding personal career, but also for her exemplary contributions to local and national professional organizations. Mahoney inspired both nurses and patients with her calm, quiet efficiency and untiring compassion.

Patients tended by Mahoney throughout her career gave glowing testimony of her expert and tender care. She graduated from the New England Hospital for Women and Children Training School for Nurses in 1879. She was one of only three persons in her class to complete the rigorous 16 month program. In 1909, Mahoney gave the welcome address at the first conference of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN). In recognition of her outstanding example to nurses of all races, NACGN established the Mary Mahoney Award in 1936. When NACGN merged with the American Nurses Association in 1951, the award was continued. Today, the Mary Mahoney Award is bestowed biennially in recognition of significant contributions in interracial relationships.

The late Pearl McIver created an enduring legacy in the field of public health nursing, a journey that began when she took a position with the United States Public Health Service in 1922.

There, she served 35 years in several divisions, from the Maternal and Child Health Division to the Office of Public Health Nursing, before becoming the chief nurse in the United States Public Health Service Bureau of State Services. In this role, Ms. McIver built the foundation of public health nursing and remained active in preventing disease and promoting health and wellness.

Her dedication and knowledge of the nursing profession established nursing programs across state and local levels, which effectively employed more than 3,500 nurses during the Great Depression. Her ability to lead people to solutions and build partnerships helped strengthen the nursing profession.

Ms. McIver’s most noted leadership role in nursing was as chair of the Joint Coordinating Committee, where she paved the way for the unification of five nursing organizations into two, the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the National League for Nursing.

Additionally, Ms. McIver served in leadership roles with ANA for nearly 20 years, including president of ANA from 1948 to 1950. She was a former president and editor of the American Journal of Nursing and vice president of the American Public Health Association, where she led the establishment of the Nursing Section. Additionally, McIver served as chair of the Federal Nursing Council, a member of the World Health Organization’s Expert Panel on Nursing, chair of the International Council of Nurses Constitution Committee and vice-chair of the American Nurses Foundation.

To recognize and honor Pearl McIver’s remarkable accomplishments, the first Public Health Nurse Award was bestowed upon her by ANA’s Public Health Nurses Section in 1956. This award, later renamed in her honor, recognizes the outstanding professional contribution of one public health nurse.

Ms. McIver died in 1976 at age 83; however, her immense contributions still impact the Public Health Service and the nursing profession.

Credited with the successful launching of the American Journal of Nursing, in 1900, Sophia French Palmer was the publication's first editor and served as editor-in-chief of the Journal for 20 years. During that time, her forceful editorials helped guide nursing thought and shape nursing practice and events.

Throughout her career, Palmer remained confident of the importance of the Journal and she persevered in difficult times when others grew discouraged. She was devoted to the development of the nursing profession, but always remembered the individual nurse. She was one of the first to campaign for state registration and helped formulate much of the nursing registration legislation. Because of her leadership abilities and her early advocacy of state registration, Palmer was named first president of the New York State Board of Examiners. She also assisted in organizing the American Nurses Association and the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses.

One of nursing's most energetic leaders, Stella Goostray earned a distinguished reputation as a scholar, author, and teacher. She graduated from Children's Hospital of Boston in 1919 and later earned a B.S. in nursing from Teacher's College, Columbia University and an M.E. from Boston University.

During her outstanding career, Goostray served 13 years on the board of directors of the American Journal of Nursing Company, seven as president. She was secretary of the National League for Nursing Education for 11 years and also served as advisor to the Joint Nursing Committee on Educational Policies and as nurse consultant to the Committee on the Grading of Nursing Schools. From 1940-1946, she was president of the National Nursing Council for War Service, Inc. Goostray's publications include Drugs and Solutions for Nurses, Mathematics and Measurements in Nursing Practice, Applied Chemistry for Nurses, Fifty Years: A History of the School of Nursing, the Children's Hospital, Boston, and Memoirs: Half a Century in Nursing.