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Looking back at Paris nursing
Posted 06.05.07 at 2:44 PMA recent interesting addition to the archives is a copy of The North Star Nurse 1926, a yearbook published by the seniors of the Paris Training School for Nurses.
Edwina A. Taylor was editor-in-chief, Zellene Stevenson was assistant editor, and Ruby K. Sissel was the business manager. The book contains sections on classes, departments, faculty, “the study hour,” “bones,” “fluoroscopic,” valedictory and alumnae. It was dedicated to Miss Sarah Agnes Hogg, and pictured as the officers of the board of directors are H.P. Mayer, president; N.H. Ragland, vice president; T.J. Record, vice president; R.W. Wortham, secretary; and Neville Brooks, treasurer. All were prominent Paris businessmen of the era. Miss Elizabeth M. Hilf, R.N., was the superintendent of the Sanitarium of Paris and, of course, Dr. L.P. McCuistion, the chief surgeon and medical director.
Looking at old yearbooks is great fun. They included everything. Here is an extract from an examination paper:
“Convolutions are ruffles on the surface of the brain.”
“What’s the singular for bacteria? It hasn’t any singular. They are too small to exist alone.”
The alumnae directory begins with the Class of 1911: Willa Hilf and Mrs. Ray Culvert. Then it skips to 1913, which included Winnie Chambless and Mrs. W.W. Knuppel.
However, the class of 1914 had more students: Etta Moss, Mrs. Travis Lanier, Mary Weddege, Bess K. Newell and Martha Hughes. Pictured as the senior class in 1926 are George Ann Norvell, Ruby K. Sissel, Jewel Marie Guinn, Vera Elizabeth Peterson, Essie Maye Glover, Ellen Earl Nanney, Zellene Stevenson, Brentye Smythe Fielding and Edwina A. Taylor.
The esteemed faculty taught Ethics and Surgery (Dr. L.P. McCuistion), Anatomy and Physiology (Dr. R.L. Lewis), Obstetrics and Gynecology (Dr. J.L. Hammond), Materia Medica (Dr. W.W. McCuistion), Petiatrics and Medical Diseases (Dr. L.B. Palmer), Hygiene and Psychology (Dr. J.E. Fuller), Oral Hygiene (Dr. B.F. Thielen), Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat (Dr. O.R. O’Neill), Bible Study (E.H. McCuistion), Materia Medica again (Dr. J.L. Van Dyke), Bacteriology (Dr. Lewis Gooch), Chemistry and Dieto-Therapy (Dr. D.S. Hammond), Nutrition (Margaret E. Kennedy), Practical Dietetics (Mrs. S.L. Austin), and Urology and Dermatology (Dr. H.H. White).
It seems an impressive faculty for 1926 in Paris, Texas.
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Thank you so much for the wonderful article. My great grandmother is Mrs. Hans Knuppel (her maiden name was Winnie Chambless--so this was actually just one person!) She died so young and I am so interested in her life. Her father, Dr. John Albert Chambless, was a prominent doctor in the Paris area.