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Scrapbook of Laura Antoinette Weeks Hesselberg, an 1899 graduate of the Presbyterian Hospital Training School for Nurses (now the Columbia University School of Nursing) documenting her nursing school years and early career as a private duty nurse.
History and Biography
Laura Antoinette Weeks Hesselberg, nurse, was born Sept. 23, 1864 to William J. Weeks, a surveyor, and his wife Mary Croswell Weeks and was raised in Yaphank, N.Y. After her husband, Daniel L. Hesselberg, died in 1895 she entered the Presbyterian Hospital Training School for Nurses (now the Columbia University School of Nursing) and graduated in 1899. She served as a U.S. Army nurse in the Spanish-American War but most of her career seems to have been as a private duty nurse. She died Feb. 27, 1937 at Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
Organization
The scrapbook documents Hesselberg’s life as a student at the Presbyterian Hospital Training School for Nurses (now the Columbia University School of Nursing), her time as a nurse during the Spanish-American War at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and her private duty nursing for several patients early in her career. Included are many pictures of Presbyterian Hospital that were cut out of the hospital’s annual reports; photos of her, fellow students, and her private duty patients; newspaper clippings; temperature charts; and ephemera such as menus, tickets, and commencement programs. There are also two letters from Anna Maxwell, founding director of the Presbyterian Hospital Training School for Nurses. Though material dates as late as 1922, the bulk is from 1897-1909.
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Transfer from Columbia University School of Nursing, 2015 (acc. #2015.027).