Records are closed during the life of the alumna, under the terms of the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).
Because the records include Confidential Health Information (CHI) as defined by Columbia University policies governing data security and privacy, access is allowed only under the terms of Archives and Special Collections’ Access Policy to Records Containing Confidential Health Information.
Records of graduates of the Columbia University School of Nursing, originally known as the Presbyterian Hospital Training School for Nursing and later as the Columbia University-Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing.
History and Biography
Presbyterian Hospital in the City of New York founded a Training School for Nurses in 1892. The name was changed to the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing circa 1904 and to the Columbia University-Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing after a partial affiliation with the university in 1937. It is now wholly incorporated into the University, known as the Columbia University School of Nursing. The School was all-female until the first men were admitted in 1970.
Organization
Records of graduates of the Columbia University School of Nursing, originally known as the Presbyterian Hospital Training School for Nursing and later as the Columbia University-Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing. These are only a fragment of the student records that must have once existed and include those for 113 graduates between 1894 and 1963. In contrast, there were about 2600 living alumnae in 1952.
Contents in each student record vary greatly; “Rating of Student Nursing Practice” forms, which assess student performance in clinical settings, are the most common documents to be found, but correspondence, health records, and admissions applications are also sometimes included. Correspondence usually relates to admission or scholastic progress but occasionally post-dates the student’s graduation. The records do not include the official student transcript.
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Transfer from the Columbia University School of Nursing, 2017 (accession #2017.010). A note found with the records indicates that these were saved during a general destruction of student records in 1969.