Iowa Mid-Century Nurses Dormitory Photo Archive with Handwritten Captions Documenting Women's Work and Social Life, 1953

Women's Work: Iowa Nursing

Photograph

[Women in Medicine][Nursing] Women’s dormitory photo archive documenting nursing work and communal living, possibly tied to a hospital dormitory or nurses’ residence in Clinton, Iowa, circa 1952 to 1953. The handwritten captions indicate that the women pictured both lived and worked in this setting with phrases like “Nurse’s Home,” “Joanie at work,” and “Dark Room Clinton”, as well as personal inscriptions for “Christmas party 53,” “Easter 53,” “Christmas Day,” and named sitters including Beth Bergman, Gertrude Messmer, Jo Madden and Mrs. Moran show the same circle across living spaces and holiday tables. The group documents a midcentury circle of women’s labor, residence, and kinship in a connected social system in the early postwar years, when hospital work and female boarding or dormitory life remained central parts of many unmarried working women’s daily experience.

Photo archive of 24 silver gelatin photographs, each measuring 3.5 x 3.5 inches, possibly Clinton, Iowa, circa 1952 to 1953. Contemporary handwritten captions appear on the mounts throughout, identifying individuals and scenes including “Nurse’s Home,” “Joanne at work,” “Dark Room Clinton,” “Jo Madden,” “Gertrude Messmer,” “Mary & Jo,” “Christmas Party 53,” “Christmas Day,” “Beth Bergman,” “Bert Wisor,” “Mrs. Moran - housemother,” and “Easter 53.” Interior scenes show women seated at desks, in upholstered parlors, beside radiators and curtained windows, on beds, and around dining tables; one image shows a woman using a telephone in a narrow booth labeled “Nurse’s Home,” while another shows a young woman reclining in a room captioned “Dark Room Clinton,” apparently in a work area with folding metal frames and counters. The picture captioned "Christmas Party 53" shows two women in white nurses uniforms and shoes. These images, along with the one captioned "housemother", indicate the setting is likely a nurses dormitory. Records matching the names in captions indicate several women pictured lived in Iowa in the 1950s. The images be of live-in nurses at Schick General Hospital, a World War II US Army hospital in Clinton, IA, which was repurposed into a veteran's domiciliary that operated until 1965. Additional images show porch steps in winter, a decorated Christmas tree, a crowded Christmas gathering with children and adults around a small table, an older woman preparing food in a kitchen, and paired mealtime scenes that connect younger and older women across generations.

The archive captures a period in the post-World War II era when women’s wage work was expanding and semi-supervised residences provided an opportunity for nurses, aides, clerical workers, and trainees to gain experience in the workplaces and domestic boarding environments while maintaining strong family routines. These photographs show the overlap in work and social community in these settings, including holidays spent together with family and colleagues. Light surface wear, scattered silvering, minor handling marks, and a few small corner and edge imperfections; inscriptions clear; overall good condition. A compact, well identified snapshot group with direct evidence of women’s work life and domestic affiliation in the early 1950s.

Item #23255

Price: $450.00