Members of the St. Luke’s Hospital staff donned costumes to perform “Twas the Night Before Christmas” for other employees in December of 1946. St. Luke’s Hospital was a predecessor of Rush University Medical Center.
You can contact the Archives at rush_archives@rush.edu or at (312) 942-7214.
By Heather Stecklein
In this 1920 photo from the Rush Archives, nursing students participate in a gymnasium class at the St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing.
The course work at St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in 1920 included scientific lectures by hospital doctors in anatomy, physiology, pathology and dietetics.
In addition, the curriculum required practical courses including gymnasium exercises, social dance and massage.
The St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing is a predecessor to the Rush College of Nursing. It operated on South Michigan Avenue from 1886 to 1956.
Heather Stecklein is an archivist with Rush University Medical Center. You can contact the Archives at rush_archives@rush.edu or at (312) 942-7214.
Medical kit donation, 1971
Chauncey B. Borland (left) and Rush Medical College Dean Mark H. Lepper, MD (right), present a 75-year-old medical kit to the college in this 1971 photo.
The kit was made for Borland — a longtime trustee of St. Luke’s Hospital — by a New York pharmacy to take to Canada. It contains 69 different elements used for medicine during that era and is now housed in the Rush University Medical Center Archives.
An afternoon tea at St. Luke’s Hospital Training School for Nurses in February of 1954.
By Heather Stecklein
This spring, Rush University President Larry Goodman and Mrs. Goodman instituted a new series of University Student Faculty Teas at the Robert W. Sessions House of Rush University.
The teas take place on the second Wednesday of each month and serve as an opportunity for faculty and students to socialize and enjoy a presentation from one of their peers.
These teas follow in a long tradition of teas on this campus. The Presbyterian Hospital founded at the corner of Congress and Harrison and acted as Rush’s medical center for nearly 70 years. During the 1940s, it honored volunteers with special teas. (This reproduction of an article from the May/June/July 1944 Presbyterian Hospital Bulletin discusses one such tea.)
Rush also has a strong tradition of training nurses, and two of the College of Nursing’s predecessor schools provided students with a daily afternoon tea.
Heather Stecklein is an archivist with Rush University Medical Center. You can contact the Archives at Rush_Archives@rush.edu or at (312) 942-7214.