White Caps Scrapbook 1944
The School of Nursing at the University of Connecticut was established in 1942 and accredited the following year. The first students received their caps in 1944, an event commemorated in a scrapbook created by the “White Caps,” the nursing student club. The capping ceremony took place on the evening of October 12, 1944 at the Community House situated near the Storrs Congregational Church. Dr. Albert Jorgensen provided the welcome and Dean Carolyn Widmer spoke, reminding “the girls to keep up high ideals in their future years of nursing. Mrs. Widmer then capped each girl, after which Miss Dolan, assistant to Mrs. Widmer, lit each girl’s Florence Nightingale candle. The newly capped girls then took the Cadet Nurses’ Pledge, as all are entering the Cadet Nurse Corps.” [Connecticut Campus, October 1944] The members of the first class in the University of Connecticut School of Nursing included Rhoda Grodin, Marijane Johnson, Selma Mag, Marilyn Olsen, Barbara Payne, Anne Pickett, Elaine Raymond, Shirlee Weinberg and Ann Winchester.
In November 2012, the University opened the Carolyn Widmer Wing of Storrs Hall, the long time home of the School of Nursing. Named in honor of the first Dean of the School, the wing “provides nursing students with a learning environment tailored to the special needs of nursing education and practice” (UConn Today, 11/5/12) underscoring the University’s ongoing commitment to the education and training of nurses symbolized in the capping ceremony so many years ago.
The White Caps’ scrapbook is part of the School of Nursing Records in the University Archives.
Yukon Cap, V. 1, no. 1, November 1944
I am close with Ms. Elaine Raymond, mentioned as one of the graduates of the first class. She has just turned 89 and resides in the state.
Would you be willing to provide her address? We will be having another small exhibit (although not featuring the white caps) in the fall in conjunction with the AAHN conference hosted by the School of Nursing and I’d love to let her know.