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Elizabeth Grossman: Advancing the IU School of Nursing

Posted on by sajacobi

By: Samantha Riley, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2021, French and Anthropology, IUPUI

Edited by: Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant

Photograph of Elizabeth Grossman, ca 1984. Image courtesy of IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives, UA24-006561

“There is no profession [nursing] that offers so many wonderful opportunities. It is one area where you don’t have to accept the status quo—you can effect change.”–Elizabeth Grossman[1]

As an Indiana University employee for nearly 30 years, Elizabeth Grossman worked to better the IU nursing program.

Under her tenue, the IU nursing program expanded to offer several degrees, including the first doctoral nursing program in Indiana as well as the first clinical nurse specialist program in the state. Grossman’s influence on the program and in the nursing profession are still visible today.

Early Life and Education

Elizabeth Korn Grossman was born on May 15, 1923, in Staten Island, NY, to George Korn and Ethel Elliott.[2] After she graduated from Curtis High School in Staten Island at the age of 16, Grossman decided to further her education and enrolled at Hunter College in New York City.  She graduated in 1944 with bachelor degrees in zoology, meteorology, and botany.[3]

Although Grossman had a promising position in a chemical laboratory, she faced a dilemma; her husband of one year had died in World War II and she was grieving over his death. While walking through New York City one day, she saw a billboard on Times Square that read, “BE A CADET NURSE. SEE A COUNSELOR TODAY.”

Grossman thought that becoming a nurse was the challenge she needed to get herself back on her feet.[4] She moved to Cleveland, OH and earned her master’s degree in nursing from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University in 1947. At the time, the university was only one of three universities in the U.S. that offered a post-baccalaureate degree in nursing.[5]

After graduation, Grossman became the head nurse in maternity at University Hospital in Cleveland; her interest in maternity nursing stayed with her throughout her career.[6][7]

Her first patient was a woman who had given birth to a stillborn baby. She spent a couple of hours with her, which was frowned upon by her superiors. Grossman later reflected that they “told me I’d never make it as a nurse! But this woman had lost a baby, and she wanted someone to talk to, so I listened to her. She needed that.”[8]

While working at University Hospital, Grossman learned about natural childbirth and other core skills, which she later incorporated into her work at Indiana University. While mothers in the 1950s were routinely sedated during childbirth and babies were born under its influence, Grossman slowly began to introduce the concepts of natural childbirth to her nurses and interested patients; as well as pioneered the movement to bring fathers into the delivery.  To some, this work was considered rebellious, but she considered them to be “calculated risks.”[9]

Career at Indiana University

In 1953, Grossman remarried and moved to Indianapolis with her husband. At first, she, like other married women at the time, did not work, but found it mundane and decided to go back into nursing.[10]

Grossman first worked at Methodist Hospital as the head of maternity nursing and briefly taught at DePauw University before joining the IU faculty in 1959.[11] While she worked at IU as an assistant professor, Grossman took classes and earned her master’s in nursing education from IU in 1960; she later earned an Obstetrical Associate Practitioner certificate and a doctorate in higher education from IU in 1972.[12]

Initially working on the Bloomington campus, Grossman later returned to work on the Indianapolis campus, where she rose up the ranks to full professor.[13] As part of her duties, Grossman taught courses in comprehensive nursing as well as supervising graduate students in obstetrical clinics.[14]  After working almost 15 years at the university, Grossman became the dean of the IU School of Nursing in 1973.[15]

During her tenure as dean, Grossman worked to expand and organize the nursing school. Prior to 1974, each of IU’s campuses had different nursing curriculum; when the university reorganized in 1974, the IU School of Nursing became the administrating body for the new statewide system of nursing education.[16]

Grossman worked to expand the school’s degree offerings to include four degree programs as well as offering continuing education. This new system resulted in the school becoming the largest nursing school in the country, with over 200 faculty members and around 3200 students.[17]

Dean Grossman speaking at an undated event. Image courtesy of IUPUI University Special Collections and Archives, UA24-004830

As part of furthering the degree offerings, Grossman also initiated distance education courses for the master’s program and it was under her direction that the school developed the first doctoral program and the first clinical nurse specialist program in Indiana.

During the 1980-81 academic year, the first students graduated with the Doctor of Nursing Science degree. When Grossman retired from Indiana University in 1988, the school offered extensive degree programs across Indiana, from an LPN program to a doctorate degree, in diverse areas of nursing: from community health  to gerontology.[18]

Legacy

Elizabeth K. Grossman’s work had a lasting effect on Indiana, as well as on the profession. As the result of her dedication and hard work, she received innumerable honors.  In 1974 she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Indiana University School of Nursing Alumni Association.

During the Sigma Theta Tau convention in Washington, D.C. in 1977, Grossman received the Distinguished Service Award from Sigma Theta Tau.  In 1980, she received the Nurse of the Year Award from the Indiana Citizens’ League for Nursing and the Allstate Foundation.

In 1985, Grossman received one of the first presidential awards from Sigma Theta Tau. [19] Because of her dedication, in 2000 the Governor of Indiana awarded Grossman the Sagamore of the Wabash, a prestigious honor given to Hoosiers who have significantly contributed to the state of Indiana.

Grossman died on September 24, 2007 at the age of 84. Grossman’s legacy continues on through the numerous degree programs in nursing as well as through the statewide system of nursing education.[20]

 Bibliography

  1. “Dr. Elizabeth K. Grossman,” The Pulse of Indiana, vol. 2, issue 2, 2008.
  2. Elizabeth K. Grossman Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 27 September 2007, URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=elizabeth-k-grossman&pid=144828434.
  3. “Elizabeth Marie Korn,” S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
  4. Holladay, Ruth. “Nursing school dean hangs up cap, crowning lengthy career,” The Indianapolis Star, June 29, 1988.
  5. Marriner-Tomey, Ann. Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989,
  6. “Officers and Faculty.” Indiana University Bulletin LIX, no. 17 (Bloomington, Indiana 1961).

Notes

[1] Ruth Holladay, “Nursing school dean hangs up cap, crowning lengthy career,” The Indianapolis Star, 29 June 1988.

[2] “Elizabeth Marie Korn,” U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

[3] “Elizabeth K. Grossman Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 27 September 2007, URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=elizabeth-k-grossman&pid=144828434.

[4] Ruth Holladay, “Nursing school dean hangs up cap, crowning lengthy career,” The Indianapolis Star, 29 June 1988.

[5] “Officers and Faculty,” Indiana University Bulletin LIX, no. 17 (Bloomington, Indiana 1961), pg. 60.

[6] Ruth Holladay, “Nursing school dean hangs up cap, crowning lengthy career,” The Indianapolis Star, 29 June 1988.

[7] “Dr. Elizabeth K. Grossman,” The Pulse of Indiana, vol. 2, issue 2, 2008.

[8] Ruth Holladay, “Nursing school dean hangs up cap, crowning lengthy career,” The Indianapolis Star, 29 June 1988.

[9] Ruth Holladay, “Nursing school dean hangs up cap, crowning lengthy career,” The Indianapolis Star, 29 June 1988.

[10] Ruth Holladay, “Nursing school dean hangs up cap, crowning lengthy career,” The Indianapolis Star, 29 June 1988.

[11] Ruth Holladay, “Nursing school dean hangs up cap, crowning lengthy career,” The Indianapolis Star, 29 June 1988.

[12] “Elizabeth K. Grossman Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 27 September 2007, URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=elizabeth-k-grossman&pid=144828434.

[13] “Elizabeth K. Grossman Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 27 September 2007, URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=elizabeth-k-grossman&pid=144828434.

[14] Ann Marriner-Tomey, Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989, pg. 37.

[15] “Elizabeth K. Grossman Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 27 September 2007, URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=elizabeth-k-grossman&pid=144828434.

[16] Ann Marriner-Tomey, Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989, pg. 37.

[17] “Elizabeth K. Grossman Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 27 September 2007, URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=elizabeth-k-grossman&pid=144828434.

[18] Ruth Holladay, “Nursing school dean hangs up cap, crowning lengthy career,” The Indianapolis Star, 29 June 1988.

[19] “Elizabeth K. Grossman Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 27 September 2007, URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=elizabeth-k-grossman&pid=144828434.

[20] Ruth Holladay, “Nursing school dean hangs up cap, crowning lengthy career,” The Indianapolis Star, 29 June 1988.

Emily Holmquist: The First Dean of the IU School of Nursing

Posted on by sajacobi

By: Samantha Riley, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2021, French and Anthropology, IUPUI

Edited by: Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant

Undated photograph of Emily Holmquist. Image courtesy of the IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives, UA24-006790

  “The important thing for a nurse is that she knows how to be caring, to be caring, and to give the kind of care that being caring demands,” Emily Holmquist. [1]

Emily Holmquist devoted her professional life to improving nursing education programs and encouraging nurses to conduct research at the IU School of Nursing. Under her instruction, the school increased the number of academic programs and student attendance numbers.[2] She also helped develop and implement the standards for nursing education across all of IU’s campuses. [3]

Early Life and Education

Emily Holmquist was born on October 16, 1909 in Sommerville, MA.[4] She attended the Mount Auburn Hospital School of Nursing and graduated with her nursing diploma in 1931. Right after graduation, she began her career by becoming the head surgical nurse in at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, TN.[5] Several years later she became the administrative supervisor for medical-surgical nursing at Norfolk General Hospital in Virginia.[6]

Holmquist decided to continue her education and enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her bachelor degree in nursing education in 1941 and a master’s degree in the same field in 1944.[7]

After Holmquist graduated, she became the chair of medical-surgical nursing, from 1945 to 1950. Wanting to further her education, Holmquist left the University of Pittsburgh to attend the University of Chicago to do advanced study.[8]

Career

While attending the University of Chicago, she was recruited to be the first dean of the Indiana University School of Nursing.[9]  When Holmquist was hired in 1957, the school had undergone numerous changes. Previously known as the IU Training School for Nurses, the training school was not its own autonomous entity, but rather was part of the School of Medicine.[10]

As the school’s first dean, Holmquist worked tirelessly to improve the new school of nursing. She succeeded in persuading the university to combine its regional nursing programs to create a unified program across all IU campuses with the headquarters located in Indianapolis.[11]

Under Holmquist’s direction, the school developed advanced degree programs which allowed nurses to pursue advanced education and research in nursing.[12]  The master’s of science degree in nursing education contained three curriculum areas:  preparing hospital nursing service personnel, preparing school of nursing personnel, and preparing clinical nursing personnel.

The latter curriculum area later evolved to include courses on maternity and pediatric nursing.[13] The curriculum for the master’s degree was later revised to two major areas: preparation of hospital nursing service personnel and preparation of school of nursing personnel.[14]

During her tenure as dean, Holmquist considered the construction of a new nursing building to be one of her greatest achievements.[15] The expansion of the school and the increasing enrollment numbers necessitated a new building as the growing school outgrew the Ball Residence Hall.

At the time, the IU School of Nursing had a total of six classrooms and three conference rooms of its own, all found in the basement the building. Many student spaces were converted to makeshift classrooms or faculty offices. This situation was unsatisfactory for both students and faculty; students resented faculty members being present in their living and social spaces, and faculty disliked the noise associated with the residence hall.

The application for a new building to house the school was submitted in 1966; the request was accepted and a new building for the school was constructed.[16]

Holmquist attributed this success and other success to those who helped her, “I couldn’t have accomplished anything if I hadn’t had help,” she said in her 1998 interview with Barbara Norton. Holmquist recounted that under her leadership as dean, the number of nursing faculty increased, from 12 members during her first year, to 26 the following year, and 36 faculty members the year after. Holmquist was proud to work with faculty who she described as “very strong and very good.”[17]

Photograph of Emily Holmquist taken in 1964 for a portrait. Image courtesy of IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives, UA24-006799

Although Holmquist retired from her role as the dean of nursing in 1973, she continued teaching nursing classes  until 1977. She was beloved by her students and faculty members and she returned the sentiment.[18]“I liked the students,” said Holmquist,  “Once in the term every year I’d meet with the students to have a kind of free-for-all rolling discussion. I enjoyed them.

 Contributions

During her career, Holmquist did her best to promote the integration of nursing research and nursing education. She helped to co-found one of the first peer-reviewed research journal in nursing, Research Nursing.[19] After she retired  from IU in 1977, Holmquist served as the founding executive director of the American Associate of Colleges of Nursing in Washington DC.

In this role she guided the Board of Directors in making connections with government agencies and interpreting the ACCN for higher education administrators across the United States. [20] Holmquist also served as the president of the Indiana State Nurses Association.[21]

Legacy

Due to her dedication to the profession of nursing, Holmquist received innumerable honors for her extraordinary work. In 1985 she received the Sigma Theta Tau International’s Dorothy Garrigus Adams Award for Excellence in Fostering Professional Standards. Holmquist was also awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest state given award in Indiana.

This portrait was painted in 1972 and is part of the Women of Indiana University Portrait Collection.

Holmquist received two honorary doctorates for her work: from Evansville College in 1966 and from IU in 1991.  Holmquist became the first recipient of the Indiana University School of Nursing Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993; this award has since been renamed in her honor. [22]

Holmquist died on September 6, 2000, in Port St. Lucie, FL.[23] Her legacy continues through the Emily Holmquist/ Dorcas Rock Brewer Scholarship, which is awarded to undergraduate students each year, the unified nursing program at IU, and the creation of the IU School of Nursing building.

Bibliography

  1. “Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University Honors & Awards. https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=133
  2. “Emily Holmquist, Ed.D., RN.” IUPUI Office for Women. https://ofw.iupui.edu/page(4347da05-9612-4aa9-981a-0df968b1449a)
  3. “Emily Holmquist was former dean, instructor at IU School of Nursing.” The Indianapolis Star, 8 Sept. 2000.
  4. Holmquist, Emily interviewed by Barbara Norton. “Interview of Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University School of Nursing. Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, University Library, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Retrieved from eArchives, http://hdl.handle.net/2450/6889.
  5. Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Bloomington: Indiana University Printing Services, 1989.
  6. “Obituary: Emily Holmquist (October 16, 1909-September 6, 2000),” Nursing Outlook 48, no. 6,2000, pg. 313-314.

 Notes

[1] Holmquist, Emily interviewed by Barbara Norton. “Interview of Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University School of Nursing. Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, University Library, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Retrieved from eArchives, http://hdl.handle.net/2450/6889.

[2] Holmquist, Emily interviewed by Barbara Norton. “Interview of Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University School of Nursing. Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, University Library, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Retrieved from eArchives, http://hdl.handle.net/2450/6889.

[3] “Obituary: Emily Holmquist (October 16, 1909-September 6, 2000),” Nursing Outlook 48, no. 6, 2000, pg. 313-314.

[4] “Obituary: Emily Holmquist (October 16, 1909-September 6, 2000),” Nursing Outlook 48, no. 6, 2000, pg. 313-314.

[5] “Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University Honors & Awards. https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=133

[6] “Obituary: Emily Holmquist (October 16, 1909-September 6, 2000),” Nursing Outlook 48, no. 6, 2000, pg. 313-314.

[7] “Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University Honors & Awards. https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=133

[8] “Obituary: Emily Holmquist (October 16, 1909-September 6, 2000),” Nursing Outlook 48, no. 6, 2000, pg. 313-314.

[9] “Obituary: Emily Holmquist (October 16, 1909-September 6, 2000),” Nursing Outlook 48, no. 6, 2000, pg. 313-314.

[10] “Emily Holmquist, Ed.D., RN.” IUPUI Office for Women. https://ofw.iupui.edu/page(4347da05-9612-4aa9-981a-0df968b1449a)

[11] “Emily Holmquist, Ed.D., RN.” IUPUI Office for Women. https://ofw.iupui.edu/page(4347da05-9612-4aa9-981a-0df968b1449a)

[12] “Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University Honors & Awards. https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=133

[13] Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Bloomington: Indiana University Printing Services, 1989.

[14] Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Bloomington: Indiana University Printing Services, 1989.

[15] Holmquist, Emily interviewed by Barbara Norton. “Interview of Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University School of Nursing. Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, University Library, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Retrieved from eArchives, http://hdl.handle.net/2450/6889.

[16] Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Bloomington: Indiana University Printing Services, 1989.

[17] Holmquist, Emily interviewed by Barbara Norton. “Interview of Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University School of Nursing. Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, University Library, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Retrieved from eArchives, http://hdl.handle.net/2450/6889.

[18] “Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University Honors & Awards. https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=133

[19] “Emily Holmquist was former dean, instructor at IU School of Nursing.” The Indianapolis Star, 8 Sept. 2000.

[20] “Emily Holmquist.” Indiana University Honors & Awards. https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=133

[21] “Obituary: Emily Holmquist (October 16, 1909-September 6, 2000),” Nursing Outlook 48, no. 6, 2000, pg. 313-314.

[22] “Obituary: Emily Holmquist (October 16, 1909-September 6, 2000),” Nursing Outlook 48, no. 6, 2000, pg. 313-314.

[23] “Emily Holmquist, Ed.D., RN.” IUPUI Office for Women. https://ofw.iupui.edu/page(4347da05-9612-4aa9-981a-0df968b1449a)

Alice Fitzgerald: The First Director of the IU School of Nursing

Posted on by sajacobi

By: Samantha Riley, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2021, French and Anthropology, IUPUI

Edited by: Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant

Alice Fitzgerald as the director of the IU Training School for Nurses, 1914. Photo courtesy of IU Archives, P0073983

“When I arrived in Indiana, the Hospital seemed so lonely and small,”–Alice Fitzgerald upon seeing Long Hospital for the first time. [1]

Alice Fitzgerald established a strong foundation for the IU Training School for Nurses. Although she worked as its director for only a year, she ensured that her later successors would continue the school’s commitment to nursing excellence.

Early Life

Alice Fitzgerald was born in Florence, Italy on March 13, 1874.[2] During her lifetime, she became fluent in French, German, Italian, and English. At the age of 19, she attended Hopkins’ School of Nursing in Baltimore, MD. [3]

At the time, nursing was one of the only acceptable female occupations and nursing training schools began to appear across the United States following the Civil War.[4] After Fitzgerald graduated in 1906, she assisted in earthquake relief efforts in Messina, Italy, as a member of the Florence Branch of the Italian Red Cross.[5]

Fitzgerald returned to Johns Hopkins in 1909 as a head nurse, later leaving in December 1910 to become the head nurse at Bellevue Hospital in New York. She went on to become the superintendent of nurses at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital in Pennsylvania in August 1912.[6] Following this, Fitzgerald migrated to Indiana to become the director of a newly established nursing school: the IU Training School for Nurses.

Career

Established in 1914, the IU Training School for Nurses was the 15th nursing school to open   in Indiana. The dean of the IU Medical School, Charles P. Emerson, hired Fitzgerald to be the school’s first director.[7]

When Fitzgerald came to Indiana, construction for Long Hospital had finally been completed.[8] IU began building Long Hospital in 1911, in an unattractive area west of the city dump which made it difficult to start up the nursing program. Although the hospital was “lonely and small,” Fitzgerald remained undaunted and she immediately went to work to create the best nursing program she could.

Under her leadership, Fitzgerald equipped the hospital with the best possible technologies and planned the nursing school.[9] One of her first goals as director was to ensure that nursing students could receive university credit for their work; this would allow students to reduce the amount of time needed to earn their bachelor and nursing degrees. Fitzgerald also planned the curriculum: students had to complete coursework in topics such as biology, hospital hygiene, and preventative medicine while completing practical work.[10]

Fitzgerald also designed the nurses’ uniforms and caps which designated their ranks: probationary nurses wore a pink uniform, pupil nurses wore a dark gray chambray uniform, and graduate nurses wore a white uniform with 36 small pearl buttons, with an all-white percale cap with five tucks. [11]

During her tenure, Fitzgerald oversaw the admittance of the first nursing students. The initial school’s staff was small: there was one instructor, two head nurses, a night supervisor, and operating room supervisor, and seven staff nurses. In its first year, the training school admitted five students.

Although the admission requirements appeared to be strict they followed the guidelines established by the country’s best nursing training schools.[12]  Despite her short-lived career at the hospital, Fitzgerald set the foundations for an extraordinary nursing program that continues to flourish to this day.

Photograph of Alice Fitzgerald, from 1914 or 1915. Photo courtesy of IUPUI Image Collection UA24-006307

Contributions

After leaving her position as director of the Nurses’ Training Program, Alice Fitzgerald served as an American nurse with the British Expeditionary Forces in France, aiding soldiers wounded in World War I. When the United States joined the war, she resigned from her position and joined the American Red Cross; she served in France as chief nurse and in Italy as an aid for Venetian refugees. After the war, Fitzgerald stayed in Europe and served as the Chief Nurse of the American Red Cross Commission in Europe. [13]

Fitzgerald was dedicated to aiding nursing efforts around the world. She organized local nursing schools and public health nursing services in many countries: Poland, the Philippines, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Montenegro, and Albania.

She also created the International School for Public Health Nurses for the Florence Nightingale International Foundation in London.[14] For her dedication and hard work, she received a Florence Nightingale Medal from the Red Cross and decorations from China, England, France, Serbia, Poland, Italy, Russia, and Hungary for her work.[15]

Legacy

After Fitzgerald returned to the United States, she held other nursing positions. She was the director of nurses in New York at the Polyclinic Hospital from 1930-1936. Although she resigned from the position to write her memoirs and raise marmosets, she remained active in nursing.

She worked as housemother at the Shepard Pratt Hospital’s home for nurses in Baltimore, MD until she retired in 1948. Fitzgerald moved to New York City, where she remained for the rest of her life. She died on November 10, 1962.[16]

Bibliography

  1. “Alice Fitzgerald Collection,” The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. URL: https://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8443/papers/fitzgerald.html.
  2. IU Trustee Minutes, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
  3. Marriner-Tomey, Ann. ed. Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care (Indiana University School of Nursing: Indianapolis, 1989).
  4. Owen, Mary. “Alice Fitzgerald,” Women in Medicine at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
  5. “This Way Forward: Alice Fitzgerald (1876-1962). Johns Hopkins Nursing. https://magazine.nursing.jhu.edu/2014/07/this-way-forward-alice-fitzgerald-1876-1962/.

Notes

[1] Mary Owen, “Alice Fitzgerald,” Women in Medicine at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.

[2] “Alice Fitzgerald collection,” The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. URL: https://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8443/papers/fitzgerald.html.

[3] “This Way Forward: Alice Fitzgerald (1876-1962),” Johns Hopkins Nursing. https://magazine.nursing.jhu.edu/2014/07/this-way-forward-alice-fitzgerald-1876-1962/.

[4] Mary Owen, “Alice Fitzgerald,” Women in Medicine at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.

[5] “This Way Forward: Alice Fitzgerald (1876-1962),” Johns Hopkins Nursing. https://magazine.nursing.jhu.edu/2014/07/this-way-forward-alice-fitzgerald-1876-1962/; “Alice Fitzgerald Collection,” Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. https://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8443/papers/fitzgerald.html.

[6] “Alice Fitzgerald collection,”  The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. URL: https://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8443/papers/fitzgerald.html.

[7] Mary Owen, “Alice Fitzgerald,” Women in Medicine at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.

[8] IU Trustee Minutes, 19 May 1914, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington; “Vesper Service of Y.W.C.A.,” The Indianapolis News, 02 May 1914, pg. 19, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/37319370/?terms=%22alice%20fitzgerald%22%20%22long%20hospital%22&match=1.

[9] Mary Owen, “Alice Fitzgerald,” Women in Medicine at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.

[10] Ann Marriner-Tomey, ed. Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care (Indiana University School of Nursing: Indianapolis, 1989), pg. 4-5.

[11] Ann Marriner-Tomey, ed. Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care (Indiana University School of Nursing: Indianapolis, 1989), pg. 5.

[12] Mary Owen, “Alice Fitzgerald,” Women in Medicine at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.

[13] “Alice Fitzgerald Collection,” The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. URL: https://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8443/papers/fitzgerald.html.

[14] “Alice Fitzgerald Collection,” The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. URL: https://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8443/papers/fitzgerald.html.

[15] “This Way Forward: Alice Fitzgerald (1876-1962),” Johns Hopkins Nursing. https://magazine.nursing.jhu.edu/2014/07/this-way-forward-alice-fitzgerald-1876-1962/.

[16] “Alice Fitzgerald Collection,” The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. URL: https://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8443/papers/fitzgerald.html.

Ethel Palmer Clarke: Expanding the IU School of Nursing

Posted on by sajacobi

By: Samantha Riley, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2020, French and Anthropology, IUPUI

Edited by: Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant

An undated photograph of Ethel Clarke. Photo courtesy of IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives

“It is very flat out here and it does look terrible, but I think there is an opportunity to do a great deal and we are going to be very happy.”–Ethel Palmer Clarke[1]

As one of the early directors of the IU School of Nursing, Ethel Palmer Clarke guided the school during its pivotal years. As director, Clarke firmly established and reinforced nursing standards and oversaw the program’s expansion. Due to Clarke’s dedication, the nursing school flourished and is now one of the top nursing schools in the nation.

Early Life and Education

Ethel Palmer Clarke was born around 1878 in Lynton, Devon County, England.[2] As a teenager, her family immigrated to the United States.[3] Clarke studied nursing at the University of Maryland Training School for Nurses, where she graduated in 1906.[4]

After graduation, she received a job offer and became the superintendent of DeSoto Sanitarium in Jacksonville, FL. In 1911, Clarke returned to her alma mater to become the superintendent of nurses at University Hospital. While working as the superintendent of nurses, Clarke attended the Teacher’s College at Columbia University to further her education.[5]

Even after Clarke married her husband, Thomas Clarke, she continued to work as a nurse at a time when most women stopped working after they married.[6]

 Career

Clarke came to Indiana University in 1915 as the director of the Indiana University Training School for Nurses, later renamed as the Indiana University School of Nursing.[7] As the director of the school, she was responsible for student education and hospital nursing services.[8] Clarke took it upon herself to design a nursing pin for the Training School for Nurses, as well as to modify the nurses’ uniforms to include a cape, which was gray lined with scarlet flannel and had a red IU monogram on the collar.[9]

Under Clarke’s guidance, the school grew. She planned and organized entrance exams for potential nursing students.[10] Clarke also ensured that the potential nursing students were qualified by requiring them to provide letters of reference, a high school transcript, a doctor’s certificate that the applicant was in good health, and a personal interview. To be admitted to the school, the applicants had to have three college level units of English, two units of mathematics, two units in a foreign language, one unit of history, one unit of science, and two additional units.[11]

The program grew from 12 students to 168. On June 13, 1917, two years after Clarke became the director, the school’s first commencement was held with five students receiving the Graduate Nurse Diploma from Indiana University. [12]

This portrait of Clarke, painted in 1947, is part of the Women of Indiana University Portrait Collection.

Students knew Mrs. Clarke as “very stately, dignified, and reserved and commanded the respect of everyone. She was also extremely critical and strict. At the same time, she was most understanding and fair.”[13]

She was passionate about creating dedicated and honorable nurses. When six nursing students approached Clarke with the interest in creating a nursing sorority to encourage scholarship and high achievement in 1922, Clarke believed this to be a wonderful idea.

She provided her full support for the creation of the nursing sorority, on account of it being a society based on academic scholarship. This resulted in the creation of Sigma Theta Tau. Because of her support and work with the chapter founders, she became known as the mother of the chapter.[14]

Nursing students in the Training School were required to live on site, but finding housing proved to be difficult. Nurses lived in a variety of situations, from Long Hospital to nearby cottages. There needed to be a larger, more unified location for the nursing students.

Consequently, in 1917, the school began to build the Ball Nurses’ Residence, known today as Ball Hall.[15] As the director of the nursing program, Mrs. Clarke oversaw the design of the Ball Nurses’ Residence. She selected the furnishings and equipment for the new residence hall herself. [16] Formally dedicated on October 7, 1928, the Ball Nurses’ Residence had 165 rooms for students, and housed classrooms, laboratories, offices, a demonstration room, a gymnasium, and a library.[17]

Contributions

Alongside aiding in the creation of the Ball Nurses’ Residence, Clarke helped to establish the nursing school as an autonomous school. When the school was first established, information about the school was listed in the IU Medical School Bulletin.

In 1917, Clarke oversaw the creation of the school’s own bulletin, which provided information to people interested in nursing. In the following year, in 1918, Clarke helped to establish the Alumnae Association.[18]

Photograph of Ethel Clarke, taken between 1915 and 1931. Image courtesy of IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives

During Clarke’s tenure, she also oversaw changes in the curriculum. Courses in nursing, sociology, social work, and social psychiatry were added and the number of courses students needed to take in dietetics, English composition, and English literature were increased while chemistry and public speaking courses were removed from the curriculum.[19]

Legacy

Clarke served as the director of the nursing program until 1931. During her tenue, the school grew exponentially: the number of hospitals grew from one to four, with hospital beds from 105 to 420, the number of student and graduate nurses grew, and the curriculum was revised, with students having more opportunities to engage in activities. [20]

After Clarke’s resignation, she and her husband moved to Bridgeport, CT, where she continued her work as the director of nurses at Bridgeport Hospital.[21] She continued in this role until 1941, when she retired. [22]  Clarke passed away in 1970 in Clinton, CT.[23] Clarke’s long-lasting legacy is still visible today, as demonstrated by  the strong presence of the IU School of Nursing in both IU and the larger community.

Bibliography

  1. “Ethel P. Clarke,” IU Newsroom, URL: https://news.iu.edu/stories/features/historical-women/index.html.
  2. Marriner-Tomey, Ann, ed. Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989.
  3. “Mrs. Ethel P. Clarke Obituary,” Hartford Courant, 02 June 1970, pg. 4.
  4. MSS 51, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives.
  5. Notice of Death: Ethel P. Clarke, UA 025, Box 14, IUPUI Faculty Council Records, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives.
  6. “Site 3: Ball Nurses’ Residence,” Women Building IUPUI: A Walking Trail. http://www.iupui.edu/~history/OLDSITE/trail/3.htm.
  7. “Our History,” School of Nursing. https://nursing.iupui.edu/about/history/index.shtml.
  8. Owen, Mary. “Ethel P. Clarke,” Medical Trail Booklet.

Notes

[1] “Ethel P. Clarke,” IU Newsroom, URL: https://news.iu.edu/stories/features/historical-women/index.html.

[2] “Mrs. Ethel P. Clarke Obituary,” Hartford Courant, 02 June 1970, pg. 4, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/371276429/?terms=%22Ethel%20Palmer%20Clarke%22&match=1; Notice of Death: Ethel P. Clarke, UA 025, Box 14, IUPUI Faculty Council Records, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives.

[3] Ann Marriner-Tomey, Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989, pg. 6.

[4] Notice of Death: Ethel P. Clarke, UA 025, Box 14, IUPUI Faculty Council Records, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives.

[5] Notice of Death: Ethel P. Clarke, UA 025, Box 14, IUPUI Faculty Council Records, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives.

[6] Mary Owen, “Ethel P. Clarke,” Medical Trail Booklet.

[7] Notice of Death: Ethel P. Clarke, UA 025, Box 14, IUPUI Faculty Council Records, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives.

[8] “Our History,” School of Nursing. https://nursing.iupui.edu/about/history/index.shtml.

[9] Mary Owen, “Ethel P. Clarke,” Medical Trail Booklet; “Ethel P. Clarke,” IU Newsroom, URL: https://news.iu.edu/stories/features/historical-women/index.html.

[10] Mary Owen, “Ethel P. Clarke,” Medical Trail Booklet.

[11] Ann Marriner-Tomey, Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989, pg. 6.

[12] Mary Owen, “Ethel P. Clarke,” Medical Trail Booklet.

[13] Mary Owen, “Ethel P. Clarke,” Medical Trail Booklet.

[14] MSS 51, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives.

[15] “Site 3: Ball Nurses’ Residence,” Women Building IUPUI: A Walking Trail. http://www.iupui.edu/~history/OLDSITE/trail/3.htm.

[16] Mary Owen, “Ethel P. Clarke,” Medical Trail Booklet.

[17] Ann Marriner-Tomey, Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989, pg. 10.

[18] Ann Marriner-Tomey, Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989, pg. 6-7.

[19] Ann Marriner-Tomey, Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989, pg. 7.

[20] Ann Marriner-Tomey, Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989, pg. 10-11.

[21] Mary Owen, “Ethel P. Clarke,” Medical Trail Booklet.

[22] Ann Marriner-Tomey, Nursing at Indiana University: 75 Years at the Heart of Health Care. Indiana University School of Nursing, 1989, pg. 11.

[23] “Mrs. Ethel P. Clarke Obituary,” Hartford Courant, 02 June 1970, pg. 4, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/371276429/?terms=%22Ethel%20Palmer%20Clarke%22&match=1.

Frances Rhome: IUPUI’s First Affirmative Action Officer

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By Kira Zahedi, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2018, History

Edited by Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant

All I had wanted was to be a good scholar—to have people say they were going to IPI to take my classes. To give it up, which in essence I am doing, was a very difficult decision. But I felt that wrongs existed and they had to be corrected. –Frances Rhome[1]

Frances Rhome. Courtesy of IUPUI University Library, Special Collections and Archives UA24-009056

When Frances Dodson Rhome came to IUPUI as an assistant professor of English, she did not expect to become the affirmative action officer for the campus. However, due to her dedication that campus affirmative action efforts were successful, she improved the IUPUI community as a whole.

Early Life and Education

Rhome was born on April 16, 1916 in Tucumcari, NM.[2] She attended the University of California-Lost Angeles where she earned her bachelor’s degree before she went to New Mexico State University and earned her master’s degree.[3]

After Rhome married, she taught in a high school in 1958 to provide for her family.[4] Rhome first came to Indiana University in 1965 as a counselor in administration at IU Bloomington.[5] She later went on to earn her Ph.D. from IU in 1969. After graduating, Rhome received a job offer to teach English at IUPUI.[6]

Career at IUPUI

While Rhome came to IUPUI, she actively participated in the Women’s Studies program and encouraged the university to expand and broaden its perspectives and ideas.[7] She worked to better the IUPUI community and helped to set up the IUPUI Humanities Council.[8] In 1972, Rhome chaired the “Women, Higher Education and the Law,” conference which provided administrators of higher education information on the women’s movement and inequalities that women faced.[9]

In 1973, after IUPUI Chancellor Maynard Hine announced the creation of an affirmative action office on campus to ensure the university’s compliance with national and state civil rights and affirmative action laws, Rhome was appointed as IUPUI’s first Affirmative Action Officer.[10]

In this role, Rhome led the affirmative action office in the university’s efforts to be more inclusive in its hiring practices and its employee policies. The office ensured that the university worked to be an equal opportunity employer and tried to find diverse applicant pools for every open faculty and staff position.[11]

Rhome also believed that the practice of promoting women and minorities to positions of authority, such as department heads or dean positions, was just as important as hiring such individuals to entry or lower level positions.

The office also created a more formal complaint appeal procedure for workplace disputes and tried to address the wage gap for university employees by examining the differences in salaries by gender.[12] Rhome’s office found that women earned around $6000 less than their male colleagues per year; to remedy this, Rhome created a five-year plan.[13]

Rhome took her new position seriously. While still teaching in the English department and completing her responsibilities as affirmative action officer, she also briefly pursued a law degree to supplement her work in in the affirmative action office.[14] While some criticized her office for eating up university funds, Rhome saw value in exclusivity.

“I know there are some persons who disagree with some of the procedures required for affirmative action. But most seem to think the work this office is doing is important- it is humanitarian. I see it as reaching out.”[15]

Frances Rhome, Courtesy of IUPUI University Library, Special Collections and Archives UA24-008216

In 1975, Rhome was selected to be an affirmative action officer for the entire IU system.[16] IU President John Ryan recommended her for the role and she served as his main advisor for affirmative action programs. In this role, she ensured that all of the IU campuses administered and carried out affirmative action policies and procedures.[17]

Contributions

Throughout her time at IUPUI, Rhome frequently gave back to her community. She joined several committees at IUPUI, including the IUPUI commission on the status of women.[18]

Rhome held vital positions in her Indianapolis community. She was a member of the Greater Indianapolis Women’s Political Caucus board.[19] Indianapolis mayor Richard G. Lugar appointed Rhome as the vice-chairman of the Task Force on Women.[20] She also served as the chairman for the Indiana Women’s Political Caucus.[21] On the national level, Rhome associated herself with the National Mid-Life and Older Women’s Force, serving as its chair during the 1980s.[22]

Legacy

Rhome served IU for 17 years, before she retired as professor emeritus of English in 1986.[23] During her retirement, Rhome continued to teach several credit and noncredit courses at IUPUI and remained active in her community.[24]

In honor of her work at IUPUI, the IUPUI School of Liberal Arts created the Frances Dodson Rhome Scholarship for students who demonstrate their interest in English literature or women’s studies.[25] Additionally, the IUPUI Women’s Studies luncheon, “Women’s Own Stories,” honored Rhome for her work and dedication in October 1996.[26]

Rhome died on March 16, 2008 in Springfield, VA.[27]

Bibliography

  1. Bell, Robert N. “Mrs. Butters to Head Mayor’s Task Force,” The Indianapolis Star, 10 August 1972, pg. 1,
  2. Butters, Mary Anne. “Demo Convention Draws Women,” The Indianapolis Star, 21 June 1972, pg. 8,
  3. “Frances Rhome,” IUPUI Office for Women,
  4. “France Dodson Rhome Scholarship,” IUPUI School of Liberal Arts,
  5. “Frances D. Rhome Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 23 March 2008.
  6. IU Trustee Minutes, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
  7. McKee, Susan. “Women, Education, Discussed,” The Indianapolis Star, 20 October 1972, pg. 10.
  8. Kreuscher, Jan. (1975, November 14). More Than Culture Borne. The Indianapolis News, pg. 1.
  9. Lamm, Jean. “Still Seeking Equality for All,” The Indianapolis Star, 27 September 1972, pg, 8.
  10. Lamm, Jean. “‘Terribly Busy Job’ IPI’s Dr. Frances Rhome Fights Discrimination At University,” The Indianapolis Star, 08 July 1973, Section 6, pg. 5, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/105803595.
  11. Mullinix, Donna S. “In Her 60s, site change renewed her,” The Indianapolis News, 18 October 1995, pg. E-8.
  12. Rhome, Frances Dodson. (1973, August 27). Correspondence from Frances Dodson Rhome to Maynard K. Hine. (UA041, Box 1). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  13. “Rhome to get honor,” The Indianapolis Star, 22 September 1996, pg J3.
  14. Seybert, Diane. (1989, January). “Dr. Frances Rhome: it’s never too late.” Arts Indiana, p. 24.
  15. Siddons, Patrick. “Frances Rhome named the first affirmative action officer at IU,” The Courier-Journal, 10 May 1975, pg. 3
  16. “Women in Education is Topic of Indy Conference,” The Star Press, 17 October 1972, pg.6

Notes

[1] Jean Lamm, “‘Terribly Busy Job’ IPI’s Dr. Frances Rhome Fights Discrimination At University,” The Indianapolis Star, 08 July 1973, Section 6, pg. 5, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/105803595.

[2] “Frances D. Rhome Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 23 March 2008, URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=frances-d-rhome&pid=144836533.

[3] Patrick Siddons, “Frances Rhome named the first affirmative action officer at IU,” The Courier-Journal, 10 May 1975, pg. 3. URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/110625240/?terms=%22frances%20rhome%22%20%22affirmative%22&match=1.

[4] Seybert, Diane. (1989, January). Dr. Frances Rhome: it’s never too late. Arts Indiana, p. 24.

[5] Patrick Siddons, “Frances Rhome named the first affirmative action officer at IU,” The Courier-Journal, 10 May 1975, pg. 3. URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/110625240/?terms=%22frances%20rhome%22%20%22affirmative%22&match=1.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Donna S. Mullinix, “In Her 60s, site change renewed her,” The Indianapolis News, 18 October 1995, pg. E-8, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/313318387.

[9] Susan McKee, “Women, Education, Discussed,” The Indianapolis Star, 20 October 1972, pg. 10, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/105757168/?terms=%22frances%20rhome%22&match=1.

[10] Jean Lamm, “‘Terribly Busy Job’ IPI’s Dr. Frances Rhome Fights Discrimination At University,” The Indianapolis Star, 08 July 1973, Section 6, pg. 1, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/105803595.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Rhome, Frances Dodson. (1973, August 27). Correspondence from Frances Dodson Rhome to Maynard K. Hine. (UA041, Box 1). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

[13] “Frances Rhome,” IUPUI Office for Women, URL: https://ofw.iupui.edu/page(8ca1fc6b-2cab-4504-be06-8938310f2b1d).

[14] Kreuscher, Jan. (1975, November 14). More Than Culture Borne. The Indianapolis News, pg. 1.

[15] Lamm, IPI

[16] Seybert, Dr. Frances

[17] Patrick Siddons, “Frances Rhome named the first affirmative action officer at IU,” The Courier-Journal, 10 May 1975, pg. 3. URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/110625240/?terms=%22frances%20rhome%22%20%22affirmative%22&match=1.

[18] “Women in Education is Topic of Indy Conference,” The Star Press, 17 October 1972, pg.6, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/252068178/?terms=%22frances%20rhome%22&match=1.

[19] Jean Lamm, “Still Seeking Equality for All,” The Indianapolis Star, 27 September 1972, pg, 8, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/105757098/?terms=%22frances%20rhome%22&match=1.

[20] Robert N. Bell, “Mrs. Butters to Head Mayor’s Task Force,” The Indianapolis Star, 10 August 1972, pg. 1, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/105783747/?terms=%22frances%20rhome%22&match=1.

[21] Mary Anne Butters, “Demo Convention Draws Women,” The Indianapolis Star, 21 June 1972, pg. 8, URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/105800541/?terms=%22frances%20rhome%22&match=1.

[22] “Frances Rhome,” IUPUI Office for Women, URL: https://ofw.iupui.edu/page(8ca1fc6b-2cab-4504-be06-8938310f2b1d).

[23] IU Trustee Minutes, 008 March 1986, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington, URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=1986-03-08.xml&chunk.id=d1e1617&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e1617&brand=iubot&text1=Frances%20Rhome&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=1#.

[24] Donna S. Mullinix, “In Her 60s, site change renewed her,” The Indianapolis News, 18 October 1995, pg. E-8,” URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/313318387.

[25] “France Dodson Rhome Scholarship,” IUPUI School of Liberal Arts, URL: https://liberalarts.iupui.edu/admissions/scholarships/Frances-Dodson-Rhome-Scholarship.html.

[26] “Rhome to get honor,” The Indianapolis Star, 22 September 1996, pg. J3. URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/106418531/?terms=%22frances%20rhome%22&match=1.

[27] “Frances D. Rhome Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 23 March 2008, URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=frances-d-rhome&pid=144836533.

Florence McMaster: From Librarian to Lawyer

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If there is ever a time for sheer practicality, it is in the measured planning of books and equipment to meet users’ needs.[1]— Florence McMaster

By: Samantha Riley, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2020, French and Anthropology, IUPUI

Edited by: Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant

Florence Riman McMaster, 1973. Oil on canvas by Donald Mattison. Photo courtesty of Indiana University Campus Art Collection, CC 28.

An individual’s impact can be felt on an institution in many ways. Florence R. McMaster, lovingly known as “Mrs. Mac” by many, transformed the IUPUI law library from a small collection of 10,500 volumes to more than 125,000 volumes during her tenure as law librarian.[2]

Life in the Midwest: Early Life and Education

Florence McMaster was born on July 6, 1916 to Max and Rose Riman in Chicago, IL.[3] After graduating from high school, McMaster went on to attend the University of Toledo. She earned her bachelor degree in philosophy in 1937.

Wanting to continue her education, McMaster moved back to her home state to attend the University of Illinois, where she graduated in 1944 with her bachelor degree in library science.[4] During her time at the University of Illinois, she worked in the Exchange Division of the Illinois Library as an assistant before transferring to the Law Library, where she remained after graduation.[5]

McMaster resigned the following year to join the faculty at the Indiana University Evening Division Library in the School of Law in Indianapolis as a librarian.[6]

Career at IUPUI

At the law school, McMaster created a one of a kind workshop for new law students, teaching them how to use the legal resources offered by the library. Her work in the law library lead to her pursuit of a law degree, which she completed in 1961.[7] Later that year, McMaster earned admission into the Indiana and Federal bar in 1961, with later admission to the U.S. Supreme Court bar in 1969. [8]

After earning her degree, McMaster became an assistant professor of law at the university and was promoted to a full professor in 1972.[9] During her career, she contributed articles and chapters for books on legal research. She was awarded the American Jurisprudence Prize in Comparative Law in 1961 and in 1973 received a plaque for outstanding service from the Indiana Law Review.[10]

While McMaster became a professor of law at the university, she continued fostering the growth of the law library. Due to her work, the law library expanded; it included invaluable volumes that focused on American Law such as the complete Reporter System and the complete files of annotated sets.

Additionally, she aided in the preparation of law students for bar examinations by ensuring that they had access to past school and bar examinations.[11] McMaster expanded the law library so much that the School of Law hired the first professional assistant librarian, Catherine Miller, to aid in cataloging the volumes.

Left to right: Jean Lamm, Florence McMaster, Rae Ginger. Photo courtesy of the Indianapolis Star 9 August 1972.

 McMaster’s Contributions

McMaster joined and became an important part of many organizations, including the American Association of Law Libraries, the American Bar Association, and the Indiana Chapter of the Special Libraries Association. Within these organizations, she served in positions ranging from chair to director. At the university, McMaster served as chair of the IUPUI Council of Librarians.[12]

McMaster combined her interest in women and gender inequality, on campus and off, with her interest in law. Her involvement with the Indiana Women Lawyer’s Association, the Women’s Political Caucus, and the Altrusa women’s organization were examples of how she pursued her passion.

In 1968, she became a founding member of the University Women’s Club, serving as its first vice president.[13] Because academia at that time was predominantly male, the University Women’s Club created a network for university female faculty and staff. The club offered opportunities for members to listen to speakers, go on trips, and attend parties together.

Additionally, during the early 1970s, she worked with Frances Rhome on IUPUI’s Commission on Women. The committee studied problems associated with women on campus, as well as investigated charges of sexual discrimination.[14]

McMaster’s Legacy

Florence McMaster passed away on July 16, 1973 in Malibu, CA. After her death, a memorial service was held for McMaster at IUPUI; numerous alumni, IU President John Ryan, and IUPUI Chancellor Glenn W. Irwin attended to honor her memory.[15] The following year, a portrait of McMaster was unveiled at an alumni reception in the library’s rotunda.[16]

Even after her death, McMaster helped those at the IU School of Law campus in Indianapolis through the establishment of the Indiana University Foundation Florence R. McMaster Memorial Fund for the law library.[17]

Bibliography

  1. 1930; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Page: 22A; Enumeration District: 0998; FHL microfilm: 2340195.
  2. “Alumni News.” University of Illinois Library Bulletin 42, no. 8 (1944), pg. 32.
  3. “Alumni News.” University of Illinois Library Bulletin 43, no. 55 (1946), pg. 21.
  4. “Florence McMaster, J.D,” Office for Women, https://ofw.iupui.edu/Leadership/Online-Archive-Women-Creating-Excellence-at-IUPUI/Women-Creating-Excellence/FlorenceMcMaster.
  5. “Florence R. McMaster.” Who Was Who in America 6, 1974-1976.
  6. “Florence R. McMaster IUPUI Faculty Council Memorial Resolution, 1973, UA-060,” in IUPUI Faculty Council records, Box 12, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  7. “Former Terre Haute Woman Works in Law Library.” The Terre Haute Tribune, 10 December 1969, pg. 8.
  8. McMaster, Florence R. “Matching Books with People.” Law Library Journal 64, no. 1 (February 1971): 43-45.
  9. “McMaster Memorial.” Green Sheet: Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, 3 no. 41 (1973), pg. 3.
  10. “Mrs. Florence McMaster, IPI Law Professor, Dies.” The Indianapolis Star, 18 July 1973, pg. 52.
  11. “Names in the News.” The Indianapolis News, 22 March 1974, pg. 33.
  12. News Bureau, July 21, 1965, Florence McMaster clippings file, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  13. “Women Building IUPUI A Walking Trail,” IUPUI, http://www.iupui.edu/~history/OLDSITE/trail/assets/Women%20at%20IUPUI%20Brochure.pdf
  14. “Women’s-World News.” The Indianapolis News, 21 March 1968, pg. 29.

Notes

[1] Florence R. McMaster, “Matching Books with People,” Law Library Journal 64 no. 1 (1971), pg. 43.

[2] “Florence McMaster, J.D,” Office for Women, https://ofw.iupui.edu/Leadership/Online-Archive-Women-Creating-Excellence-at-IUPUI/Women-Creating-Excellence/FlorenceMcMaster.

[3] “Florence R. McMaster,” Who Was Who in America vol. 6, 1974-1976,.

[4] News Bureau, July 21, 1965, Florence McMaster clippings file, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

[5] “Alumni News,” University of Illinois Library Bulletin 42, no. 8 (1944), pg. 32; “Alumni News,” University of Illinois Library Bulletin 43, no. 55 (1946), pg. 21.

[6] “Alumni News,” University of Illinois Library Bulletin 43, no. 55 (1946), pg. 21.

[7] “Florence McMaster, J.D,” Office for Women, https://ofw.iupui.edu/Leadership/Online-Archive-Women-Creating-Excellence-at-IUPUI/Women-Creating-Excellence/FlorenceMcMaster.

[8] “Florence R. McMaster,” Who Was Who in America vol. 6, 1974-1976.

[9] “Florence McMaster, J.D,” Office for Women, https://ofw.iupui.edu/Leadership/Online-Archive-Women-Creating-Excellence-at-IUPUI/Women-Creating-Excellence/FlorenceMcMaster.

[10] Florence R. McMaster IUPUI Faculty Council Memorial Resolution, 1973, UA-060, IUPUI Faculty Council records, Box 12, IUPUI University Library Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

[11] “Former Terre Haute Woman Works in Law Library,” The Terre Haute Tribune, 10 December 1969, pg. 8.

[12] “Florence McMaster, J.D,” Office for Women, https://ofw.iupui.edu/Leadership/Online-Archive-Women-Creating-Excellence-at-IUPUI/Women-Creating-Excellence/FlorenceMcMaster.

[13] “Florence McMaster, J.D,” Office for Women, https://ofw.iupui.edu/Leadership/Online-Archive-Women-Creating-Excellence-at-IUPUI/Women-Creating-Excellence/FlorenceMcMaster; “Women’s-World News,” The Indianapolis News, 21 March 1968, pg. 29.

[14] “Women Building IUPUI A Walking Trail,” IUPUI, http://www.iupui.edu/~history/OLDSITE/trail/assets/Women%20at%20IUPUI%20Brochure.pdf

[15] “McMaster Memorial,”  Green Sheet: Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, 3 no. 41 (1973), pg. 3.

[16] “Names in the News,” The Indianapolis News, 22 March 1974, pg. 33.

[17] “Mrs. Florence McMaster, IPI [ Law Professor, Dies,” The Indianapolis Star, 18 July 1973, pg. 52.

Creating The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center

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By Ellie Kaverman, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant

We wish to congratulate the Black students of Indiana University whose persistent struggle for institutional recognition of their unique needs has resulted in the establishment of the Black Culture Center.–Herman Hudson, 1976.[1]

The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center (NMBCC) is the result of several decades of student advocacy at Indiana University.  Although the roots of the center can be found in 1960s student activism, the story of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center is a history of Black student life on IU Bloomington’s campus.

Marcellus Neal, 1895. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0021555
Frances Marshall, 1919. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0020504

Early History

The namesakes of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center are Marcellus Neal and Frances Marshall, the first known African American man and woman to graduate from Indiana University. Neal graduated with his A.B. in Mathematics in 1895 and Marshall graduated with her A.B. in English in 1919.[2] While Indiana University accepted Black students before many institutions in the late 19th century, Black student enrollment has been a constant challenge for this institution.

In a 1982 interview with the Indiana Daily Student, Marshall described her unique student experience at IU in the early 1900s.

When I said I was going to college, people thought I was crazy,” Marshall said. “It was unusual for a woman to go to college, especially a black woman…I never worried about being a woman going to school. I never worried about being black going to school. I just went on with what I had to do.[3]

During the over 20-year gap between Neal and Marshall’s graduations, other important milestones in Black student life occurred at Indiana University.

Some members of Kappa Alpha Psi, a few months after the fraternity formed in 1911. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0022459

In 1911, Kappa Alpha Psi, a historically Black fraternity, was founded on the Indiana University’s Bloomington campus in response to university policies that discriminated against Black students in housing and other university facilities.[4] The fraternity represented a way for Black students to build a community within the racially divided campus.

The fraternity was the first established Black Greek Letter Organization at Indiana University. In 1922, Alpha Kappa Alpha chartered Tau chapter at Indiana University becoming the first sorority for Black female students.[5]

In 1935, students formed one of the first recorded student activist organizations on campus, the Interracial Commission. The group consisted of both Black and white students concerned with the social inequities on campus with the goal of examining the university environment to pinpoint the scale of discrimination at IU.

The Interracial Commission conducted surveys of over 500 students and the results highlighted the reality of racism on campus: Black students were denied entry to honorary societies, student organizations, university dances, the campus barbershop, and more. University dining facilities and the university pool were segregated, along with housing which began accepting Black students in 1946.[6]

The commission continued to survey students, produce reports, and present them to university officials. When the commission completed its second report and presented it in 1937, it had a new audience member, the newly installed president, Herman B Wells.

President Wells was prepared to begin addressing the needs outlined in the report. This included removing signs that segregated the Indiana Memorial Union dining facilities, desegregating the pool, and working to secure better off-campus housing for Black female students (before university housing desegregated female dormitories in 1949).[7]

Apart from these reforms, the Interracial Commission lobbied university officials and local church leaders to begin educational programs on racial inequality. In April 1940, the Interracial Commission hosted a conference on racial justice, sponsored by the university and the city of Bloomington. The conference continued for  several years and served as a way to educate the community on racial injustice and discrimination.[8]

The Interracial Commission represented an early example of student activism on Indiana University, leaving a strong precedent for later Black student movements of the 1960s, which successfully petitioned for the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.

Delta Sigma Theta, 1947. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0044758

During the 1940s and 1950s, Black student life was enriched by the installation of several more Greek organizations on the Bloomington campus. Within a span of three months in 1947, the fraternities Alpha Phi Alpha and Omega Psi Phi, as well as the sorority Delta Sigma Theta, all established chapters.[9]

Thomas Atkins, 1961. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0091137

In 1960, Thomas Atkins was elected student body president–making Atkins not just the first Black individual to hold the office at IU, but also the first of any institution in the Big Ten Conference.[10]

While this victory seemingly marked a new chapter in student life at IU, the past still lingered as it received a violent backlash: the local Ku Klux Klan burned at least two crosses on campus the night Atkins was declared victorious.[11]

Student Activism: A Catalyst for Change and The Push for a Black Culture Center

During the 1960s,  student protests were held throughout college campuses across the country on a variety of subjects including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, and continuation of university policies and procedures that discriminated against students of color.

In 1967, IU students protested when Dow Chemical, a company that produced napalm gas used by the U.S. in Vietnam, came to recruit IU students to join the company after graduation.[12] During the protest several students were beaten and arrested. This event was a catalyst for more serious student activism in the following years.

Robert Johnson, 1968. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0083122 B

In the spring of 1968, one of those students who was beaten during the Dow Chemical protest, Robert Johnson, helped to create the Afro/Afro-American Student Association (AAASA) along with fellow graduate student, Clarence “Rollo” Turner.[13]

They led the AAASA and IU students in several marches on campus, where they petitioned for university administration action against racism and discrimination, as well as for better recruitment of Black faculty and students.[14]

Rollo Turner, 1968. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0030068

In an open 1968 letter to Indiana University President  Elvis J. Stahr, AAASA students demanded that more Black faculty and students be recruited and proposed a black studies program. The letter also called for a position within the university administration that would specifically advocate for issues faced by Black students.[15]

At the Statewide Conference on the Negro in Higher Education, IU President Stahr commented on the status of Black student life on Indiana University’s campus indicating a lackluster commitment to improving relations on campus.

This further ignited tensions between Black students and the university administration.[16] Consequently, in April 1968, the AAASA led a march and sit-in outside President Stahr’s home to protest his remarks and the lack of student input on the university commission on discriminatory practices.[17]

On May 10, 1968, a group of 50 students led by the AAASA staged a sit-in inside Memorial Stadium, the day before the 1968 Little 500.[18] The students’ protest centered on the often-discriminatory nature of the white Greek sororities and fraternities that participated in the Little 500.

The students asserted that, “The Greeks symbolized an acceptance by the University [administration] of discriminatory practices,” of which many university officials were members of the fraternities or sororities themselves.[19]

1968 Little 500 sit-in.Courtesy of IU Archives, P0026305

The 1968 Little 500 sit-in lasted until Sunday, when the fraternities and sororities presented evidence of having removed discriminatory clauses from their charters, apart from one fraternity that failed to produce evidence and was thus banned from that year’s race.[20]

In December 1968, the Black Market was firebombed. The Black Market  opened in the fall of 1968 and served as a Black cultural center, sold African inspired goodies, and was  an educational center for the Black community in Bloomington. The market was started by AAASA co-founder Rollo Turner and financed by Black faculty and staff .[21] Three members of the local Ku Klux Klan orchestrated the firebombing that led to the market’s destruction. [22]

Outside of the Black Market on Kirkwood Avenue, where People’s Park now stands, 1968. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0022319
The inside of the Black Market. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0022322

The land the market was on is now People’s Park and is still used for protests and gatherings.

In May 1969, just five months later, the infamous lock-in at Ballantine Hall occurred. Earlier in the academic year, university officials announced an enormous 67% raise in student tuition fees, which incited student anger across campus. A meeting between students and administrators to discuss the fee hike was planned to take place May 8, 1969.

The Ballantine Hall meeting taking place, May 1969. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0056972

That evening, a group of 150 Black students, led by Rollo Turner, interrupted the Ballantine Hall meeting and demanded to speak with the IU Trustees about the fee raise; Turner and other Black student leaders viewed  the fee hike as a method of preventing Black students from attaining college degrees at IU.[23]

Chancellor Snyder and a student exchange smiles after the lock-in, around 2:30AM. Courtesy of the Courier-Tribune, Indiana University Archives Exhibits

While the situation was intense, the conversation was productive, as noted by acting chancellor John Snyder and dean of the law school William Harvey.[24] The 1968-1969 school year came to an end after an intense and tumultuous year.

The Office of Afro-American Affairs and The Creation of the “Black House”

The Office of Afro-American Affairs was established in the spring of 1968 as part of the AAASA’s demands under the student leadership of Robert Johnson and Rollo Turner.

The faculty member who served as an advisor to AAASA, Orlando Taylor, was appointed to serve as the office’s first director. Taylor promptly suggested that in order for the office to be successful in addressing student needs, the creation of a vice chancellor administrator position was needed.

Despite some hesitation from university administration, the Bloomington Faculty Council unanimously approved the proposal for a Black studies program and the new position of vice chancellor of Afro-American Affairs.[25]

Taylor was originally extended an offer to be the first person to hold this position in April 1969, but the fallout from the Ballantine lock-in resulted in the  rescission of the position.[26]

Amid doubt as to whether the university would make good on its promise to find a vice chancellor after rescinding the offer to Taylor, the university appointed Herman Hudson as the first vice chancellor for Afro-American Affairs in 1970.

Herman Hudson, 1976. Courtesy of IU Archives, P0021181

When the office originally began in 1968, its major goals included establishing a Black Studies Program, recruiting more Black administrators and faculty for that program,  and increasing of the enrollment of Black students–all of which were now Vice Chancellor Hudson’s responsibility.[27]

The creation of the Office of Afro-American Affairs, was the first iteration of today’s Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. The office initially operated out of a building on Atwater Avenue, which became known as the “Black House.” The Black House served as an academic resource and welcoming social environment for Black students at IU. [28]

In 1972, the Black Culture Center Library opened, with Wilma Moore as the head librarian; later, in the 1990s and early 2000s, Grace Jackson-Brown led the Black Culture Center library and was responsible for computerizing its systems.[29]

 

Top: Caramel Russell, 1976. Middle: Wilma Moore, 1976. Bottom: Grace Jackson Brown, 1991. Courtesy of IU Archives: P0031157, P0022655, and P0030040

The year 1973 proved to be a vital year for the program and center. In 1973, the Office of Afro-American Affairs moved to a former fraternity house, with  a more central location on North Jordan, and was renamed the Black Culture Center.[30]

Additionally, Caramel Russell became the first director of the Black Culture Center–a position she served in for 18 years and is fondly remembered as “Mother Culture.” [31]

Top: The original 1968 “Black House” on Atwater Avenue. Courtesy IU Archives, P0022300
Bottom: The Black Culture Center Building on Jordan Avenue, 1973. Courtesy of NMBCC Librarian’s Special Collection

A pamphlet about the new Black Culture Center paints this  picture:

“The best features of the old Black House are still there–the friendliness, the informality, the quiet corners for study, the kitchen for snacks, and the stereo sounds.”[32]

In 1981, Hudson and Russell, along with other administrators, formally proposed the creation of today’s Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, a new building that would contain space for student study rooms, classrooms, rehearsal rooms, and a library. After the initial proposal, it took many years and the dedication of numerous individuals  to raise enough money to make this dream come to fruition.[33]

When Vice Chancellor Hudson stepped down in 1981, Joseph J. Russell took over the position from 1981 to 1990; Hudson served yet again from 1990 until 1993.[34] From 1993 through 1998, Elizabeth Lewis Brooks served as the director of the newly renamed, African American Culture Center.[35]

The Neal Marshall Black Culture Center and Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center. Courtesy of NMBCC Flickr

In 2001, construction was completed on the new 97,000 square foot building to house the Black Culture Center at 275 North Jordan Avenue. The following year, the building was dedicated as the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.[36]

The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center celebrated its 50th  anniversary of providing a resource and welcoming space for Black students during IU’s bicentennial celebration in 2020.

At the core of the center’s role at IU is the history of the Black student experience on campus which began in the 1900s and continues to this day.

Bibliography

  1. “1967 Dow Chemical Sit-in part 1,” Indiana University Archives Exhibit. http://collections.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/exhibits/show/studentdemonstrationsatiu/1967dowchemicalsitinpt1.
  2. “1968 Little 500 Sit-in,” Indiana University Archives Exhibits, http://collections.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/exhibits/show/studentdemonstrationsatiu/1968little500sitin.
  3. “1969 Ballantine Lock-in part 1,” Indiana University Archives Exhibits, http://collections.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/exhibits/show/studentdemonstrationsatiu/1969ballantinelockinpt1
  4. “A Brief History,” Kappa Alpha Psi. https://kappaalphapsi1911.com/page/history
  5. “About Marcellus Neal and Frances Marshall,” Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, Indiana University. https://aaads.indiana.edu/about/history/neal-and-marshall.html
  6. “Administrative History,” Indiana University Office of African American Affairs records, 1950-1998. Indiana University Archives. http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/findingaids/view?doc.view=entire_text&docId=InU-Ar-VAA2658
  7. Beck, Frank. Some Aspects of Race Relations at Indiana University, My Alma Mater.
  8. Beckley, Lindsey. “The 1968 Black Market Firebombing: Revolution and Racism in Bloomington, Indiana.” Indiana History Blog, Indiana Historical Bureau. February 11, 2020. https://blog.history.in.gov/tag/afro-afro-american-students-association/
  9. Bottoms, Megan. “If They Come, We Will Build It: The Creation of the Office of Afro-American Affairs at Indiana University,” Journal of the Student Personnel Association at Indiana University. June 11, 2017.
  10. Capshew, James H. Herman B Wells: The Promise of the American University. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012.
  11. Clapacs, J. Terry. Indiana University Bloomington: America’s legacy campus. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2017.
  12. “Historical Enrollment,” University Institutional Research and Reporting, Indiana University. https://uirr.iu.edu/facts-figures/enrollment/historical/index.html
  13. “History: Addressing a gap in access + scholarship,” Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, Indiana University. https://aaads.indiana.edu/about/history/index.html
  14. Hudson, Herman. “Acknowledgements,” Black Culture Center” Booklet, 1976. Indiana University Archives, Black Culture Center Reference Files
  15. IU Chronology,” Indiana University Archives. https://libraries.indiana.edu/iu-chronology
  16. Lesnick, Gavin. “Marshall, Neal were IU Pioneers.” Indiana Daily Student. October 18, 2005. https://www.idsnews.com/article/2005/10/marshall-neal-were-iu-pioneers
  17. Indiana University President’s Office records, Collection C304, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington
  18. IU Trustee Minutes, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
  19. Office of Afro-American Affairs, “Concept of a ‘Black House’,” Afro- American Activities” booklet page five. Accession #0784, Indiana University President’s Office records of John W. Ryan.
  20. “The Story of ‘Our House,’” Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. https://blackculture.indiana.edu/about/history.html
  21. Wynkoop, Mary Ann. Dissent in the Heartland: The Sixties at Indiana University. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002, pp. 121-130.

Notes

[1] Herman Hudson, “Acknowledgements,” Black Culture Center” Booklet, 1976. Indiana University Archives, Black Culture Center Reference Files.

[2] “About Marcellus Neal and Frances Marshall.”

[3] Gavin Lesnick, “Marshall, Neal were IU Pioneers,” Indiana Daily Student, 18 October 18, 2005. URL: https://www.idsnews.com/article/2005/10/marshall-neal-were-iu-pioneers.

[4] “A Brief History.”

[5] “The Story of ‘Our House.’”

[6] Frank Beck, Some Aspects of Race Relations at Indiana University, My Alma Mater, 1959.

[7] James Capshew, Herman B Wells: The Promise of the American University (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012), pp. 138-139, 166-170.

[8] “The Story of ‘Our House.’”

[9] “The Story of ‘Our House.’”

[10] Capshew, Herman B Wells, pg. 265.

[11] “The Story of ‘Our House.’”

[12] “1967 Dow Chemical Sit-in part 1.”

[13] Mary Ann Wynkoop, Dissent in the Heartland: The Sixties at Indiana University (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002), pp. 121-126.

[14] Megan Bottoms, “If They Come, We Will Build It: The Creation of the Office of Afro-American Affairs at Indiana University,” Journal of the Student Personnel Association at Indiana University. June 11, 2017.

[15] Wynkoop, Dissent in the Heartland, pp. 121-126

[16] Elvis J. Stahr, “Special Report to the University and the Public,” 17 May 1968, Indiana University President’s Office records, Collection C304, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.

[17] Wynkoop, Dissent in the Heartland, pp. 121-126.

[18] “1968 Little 500 Sit-in.”

[19] Bottoms, “If They Come.”

[20] “1968 Little 500 Sit-in.;” “Black Students Make Little 500 Weekend Really Great,” The Inside Agitator, no. 15, 18 May 1968, pg. 1 and 4. URL: https://collections.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/files/original/e5375722109eb1e1f0334782b8abc33c.jpg.

[21] Lindsey Beckley, “The 1968 Black Market Firebombing: Revolution and Racism in Bloomington, Indiana.” Indiana History Blog, Indiana Historical Bureau, 11 February 2020.

[22] Beckley, “The 1968 Black Market Firebombing.”

[23] “1969 Ballantine Lock-in part 1.”

[24] Bottoms, “If They Come.”

[25] Bottoms, “If They Come.”

[26] IU Trustee Minutes, 24 May 1969, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.

[27] “Administrative History.”

[28] “History: Addressing a gap in access + scholarship.”

[29] “The Story of ‘Our House.’”

[30] “History: Addressing a gap in access + scholarship.”

[31] “The Story of ‘Our House.’”

[32] Office of Afro-American Affairs.

[33] “The Story of ‘Our House.’”

[34] IU Trustee Minutes, 07 April 1990, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington; IU Trustee Minutes, 24 August 1993, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington

[35]  “The Story of ‘Our House.’”

[36] J. Terry Clapacs,. Indiana University Bloomington: America’s Legacy Campus (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2017) pg. 111.

Elinor Ostrom: An Uncommon Scholar

Posted on by sajacobi

By: Alexandria Ruschman, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2021, International Studies and Central Eurasian Studies, IU Bloomington

Edited by: Ellie Kaverman and Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistants

It’s not just elected officials and top executives who are brilliant. There are many individuals who have pretty good insights. I want to enable them.[1]–Elinor Ostrom

Elinor Ostrom, 2009. Photo courtesy of Ostrom Workshop

Indiana University’s history is full of countless faculty members who led groundbreaking academic careers, all while contributing to the improvement of IU and local communities. There is possibly no better example of this than Elinor Ostrom, longtime professor of political science at Indiana University and the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009.

While Ostrom is best known for her Nobel Prize winning work on shared governance of the “The Commons,” the many IU faculty, staff, and students who worked closely with her  knew her as an outstanding colleague, mentor, and teacher.

In the last decade, nearly two dozen of her students have received National Science Foundation (NSF) support for their dissertation research, a truly remarkable record.[2] Ostrom s earned countless awards and honors for her academic contributions, including election to five major national academies and ten honorary doctorates from around the world.

One of her most visible legacies at IU Bloomington is the Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. Founded in 1973 by Ostrom and her husband, Vincent Ostrom, the workshop was renamed after them in 2012.

Ostrom overcame multiple obstacles throughout her life, including poverty, a speech impediment, anti-Semitism, and sexism as she pushed forward in her groundbreaking work, during a time when women were not expected to pursue careers at all, much less a ground-breaking one.

Early Life and Education

Elinor “Lin” Ostrom was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression.[3] Her father worked as an artist who made set designs for Hollywood while her mother was a musician.[4] The Great Depression promptly stripped Ostrom’s father of his job, and he ended up laying bricks to support the family.[5]

The family struggled to make ends meet while living in the lower outskirts of Beverly Hills. Ostrom later reflected that her family remained fed through their large backyard which contained their “victory garden,” complete with fruit trees and a vegetable garden.

Ostrom’s mother was able to secure a waiver for her daughter to attend school in the Beverly Hills school district. This allowed Ostrom access to an excellent education and high student expectations. Later in a 2009 interview, Ostrom credited this event in her life as the catalyst for her life in academia: “I would not have gone to college without being in that environment. My mom had no more than high school, and my dad had no more than high school… but I went because all my friends were going. It was a high school where everyone went to college.”[6]

While at school in Beverly Hills, Ostrom faced the reality of being the “poor kid in the rich kid’s school,” as well as a speech impediment, stuttering, and anti-Semitism.[7]

As a young child, Ostrom was the target of anti-Semitic bullying; children would surround and taunt her because her father was Jewish and her mother was Protestant. Ostrom later reflected that, “Having that experience as a kid and being a woman and having that challenge as it has been at different times to be a woman. I’ve got pretty good sympathy for people who are not necessarily at the center of civic appreciation.”[8]

Ostrom joined the debate team during her junior year of high school, which helped to reduce her stutter and exposed her to the craft of forming arguments on difficult policy questions. She also swam competitively and taught swimming to earn money for college.[9] Ostrom graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1951 and gave a speech at commencement titled, “Is There a World Tomorrow?”[10]

Ostrom went on to attend college at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). As a first-generation college student, Ostrom supported herself financially by working at the library, a dime store, and at the university bookstore. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in political science in 1954. After earning her degree, Ostrom worked in a clerical pool and eventually as an assistant personnel manager, an unusual job for women at the time.[11]

Elinor Ostrom, 1968. Photo courtesy of Ostrom Workshop

Ostrom returned to UCLA to work on her master’s degree in political science, earning it in 1962. Shortly afterwards, Ostrom began working on her doctorate in the same field, despite some hesitation from the UCLA faculty who were reluctant to allow women into the program.[12] Ostrom earned her doctorate in political science in 1965; she wrote her dissertation on ground water basin management in California, foreshadowing much of her later work on resource management.[13]

That same year, 1965, Ostrom’s husband and fellow political scientist, Vincent, was offered a professorship at Indiana University Bloomington. The university extended an offer to Ostrom as a visiting assistant professor.[14] Lin and Vincent Ostrom were bound for Bloomington, where they would spend the rest of their careers and lives.

Ostrom in Indiana and “the Commons”

After a year of teaching early morning classes to freshmen, Ostrom was promoted to a graduate advisor and assistant professor in 1966. She went on to become a vital member of the department throughout her tenure at IUB.

She was promoted to associate professor and then to professor of political science in 1969 and 1974 respectively. In 1980, Ostrom was appointed chair of the political science department, a position she served in until 1984, and again from 1989-90.[15] In 1991, she was appointed Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science.

Elinor Ostrom, 1975. Photo courtesy of IU Archives, P0051225

In 1973, Ostrom and her husband established what would become a major part of their legacy at Indiana University: The Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. The workshop brought together scholars and students across disciplines to collaborate in research that works to better understand institutions and governance through unique ecological, social, and economic settings.[16]

The workshop initially began in a former fraternity house near campus.[17] Its emphasis on using an interdisciplinary approach to better understand institutions mirrored Ostrom’s own methodology. She served as co-director alongside her husband until 2009, when she became the senior research director.

Her dedication to approaching societal problems through interdisciplinary collaboration was highlighted by her time as a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, where she worked part-time for much of her time at IU.[18]

Elinor and Vincent Ostrom. Photo courtesy of the Ostrom Workshop

The workshop’s interdisciplinary approach is best described by Ostrom herself, in her autobiographical piece for the Nobel Prize:

If the research that one wants to pursue can all be done sitting in a library carrel somewhere in one’s home institution, then one does not need to develop the equivalent of a Workshop. However, if one is trying to understand and test theory in the field and in the experimental lab and to really pursue in-depth studies of diverse institutional arrangements around the world, then working with colleagues located in diverse settings at various stages of their careers is crucial for making scientific progress.[19]

According to Ostrom, she spent her first 15 years at IUB studying a type of resource management: police departments of all sizes across the United States and their differing capability of delivering services to the community.[20]

During the next 15 years, however, she returned to her dissertation topic of common pool resources; the debate surrounding the commons helped to launch Ostrom into academic stardom in 2009. After years of research, she published her award-winning theory, “Governing of the Commons,” in 1990.

Elinor Ostrom, undated. Photo courtesy of Ostrom Workshop

Ostrom’s work directly challenged Garrett Hardin’s popular theory, “Tragedy of the Commons,” published in 1968. Hardin’s “Tragedy” theory argued that individuals will selfishly use limited shared resources for their own self-interests until the resource is completely depleted.

In her 1990 book, Governing of the Commons, Ostrom countered against this and proposed that allowing individual to govern the common pool resource was the ideal governing method, instead of inviting potentially otherwise-motivated government or private sector entities to govern the resource.[21]

In her book, she wrote, “The power of a theory is exactly proportional to the diversity of situations it can explain.”[22]

Ostrom said she first recognized this while she was a doctoral student at UCLA; in her search for finding a more optimistic answer to better the ways of governing, she found evidence from all over the world, from “Japanese fisherman and Swiss farmers [that] still relied on handshake agreements dating to the 1500s.”[23]

Ostrom’s theory ignited research on shared governance, common pool resources, and “the commons” around the world. Ostrom revolutionized thinking on how individuals could actually regulate and govern their shared resources without the assumption that private entities and governments could do it better.[24]

During her Nobel lecture, Ostrom concisely stated: “What we have ignored is what citizens can do and the importance of real involvement of the people involved—versus just having someone in Washington…make a rule.”[25]

Elinor Ostrom, giving a lecture in Copenhagen just days after accepting the Nobel Prize in Economics, 2009. Photo courtesy of Ostrom Workshop

In 2009, Ostrom was awarded the Nobel Sveriges Riksbank Prize for Economic Sciences “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.”[26]  This made her the first woman to earn the prize and the first Indiana University faculty member to earn the prize for Economic Sciences.

The World as The Commons

Throughout her work and research on the commons, Ostrom fostered connections with fisheries, forests, fields, water supplies, institutions, and other shared resources across the world. She made extensive field visits in Nepal, Nigeria, and Kenya and research visits to Australia, Bolivia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, and Zimbabwe.[27]

After the publication of her 1990 book, research centers began to pop up in many of the areas that Ostrom studied.[28] The emergence of such centers bolstered Ostrom’s argument of the commons: that the best people to manage a community’s resources are the individuals who are closest to the resource, instead of a governmental or private entity.

In 2006, while Ostrom was still committed to her own research and teaching at Indiana University, she forged a close relationship with Arizona State University, establishing its Center for the Study of Institutional Diversity. From its inception until her death in 2012, Ostrom served as the Founding Director of the Center, and regularly traveled back and forth between Indiana and Arizona.[29]

Ostrom’s connection with the world is apparent through examining the sheer amount of her worldwide recognition. She was honored with 10 honorary doctorates, from institutions in India, France, Norway, Canada, Germany, and Sweden.[30]

Ostrom’s Legacy

Ostrom’s unique, interdisciplinary approach to studying human and institutional behavior resulted in to a towering scholarly presence in various fields such as political science, economics, law, and psychology.

In her Nobel lecture, Ostrom spoke of the complex relationships within and between communities and institutions:

There’s a five-letter word I would like to repeat and repeat and repeat: Trust…We must learn how to deal with complexity rather than rejecting it. And we should not be proposing panaceas.[31]

Throughout her life, Ostrom held numerous leadership positions and won prestigious awards, often becoming the first woman to do so. She was the first female chair of the department of political science at IU and she served as the president of the American Political Science Association in 1996-1997.

In 2012, Time magazine named Ostrom as one of 100 most influential people in the world.[32]

Her impact on the world can be estimated by her extensive publication record, which includes over 30 books, hundreds of journal articles, book chapters, and presentations.

Ostrom being interviewed in 2009, after being announced as a Nobel Laureate. Photo courtesy of Ostrom Workshop

She received funding for her work from the Mellon Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the United Nations Development Program, the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, USAID, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Institute of Mental Health.

In 2010, Indiana University honored both Elinor and Vincent Ostrom’s pioneering contributions to the campus and the world with the University Medal, the highest award by the university.

In 2012, Ostrom passed away from cancer at the age of 78.[33] Right up to her death, Ostrom worked tirelessly–the day before she died, she sent email messages to her co-authors regarding the collaboration on their research and papers.[34]

In October 2019, the IU Bicentennial honored Ostrom with a historical marker, located outside of Woodburn Hall, the longtime location of her office and the political science department.

During the ceremony, it was announced that Ostrom will also be honored with the creation of a bronze statue sitting on a bench outside of Woodburn Hall. She is the first woman to be honored with a statue on the IU Bloomington campus.

Little by little, bit by bit, family by family, so much good can be done on so many levels.[35]–Elinor Ostrom, 2009

Bibliography

  1. “About Us.” Ostrom Workshop, Indiana University. https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/about/index.html
  2. Arrow, Kenneth J. et al. “Elinor Ostrom: An uncommon woman for the commons.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109,33 (2012): 13135–13136. doi:10.1073/pnas.1210827109
  3. Carpenter, Dan. “Thinking globally small,” Indianapolis Star, February 21, 2010. Page B11.
  4. “Elinor Ostrom.” IU News Room, April 6, 2020. https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/13922.html
  5. Elinor Ostrom – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. Thu. 21 May 2020. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2009/ostrom/biographical/
  6. Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012. Ostrom Workshop. https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/pdf/CVs/eostrom_vitae.pdf
  7. “Elinor Ostrom, Indiana University faculty member, wins Nobel Prize for Economics.” IU News Room, October 12, 2009. https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news-archive/12185.html
  8. “First Woman to be Awarded Nobel Economics Prize Dies” The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Indiana), 14 Jun 2012, Page A4
  9. “Her Place in History” The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana), 11 Dec 2009, Page A1
  10. Hinnefeld, Steve. “Nobel Lecture: ‘We Must Learn How to Deal with Complexity’” The Reporter-Times (Martinsville, Indiana), 9 Dec 2009, Wed, Page 5
  11. “IU professor Elinor Ostrom named to Time’s list of 100 most influential people.” IU News Room, April 12, 2012. https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/22018.html
  12. McFeely, Dan. “Nobel Mettle” The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana), 6 Dec 2009, Page A1
  13. “Nobel” The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana), 13 Oct 2009, Page A4.
  14. Ostrom, Elinor. “Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action,” 1990.
  15. “The story of non-economist Elinor Ostrom”. The Swedish Wire. December 9, 2009. Archived from the original on December 14, 2009.https://web.archive.org/web/20120416020256/http://www.swedishwire.com/business/1985-the-story-of-non-economist-elinor-ostrom?start=1
  16. “The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2009.” NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2019. Mon. 6 May 2019. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2009/summary/.
  17. Vlad, Tarko (2017). Elinor Ostrom: an intellectual biography. London.
  18. Woo, Elaine. “Elinor Ostrom dies at 78; first woman to win Nobel in economics.” Los Angeles Times. June 13, 2012. https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-xpm-2012-jun-13-la-me-elinor-ostrom-20120613-story.html.

Notes

[1] Carpenter, Dan.

[2] “Elinor Ostrom.”

[3] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”

[4] Woo, Elaine.

[5] McFeely, Dan.

[6] McFeely, Dan.

[7] McFeely, Dan.

[8]  “The story of non-economist Elinor Ostrom”

[9] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”

[10] Vlad, Tarko.

[11] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”

[12] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”

[13] Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012.

[14] Woo, Elaine.

[15] Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012.

[16] “About Us.”

[17] McFeely, Dan.

[18] Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012.

[19] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”

[20] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”

[21] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”

[22] Ostrom, Elinor.

[23] McFeely, Dan.

[24] “Her Place in History”

[25] “First Woman to be Awarded Nobel Economics Prize Dies”

[26] The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2009.

[27] Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012.

[28] McFeely, Dan.

[29] Arrow, Kenneth J. et al.

[30] Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012.

[31] Hinnefeld, Steve.

[32] “IU professor Elinor Ostrom named to Time’s list of 100 most influential people.”

[33] “First Woman to be Awarded Nobel Economics Prize Dies”

[34] Arrow, Kenneth J. et al.

[35] McFeely, Dan.

Marjorie Leamnson Stonehill: Promoting Continuing Education

Posted on by sajacobi

By: Samantha Riley, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2020, French and Anthropology, IUPUI

Edited by: Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant

“We have courses for fun, self-help and some that might be job-related.”

–Marjorie Leamnson Stonehill[1]

Marjorie Leamnson Stonehill, Courtesy of IUPUI University Library, Special Collections and Archives UA24-007252

Stonehill joined IUPUI in 1970 as the coordinator of continuing education in the school of continuing education and  retired as associate dean.[2] Throughout her tenure at IUPUI, Stonehill worked to expand continuing education opportunities and assist adult students in their educational goals.

Early Life and Education

Marjorie Leamnson Stonehill was born on January 10, 1925 to Arthur and Gertrude Phillips.

A native Hoosier, Stonehill attended Butler University and received a bachelor of arts degree in journalism. She went on to attend IUPUI  where she earned her master’s degree in education.[3]

Stonehill came to IUPUI as an instructor in 1970 as the coordinator of continuing education; she became the director of the school in 1973. [4]

Career

While director  she also taught courses within the school and served on various campus committees  including Frances Rhome’s affirmative action committee.[5]

During Stonehill’s early years, the school of continuing education offered both credit and non-credit courses for  adults in the Indianapolis area, covering topics from flower arranging,  foreign languages, and parent effectiveness training.[6] Most of the enrolled students were from middle class backgrounds and often came from specific  parts  of the city.

As director, Stonehill made an effort to reach demographics beyond the school’s existing student population. Under her leadership, the school increased its student enrollment and number of course offerings.[7] She facilitated the school’s efforts to increase diverse enrollment such as giving senior citizens and IUPUI faculty special discounts on courses.

Marjorie Stonehill, Courtesy of IUPUI University Library, Special Collections and Archives UA24-008604

With Stonehill’s direction, a course, “How to Study in College,” was geared  towards college-bound high school students to help prepare them for college, and the school hosted numerous  seminars for professionals, such as a professional development seminar for secretaries.[8]

Creating a Space for Women: Continuing Studies Center for Women

In addition to facilitating programs to diversify student enrollment in continuing  studies, Stonehill made a concerted effort to create programming and resources for women. As coordinator, she oversaw conferences like Women, Higher Education, and Law, which discussed affirmative action and sex discrimination laws in regards to higher education.

She also oversaw seminars like Women and the World of Work.[9] Once she became director, Stonehill expanded her efforts and created the Center for Continuing Studies for Women, a precursor to the present day IUPUI Office for Women.

Continuing Studies Center for Women, Courtesy of IUPUI University Library, Special Collections and Archives UA24-003700

Stonehill appointed Maureen Prevost to run the center, which opened in 1975.[10] The center provided services and resources for women seeking continuing education, such as job placement, resume development, as well as classes, seminars, and workshops.[11] It was designed to be a welcoming environment for women who were considering returning to school or the workforce and were intimidated by the university atmosphere.[12]

Stonehill understood the value of having women in positions of authority, especially in her own career, “I have never objected to being a ‘token woman’ because I’ve considered that as an opportunity to make it easier for the next woman to be chosen because of herself and not just because they need a woman.”[13]

Contributions

In addition to serving as a professor and director of the school of continuing studies, Stonehill frequently engaged with her community, focusing her interest in continuing education for women; for instance, she spoke at several meetings, such as the Indianapolis Council of Women, on this subject.[14]

She worked as a co-publisher of  the Zionsville Times Newspaper and published a weekly column, “A Woman’s View.” She also wrote several letters to the editor that were published in the Indianapolis Star.[15] In addition to this, Stonehill served in the Woman’s Press Club of Indiana as chairman and oversaw scholarships.[16]

In honor of her contributions to a variety of  communities, Stonehill received numerous awards. In 1981, the Network of Women in Business awarded her the Business Woman of the Year and two years later she received the Adult Education Association’s Distinguished Service Award and was recognized by the Indiana Council of Continuing Education for her dedication to ensuring continuing education in Indiana. The Society of Retired Executives  awarded Stonehill the Frederick R. Hadley Service Award in 1988. [17]

Legacy

Stonehill was eventually promoted  to associate dean, and later assistant dean, of IU’s  school of continuing studies, but still stayed on at the IUPUI school of continuing education as its director.[18]

She remained in her position as director until her retirement in 1983. She passed away on January 22, 2007.[19]

Stonehill’s dedication to continuing education is still visible today with the IUPUI Center for Women (formerly the Continuing Studies Center for Women) and the IUPUI Division of General Studies in Liberal Arts, formerly the  school of continuing studies.[20]

Bibliography

  1. “Council to meet,” The Indianapolis Star, 23 October 1982, pg. 16.
  2. Division of Continuing Education. (1974). New Courses and Programs. (UA032, Box 4). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  3. IUPUI Continuing Education. (1975). Center for Women [brochure]. IUPUI School of Continuing Education Records. (UA032, Box 7). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  4. “IUPUI School of Continuing Studies,” IUPUI Campus Bulletin 2012-2014, accessed 20 May 2020.
  5. Lamm, Jean. (1977, January 30). A new direction in middle-age encouraged by university dean. The Indianapolis Star, 2.
  6. Kreuscher, Jan. “Center for women opens its new doors.” The Indianapolis News, 19 September 1975, pg. 12.
  7. Leamnson, Marjorie. (1972, July 11). Correspondence from Marjorie Leamnson to Sylvia Bowman. (UA032, Box 2). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  8. Leamnson, Marjorie. (1974). Annual Report 1973-1974. (UA032, Box 4). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.
  9. “Marjorie L. Stonehill Obituary.” The Indianapolis Star, 25 January 2007. URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=marjorie-l-stonehill&pid=144770966
  10. “Marjorie Leamnson Stonehill,” IUPUI Office for Women, Accessed 20 May 2020.
  11. McCarty, Suzanne. “Many Yearn, Then Learn.” The Indianapolis News, 12 September 1980, pg. 2.
  12. “Press Club Scholarships,” Tipton County Tribune, 24 March 1988, pg. 3.
  13. Stonehill, Marjorie Leamnson. (1976). Summary of Activities, Division of Continuing Education, Indiana University- Purdue University at Indianapolis. (UA032, Box 4). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Notes

[1] Suzanne McCarty, “Many Yearn, Then Learn,” The Indianapolis News, 12 September 1980, pg. 2.

[2] Jean Lamm, “A new direction in middle-age encouraged by university dean,” The Indianapolis Star, 30 January 1977, pg. 2.

[3] “Marjorie L. Stonehill Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 25 January 2007. URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=marjorie-l-stonehill&pid=144770966.

[4] “Marjorie Leamnson Stonehill,” IUPUI Office for Women, Accessed 20 May 2020.

[5] Marjorie Leamnson Stonehill, (1976). Summary of Activities, Division of Continuing Education, Indiana University- Purdue University at Indianapolis, (UA032, Box 4), Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

[6] Division of Continuing Education, (1974). New Courses and Programs. (UA032, Box 4). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

[7] Stonehill, Summary

[8] Marjorie Leamnson, (1974). Annual Report 1973-1974. (UA032, Box 4). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

[9] Marjorie Leamnson (1972, July 11). Correspondence from Marjorie Leamnson to Sylvia Bowman. (UA032, Box 2). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

[10] Jan Kreuscher, “Center for women opens its new doors,” The Indianapolis News, 19 September 1975,  pg. 12.

[11] IUPUI Continuing Education. (1975). Center for Women [brochure]. IUPUI School of Continuing Education Records. (UA032, Box 7). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

[12] Kreuscher, Center

[13] Lamm, A new direction

[14] “Council to meet,” The Indianapolis Star, 23 October 1982, pg. 16.

[15] “Marjorie L. Stonehill Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 25 January 2007. URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=marjorie-l-stonehill&pid=144770966.

[16] “Press Club Scholarships,” Tipton County Tribune, 24 March 1988, pg. 3.

[17] “IUPUI School of Continuing Studies,” IUPUI Campus Bulletin 2012-2014, accessed 20 May 2020.

[18] Ibid.

[19] “Marjorie L. Stonehill Obituary,” The Indianapolis Star, 25 January 2007. URL: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=marjorie-l-stonehill&pid=144770966.

[20] “IUPUI School of Continuing Studies,” IUPUI Campus Bulletin 2012-2014, accessed 20 May 2020.

Clare Assue: Psychiatrist and Medical Director

Posted on by sajacobi

By: Samantha Riley, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2020, French and Anthropology, IUPUI

Edited by: Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant

“I don’t think that sympathy is very therapeutic”-Clare Assue[1]

Clare Assue, Courtesy of IUPUI University Library, Special Collections and Archives UA24-883-1703-002

Clare Assue held multiple roles at the IU School of Medicine and Larue Carter Hospital. Working as a professor, advisor, clinician, and coordinator for these two organizations, she influenced numerous people around her.

Those who worked with her remembered Assue as a figure who led from behind the scenes and who was crucial to the growth and evolution of the School of Medicine’s department of psychiatry,  as well as Larue Carter Hospital.

Early Life and Education

On December 27, 1922, in New York City, Clare Assue was born to Charles and Ada Assue.[2] She attended and graduated from Hunter College  in 1949.[3] Afterwards, Assue moved to Washington D.C. where she earned her medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine in 1954.[4]

While she completed her first year of residency at Indiana University School of Medicine, Assue moved back to Washington D.C. to finish the rest of her residency at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.[5]

Career

After completing her residency, Assue returned to Indiana in 1958 and settled in Indianapolis, where she remained for the rest of her career. She worked simultaneously as an instructor in the department of psychiatry at the Indiana University School of Medicine and as a psychiatrist at Larue Carter Hospital.[6]

Due to her dedication and hard work, Assue rose through the ranks in the university and the hospital. She eventually became a full professor of psychiatry and the director of medical education at the Indiana University School of Medicine, in 1972 and 1977 respectively.[7]

Clare Assue, Courtesy of IUPUI University Library, Special Collections and Archives UA24-005261

At Larue Carter Hospital, Assue was promoted to  medical director and superintendent in 1982. This promotion resulted in Assue becoming the first African American psychiatrist to run a hospital of this  size in the United States. As superintendent, she directed the hospital through financial difficulties while maintaining a standard of care for patients.[8]

Assue’s peers praised her work at Larue Carter Hospital and viewed her as “a leader in making practical clinical application of the more recent theories regarding psychiatric care.”[9]

Because Assue worked in both institutions and engrossed herself in many different projects, she aided in bridging the gap between both institutions.

In 1961, Assue joined the residency training program in order to instruct and advise psychiatric residents. When the director position of the training program became vacant in 1979, Assue was “clearly the person” to take over the program.[10]

However, the program was not without its issues, primarily the difficulty it had in attracting medical school students to psychiatry and questions regarding program funding between the university and hospital.[11]

Under her direction, the residency program became an open and accepting environment to all students, attracting students with diverse  backgrounds  to the program. During a period of uncertainty, Assue consolidated and organized the program, all while advising residents and students, teaching courses, and treating patients.[12]

Contributions

In addition to her work as a professor and clinician, Assue gave back to her community. She gave talks that educated the  public about people with mental disorders. For instance, she presented to  the Indianapolis Association of Personnel Women that people with mental disorders should receive the same considerations as other employees while working.[13]

Assure served her community by being in the Board of Directors for St. Richard’s Schools and for the Community Service Council. She also served as a member of the Juvenile Justice Commission and as an examiner for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Because of her dedication to public service, Indiana governor Robert Orr awarded Assue the Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1987, the state’s highest honor.[14]

Assue’s Legacy

 As a professor and clinician, Assue accumulated numerous accomplishments. While other people would revel in their accomplishments, Assue remained modest. Her colleagues recognized her as a sensible, rational, and stable person, though they acknowledged that she was “always reluctant to be placed in the limelight.”[15]

Assue maintained her dedication to her work, even after she became ill. She continued a full work schedule as professor at the School of Medicine and as the superintendent of Larue Carter Hospital until she had to retire in 1989 due to  illness.[16]

Assue passed away on August 28, 1990, but left behind a legacy of over 30 years of service to the psychiatric and wider community of Indianapolis.[17] Following her death, the Clare M. Assue Fund of the Association for the Advancement of Mental Health, Research and Education wasestablished, continuing her dedication and legacy to teaching and mental health.[18]

Bibliography

  1. Assue, Clare. (1980, July 29). Curriculum vitae. (Clare Assue personnel clippings file). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana
  2. Bowman, Elizabeth S., and Philip M. Coons. Psychiatry in Indiana: The first 175 years. iUniverse, 2010
  3. “Ex-hospital official Clare Assue dies.” The Indianapolis News, 30 August 1990, p. 43.
  4. Hendrie, personal communication, June 19, 2018
  5. Jareczek, Bob. “Mentally Ill on Job ‘Need No Favors.’” The Indianapolis News, 11 November 1970, pg. 63.
  6. Sharpley, P & Morton, P & Fisher, W. (1990). Memorial resolution on behalf of Clare Assue, M.D. (Clare Assue personnel clippings file). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Notes

[1] Bob Jareczek, “Mentally Ill on Job ‘Need No Favors,’” The Indianapolis News, 11 November 1970, pg. 63.

[2] “Clare Assue Death Certificate,” Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1990; Roll: 14.

[3] “Clare Assue,” in Elizabeth Bowman and Philip M. Coons, Psychiatry in Indiana: The first 175 years, (iUniverse, 2010).

[4] Assue, Clare. (1980, July 29). Curriculum vitae. (Clare Assue personnel clippings file). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

[5] “Clare Assue,” in Elizabeth Bowman and Philip M. Coons, Psychiatry in Indiana: The first 175 years, (iUniverse, 2010).

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Sharpley, P & Morton, P & Fisher, W. (1990). Memorial resolution on behalf of Clare Assue, M.D. (Clare Assue personnel clippings file). Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana.

[10] H. Hendrie, personal communication, June 19, 2018

[11] Ibid.

[12] Hendrie, 2018

[13] Bob Jareczek, “Mentally Ill on Job ‘Need No Favors,’” The Indianapolis News, 11 November 1970, pg. 63.

[14] “Clare Assue,” in Elizabeth Bowman and Philip M. Coons, Psychiatry in Indiana: The first 175 years, (iUniverse, 2010).

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ex-hospital official Clare Assue dies. (1990, August 30). The Indianapolis News, p. 43.

[17] “Clare Assue Death Certificate,” Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1990; Roll: 14.

[18] “Ex-hospital official Clare Assue dies,” The Indianapolis News, 30 August 1990, pg. 43.

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