The University of British Columbia Library can now offer an unprecedented glimpse into the world of Florence Nightingale thanks to a new online collection of her correspondence.
UBC Library recently digitized the collection — by scanning each letter and making its image available online — to celebrate National Nursing Week (May 7-13) and Canada Health Day on May 12, the anniversary of the nursing icon’s birthday.
The collection features 159 letters written by and to Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), recognized as the founder of modern nursing. She was also a philosopher, reformer, hospital designer, public health advocate and statistician.
“As far as we know, ours is the largest collection of digitized Nightingale letters available,” says University Archivist Chris Hives.
“Often the papers created by famous people such as Florence Nightingale are widely sought after,” says Hives, “and they are broadly disseminated with many holdings throughout the world.”
Many of the letters were written by Nightingale to her long-time friend, Mme. Julius Mohl. Woodward Biomedical Library at UBC acquired much of the Nightingale correspondence from a Boston book dealer in the 1960s. A link to the collection, and other digitized works, is at http://angel.library.ubc.ca.
Nightingale’s trademark qualities of modesty, faith and diligence speak loudly in her letters. Her correspondence to fellow nurses on New Year’s Day, 1878, touches on many aspects of her thoughts and practices, including her strong religious beliefs, her views of patient care, her nursing philosophy and more:
- “…if you knew me, you would know that I need deliverance perhaps more than any one of you, perhaps more than all of you put together…”
- “don’t be afraid of seeming ‘unlearned & ignorant’….The best trained Nurse is ‘unlearned & ignorant.’”
- “And oh remember, please, that each one of those Patients – is a ‘temple of God.’ Let us not shame Him in His temple.”
The letters also reveal a keen sense of humour. For example, in an 1869 letter to Mohl, she comments that, “You must sometimes trample on the toes of Political Economists, just to make them feel whether they are standing on firm ground.”
To make the collection searchable online, each letter has been transcribed into typed words. Providing some of the transcriptions were Lynn McDonald, a pre-eminent Nightingale scholar and professor emerita at the University of Guelph. A link to McDonald’s site is provided on UBC’s Nightingale site, along with links to collections of digitized Nightingale letters at other universities.
“Digitization significantly aids researchers by allowing for a virtual collection of these disparate resources on the Web,” says Hives. “By contributing our own unique holdings, UBC Library helps support ongoing scholarship.”
“This collection of letters adds to the enormous body of her writings, which is scattered in various archives and museums around the world,” says Glennis Zilm, an Honorary Professor at UBC’s School of Nursing. “The links on this website will help connect students and scholars internationally.”
Contacts
For comments on digitization and the Nightingale project:
Chris Hives, University Archivist
Tel: 604.827.3951
E-mail: chris.hives@ubc.ca
For comments on Florence Nightingale and the broader significance of the digitized letters:
Glennis Zilm
Honorary Professor, UBC School of Nursing
Tel: 604.535.3238
E-mail: gzilm@telus.net
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