The work of many hands this summer has involved making more accessible the Josephine A. Dolan Collection’s books and other published items housed in the Eleanor Krohn Herrmann Reading Room (in the Widmer Wing of Storrs Hall on the UConn Storrs campus).
School of Nursing staff member Lisa Soder and one of her student workers sorted the collection (into three groups, items published before 1900, items published between 1900 and 1940, and items published after 1940 [i.e., during the history of the School]).
University Archivist Betsy Pittman and School of Nursing Librarian Val Banfi then culled the collection in order to determine historical value, relevance, and focus. Many books have been deaccessioned, some sent to UConn’s Archives and Special Collections, others to Babbidge Library.
The remaining books have been returned to the Herrmann Reading Room’s lower cabinets (along three walls of the room) and organized thematically.
Starting to your left as you enter the room:
Cabinets 1, 2, and 3: Aesthetic Ways of Knowing (art, literature, popular culture, including a complete set of the Cherry Ames novels donated by alumni)
Cabinets 3, 4, 5, and 6: Personal Ways of Knowing (biography, memoir, essays, personal writing, including books by and about Florence Nightingale and Virginia Henderson)
Cabinets 7 and 8: Early Popular Health and Narratives (18th, 19th, and early 20th century)
Cabinets 8 and 9: Nursing Fundamentals
Cabinet 9: Nursing Essentials; Anatomy and Physiology; Medical/Surgical Nursing; Home Care; ENT Care
Cabinet 10: Mental Health Nursing; Public Health Nursing; Professional Issues; Nursing Education
Cabinet 11: History of Medicine (professional, diseases, wellness)
Cabinet 12: Reference Works (handbooks, dictionaries, materia medica guides)
Cabinet 13: Red Cross (history, first-aid, and home care); Wartime Nursing
Cabinet 14: Institutional Histories (e.g., hospitals); Scholarly Books
Cabinet 15: Institutional Histories (e.g., schools of nursing, nursing professional organizations and honor societies)
Cabinet 16: Historiographical References; Surveys of Nursing History
Cabinet 17: Surveys of Nursing History (textbooks)
Cabinet 18: Back Issues of Nursing History Review (published by the American Association for the History of Nursing); Surveys of Nursing History (Goodnow’s and Dolan’s)
The Herrmann Reading Room is secured but faculty can access it using their ID cards. Items in the collection do not circulate and should not be removed from the reading room, which is equipped with a spacious glass-topped table and Connecticut Hitchcock chairs donated by alumni.