Health Professions
A Note on the Washington University School of Nursing Uniform
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| Theresa Borick, a 1910 graduate of the Washington University Training School for Nurses, wearing the first uniform of the school. |
During the first years of the Washington University Training School for Nurses, the probationers (beginning students) wore a short-sleeved, blue and white stripe uniform, with a buster brown white collar, black tie, black shoes, and stockings. Over the uniform was worn a white gathered apron and a square overall-type bib. After the probationary period, the students wore a dark blue uniform with a bib. The first school cap was tri-cornered, and designed by Dr. Meyer Wiener, an instructor in Ophthalmology in the Medical School (and later a leading eye surgeon). The cap was soon discarded as burdensome – it could not be easily laundered and reshaped – and replaced by a more practical cap designed by the School’s superintendent, Menia Tye.
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| Washington University School of Nursing students, 1936 |
The school uniform changed when Lottie A. Darling took over as superintendent of the Training School in 1911. Miss Darling felt the dark blue uniform was not dignified enough and she sought the assistance of Grace Richards Jones, the president of the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Board of Managers, in choosing a new uniform. The two women chose a small gingham check of green and white, purchased from a company in New York. During both the First and Second World Wars, the material was unavailable and a substitute uniform was used. A blue-striped gingham was used as a substitute during World War I.
The Nurses’ Alumnae Bulletin, “The Cherry Tree News,” described the 1943 substitute student uniform: “The bib, apron, and uniform are all in one since there is a scarcity of green check material. The entire skirt is white and the back and sleeves green. The bib, which is now a part of the dress proper, is topped with a soft white pointed collar. The cuffs are attached to the sleeves and are also of soft material. There is a pocket in the side of the skirt for pen, watch, etc. A neat uniform, but the students can’t escape wearing slips like their predecessors did!”
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| Washington University School of Nursing students, early 1950s |
The School returned to the green and white check uniform after both wars. In 1950 a new student uniform was adopted: a jade green dress with a one-piece, button-on apron-bib combination. The dress, apron, and cap were worn when caring for patients. The dress without the apron was worn when attending classes or when making home visits on ward or clinic patients.
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