C U R R E N T  O F F I C E R S

President, Connie Morris                          Treasurer, Maryanne McCurdy                          Associates Personal Touch Chair, Terry Simone
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2 0 2 3 - 2 0 2 4  M E E T I N G S  &  E V E N T S

Fall Meeting
Date: Thursday, September 21, 2023
Time: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Location: Petite Violette, 2948 Clairmont Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30329
Parking: Valet included in ticket price
Registration Page: https://www.engage.emory.edu/AssociatesFall23Meeting  
RSVP Deadline: Thursday, September 14 at 4:00 p.m.
Fee: $32pp (includes 3-course lunch, gratuity, and valet)

Halloween Study Break
Date: Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Time:11:00 a.m. -1:30 p.m.
Location: School of Nursing, Plaza Lobby
Parking: There will be reserved parking spaces in the Michaels Street Parking Garage located at 50Houston Mill Road, Atlanta 30322. This is a monthly parking pass garage. Please pull to the gate and wait or honk for attendant.
‍Registration Page: www.engage.emory.edu/Fall23HalloweenStudyBreak

Valentine’s Day Study Break
Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Location: TBA
Parking: TBA
Registration Page: https://www.engage.emory.edu/Sp23ValentinesStudyBreak

Annual Spring Meeting
Date: Thursday, March 21, 2024
Time: 11:30 am.-1:30 p.m.
‍Location: Emory Nursing Learning Center, 250 E. Ponce de Leon Ave, Decatur GA
Parking: ENLC Parking Garage (parking will be validated) 
Registration Page: https://www.engage.emory.edu/AssociatesSp24Meeting
Cost: $25pp

Make a gift to the Nursing Associates General Scholarship.

To learn more or to become a member, contact the Director of Alumni Engagement at alumni@nursing.emory.edu.

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H I S T O R Y  O F  T H E  A S S O C I A T E S 

Established when the Wesley Memorial Hospital along with its school of nursing was relocated to the Emory University campus in 1922, the Emory University Hospital School of Nursing – as it was called – garnered much support and assistance from the Atlanta community. Continuing its endeavors to address the health concerns of people and train nurses, the hospital aimed to reach a standard of excellence, unparalleled in the quality of service and education.

For 22 years, the school operated as a hospital diploma nursing program. However, in 1942-43, the U.S. Public Health Service became interested in university training for nurses. Selecting Emory University as an appealing institution to undertake this goal, the Public Health Service investigated Emory’s facilities and the community to measure its suitability and capacity as an establishment to implement a degree program. In 1944, one year later, the University officially approved the request. Yet post-World War II America was not too inclined toward this idea. Questions were raised against the necessity of this university program – given its higher cost and time commitments as compared to a hospital program – and at a time when Emory was well-regarded as an all-male institution, introducing an all-women’s school granting equal-level degrees seemed to be quite unconventional. Forced to prove its worth, the School of Nursing reached out to Mrs. Mary Rockefeller – who was engaging in related efforts in New York – and invited her to campus. Accepting this invitation, Mrs. Rockefeller spoke to notable laywomen and representatives of various organizations. Her visit drew up massive levels of support and enthusiasm about nursing education from not only the people who heard her speak personally, but also from the television and radio.

Following this visit, a foundational group of laywomen – labeled “the original twelve” – was established with the purpose to develop the Emory University School for Nursing Degree program. The members were as noted below:

• Mrs. Henry Bowden
• Mrs. Wesley J. Buck
• Mrs. Leonard Haas.
• Mrs. Ted Leigh
• Mrs. James Malone
• Mrs. Lester Rumble
• Mrs. Elliott Scarborough
• Mrs. Arthur Styron
• Mrs. H.B. Trimble
• Mrs. Blake Van Leer
• Mrs. Robert Watt
• Mrs. Robert Woodruff

Named “Associates of Emory University School of Nursing” in August 1959, this group centered their responsibilities on the following:

1. Interpretation and support of education for nursing within a university system through programs of education and information in local areas.
2. Recruitment of outstanding students for nursing.
3. Development of outstanding students for nursing.
4. Stimulation of the public’s interest in those agencies that provide the working environment in which nursing care is given.

By the year 1961, several committees were founded to perform and fulfill the aforementioned duties. The Education, Recruitment, and Scholarship Committees were dedicated to educating the public about nursing education, encouraging youths to pursue a nursing career, and advocating for philanthropic donations to fund scholarships, respectively. Sacrificing much of their time and energy for the benefit of the school, the members worked persistently to inform local communities about the significance of nursing education, increase enrollment at the school, and create fundraising programs to amass scholarship profits.

Even in 1973, when the School faced a financial setback due to reduced government funding, over $37,000 were raised due to efforts contributed by the Scholarship Committee. Yet their efforts extended even to the political sphere, and when government funding was threatened once again in 1979, Associates contacted representatives and other notable figures to pass the Nurse Training Act, which was signed into legislation in November 1979. Several direct efforts to financially support the school were conducted as well. Aside from the $10 membership dues paid by the Associates that were fully allocated to school scholarships, the Women’s Division of the United Methodist Church donated a yearly amount of $10,000 from years 1963-1981.

In 1980, however, the role of these Associates seemed to shift. Going beyond financial support, the Associates hoped for students to feel comfort and genuine hospitality. With over a hundred students from a diverse number of states, Associates cooked homemade food for these students in hopes to avert homesickness. With goals to cultivate a sense of belonging for these students, “The Associates Personal Touch” Committee was established and hosted a range of other similar events.

Nell Hodgson Woodruff, for whom the School was named, was one of “the original twelve” founders, but she was actively involved in efforts to assist the School of Nursing from its very onset on Emory’s campus, even prior to the founding of the Associates. Serving as a volunteer nurse at Emory during and post-WWII, Mrs. Woodruff was one of the earliest recipients of an honorary membership in the Emory University Nurses Alumni Association. Other Associates who were awarded this membership include Vera Patton in 1988 and The Honorable Eleanor Richardson in 1989. Beginning in 1948, also, was the tradition of presenting a Paul Revere silver bowl to an exceptional senior graduate. Recipients of this award include Dr. Mary Hall in 1949 and Sharon Albert in 1987. The Associates Honor Award – it too a silver Revere bowl – was granted to the most excelling student in the graduate program, eventually ceasing in 1971 when the program had grown too large to determine its most outstanding student. Recipients of this award include Carol Holbert in 1969. 

Honoring the 25th Anniversary of the Associates in 1984, the Emory School of Nursing hosted a celebration to commemorate the efforts of the Associates, who were present in great numbers, and to acknowledge three of the founders of this group – Mrs. H.B. Trimble, Mrs. Arthur Styron, and Mrs. Robert Watt. One year later in 1985, a program was performed to appreciate the Associates and to recognize progress and developments of the School of Nursing.

Persistent toward the development of the School of Nursing, the Associates established a scholarship in 1988 in remembrance of the death of Mrs. Henry Bowden – the founder and first president. $50,000 – the cost of an endowed scholarship – was raised through contributions from the Associates, friends, and The Ellen Fleming Bowden Memorial. Further, the Associates’ minimum amount of scholarship dues was increased once again to $25 annually to fund “The Associates’ Scholarship.” Although becoming an endowed scholarship within The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in 1988, the Associates further voted to add the entire dues to the scholarship to increase the endowment.

Honoring the Associates again during their 30th Anniversary, the School of Nursing announced this date to be observed as the Nell Hodgson Woodruff Day, and an oil painting of Mrs. Woodruff was positioned at the center of the Assembly Room. An endowment priced at $1 million dollars was also named after Edit Folsom Honeycutt – an alumna of the School of Nursing and a former president of the Emory Nurses Alumni Association.

In 1992, the School of Nursing reached its goal of $4 million dollars as part of the Emory campaign. And it was announced in 1994 (?) that the School of Nursing, together with Medicine and Public Health, was granted a tremendous $10.9 million grant. In the Spring of 1994, President Neely announced that the Executive Committee recommended that documents and records relevant to the Associates be preserved and maintained and, with there being no objection, be stored in the archives of the Robert W. Woodruff Library.