Wishard Marks 25 Years Since Nursing School Closed
September 06, 2005
Contact: Todd Harper
Phone: 317-630-7808
Pager: 317-310-5972
Indianapolis, September 6, 2005 - It has been a quarter of a century since the last nursing class walked the halls of Wishard Memorial Hospital. To mark this date, the Wishard Memorial Hospital Nursing Alumni Association plans to host a homecoming event to bring all Wishard nursing school graduates back to where their careers began.
On Saturday, September 24, the Wishard Memorial Hospital Nursing Alumni Association will celebrate 25 years since the closing of the Wishard Memorial Hospital School of Nursing with a homecoming celebration starting at 9 a.m. in Sunshine Hall at Wishard Memorial Hospital.
Sharon Benefiel, president of the Wishard Memorial Hospital Nursing Alumni Association and a 1973 graduate, said trying to track down the 1,026 addresses of nursing school alumni on file has been difficult. She said many of these alumni are deceased or the addresses are unknown. She said she is hopeful the homecoming event will help bring many of the graduates back to Wishard.
"Many graduates went on to distinguished careers in nursing throughout the United States and abroad including military and missionary work," Benefiel said. "This year, a quarter of a century after the last class graduated, a day of activities is planned including guest speakers, a memorial service and business meeting."
Benefiel said the event will start with registration and a continental breakfast at 9 a.m. followed by a buffet lunch. In the afternoon, a business meeting will be held with a memorial service and featured speakers from the Wishard Emergency Department, Center of Hope, Palliative Care Program, Wishard Memorial Foundation and Midtown Community Mental Health Center.
Many alumni have stayed close to one another and to Wishard through the years. Today, a handful of them help staff the Wishard Nursing Museum, which over the past 24 years has displayed hospital artifacts and nursing memorabilia, allowing the public to get a glimpse at what it was like to be a nurse 50 years ago.
Housed in the parlor of the old Nurses' Residence, the museum is a non-profit organization dependent on donations from nursing alumni as well as private donations. The museum is regularly looking for volunteers and donations to improve exhibits, stabilize artifacts, promote education and support general costs.
Marcella Widvey, a 1948 graduate of the nursing school and a volunteer at the Wishard Nursing Museum, said the homecoming event is a great way to remember the history of the nursing school. Widvey said it is important the history of the school is not forgotten. Several years ago, Widvey completed a written collection of the history of the nursing school that recounts the school's beginnings in 1883 all the way to its closing 97 years later.
"I wanted to get the story out about the nursing school so it would be recorded for history. I heard so many different stories from different people and thought why not put it down on paper," Widvey said, adding she used a number of resources, including the historical records of former Wishard nurse Betty Eller.
As the first nursing school in Indiana and the second nursing school west of the Alleghenies, the Wishard Memorial Hospital School of Nursing's history is impressive. From the first class of five in 1885 to the last class of 31 in 1980, over 2,500 nursing students graduated from the school.
Wilma Eberly, a 1948 graduate of the school, was working at the nursing school as a nursing instructor and recruiter when the Wishard Memorial Hospital School of Nursing closed in 1980. She said when she and others associated with the nursing school learned it was going to close, a decision was made to try to save old nursing equipment, records and documents so the items could be preserved. In 1981 the Wishard Nursing Museum opened to the public. It is one of only two nursing museums in the country. The museum's most visible claim to fame came during the 1980s when it was used to film various hospital scenes in the classic sports movie, Hoosiers.
For more information about the Wishard Memorial Hospital Nursing Alumni Association homecoming event, alumni are asked to call Sharon Benefiel at (317) 630-7991, or by email at sharon.benefiel@wishard.edu.