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Mary A. Rothrock papers
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing [Contact Us]Claire Fagin Hall, 418 Curie Boulevard, Floor 2U, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4217
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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Mary Alice Rothrock graduated from German Hospital Training School for Nurses (later Lankenau Hospital School of Nursing) in 1911. Rothrock was appointed a member of the Pennsylvania State Board of Examiners for the Registration of Nurses in 1926. She was politically active, supporting Gifford Pinchot in his unsuccessful 1926 campaign for the Republican senatorial primary. Her decades-long involvement in the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association led to many public speaking appearances in the Philadelphia area. She worked as Superintendent and Director of Nursing at Clearfield Hospital, in Clearfield, Pennsylvania until 1939. Rothrock subsequently became a medical librarian at the Albert Einstein Medical Center, where she worked until her retirement in 1970. She died in 1979.
The papers include postcards and letters sent to Rothrock by her friend Carolyn R. Bauer, an American Red Cross Nurse serving in Europe in 1915. Also included are handwritten notes and typed speeches on various nursing-related topics, including reminiscences of Rothrock’s student days at German Hospital. This collection also contains correspondence and other materials relating to Rothrock’s tenure at the Clearfield Hospital School of Nursing. Among these are two petitions signed by students urging her to reconsider her 1939 letter of resignation from the position of superintendent of the school. Rothrock’s scrapbook contains many letters and telegrams from various officials in Clearfield, correspondence with Governor Gifford Pinchot and his wife Cornelia Bryce Pinchot, materials documenting her participation in the Pennsylvania Nurses Association, and announcements of her many public speaking engagements. The scrapbook also demonstrates Rothrock’s interest in singing, featuring several concert programs and news clippings on her appearances with The Brahms Choir.
Gift of Jill and Mary (Polly) Yearsley Schneider, 2012.
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- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Bethany Myers
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is unrestricted.
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Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the Center with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.
Collection Inventory
This series contains letters, postcards, and photographs. The majority of the series is World War I-era, sent to Rothrock by her friend Caroline Bauer, who was serving with the American Red Cross in Cosel, Poland in 1915. Other correspondence relates to Rothrock’s time at Clearfield and the Albert Einstein Medical Center.
This file contains Rothrock's resignation letters to Clearfield and Einstein, with the Clearfield petitions that attempted to persuade her to stay on as superintendent and director. This file also includes some of Rothrock's personal correspondence.
This series contains Rothrock’s notes and speeches. She gave many addresses on nursing work, hospital care, her memories of Lankenau, and other topics.
This small series contains the publications that Rothrock saved. It primarily consists of issues of The Pennsylvania Nurse, published by the Pennsylvania Nurses Association. This series also includes a few articles written by Rothrock herself, as well as miscellaneous clippings.
This series consists of one item, a large scrapbook assembled by Rothrock that documents her career and personal interests. Many pages pertain to the Pennsylvania Nurses Association and the State Board of Examiners for the Registration of Nurses. There are several pages of correspondence with Pennsylvania governor Gifford Pinchot and his wife, as well as letters from incoming governor John Fisher. Materials may include event programs, newspaper clippings, photographs of Rothrock, birthday greetings, and other items. The scrapbook pages have been detached and sleeved in polyester enclosures.