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Claire M. Fagin 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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Claire M. Fagin, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N., and Dean of the School of Nursing of the University of Pennsylvania, 1977-1991, is a leader of nursing with international reputation.
Fagin was born in New York City in 1926. She received her B.S. from Wagner College School of Nursing in Staten Island, New York (1948), M.A. from Teacher's College, Columbia University, and Ph.D. from New York University (1964). Her dissertation, "The Effects of Maternal Attendance during Hospitalization on the Behavior of Young Children", received national attention. She served as the director of the graduate program in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing at New York University from 1965-1969. She then served as chair and professor of the department of nursing at the Herbert Lehman College of the City University of New York from 1969 to 1977, during which time she developed a new baccalaureate nursing program that prepared nurses for primary care practice. In 1977 she assumed the position as dean of the School of Nursing of the University of Pennsylvania. Among her many accomplishments is her appointment as director of the Health Professions Institute of Lehman College and the Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center (1975), president of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, member of the Institute of Medicine, advisor for the World Health Organization, and as the first female board member of Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company. Under her leadership as dean at the University of Pennsylvania, the School of Nursing became a well-known and respected institution, visible both domestically and internationally. Fagin is the editor of several acclaimed books in the fields of psychiatric and pediatric nursing, including Family Centered Nursing in Community Psychiatry: Treatment in the Home and Nursing in Child Psychiatry. She has written numerous scholarly articles and papers and has given many speeches.
Fagin retired as dean and became dean emerita of the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing at the end of 1991. After her time as dean, she still taught and continued to be active with many professional and corporate organizations. She was president of the National League of Nursing, served as committee member of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, served on an advisory panel on nursing of the World Health Organization, as well as a served in a leadership position at the Provident Mutual Insurance Company, and member of the Institute of Medicine and member of the editorial board of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. From 1993-1994, Fagin was interim president of the University of Pennsylvania.
This collection spans Fagin's professional life, documenting both her educational and academic experiences prior to the appointment at the University of Pennsylvania and her work as dean and dean emeritus of the School of Nursing of the University of Pennsylvania and interim president of the University of Pennsylvania. Also included is an extensive collection of her speeches and articles and files documenting her association with various institutions other than the universities she attended or served. Included as well are important personal papers, correspondence, photographs, artifacts, and files of such sideline interest as involvement in New York City's West Side Urban Renewal Project through her local block association.
Gift of Claire M. Fagin.
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- University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Center staff, updated 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 personal documents such as birth certificate, passports, transcripts, diplomas, awards, etc., as well as diaries and correspondence. Also included in it is an autobiography.
This series is of papers accumulated in the period when Fagin studied or worked at the Columbia University, New York University and finally Herbert Lehman College of the City University of New York. Included in it are class notes, teaching notes, master thesis, dissertation, and readings on various specific subjects in her major field.
This series documents Fagin's 15-year-long experience as dean of the School of Nursing of the University of Pennsylvania. It is one of the three major series of the collection. The series is divided into the following sub-series: dean and dean emeritus, interim president of the University of Pennsylvania, administrative, conferences, correspondence, fund-raising, international activities, teaching material, and involvement in the university-wide activities.
Included in this series are the large number of addresses and papers Fagin presented on various occasions, the numerous articles published on various journals, and several monograph publications. It spans from 1953 to 1995.
This series documents Fagin's extensive involvement with various organizations other than the universities and colleges she attended or worked in. The organizations are arranged alphabetically. Among them are American Academy of Nursing, American Orthopsychiatric Association, Commonwealth Fund, Institute of Medicine, Philadelphia Mayor's Commission on Health in the Eighties, National Institute of Mental Health, Provident Mutual Life Insurance, and World Health Organization.
This series includes a portrait photo taken on Fagin's graduation from high school in 1943. The rest are mostly group pictures taken on various social or ceremonial occasions. Also included are some snapshots taken with her family and friends.
Included in this series are two sets of video tapes and one set of audio cassette tapes that document the series of interviews on Fagin's personal experience conducted by Susan Reverby in the summer of 1982. A transcript is attached to the tapes. There are also taped talks on subjects of nursing and health care.
This series contains pieces of memorabilia, mostly award tablets from various organizations in recognition of Fagin's achievements and contributions.