VBH Medical Staff issued the first nursing certificates to two nurses in 1890. From there was born the School of Nursing which housed and educated over 400 nurses through its 80 years of existence. As the program gradually took shape, it gained the attention of the educational accrediting body of New York State and received its official recognition as a degree-confirming program in 1905. The first formal graduation ceremony took place in Home I in 1910. Initially, students were given a small monthly stipend and uniforms, helped prepare and serve meals, assisted with cleaning, and cared for patients in 12-hour shifts.
As the program evolved from its humble beginnings, students focused exclusively on patient care through a combination of classroom and bedside instruction. They trained at VBH, as well as at the Hudson River Psychiatric Center and at Babies Hospital (Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, NYC). Student nurses resided in Home I (1898) and Home II (1910), Mary Tower Building ("Old Tower" 1934), and Joseph Tower Building ("New Tower" 1949).
New Tower housed the School, with classrooms, dorm rooms, recreational space, a kitchen, and an auditorium. Activities, outside of bedside nursing and classroom instruction, included student council/government, various committees and clubs, yearbook staff, recreation and sports (bowling, basketball, tennis), glee club (singing). There were tea socials, banquets, outings, movies, and many engagement parties.
Graduation ceremonies were held in the auditorium until the program ended in August 1972 when it transitioned to Dutchess Community College. A total of 1,448 nurses graduated from the School.
Every effort is made to answer inquiries about the School of Nursing, including information about particular graduates and requests for copies or scans (PDFs) of transcripts and/or yearbook pages.
Click here to send an inquiry via e-mail, or call 845-437-3121.
School of Nursing tanscripts cover the period from 1905 through 1972. There is a complete set of yearbooks from 1934 to 1972. All of the transcripts and yearbooks are housed in the VBMC Archives (library storage room).
Additional images from the School of Nursing and of Vassar Brothers Hospital can be viewed on New York Heritage: Click Here to access the website
Special Note: Donations of wool capes cannot be accepted due to storage limitations.
Browse the Jane Secor Collection - Presented here are images and mementos of Jane Secor R.N., graduate of Vassar Brothers Hospital’s School of Nursing Class of 1940 and member of the United States Army Nurses Corps during WWII. Secor donated these materials herself as she was an active member of the Vassar Brothers Hospital community, eventually returning after the War to the nursing school as an educator. She was instrumental in establishing coronary care as a nursing specialty, and published Coronary Care: a nursing specialty in 1971.
Judith Piplow McMichael took a "baby" from the arms of Dick Clark in the 1961 movie called The Young Doctors, with an all-star cast and partially filmed at Vassar Brothers Hospital.
Constance "Connie" Oestrike Rudolph, Class of 1942, joined the Army Air Force a year later and became a flight nurse, serving in the Pacific Theater and logging over 700 hours in the air caring for wounded servicemen. She was discharged as a lieutenant, receiving five metals of honor and four battle stars for her service. After the war, she married, had two daughters, continued her career as an emergency room nurse, and was active in community health projects. She remained a lifelong member of the WWII Flight Nurses Association.
Jane Secor R.N., Class of 1940, joined the United States Army Nurses Corps during WWII and served in several treatment clinics in England. After the war, she returned to the nursing school as an educator and director. She helped to establish coronary care as a nursing specialty and published Coronary Care: a nursing specialty in 1971. She finished her career as a professor of nursing, and was invited back to the School's alumnae luncheon as a guest speaker in 1986. Memorabilia from her service in the Army, a memoir, a copy of her critical care book, and the text of her 1986 speech are housed in the VBMC Archives. She was also a writer of poetry, a compilation of which is part of the collection.
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Helen G. Germond Knickerbacker, Class of 1940, lived to be 106; Edith Sickler Wehner, Class of 1941, lived to be 105; Alita E. Ruesch, Class of 1937, lived to be 104; Ruth C. Alley Hogan, Class of 1945, lived to be 101; Ruth Ellen Williams Goth, class of 1943, lived to be 100.
Ruth Ann Hanson Torsone lived to be 103 (b. 1916). She graduated in 1938, was hired as a nurse in the children's ward, and then as a night supervisor caring for the sickest patients. In 1941 she went to work in the office of Dr. Scott Lord Smith. Ruth Ann married Guy J. Torsone of the Torsone Family funeral business. She had fond memories of the VBH School of Nursing, and she was on the medical team distributing the first polio vaccines in 1952 - a service of which she was quite proud (personal interview). Ruth Ann passed away at home in 2019.
Three men graduated from the School - Steve Raff, Class of 1968, Gary D. Carr, Class of 1969, and Bruce Newman, Class of 1970.
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One Black woman graduated from the School - Shirley Mae Stevens, Class of 1959. Shirley was employed as a nursing supervisor at the hospital, under the direction of Joy Donaldson; she married and moved to NYC.
Of note, Six mother-daughter pairs graduated from the School.
In 2021, an inquiry was received from Emilie Faucherand, president of the history of Antan WWII reinactment, in northern France. She is shown in photo dressed in an authentic time-period nursing uniform. The cape she has on was purchased from a website by a close friend as a gift to Emilie. Emilie wanted to know its history and was thrilled to find out the background of this cape, which originally belonged to Annie Lou Horton, VBH School of Nursing Class of 1953. According to Annie's obituary of 2014, she "spent a lifetime caring for people". Emilie is so proud to carry on Annie's legacy.
VBH School of Nursing Yearbooks:
Knowledge Resources, Vassar Brothers Medical Center | 45 Reade Place, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 | Library: 845.437.3121 | vbmclibrary@health-quest.org | CME Inquiries: 845.483.6013 |