Agnes S. Ward Explained

Agnes S. Ward
Birth Date:	February 22, 1868
Birth Place:	Scotland
Death Date:	November 29, 1938 (age 70)
Death Place:	New York, New York, U.S.

Agnes S. Ward (February 22, 1868^[1] – November 29, 1938) was a Scottish-born American nurse, medical missionary in Africa, and nursing educator. She was principal of the Metropolitan Hospital Training School for Nurses in New York City, and superintendent of nurses for the New York City Department of Welfare.

Early life and education

Ward was born in Scotland, and moved to the United States in 1885. She graduated from the Metropolitan Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1895,^[2] with further training at Brookline Hospital.^[3]

Career

After her nurses' training, Ward went to the Congo Free State, where she served for three years as a medical missionary and teacher. She was principal of the Metropolitan Hospital Training School for Nurses on Blackwell's Island from 1908 to 1920. From 1920 to 1926, she was superintendent of nurses for the city's Department of Welfare.^[4] She spoke at high schools and churches to recruit nursing students into the city's training programs,^[5] and to promote nursing as a career with wide opportunities.^[6] She oversaw a training course for graduate nurses working on tuberculosis wards at Seaview Hospital on Staten Island in 1923.^[7]

She was vice-president of the New York State Nurses' Association,^[8] and president of the Metropolitan Hospital Training School's alumnae association.^[9]

Publications

Ward wrote essays for professional journals, including American Journal of Nursing, The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review, and Nursing World.

• "Suggestions for What is Required in Building a Nurses' Home" (1910)^[10]
• "Nursing in Mission Stations: Some Nursing Problems in Africa" (1914)^[11]
• "The Training of Attendants" (1920)^[12]
• "What We Owe to the Student Nurse" (1920)^[13]
• "The Continent of Africa: Its Vastness, Resources, and People" (1921)^[14]
• "Has the Time Come to Abolish the Probationary Period" (1921)^[15]
• "African Religious Beliefs and their Social Effects" (1921)^[16]
• "The African Woman" (1921)^[17]
• "The African Man: A Study in Primitive Sociology" (1922)^[18]
• "The African Man, II: A Study of Primitive Emotions" (1922)^[19]
• "Training Schools for Attendants: The Problem of the Special Hospital" (1922)^[20]

Personal life

Ward became a naturalized United States citizen in 1903. She retired in 1926, and she died in 1938, at the age of 70, in New York City.^[21]

Notes and References

1. 1868 is the birth year given in Ward's 1903 naturalization paperwork, and in the 1910 federal census; via Ancestry.
2. News: Miss Agnes S. Ward, Head of City Nurses; Former Medical Missionary in Congo Free State Dies . November 30, 1938 . 23 . 2024-04-04 . The New York Times . en.
3. April 1908 . Personals . The American Journal of Nursing . 8 . 7 . 561.
4. June 28, 1920 . Big Opportunity in Nursing . The Red Cross Bulletin . 4 . 27 . 7.
5. News: 1920-06-27 . Nurses' School to Open July 1; Will be Conducted at Greenpoint Hospital . 2024-04-05 . Times Union . 8 . Newspapers.com.
6. News: 1920-07-26 . Call for American Nurses . 2024-04-05 . Logansport Pharos-Tribune . 2 . Newspapers.com.
7. News: January 28, 1923 . New Training for Nurses . 2024-04-05 . The New York Times . 145 . en.
8. December 1920 . Nursing News and Announcements . American Journal of Nursing . 21 . 193 . Internet Archive.
9. February 1904 . Regular Meetings: New York . The American Journal of Nursing . 388 . Internet Archive.
10. Ward . Agnes S. . March 1910 . Suggestions for What is Required in Building a Nurses' Home . American Journal of Nursing . en-US . 10 . 6 . 399 . 0002-936X.
11. Ward . Agnes S. . 1914 . Some Nursing Problems in Africa . The American Journal of Nursing . 14 . 12 . 1078–1082 . 10.2307/3404578 . 3404578 . 0002-936X.
12. Ward . Agnes S. . June 1920 . The Training of Attendants . The American Journal of Nursing . 20 . 9 . 689–692 . Internet Archive.
13. Ward . Agnes S. . September 1920 . What We Owe to the Student Nurse . The American Journal of Nursing . 20 . 12 . 953–955 . 10.2307/3406583 . 3406583 . 0002-936X.
14. Ward, Agnes S. "The Continent of Africa: Its Vastness, Resources, and People" The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review 66(3)(March 1921): 208-213.
15. Ward, Agnes S. "Has the Time Come to Abolish the Probationary Period" The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review 66(4)(April 1921): 301-303.
16. Ward, Agnes S. "African Religious Beliefs and their Social Effects" The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review 66(5)(May 1921): 416-418; continued in 66(6)(June 1921): 507-510.
17. Ward, Agnes S. "The African Woman" The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review 67(3)(September 1921): 228-232; continued in 67(4)(October 1921): 325-329.
18. Ward, Agnes S. "The African Man: A Study in Primitive Sociology" Nursing World (March 1922): 233-235.
19. Ward, Agnes S. "The African Man, II: A Study of Primitive Emotions" Nursing World (March 1922): 327-328.
20. Ward, Agnes S. "Training Schools for Attendants: The Problem of the Special Hospital" Nursing World (January 1922): 24-27.
21. News: 1938-11-30 . Agnes S. Ward, Ex-Superintendent of Nurses . 2024-04-05 . Daily News . 48 . Newspapers.com.