Biographical Sketch

Barbara E. Bishop (BEB) is a maternity and pediatric nurse. She is a 1962 graduate of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota and received an M.N. from the University of Washington in Maternal-Child Health. She began her career as a staff nurse in the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle. Soon after she began teaching and worked as an instructor at Central Washington Deaconess in Wenatchee, Washington from 1964-1965 and later at St. Olaf College from 1965-1967. Bishop attained the rank of Assistant Professor of Maternal-Child Health Nursing at St. Olaf College in 1968, and became Assistant Professor for the Division of Public Health Nursing at the University of Minnesota from 1969 through 1971, a dual position during which she also served as Maternity Nurse Clinical Specialist at Pilot City Health Center. She has also worked as Nurse-Coordinator for Special Education Programs for the Minneapolis Health Department and the Maternal Child Nursing (MCN) Consultant to public health nurses from 1971 to 1973. She was the Program Coordinator for the Division of Maternal Child Nursing at the American Nurses Association from 1973 to 1975, and she was the founder and editor of MCN, The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing. From August 27th to September 14th, 1983, she participated in the People to People Community and Mental Health Nurses Delegation in China. She also worked as a private consultant and writer throughout her career.

Bishop has been the recipient of many awards and honors throughout her career. She was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau in 1965 and was honored as a Nurse Who’s Made Significant Contributions to Women’s Health by the Foundation of New York Counties Registered Nurses Association in 1988.

Barbara E. Bishop has also published numerous articles in publications such as the American Journal of Nursing (AJN), Nursing Outlook, and Press Agent (the newsletter of the Third District of the Minnesota Nurses Association). In 1975 she published, with Aleda V. Roth, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner–Their Practice Today. She published her book, Maternity Cycle: One Nurse’s Reflections in 1979, which was awarded AJN’sBook of the Year Award. She also edited Readings for Today’s Maternal/Child Nursewith Thelma Schorr, and it was published in 1987.

Scope and Contents Notes

This collection contains issues of The American Journal of Maternity/Child Nursing from 1975 to 1997, with a few additional issues past 2000, as well as collections of account records, correspondence, notes, and other information regarding Barbara E. Bishop’s work as founder and editor of the journal. This collection also contains a variety of personal and professional correspondence, mostly in the form of letters, postcards, and printed emails, to colleagues, peers, and friends. This collection also includes draft and final copies of Barbara E. Bishop’s publications, speeches, and papers, as well as a copy of her book and other published works on which she has served as editor, director, or overseer. Other papers include notes, letters, and forms from early professional work, papers relating to a professional trip to a conference in China, and records pertaining to other professional work. Finally, the collection contains a number of Barbara E. Bishop’s received awards, plaques, and certificates, along with a number of photographs and various other memorabilia.

This collection is divided into four series: 1. The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing; 2. Professional and Academic Papers; 3. Correspondence; and, 4. Awards, Photographs and Memorabilia.

Series Descriptions

Series 1: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing
This series includes volumes 1 through 23 of The American Journal of Maternity/Child Nursing as well as a variety of loose issues and reprinted articles and specials. This series also includes some of Barbara E. Bishop’s general correspondence relating to the running and upkeep of the journal, as well as financial documents and correspondence relating to Bishop’s leaving the Journal in 1997. Series 1 also contains 11 journal boxes containing issues of The American Journal of Maternity/Child Nursing from 1976 to 1998 which are held separately in the Foundation’s Library, and are thus separate from the rest of the collection.
Series 2: Professional and Academic Papers
This series contains draft and final copies of many of Barbara E. Bishop’s published papers, speeches, editorial/directorial works, as well as both a working copy and a mostly unmarked copy of her 1979 book, The Maternity Cycle. This series also contains notes, paperwork, and pamphlets from her early professional work at the Pilot City Health Center, as well as some maps, notes, day planners, and other materials regarding a professional trip to China.
Series 3: Correspondence
This series contains various correspondences relating to Barbara E. Bishop’s book, The Maternity Cycle, along with a working copy of the book with her personal notes. This series also includes various other correspondences, including letters and pamphlets to and regarding the American Nursing Association, Barbara E. Bishop�s work at St. Olaf College, letters to legislators, letters of reference for colleagues, correspondence relating to the American Academy of Nursing, and correspondence and pamphlets relating to her participation in her church’s “Kindership” activities.
Series 4: Awards, Photographs and Memorabilia
This series contains a number of awards received by Barbara E. Bishop in the form of plaques and certificates, as well as photographs accompanying a number of the award ceremonies which she attended. This series also contains diplomas, nursing licenses, certificates of distinction, and a thank-you plaque for her work as editor of The American Journal of Maternity/Child Nursing. Finally, this series contains a number of miscellaneous photos of Barbara E. Bishop throughout the years in the form of small Kodachrome photo slides.