Administrative History

District 2 of the New York State Nurses Association was organized and incorporated in 1919 in response to a bylaws change of the American Nurses’ Association and the New York State Nurses Association that created district or county level affiliates of State Nurses Associations throughout the United States.

Composed of nurses from Allegany, Livingston, Monroe, Wayne and Ontario counties, District 2 traces its origins to the Monroe County Association of Registered Nurses, Inc., formed in 1900. An ardent supporter of this group was Sophia Palmer, superintendent of the City Hospital, first editor of the American Journal of Nursing, charter member of the New York State Nurses Association and ardent supporter of the Nurses Registration Bill of 1903.

The “particular objects” for which the corporation was formed as listed in the 1940 Articles of Incorporation included: “The advancement of the standards of nursing; the furtherance of the efficient care of the sick; the maintenance of the honor and character of the nursing profession; the furtherance of cordial relations between the members of this Association and other nurses in New York State, and to acquire, conduct and maintain a central directory club house for nurses.”

Scope and Contents Notes

The records of District 2 of NYSNA, 1939-1945, consist of annual reports and meeting minutes for annual meetings, Board of Directors, District meetings and the Private Duty Section. Annual meeting records usually contain the annual report of the Private Duty Section; the 1945 annual meeting records contain reports for several of the standing committees and sections listed below. Correspondence is limited to a few letters regarding representation on the Rochester Hospital Council. Also included is a 1940 revision to the Articles of Incorporation, listings of officers, directors, and committee chairmen, 1939-1944, and miscellaneous financial records. Many of the minutes are original typed copy; others are carbon copies.

References to the Monroe County War Council, New York State Nursing Council for War Service and Red Cross Recruitment Committee are frequent, especially in the Board of Directors minutes. The minutes of the Private Duty Section and its annual reports to the organization, found in annual meeting records, provide information on District 2’s registry and employment conditions of private duty nurses. Problems and concerns regarding the 1939 Nurse Practice Act revision are addressing in minutes of a meeting of the State Private Duty Chairman with District Private Duty Chairmen, February 1940.

Bylaws indicate the following standing committees were in existence in 1940: Credential and Membership, Finance, Legislative, Nominating, Nurses’ Service, Official Registry, Personnel Practices, Program, Public Information, Recruitment, and Scholarship. Sections noted in the records include Public Health, Private Duty, Men’s.

Additional information on District 2 of the New York State Nurses Association may be found in the records of the New York State Nurses Association: A90-24 – District Nurses Associations; A90-20 – information on Registries; AC 2 – Annual Reports; A89-23, A90-24 – Advisory Council records. Constituent district nurses association reports appeared regularly in issues of the New York State Nurses Association’s Quarterly News, and New York State Nurse.

Series Descriptions

There is one series of official records consisting of the Articles of Incorporation, bylaws, leadership and meeting minutes spanning 1939 – 1945