TABLE OF CONTENTS


Overview of Collection

Restrictions

Administrative Information

History of the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey

Scope and Content of the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey Records,

Arrangement of the Records

Container List

Finding Aid to the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey Records, 1898-2001 [bulk 1920-1998]

The Morristown and Morris Township Library
One Miller Road
Morristown, NJ 07960




Finding Aid to the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey Records, 1898-2001 [bulk 1920-1998]


Overview of Collection

Creator: Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey
Call Number: HM519 MSS VNA Rec
Title: Finding Aid to the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey Records,
Date: 1898-2001 [bulk 1920-1998].
Quantity: 2 linear feet in 3 manuscript boxes and 1 artifacts box

Restrictions

Important Information for Users of the collection

The Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey Records is open for research under the conditions of the North Jersey History Center archives access policy. Items may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the North Jersey History Center, researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material from the collection.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey Records, 1898-2001 [bulk 1920-1998]. North Jersey History Center, The Morristown and Morris Township Library.

Acquisition Information

Donated by the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey, 1998.

Processing Information

Finding aid processed and encoded by the North Jersey History Center archivist.

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History of the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey

In 1873, in response to the growing needs of newly arrived laborers and their immigrant families to the Morristown area, and in an attempt to organize the charitable efforts of different groups providing assistance, members of the Female Charitable Society of Morristown are credited with initiating the formation of the Central Bureau of Social Service. As a social welfare organization, the Central Bureau of Social Services was set up to meet the needs of the immigrants and the poor of the community. In 1914 the group published its' first annual report. According to the report, the first visiting nurse had been hired that year and that she had made 771 visits to 150 people within her first 90 days on the job. As the basic health and welfare needs of the towns' citizens continued to be a challenge, the Central Bureau of Social Service was officially incorporated in 1916 and re-named the Visiting Nurse Association. At that time there were two nurses on staff caring for patients at .50 a visit.

Since its founding as the Central Bureau of Social Service, the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey has existed in Morristown under various names and in association with various community and county-wide social programs. There is a long association between the original Visiting Nurse Association and other Morristown based social assistance efforts. An example of one such health initiative included a new mothers baby care program at the Neighborhood House. Another effort, created the same year as the Central Bureau of Social Service, was the Morris County Tuberculosis Association. Specifically created to care for those suffering from that contagious illness, the Visiting Nurse Association eventually worked in conjunction with the Morris County Tuberculosis Association, before assuming all their duties. The Visiting Nurses eventually took over the Morris County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and, in 1936, the Morristown Community Chest was helping to support the efforts of the Visiting Nurses with monetary donations.

By 1952 the Visiting Nurse Association had moved it's original headquarters from Dehart and South Streets near the Morristown Green a few blocks away to the Mial House, at 38 Elm Street. The organization's service area had expanded by that time to the county borders and the name was changed to the Visiting Nurse Association of Morris County. In its' succeeding five decades, as the agency has adjusted its' efforts to the needs of the time, the Visiting Nurses have played a significant health care role in Morris County, as well as in other New Jersey communities.

Though the group approaches health care with different services and programs than those of it's original organization, the Visiting Nurses of today have retained the supportive healthcare philosophy it first established in the late 1800's. Entering into the 21st century, the Visiting Nurse Association offers modern programs of home health care such as in-home physical therapy, palliative care, an array of rehabiliation programs, and hospice services, to name a few. In 1995, in order to reflect its' wider service reach across county lines, the organization became known as the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey.

Sources:

Our History. http://www.vnanj.org/ourhistory.asp, accessed August 25 and October 29, 2008.

1st Annual Report, Central Bureau of Social Service. Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey Records, 1898-2001: Box 1, folder 5.

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Related materials in this Repository

Call number - Item description and/or title, dates.

HM519 Nati- Building a Better World, 1943.

HM518 MSS Rec- Female Charitable Society of Morristown Records, 1998.

HM519 SCO- Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey : on the occasion of 100 years of service, 1998.

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Scope and Content of the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey Records,

The collection of Visiting Nurse Association records contain historical files, meeting minutes, annual reports, and general office files including newsletters, information about the Centennial Celebration of 1998, correspondence, public relations and fundraising information. Also, the records contain information on the early nursing staff and photographs dating from 1884 to the early 1990's.

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Arrangement of the Records

The records are arranged into three series: I. Historical files, meeting minutes and reports, 1918-1998; II. Office files, 1915-1998; and III. Photographic material and artifacts, 1884-1991.

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Container List

Series I: Historical files, annual meetings and annual reports, 1918-1998.

Box Folder
1 1 Historical file: Morris County Tuberculosis Association, 1918-1940.
2 Historical file: Visiting Nurse Assocation, 1928-1995.
3 Historical file: Newspaper articles and clippings, 1898; 1915-1980; 1996; not dated.
4 Certificate of Incorporation and Sale documents of 38 Elm Street and 31 Elm Street properties, 1947; 1951; not dated.
5 Annual reports: Central Bureau of Social Service (1st Annual report), 1913-1914.
6 Annual reports: Visiting Nurse Association of Morristown, New Jersey, 1917-1919.
7 Annual reports: Visiting Nurse Association of Morristown, New Jersey, 1920-1922.
8 Annual reports: reports and minutes, 1935-1937; 1948.
9 Annual reports: Morris County Tuberculosis Association and the Visiting Nurse Association of Morristown, 1936-1939.
10 Annual reports: Morris County Tuberculosis Association and the Visiting Nurse Association of Morristown, 1944-1949.
11 Annual reports: Morris County Tuberculosis Association and Health Association, 1950-1952; 1955-1959.
12 Annual reports: Visiting Nurse Association of Morristown and Visiting Nurse Association of Morris County, 1950-1955; 1956-1959.
13 Annual reports: Visiting Nurse Association of Morris County, 1960-1969.
14 Annual reports: Visiting Nurse Association of Morris County, 1970; 1972-1974; 1976; 1978-1979.
15 Annual reports: Visiting Nurse Association of Morris County, 1980-1981; 1983-1984; 1988-1989.
16 Annual Meeting, 1989-1990.
17 Annual reports: Visiting Nurse Association of Morris County and Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey, 1990; 1995-1998.
18 Annual meeting events, receptions and Centennial event programs, 1996-1998.

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Series II: Office files, 1915-1998.

Box Folder
2 1 Office files, 1915; 1950; not dated.
2 National Organization for Public Health Nursing, 1919-1922.
3 Treasurer's Report, 1922.
4 Brochures, circa 1950-1996.
5 Public relations and newspaper clippings, 1984-1995; not dated.
6 Correspondence, 1984-1998.
7 Meeting with New Jersey Representative Frelinghuysen: Home Health Care Issues, April 1996.
8 Fundraising, 1996; 1999-2001.
9 Newsletters, 1996-2001.
10 Centennial Celebration, 1996-1998.
11 Centennial Celebration, 1996-1998.
12 Centennial Celebration booklet and calendar, 1998.
13 Affiliated Social Service agencies, not dated.
14 Caroline J. Cauldwell, not dated.
15 Helen E. Forbes, not dated.
16 Anna L. Ketch, not dated.
17 Elizabeth Mccabe, not dated.
18 Ruth Cheney Streeter, not dated.
19 Anna B. Hillock, not dated.

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Series III: Photographic material and artifacts, 1884-1991.

Box Folder
3 1 Photographs [3 sepia toned photographs], 1884; circa 1912; not dated.
2 Photographs: Mial House, 38 Elm Street, Morristown, New Jersey [1 black and white photograph, mounted on board], 1907.
3 Photographs from North Jersey History Center Photograph Collection [12 photocopies], 1924-1929; 1938; not dated.
4 Photographs: Two nurses assisting man to stand [2 black and white photographs, circa 1950], circa 1950; not dated.
5 Photographs: Individuals, circa 1970-1980 [47 black and white photographs]. not dated.
6 Photographs: Training nurse aides, Morristown; Child-Health Conference, Parsippany-Troy Hills; Chatham Health Department [9 black and white photographs], March 13, 1979.
7 Photographs: Nurses [6 black and white photographs], circa 1980.
8 Photographs: Nurses [10 black and white photographs], March 1980.
9 Photographs: Mial House, 38 Elm Street, Morristown, New Jersey [4 black and white photographs], March 1980.
10 Photographs: Annual meeting [3 black and white photographs], April 14, 1980.
11 Photographs: Annual meeting [5 black and white photographs], April 13, 1981.
12 Photographs: Annual meeting [5 color photographs], circa 1983.
13 Photographs: Awards [3 black and white photographs], 1983; 1991.
14 Photographs: unidentified, display images [4 black and white], not dated.
15 Photographs: Succasunna Office [1 black and white], not dated.
16 Negatives: K. Denmead and Awards, 1980-1983.
17 Negatives: unidentified, not dated.
18 Negatives: unidentified, not dated.
Artifacts box 4 - Stamper, not dated.
- Photographic image mounted on wood block: 38 Mial Street, Morristown, New Jersey, not dated.

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