UTA LIBRARIES A TRIBUTE TO NURSES EXHIBIT

UTA Libraries welcomed the community to celebrate the opening of A Tribute to Nurses in Special Collections this spring.

The exhibit focused on major themes such as developments in the nursing profession, the training of nurses, public service during wartime, and more, and is dedicated to all the nurses who have been serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibit was curated by University and Labor Archivist Michael Barera and former nursing librarians Laura Haygood and Raeanna Jeffers.

“UTA Libraries has done something truly special with their exhibit A Tribute to Nurses: UTA and Beyond,” says Elizabeth Merwin, CONHI dean. “We are honored that they are commemorating our College’s rich history.”

Clinical faculty member Christine Roberts was a major contributor to the exhibit, loaning her collection of nursing artifacts including an Army-issued can of water from the 1950s and her student-era scrubs.

Roberts was blown away when she saw her possessions on display in Special Collections. “In your mind’s eye, you have a vision of what it will be, but this has just surpassed that for me,” she says.

“You don’t see a lot of ‘history of nursing’ exhibits, though hopefully that will change with COVID and the ‘years of the nurse,’” Roberts says. “I hope [with this exhibit] our students see how far we’ve come—not just at UTA but as a profession. They should be very proud.”

The A Tribute to Nurses exhibit will be available in the UTA Library until September 2022.