Emma Goldman (1869-1940)


Inspiration for Activism!

  •  Radical political anarchist, activist feminist heroine, nurse, editor, writer, teacher, jailbird and general trouble-maker
  • Insisted on the fundamental connections between and among wide-ranging, burning political and social issues, including prisons, atheism, freedom of speech, militarism, capitalism, marriage, free love, and homosexuality.
  • Became convinced that birth control was essential to women’s sexual and economic freedom when she worked as a nurse and midwife among poor immigrant workers on the Lower East Side in the 1890s.
  • Became a mentor to Margaret Sanger, but insisted that birth control needed to be addressed in the context of the broad social, economic, and political forces that led to its suppression.
  • In 1906 established the periodical Mother Earth, to provide “a place of expression for the young idealists in arts and letters”
  • The Emma Goldman Clinic, a women’s health center located in Iowa City, Iowa, selected Goldman as a namesake “in recognition of her challenging spirit.”  See clinic welcome video

More information here and here. See Emma Goldman Papers resource here

 

Marcie Cooper


  •  Served as one of the original board members for the American Cannabis Nurses Association (2014-2016).
  • Became discouraged about the limitations of med-surg and oncology hospital care, turned to home care for a more personalized approach to

    Marcie Cooper

    care, and ultimately to holistic nursing.

  • Certified in Advanced Holistic Nursing.
  • Builds a bridge between conventional healthcare and holistic nursing care that includes cannabis therapeutics.
  • Includes various complementary therapies such as hypnotherapy, auricular acupuncture, healing touch and aromatherapy.
  • Teaches Geriatric Nursing and Transcultural Nursing in a BSN Nursing program, practices in hospice and palliative care, and provides consultation related to holistic nursing and the use of cannabis.

More information here, here and here.

Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail (1903-1981)


  • One of the first Apsáalooke (Crow) people to achieve a higher education, and the first Crow registered nurse in the United States
  • Worked diligently to modernize the health services offered to her tribe

    Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail

    and fight the forced sterilization of Native American women.

  • For over 30 years (1930-1960) served as a consultant throughout the United States to improve services to Native American populations; her wit and open candore opened many doors and earned her the respect of many political leaders.
  • Passionately dedicated to the health and welfare of children and mothers.
  • Performed worldwide as a dancer in the Crow Indian Ceremonial Dancers troupe, preserving and advocating for Native American culture and values.
  • Founded the first professional association of Native American nurses.
  • Named in 1978 by the American Indian Nurses Association the “Grandmother of American Indian Nurses.”

More information here, here,  here, here, and here

Also see https://nursingclio.org/2020/11/19/susie-walking-bear-yellowtail-and-histories-of-native-american-nursing/

Lavinia Lloyd Dock (1858-1956)


Inspiration for activism! 

  • “Compassionate, and unconventional, soon becoming an ardent pacifist and then a militant suffragist” from AJPH
  • Despite objections from other nurses who believed nurses should not be involved politically, Dock organized and engaged in picketing and

    Lavinia Dock

    protesting on behalf of the vote for women in the United States, organizing protests and campaigns for suffrage; she was arrested at least 3 times for attempting to vote.

  • Devoted to a wide range of issues in addition to women’s suffrage, including better housing for immigrants, safe working conditions, state and national legislation to regulate child labor, pensions and health insurance.
  • Worked tirelessly for better standards and practices for nursing education; she wrote, financed and published Materia Medica for Nurses, a nursing textbook of pharmacology.
  • Served as a visiting nurse with the House on Henry Street in New York City, contributing to standards for public health nursing world-wide.
  • Co-authored, with Adelaide Nutting, “A History of Nursing,” believing that nursing would not be fully accepted until its history had been fully documented. This work has been recognized as “culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.”

More information here and here.

Lavinia Dock papers here.

Diana J. Mason


Inspiration for Activism!

  • Senior Policy Service Professor and Co-Director of a new Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University

    Diana Mason

    School of Nursing.

  • Co-Director of the Center for Health, Media, and Policy at Hunter College, City University of New York.
  • Past president of the American Academy of Nursing.
  • Former editor-in- chief of the American Journal of Nursing.
  • Co-producer and moderator of a weekly radio program on health care issues since 1985.
  • Lead editor of the award-winning book, Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care, now in its 7th edition.
  • Her scholarship focuses on health policy and what can be learned from nurse-designed models of care.
  • Co-Founder (with Barbara Glickstein) of HealthCetera, the voice of GW Nursing Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement. “Let’s talk health is our motto and we mean it.”

More information here, here and here.

Also see report of the follow-up Woodhull Study, reported at the National Press Club May 8, 2018, also available here