White cotton long-sleeved shirtwaist-style nurse's uniform dress with a red cross patch machine-embroidered with white letters "K G H" sewn to the proper right shoulder; nylon maker's tag and name tag sewn inside the collar; the cuffs and front of the dress have buttonholes for removable buttons.
White cotton long-sleeved shirtwaist-style nurse's uniform dress with a red cross patch machine-embroidered with white letters "K G H" sewn to the proper right shoulder; nylon maker's tag and name tag sewn inside the collar; the cuffs and front of the dress have buttonholes for removable buttons.
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Owned by Anna I. Davis; donated to museum by nephew Leath Davis.
Maker
Bland
Dates
1919
1922
circa 1919-1922
Date Remarks
Based on dates at Anna I. Davis was in school.
Material
fabric: red; white; blue; black
Inscriptions
The maker's label reads "THE BEST IN THE LAND // IS MADE BY // Bland"; "KGH" is embroidered in white across the red cross; the name tag reads, "ANNA I. DAVIS", and "A.D." is written in black marker on the inside of the collar.
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010 Closet
Length
119.0 cm
Width
60.5 cm
Depth
0.1 cm
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Dimension Notes
Length 119.0 cm x Width 60.5 cm x Depth 0.1 cm
Condition Remarks
Slight staining; wrinkled.
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Person
Websites
Reference Comments
Leath Davis
Canadian Museum of History, "Symbol of a Profession: One Hundred Years of Nurses' Caps," https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/hist/infirm/inint01e.html
"For Service to Humanity: Nursing Education at Kingston General Hospital," Museum of Health Care. https://www.museumofhealthcare.ca/explore/exhibitions/forservicetohumanity.html
Research Facts
Anna I. Davis (b.1900) graduated from Kingston General Hospital School of Nursing in 1922 and was later assistant director of the school. She retired in 1965. Sister to Mildred and Elsie.
Throughout the twentieth century, nurses' uniforms changed, in particular with the rising of hemlines. The nurse's uniform was generally white, and Kingston General Hospital uniforms were once known for "turkey red" hemlines. Different levels of nursing education had different uniforms, in particular different caps, as graduate nurses had black bands on their caps to indicate their level of education.