Signe Skott Cooper, RN, MEd, FAAN: January 29, 1921-July 16, 2013.

Abstract

Signe Skott Cooper, 92 years of age, passed away July 16, 2013 in Madison, Wisconsin. I first met Signe as an undergraduate student in 1969, but I did not have an appreciation for who she was until much later in my life. Nor did I have much appreciation for nursing history that she tried to teach us. When I returned to Wisconsin in late 1970s with a sincere interest in history, I became acquainted with Signe and knowledge she was willing to share. Over next 35 years, we conferred on projects, presented papers at conferences, wrote a book, and discussed changes in profession and its organizations. We often met in airports on our way to or from American Association for History of Nursing (AAHN) conferences. We discussed books she was reading or history questions we pondered. Would our nurs- ing ancestors approve of changes made to American Nurses Association (ANA) or selling of American Journal of Nursing?Earlier in her career, she was known for her work in continuing (CE) for nurses. For 35 years (1948 until 1983), Signe was on faculty of University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison School of Nursing and Extension Division. In Wisconsin, Extension is outreach arm of University, important to rural inhabitants of state. In 1955, Signe started her career in CE for nurses, traveling state to deliver courses. In 1965, first distance education courses were offered via Educational Telephone Network (ETN). This statewide system quickly expanded from enrolling 600 nurses at 24 posts to having nurses at 170 listening posts, covering every county in state. I recall attending a history of nursing course delivered via ETN in 1970s. Signe's leadership in CE for nurses was instrumental in formation of ANA Council of Continuing Education and in creation of Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing. She was as- sociate editor for more than 25 years. Dorothy Hutchinson, her colleague/ friend in Wisconsin Extension Division, was editor. Signe wrote four books related to her work in CE. One of her responsibilities was to conduct refresher courses for inactive nurses. Two of her books addressed this audience: Contemporary Nursing Practice: A Guide for Returning Nurse was published in 1970 followed by Continuing Education in Nursing in 1973 (it was revised and updated in 1983 with a new title, The Practice of Continuing Education in Nursing). There also were two edited books: Self-Directed Learning in Nursing and Perspectives in Continuing Education, both appearing in 1980.When serving as president of Wisconsin Nurses Association (WNA) in late1950s, Signe's interest in nursing history was peaked when browsing through old records. Recognizing that early nursing leaders had ex- ceptional careers and made some unusual contributions, she set out to in- vestigate these leaders in Wisconsin State Historical Society. Wisconsin Nursing Pioneers, a monograph that includes biographies of 17 nurses, ap- peared in 1968. Thereafter, she studied nursing history, taught it, and wrote about it and collected historical items. The UW-Madison School of Nursing has a collection of more than 100 nursing caps, uniforms, artifacts, books, and other items that Signe used in displays, classes, and consultations. In Wisconsin, she was known as the nurse historian and was sought out by everyone from high school students to nurse administrators and physicians for her expertise.Th roughout her career, Signe was an avid researcher and writer. She au- thored five books and more than 100 peer-reviewed articles/book chapters. Between 1991 and 2003, she also contributed 138 biographical sketches of Wisconsin nurses to Nursingmatters, Wisconsin's statewide monthly newspaper. There was a photograph for each article, and evidence of extensive research she did for these sketches was found among her papers. Those biographies have been alphabetized and annotated, for easy access, and along with photographs that accompanied them are available in WNA offices. …