History Worth Research Articles

Points North: African Canadian History for the Twenty-First Century

When Robin Winks’ Blacks in Canada hit stores fifty years ago, critics heaped scorn on the idea of there being such a thing as African Canadian history – never mind a history worth telling. In the decades since, African Canadian history has blossomed from a topic that seemed the work of a curious few, to a field that has secured some of the highest awards and praise in Canadian history. This article explores the slippery uses of African American and African Canadian histories; Black Canadian historiography; critics of the canon; remaining gaps in the field; and new scholarship by some of the scholars – both the young and the seasoned – who are breaking new ground in African Canadian history. It also discusses podcasts, documentaries, websites, and television productions about African Canadian history.

Preventing Pressure Ulcers with the Braden Scale.

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. In the 1980s, Barbara J. Braden and Nancy Bergstrom developed the Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk. The scale consists of six subscales that evaluate a patient's sensory perception, activity level, mobility, and nutrition status and the skin's exposure to moisture, and friction and shear forces. The Braden Scale was adopted internationally and has since served as a foundation for decades of subsequent pressure injury research. In this June 2005 article, Braden and Joann Maklebust provided an update about the scale, reviewing its purpose, when and how often to use it, and why it shouldn't be altered, stating, "Although it's not uncommon for clinicians to shorten or otherwise alter a risk assessment tool, we strongly advise against it . . . even minor alterations may influence reliability or accuracy." Braden passed away on June 24, 2023. Her photo graces our cover this month, and you can read a tribute to her and her significant contributions to health care and nursing in On the Cover.

Documenting contemporary art education histories

Every art educator has a story to tell, and that story is part of the complex reality of art education history worth documenting. This Special Issue focuses on the importance of documenting contemporary histories of art education. Within my art education history course, I asked graduate students to complete contemporary historical research on art educators still living. After students studied the various education philosophies, ideologies and pedagogies, they reached out to a living art educator to interview. What developed was six biographical studies of art educators who have contributed to the field of art education in unique ways.

Is Soviet History worth doing and why?

This text-reflection is about the appropriateness and importance of studying Soviet history, the impetus for writing which was the work on the conference volume “Soviet ‘I’ and Soviet ‘We’ between Ideology and Reality.”The author shares the reservations that arose in her, as well as in other Soviet researchers, with the beginning of the full-scale Russo-Ukrainian war; she writes about the challenges they faced. A look back at the history of the emergence and development of Sovietology in the West and an analysis of the “lessons of the past” lead her to the conclusion that it is worth studying Soviet history. She moreover concludes that Ukrainian academia has currently a unique opportunity to overcome the Russian-centrism of Soviet studies and finally offer a “different” — Ukrainian — perspective of seeing Soviet history for its own as well as international audience.

Les toiles de Bretagne : une histoire à réinvestir

Les toiles de Bretagne : une histoire à réinvestir

Dalit Histories, Pandemic Histories

Dalit Histories, Pandemic Histories

A Polio Epidemic Is Averted.

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. In August 1961, the incidence of polio was rising in and around Syracuse, New York, and oral polio vaccine had just been made available. In this article from AJN's May 1962 issue, Syracuse Department of Health director of nursing Alyce Rooney details the rapid planning that resulted in the administration of more than 400,000 polio vaccines over a period of just three days. In an incredible effort over less than two weeks, vaccine was obtained and repackaged, vaccination sites were secured, staff assignments were made, and the vaccines were given. After a high of 46 Syracuse-area polio cases in August, the number dropped to 18 in September and none in October. More than 50 years later, vaccine hesitancy has become a roadblock to today's vaccination campaigns. In this issue, research by Roberts and colleagues provides an understanding of vaccine hesitancy among nurses, which may inform the development of policies, campaigns, and interventions aimed at increasing nurse vaccination rates.-Betsy Todd, MPH, RN.

An Introduction to Yoga.

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. This article, from AJN's February 1976 issue, was written by Robin L. Wilson, a nurse and yoga instructor, who today is a member of the YogaNurse Academy. In this early AJN article on the subject, Wilson described the many benefits of the practice, and shared easy-to-follow instructions for a simple yoga routine. She noted, "These exercises can be adapted for patient care, taught to patients, or practiced by nurses to maintain their own health." In this issue, Angela Dossett and colleagues describe the results of a program of structured yoga sessions for patients hospitalized on a locked medical-psychiatric unit. The popular sessions, led by a nurse-yoga instructor, have expanded to all behavioral inpatient units at their facility.-Betsy Todd, MPH, RN.

Nursing the Patient With an Artificial Pacemaker.

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. In this article from AJN's April 1964 issue, author Anne F. Heller discusses the science of "transistorized" artificial cardiac pacemakers and the care of patients who received these implants. Standard care included a pre-op soap-and-water enema and 10 days of post-op antibiotics. Readers were cautioned about the breakability of the large glass bottle attached to post-op chest tubes. The pacemaker itself cost $400. (To read the full article, go to https://links.lww.com/AJN/A229.) In this month's issue, Mary Ann Leavitt offers an update on the use of today's implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, cardiac resynchronization therapy, and ventricular assist devices. Newer "pacemakers" can now be used in primary prevention therapy for patients who are at greater risk for arrhythmias, and patient data can be transmitted wirelessly to the clinician's office. The latest devices can cost upward of $30,000.-Betsy Todd, MPH, RN.

Have You a Hobby?

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. In the first half of the 20th century, AJN readers were regularly reminded about the importance of hobbies. As Frances Pedersen remarked in this April 1931 article, "We owe it to ourselves and to our work to regularly seek refreshment of mind and body." In those early decades, the journal devoted a surprising amount of time to this particular nonclinical topic. A variety of authors enthusiastically shared ideas for hobbies, such as collecting hospital postcards, or, as in Pedersen's article, gardening. Some argued that people with hobbies were more well rounded and therefore made better nurses. And some saw hobbies as essential relaxation. For our April issue, with Earth Day and spring in mind, and for those of us who spend our fast-paced workdays dealing with COVID-19 and other serious issues, we thought gardening was a particularly good hobby to cover.-Betsy Todd, MPH, RN.

Poetry as a medium of protest

Poetry has been a medium of protest for long period of history. Poets have been vocal in protest against social injustices such as communalism, caste hierarchy, and linguistic xenophobia. Assam has been historically a land of admixture of various races. Marxism, a theory that has at many points, challenged established cultural ethos, has a history of success only in homogeneous religious community. How Marxism survived and even formed governments, is a history worth discussing.

The International Council of Nurses.

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times.

Socio-cultural status of ‘barracks women’ in Nigeria, 1905-1985: A historical perspective

This article focuses on the socio-cultural status of barracks women in Nigeria. The study is important, contrary to the thinking that army wives have no history worth studying because of culture, environment, and sex stereotypes. The paper argues that since the incorporation of women into the barracks, their roles have been complementary in both empire-building and nation-building. Remarkably, their influence contributed to the construction of social relations and interdependence between the colonisers and the colonised. With the departure of European wives from the colony, indigenous officers’ wives transformed their roles from the private to the public spheres to meet the challenges of nation-building and social change. In this piece, we draw on oral sources, military magazines and literature, qualitative data and Internet sources to highlight the socio-cultural status of women and their involvement in colonial and post-colonial societies. This paper reveals that rank is a factor in women’s involvement in gender and service politics. It concludes that barracks women can improve their status in the social and economic spheres through government empowerment and social investment programmes. This study is limited to barracks women in Nigeria. It will help society to know that barracks women have a history worth studying.

The Death of Florence Nightingale.

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. This month's article, from the September 1910 issue, is a tribute to Florence Nightingale after her August 1910 death at age 90. It's likely that this was a "stop the presses" moment in the early years of AJN, with staff rushing to ensure that the news appeared in the first issue following her death. The writer of this brief commentary-more a eulogy than an obituary-stresses that Nightingale was not a one-dimensional angelic figure. She was a reformer: "The first thinker and writer of her times on hygiene, on hospital and training-school administration, on private and hospital nursing methods, and on the care of the sick poor in their own homes." In the October issue that year, AJN continued its tribute to Nightingale with detailed descriptions of the funeral procession, the many floral tributes from around the world, and the memorial service at St. Paul's Cathedral in London that was open to the public.

Nurses' House-for Nurses.

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. This month's article, from January 1939, describes Nurses' House in Long Island, New York, where nurses could stay for "fun or rest, or just plain comfort and content." The home was a legacy of Emily H. Bourne, who was known primarily for her support of the blind and for building what is now the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts. Bourne (who was not a nurse) left money in her will for the purchase of a mansion where nurses could come to rest and relax between cases. The home was sold in 1959 to create a fund for nurses in need. Today, Nurses' House is a nonprofit, nurse-managed, national service organization that provides short-term financial assistance to nurses in all 50 states. For more on nurses' well-being-especially relevant amid a global pandemic-see this month's original research article, "Well-Being and Resilience Among Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study."-Betsy Todd, MPH, RN.

Supporting the Patient on LSD Day

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. During the 1960s, the therapeutic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) were studied in psychiatric clinical settings. In this February 1964 article, nurse Kay Parley writes enthusiastically about this work at one such research hospital. She describes the benefits of LSD therapy for patients with alcoholism, as well as the richness of the experience for the nurse who guides the patient through treatment. "No role is so welcomed on our psychiatric unit than that of 'sitting' with a patient during LSD therapy." Parley vividly describes the nurse's role in these treatments. Her own long hospitalization for "manic-depressive psychosis" and treatment with LSD undoubtedly framed her approach to this therapy. Today there is renewed interest in the therapeutic use of psychoactive substances such as LSD. Penn and colleagues provide an update in "Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy" in this issue.-Betsy Todd, MPH, RN.

Influenza-1918.

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but they also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. This month's article is by public health expert Dorothy Deming, whose many roles over her long career included director of the Visiting Nurse Association in Holyoke, Massachusetts; editor of Public Health Nursing; and author of the Penny Marsh: Public Health Nurse series for young adult readers. In her October 1957 AJN article, Deming recalls her experiences as a nursing student in New York City during the 1918 influenza pandemic. She and a classmate managed a 32-bed women's influenza unit through 12-hour night shifts, a "baptism of fire for a young nurse," she writes. Deming describes shifts that sound eerily familiar given today's COVID-19 pandemic: overcrowded units, staff shortages, patients whose condition could change "in split seconds," and the emotional impact of working under these conditions. For more on COVID-19 in this issue, see "Standardizing the Accommodations Process for Health Care Workers During COVID-19."-Betsy Todd, MPH, RN.

Traction and Hot Fomentations for Osteo-Arthritis.

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but they also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times.In this month's article, from the May 1925 issue, nurse Ellen G. Dawson from Evanston Hospital in Illinois presents three case studies as evidence for a new use for immobilizing traction: the treatment of osteoarthritis. The protocol includes the use of traction for days or weeks, hot fomentations (poultices) applied to the skin over the painful joint, and a body cast (for back pain) or leg cast (for knee pain) worn for an extended period afterward. If the joint pain was severe, a lotion made from tinctures of opium and arnica, witch hazel, and lead water was also applied. The author notes, "We could cite case after case, with varying lengths of time, where the results have been equally gratifying."Today, nurses are involved in more formal arthritis research. In this issue, So-Hyun Park and Shiela M. Strauss examine the impact of arthritis on recommended physical activity in their original research article, "Arthritis-Related Functional Limitations and Inadequate Physical Activity Among Female Adult Cancer Survivors."

No One Knows I Have a Colostomy.

: Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but they also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times.This December 1951 article is a patient's account of her struggle to learn how to care for her colostomy. Despite a three-and-a-half-week hospital stay, she received no practical guidance in colostomy care. "My doctor assured me that all I would need to do after I got home would be to get up a half hour earlier to irrigate the colostomy," she writes. "The nurses were kind, cheerful, and patient, but they seldom referred to my colostomy." It took two years "of trial and error, of fear and anxiety" for the patient to figure out how to manage her colostomy.This woman's experience highlighted the need for expert guidance for people with ostomies. Unfortunately, it was 1958 before the first known ostomy specialist began work. The American Association of Enterostomal Therapists, the precursor of the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society, was formed in 1968.This article reminds us, once again, of the importance of patient education and support after life-changing surgery. For nurses who are not ostomy specialists, "Stoma and Peristomal Skin Care: A Clinical Review" in this issue offers an update on stoma care.

Final Services for Florence Nightingale.

: Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but they also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times.Florence Nightingale died on August 13, 1910. AJN noted her passing in the September 1910 issue and covered her August 20 funeral in the October issue. That account, "Final Services for Florence Nightingale," describes the flowers and wreaths that accumulated at both the church and the Nightingale tomb. A special note was made of the wreath from Stella Forster, a seven-year-old girl, who sent along this message: "Please may my wreath be put with the other flowers. I picked the heather and made it myself, because I love her so."It had been Nightingale's wish to have a simple burial. Nevertheless, as her small procession passed Buckingham Palace and Wellington Barracks, "the guards turned out and the sentries presented arms." Nightingale might have been surprised to learn that in the United States, beginning in 1954, her birthday would be celebrated as the centerpiece of Nurses Week each year.