My grandmother, Violet Martin Reeves, graduated from The Mary Fletcher Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1911.
Her diploma is framed and hangs on the wall of the landing of the third floor of my house in Burlington. It was put there in 1926 when she and her family moved into the Reeves Homestead. No one has a reason to take it down. It is a pleasure to look at and a reminder of her grit and fortitude. I have kept my grandmother’s photograph albums from when she was in nurse’s training where she left them: They are neat and orderly similar to the way she kept her ledger and how she managed the family property. These pictures show a young, happy, and beautiful young lady surrounded by her friends.
My memories of my grandmother are when she was older and her health had started to fail and she had assumed the role of matriarch of the family. I remember when she was a patient at the Mary Fletcher Hospital in February of 1961 and the head nurse presented her with a cake in honor of the 50th anniversary of her graduation from nurses training.
Named for the violets in bloom
My grandmother was a Canadian citizen born in Montreal in 1886. Her father was born in Torquay, Devonshire, England and owned a florist shop on St. Catherine Street in downtown Montreal. She was born in February when the violets were blooming in his greenhouse, thus her name. When he retired in 1903 he bought a 155-acre farm in St Albans Bay.
The Mary Fletcher Hospital Training School for Nurses held its dedication ceremony on Feb. 2, 1882, three years after the hospital was opened and like the hospital was named in memory of Mary M. Fletcher’s mother, Mary L. Fletcher. It was the 23rd school of nursing in the country and the first one connected with a country hospital. Having one of the few training programs for nurses in the country gave the hospital status.
There were six students in the first, two-year program and included four weeks of lectures, demonstrations, and practical teaching in May with one textbook, “Clara Weeks Book on Nursing.” An enrollee had to be between the ages of 20 and 40, able to read and write, be in good health, and have a sound moral character. The cost of the lectures was $10 and if a student couldn’t afford it she could assume extra duties to pay her way. The students worked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. six days a week with strict curfews.
Hospital completed in 1879
The construction of The Mary Fletcher Hospital was completed in 1879 and was the first nonprofit public hospital in the state. It was paid for with the gift of $185,000 from Mary M. Fletcher: $25,000 for the site, $50,000 for the building and an endowment of $110,000 that generated $7,000, to be used for operating costs. By 1894 subsequently purchases increased the hospital’s land holdings to 470 acres.
The hospital regulations excluded “patients suffering from contagious or infectious disease…any lunatic, or any maternity case.” There were 26 patient rooms and a total of 68 patients were admitted the first year. Patient care cost $10 per week.
The Mary Fletcher Hospital was located on the brow of the hill on the 25-acre Catlin estate known for its spectacular views with groves, orchards, cultivated gardens, and extensive lawns. It was far enough away from central Burlington not to be a health hazard; at that time England considered burning all its hospitals because of disease. There are still breathtaking views from this site.
The first nurses’ residence was built in 1896 and cost $12,000. The trainees no longer had to sleep in the basement with four girls to a room or live and work at the homes of patients for an indefinite period of time. The later arrangement was opposed by the newly formed Vermont League of Nursing Education Association: the hospital not the students were paid for this work; soon a policy of all nurses being trained at the hospital was enforced. By 1911 the state of Vermont registered nurses which was done by sending a letter requesting a license to the Vermont secretary of state in Montpelier.
In 1907 when my grandmother enrolled at the Mary Fletcher Hospital Training School for Nurses it had been a three-year program for five years. The acceptance rate for her class was 65 percent: it was harder to get into the nurses’ training program in 1907 than it is to get into UVM today. Before being officially admitted, the applicants had to work at unpleasant jobs for a few months.
On acceptance they went to The Royal, a shop on Church Street, to be fitted for their nurses’ training outfits. These trainees were given room, board, and a stipend of $10-$12 per month.
14 students in Class of 1911
The academic courses my grandmother took – obstetrics, surgical nursing, hygiene, and anatomy and physiology – were given in October and November. In the spring her courses were anatomy and physiology and surgical lectures. The next fall she studied anatomy and physiology. I have a copy of her school records and she was a solid student always doing well but not outstanding. There were 14 students in her graduating Class in 1911 and they were the first ones to be eligible to be licensed by the state of Vermont yet there was no graduation ceremony; they got their diplomas by picking them up at superintendent’s office.
The student nurses despite working long hours had a good time among themselves. I enjoy looking at the pictures of my grandmother when she was in nursing school. The picture of her waving the Union Jack makes me chuckle: she became an American citizen but always felt strong emotional ties to England. My mother told me stories about Torquay, the town where my great grandfather, Aaron Martin, was from on the southern coast of England, known as the English Riviera with palm trees.
One summer I spent two weeks in Torquay walking along the coast and hiking in the moors of Devonshire. My mother was delighted to hear my stories about where her mother’s people were from and see pictures of the palm trees of Torquay. I returned to Torquay a second time and investigated the family legend we were descendants of a duchess who was banished to Torquay for marrying a footman.
Unfortunately, in 1908 Aaron Martin collapsed from a heart condition and my grandmother had to take a six month leave of absence to help her mother settle his estate. His probated estate included 18 cows, four horses, farm equipment and home furnishings with two pianos. My grandmother and her sister were very musical so owning two pianos made sense knowing her love for music and how well she and her sister played the piano; a talent my mother had and an activity I delight in.
Grandparents married in 1912
In 1909 when my grandmother was returning to nursing school from St. Albans she was on the same train as J. Edward Reeves, a young handsome gentleman. They both got off the train in Essex Junction and took the street car into Burlington and disembarked at the same stop: she went to the nurses’ residence and he to his home at 138 Colchester Ave. They didn’t speak. However, he was so taken with her he called a friend who had a sister in nurses training and got my grandmother’s name and contacted her.
They were married in 1912 in the chapel in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal. It was a match made in heaven: she ruled and he was full of love and affection for his family. After she was married she never officially worked as a nurse. However, when her mother became sick and frail she was brought to Burlington from Montreal and cared for at their home at 20 Fletcher Place and she cared for her in-laws at 138 Colchester Ave. when they were dying.
My grandmother formed lifelong friendships with her nursing school classmates: one was the midwife when her children were born and she was always invited to our family birthday and holiday celebrations and referred to as auntie, teaching my sisters and me to knit. She lived at 16 Colchester Ave., the graduate nurses’ residence purchased in 1900 by the hospital: if someone wanted to hire a nurse they would contact those at this home. Every Sunday morning on our way to eight o’clock mass at The Cathedral we drove by 16 Colchester Ave. and my mother would always say “Now, wave to Auntie,” who was sitting at her window waiting for us.
Friendship with Mellie
In 1923 another friend of my grandmother’s from nurses’ training asked her if she would be interested in having Mellie, a young lady from St. John’s, Newfoundland, live with her as a housemaid when she went to night school for her high school diploma. Mellie wanted to be a nurse and work for the Grenfell Mission in Labrador. From her nursing school records Mellie was called Elizabeth in school but her legal name was Amelia Elizabeth Wilcox. In 1925 when Mellie enrolled in nurses’ training her course work included pediatric and infant nursing, bacteriology, and nervous and mental disorders. She always put in a steady, solid performance, graduating in a class of 22 students.
Mellie spent her days off at my grandmother’s house where she was served special dinners. Eventually she worked as a nurse at the Grenfell Mission in Labrador. From the stories my mother told me about Mellie’s kindness towards her when she was a child Mellie must have been a very caring, thoughtful nurse. Eventually she joined a religious order of nursing nuns on Long Island and my mother often visited her at the convent.
My grandmother’s diploma from The Mary Fletcher Hospital Training School for Nurses is where she placed it in 1926 and her albums from nurses training are still on the top shelf where she left them; it is a pleasure to know they are there and to look at them. And, I alwyas enjoy recalling the stories about my grandmother and Mellie.
Martha Reeves Lang is a writer and visual artist. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Reeves Lang. Martha has written and illustration 12 children’s books, three novels, and four poetry books. She lives at 138 Colchester Ave. in the Reeves Family Homestead. She has a doctorate from Columbia University, Class of 1980.
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