SFC In the News Archive

Archives Chronicle Saint Francis' History (February 14, 2000)

Referring to Rev. Louis Bonn's history of Saint Francis, So Falls the Elm Tree, archivist Lynn Fahy quickly was able to confirm that, indeed, there is a stained glass window in the chapel dedicated to a member of the Brassil family.

"Mary Brassil was our first patient in 1897, and she donated one of the stained glass windows in the hospital's chapel," explains Fahy, a technical services librarian responsible for the archives, which recently moved to a new state-of-the-art home in Saint Francis Education/Research Building.

Formally established in 1992 in the Woodland Medical Office Building, the archives are now located within the hospital's Health Sciences Library. The newly constructed area features twice the linear shelf space than existed in the previous location and climate controls designed to safeguard the compilation of documents, photographs and memorabilia, some of which date back 103 years.

"The archives exist to formally collect, organize and preserve the hospital's history," observes Carolyn Wilcox, the library's acting director.

In addition to historic photographs and blueprints, the archives contain a wide array of documents, such as minutes of department meetings, annual budgets and audited financial statements. Holdings include all of Saint Francis' annual reports dating back to 1897, the year the hospital was founded, in addition to an extensive file of press releases, news clippings, written histories, speeches and such publications as magazines, employee newsletters and School of Nursing yearbooks.

Now that the archives are in their new home, the library's staff is looking to acquire additional materials.

"We welcome more papers, objects and photographs," says Wilcox. "We know that they're out there, both in the community and within the hospital. We hope that people will keep us in mind."

Perhaps the most interesting parts of the collection are vintage objects such as a wheelchair, nurses' caps, student nurse uniforms and class pins.

"We've just received a wonderful donation from a former instructor at the School of Nursing of four dolls that were used for student recruitment," observes Fahy.

The dolls, which stand 18 inches tall, are dressed as a student nurse, a registered nurse, a nun and an allied health worker. They were manufactured under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, a "New Deal" era agency that organized the Federal Arts Project as part of the Roosevelt Administration's effort to provide work for the nation's unemployed during the mid-1930s and early 1940s.

"Just the fact of using a doll as a recruitment tool shows the difference between what was happening then and recruiting now," reflects Ms. Fahy.

The archives, which must be used by appointment with a librarian, are often employed by Saint Francis staff members researching questions about the establishment of departments and services. The most frequent information requests from outside the hospital come from students seeking general information on Saint Francis' history. But the archives have also been used by reporters writing about the history of Saint Francis' School of Nursing and the delivery of health care in Hartford in the 20th century.

"Sometimes we get requests for photographs," recalls Fahy. "One of the School of Nursing classes wanted pictures of the old building for a display at its reunion, and we were able to supply them."

For more information on the Saint Francis archives, contact Lynn Fahy at 860-714-5707.

PHOTOGRAPH -- Carolyn Wilcox (left), acting director of the Health Sciences Library at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, and Lynn Fahy (right), technical services librarian, catalog documents and memorabilia for the hospital's archives. The collection, which chronicles Saint Francis' 103-year history, recently moved into new state-of-the-art facilities in the hospital's Education/Research Building.