Nurses in Girls' Literature
Ruth Fielding
Created by the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1913 as a counterpart to their Speedwell Boys series, the Ruth Fielding series was unusual for the era, as it focused on a single heroine. Written by various authors under the pseudonym of Alice B. Emerson, the series contains 30 titles.
Ruth herself is depicted as an independent girl, brave but not without moments of vulnerability. The first half of the series deals with Ruth's years in school, while the second 15 books have plots relating to mysteries and adventures during Ruth's career as a moving picture director, actress, and finally owner of her own movie studio. During the 1st World War, Ruth served as a nurse in France. The Rubenstein Library has the following titles, published between 1913 and 1921 by Cupples & Leon.
- Ruth Fielding at the War Front, or, The Hunt for the Lost Soldier. (E #20045)
- Ruth Fielding in the Great Northwest: or, The Indian Girl Star of the Movies (E #20044)
- Ruth Fielding Homeward Bound: or, A Red Cross Worker's Ocean Perils. (E #20043)
- Ruth Fielding at Briarwood Hall, or, Solving the Campus Mystery. (E #19879)
- Ruth Fielding in the Red Cross, or, Doing Her Best for Uncle Sam. (E #19878)
- Ruth Fielding at Lighthouse Point, or, Nita, the Girl Castaway. (E #19877)
- Ruth Fielding at Snow Camp, or, Lost in the Backwoods. (E #19876)
- Ruth Fielding Down in Dixie, or, Great Times in the Land of Cotton. (SCL Off-Site Stacks: 813.4 E53 R974 1916)
Cherry Ames, Nurse
The Cherry Ames series is one of the most popular career-oriented series for girls, and has been published internationally. When Helen Wells decided to stop writing the Cherry Ames series, Julie Campbell Tatham took them over, then later returned them to Wells. Cherry began her nursing career as a student, training to be a war nurse. In addition to being a competent and compassionate nurse, Cherry Ames is a bit of a sleuth. The following titles were all published between 1944 and 1959 by Grosset & Dunlap in New York.
- Wells, Helen. Cherry Ames, Army Nurse. (E #20019)
- Wells, Helen. Cherry Ames, Flight Nurse. (E #20021)
- Wells, Helen. Cherry Ames, Veterans' Nurse. (E #20016)
- Campbell, Julie. Cherry Ames at Spencer. (E #19807)
- Campbell, Julie. Cherry Ames, Night Supervisor. (E #20017)
- Campbell, Julie. Cherry Ames, Mountaineer Nurse. (E #19806)
- Campbell, Julie. Cherry Ames, Clinic Nurse. (E #19805)
- Campbell, Julie. Cherry Ames, Rest Home Nurse. (E#20018)
- Wells, Helen. Cherry Ames at Hilton Hospital. (E #20020)
The Cherry Ames Page: This website includes book summaries, descriptions of all the characters from the various books, and information about other nurse series.
Other
- Wilcox Barbara M. Bunty Brown-Probationer. London: Oxford University Press, 1940. (E #20551) "Nurses have splendid chances to travel all over the world, better perhaps than any other women."
- Wyndham, Lee. Candy Stripers. New York: Julian Messner, Inc., 1958. (E #20560) "Suddenly she knew that she wanted to be among the dedicated-she'd never be a nurse, but her hospital experience might lead to laboratory work, even to being a doctor, but it was something real and definite to think about and strive for."
- James, Josephine. African Adventure. New York: Golden Press, 1965. (E #20299) Kathy Martin is a Peace Corps Nurse stationed in Liberia.
- Kirby, Jean. Nurses Three: Tracy's Little People. Racine, Wis., Whitman Pub. Co., 1965. (E #20122) This series focuses on the three Scott sisters and their careers as nurses. Each volume tells the story of a single sister. Other titles focus on Penny and Kelly.
- McDonnell, Virginia B. Dee O'Hara, Astronauts' Nurse. New York: Nelson, 1965. (E#19913) True story about Dee O'Hara and her responsibilities with NASA.
- Blassingame, Wyatt. Combat Nurses of World War II. New York: Random House, 1967. (E#20559) Exciting stories about real nurses' experiences on the frontlines.
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