Ella Thomas Whitten papers, 1914/1979

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
170 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Special Collections Public Services & Reference Staff
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

Collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

No use restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Ella Thomas Whitten Papers, MS-59, Historical Collections & Services, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Summary

Extent:
2 Linear Feet 2 boxes and 14 artifacts and 14 items
Language:
English, French
Preferred citation:

Ella Thomas Whitten Papers, MS-59, Historical Collections & Services, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of 28 folders containing postcards, photographs, and publications pertaining to Ella Thomas Whitten's experiences in World War I and later service as a nurse in Virginia. The collection also includes 9 certificates and diplomas recieved by Ella Thomas Whitten throughout her nursing career. 14 nursing artifacts, mostly related to Ella Thomas Whitten's service during World War I, are cataloged with the medical artifacts collection and are also listed as part of this collection.

Biographical / historical:

Ella Thomas Whitten was born in Faber, Nelson County, Virginia on 7 February 1890, to William Thomas Whitten and Martha Ann Clements, and had nine brothers and sisters. In 1915 she graduated from the Davis-Fischer Sanatorium Training School of Atlanta, Georgia. When she was 27, she enlisted as a nurse in the United States Army Nurse Corps, and traveled overseas to serve in Blois, France, at Base Hospital No. 43, a unit sponsored by Emory University. She finished her service and returned to the United States in 1918. After the war, she received a certificate of commendation from the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia for her service. She later attended the College of William and Mary, attaining a certificate in public health nursing from the School of Social Work and Public Health of the College of William and Mary in 1933, and graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1937. Whitten was a long-time member of the American National Red Cross and the Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia. She received an American Red Cross certificate for 50 years of service in 1967. In 1958 she married Dr. Carl Clinton; the couple lived in Lynchburg, Virginia. Dr. Clinton died 12 January 1969, and Ella Whitten Akers died 2 March 1984. Both are buried in Faber, Virginia.

Acquisition information:
The materials were donated to the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library in or before 2000.
Arrangement:

Materials are arranged by type and chronology.

Physical description:
2 linear feet: 1 box with the dimensions of 5.5 inches x 10 inches x 15.5 inches and 1 box with the dimensions 17.25 x 3.5 x 11.5
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard