Dorsye E. Russell papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Commonwealth University, Cabell Library
James Branch Cabell Library
Virginia Commonwealth University
P.O. Box 842003
901 Park Avenue
Richmond, VA 23284-2003
Contact for questions and access:
POC: SCA Staff
Phone: (804) 828-1108
Fax: (804) 828-0151
Restrictions:

Collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Dorsye E. Russell Collection, Accession #2001/Nov/16, Special Collections and Archives, Health Sciences Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

Summary

Extent:
2.9 Linear Feet
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Dorsye E. Russell Collection, Accession #2001/Nov/16, Special Collections and Archives, Health Sciences Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, essays and published materials dating from 1942 to 1987, with the bulk of material dated from 1968 - 1973. This material deals mainly with Russell's work with the Virginia Nursing Association in which she served as an officer and later President. Missing from the collection are things related to Russell's personal affairs.

Biographical / historical:

Dorsye Russell was known as a pioneer in Virginia nursing. At a time when women were not expected to continue their education past a bachelor's degree, Russell earned her master's making her one of the most educated nurses in Virginia. Russell has the distinction of being the only woman to have been the president of three major nursing organizations within Virginia; The Virginia Nurses' Association, Virginia League for Nursing, and the Virginia Organization of Nurse Executives.

Russell was heavily involved with the Medical College of Virginia Foundation and the Nursing Division of the MCV Alumni Association. She was a teacher and administrator and her legacy is one of service to the institutions she served. She was an assistant professor in nursing at MCV as well as at Patrick Henry Community College where she established their nurse training curriculum. She was director of nursing at several Virginia hospitals including Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Kings Daughter's Hospital in Staunton, and Lynchburg General Hospital in Lynchburg. She was appointed to the Governor's Committee on Nursing by Governor Mills Godwin in 1966. This Committee provided an accurate view of the challenges and needs of the nursing profession in Virginia at a time when it was most needed. From 1965 to 1975, Russell served on the State Board of Nursing.

Russell was also instrumental in establishing the Dorsye E. Russell Leadership Fund at MCV's School of Nursing in 1996. This endowment was envisioned to provide the needed funding for a course in professional organizational leadership and to make MCV a "flagship school" in Virginia. It is also intended to provide the skills needed for leadership within nursing associations.

Russell received many awards during her professional career, but the two most important were the Nancy Vance Award, the highest award given by the Virginia Nurses' Association in 1982, and just after her death, she was honored as one of the 50 pioneering nurses in Virginia. Though she never married and had no children, her legacy lives on in the organization she helped to build and the profession in which she worked. Russell is buried in Richmond's Hollywood cemetery. Her obituary can be found in the Fredericksburg Press Lance-Star.

Milestones:
  1. 03 Dec 1919: Born in Richmond, Virginia.
  2. 1938-1940: Attended College of William and Mary.
  3. 1943: Graduated, Medical College of Virginia. (BS, Nursing)
  4. 1945-1949: Faculty, Assistant Professor of Nursing, St. Philip School of Nursing, Medical College of Virginia.
  5. 1951: Graduated, Columbia University. (MA. Nursing Administration)
  6. 1956-1958: President of the Virginia League of Nursing.
  7. 1965-1970: Served as a Member of the Virginia State Board of Nursing.
  8. 1966-1970: President of the Virginia Nurses' Association.
  9. 1966-1969: Member of the Governor's Committee on Nursing (Virginia)
  10. 1970-1971: Asst. Professor of Nursing at Patrick Henry Comm. College.
  11. 1970-1975: Served as a Member of the Virginia State Board of Nursing.
  12. 1982: Awarded the Nancy Vance Award by the Virginia Nurses' Association.
  13. 1984: Awarded the Outstanding Nursing Alumni Award by the MCV Alumni Association.
  14. 05 Apr 2000: Died in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
  15. 03 May 2000: Honored as a Virginia Pioneering Nurse by the Virginia Nurses' Association.
Acquisition information:
Donated to the Tompkins-McCaw Library
Arrangement:

Records are arranged in chronological order.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard