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Title
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Wald, Lillian (1876-1940)
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birthday
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1867-03-10
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Birthplace
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Cincinnati, OH
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Death Date
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1940-09-01
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Occupation
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Nurse
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Author
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Humanitarian
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Human rights activist
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Biographical Text
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Lillian Wald was a nurse, humanitarian, human rights activist, and author. Wald was born in Cincinnati, OH, in 1867 and moved to Rochester, NY, with her family in 1878. She applied to Vassar College at sixteen, but was denied acceptance for being too young. In 1889 she attended New York Hospital's School of Nursing. In 1891 she graduated from the New York Hospital Training School for Nurses. She then continued her education through classes at the Woman's Medical College. After completing medical school in 1893, Wald began to teach a home class on nursing for low-income immigrant families in the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the Hebrew Technical School for Girls. Shortly after, she started working as a visiting nurse for sick residents of the area. Wald created the term "public health nurse" during this era of her career, used to describe the work of a nurse that is integrated into a public community. Wald was also a strong advocate for nursing in public schools, inspiring the New York Board of Health to start the worlds first public nursing system. Wald was the first president of the National Organization for Public Health Nursing, and wrote two books in relation to her work in the field. Wald was also the founder of the Henry Street Settlement, an organization dedicated to providing care to New York City residents regardless of race, gender, age, income, or social status. The settlement created great positive change in terms of patient accessibility, bedside manner, and employment opportunities for women. Wald's commitment to activism was strong throughout her career, taking part in the organization and founding of committees such as the Women's Trade Union League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Wald never married, but had two recorded romantic relationships with other women part of Henry Street. The first was with Helen Arthur, a lawyer, and the second was with Mabel Hyde Kittredge, an economist and social worker. Wald passed on September 1, 1940, from a cerebral hemorrhage. She was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery.
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Contributor
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O'Neill, Iris
