Box 5

The district includes nurses from DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, and Will Counties. Administrative records comprise the largest series and contain constitutions and by-laws, regular and board meeting minutes, annual reports, correspondence, committee and section records, and histories of the association and hospitals and nursing education programs within the district. The section records document specific nursing divisions within the association such as general duty or mental health nurses. Although distinct from the financial records series, some budgets and treasurer's reports can be found in the regular meeting minute books or the finance committee file. Annual meeting minutes also are interfiled in the regular meeting minutes. Records for Nurses Week in 1978 and awards and commendations complete the series. Materials from the District II Student Nurses' Association, the Illinois State Nurses Association (I.S.N.A.), the Illinois Nurses' Association (I.N.A.), and the American Nurses' Association (A.N.A.) comprises the other organizations' records series. There is a detailed history of the I.N.A. for the years 1901 to 1935 in Box 6, folder 3. Of particular interest is the file containing state nursing acts (1931-1965) indicating the associations' concern for registration and certification laws. The expansion of the I.N.A., as well as office changes and digital access, is noted via a series of newsletters (1995-2004) in box 7. The collection provides substantial information on the development of the nursing profession and it is especially useful for women's history research. Indications of advancements in medicine may also be gleaned from the documents. In particular, the minutes detail the effect World Wars I and II had upon the nursing and medical professions as well as the struggle for standard nursing education requirements. A 3.5" floppy containing historic documents created in 1995 and 1996 can be found in the Historical Committee folder (box 7). The documents included a list of officers (1982-1997), presidents (1914-1996), and contact information for the Regional History Center, where INA District Two Records were donated. These e-records may be accessed on the computer in the Center's reading room. Print copies of the documents are in the collection.