Inspired by the cholera epidemic of 1849, the Jews of Cincinnati, Ohio established the Jewish Hospital at the corners of Bauer and Central Avenue. Their hospital was one among three Jewish hospitals launched in the 19th century in the United States, which included Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York, New York and Touro Infirmary in New Orleans, Louisiana.  These hospitals were established to assist the indigent poor, protect Jewish patients against discrimination and to insure the observance of Jewish traditions at the time of a patient’s death.

By March 1890 the Jewish Hospital moved to a newly constructed facility on Burnett Avenue. In June of that pivotal year, the hospital’s Board of Control hired Nurse Mary Hamer Greenwood of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Nurse Greenwood worked with the Nursing Committee and the Board of Control to establish a training school for nurses at the Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati. By early 1892 the school was in operation with seven nursing students. Initially a two-year program, the curriculum was expanded to three years by 1899. Graduating nurses were required to satisfactorily complete the courses and pass an examination. Under the leadership of Nurse Greenwood, 35 nurses graduated by the end of the 19th century.

The Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions partnered with the University of Cincinnati Libraries Preservation Lab in their Textile Conservation Workshop. The workshop experts repaired two tears, reinforced them to prevent further damage and dressed a mannequin with the complete uniform for exhibition. The mannequin was modified to fit Nurse Petley’s specific uniform. Although we do not have biographical information about Nurse Petley, her name is marked on the inside of the uniform.

The Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions is grateful to the experts at the University of Cincinnati Libraries Preservation Lab for their inclusion of the Nurse Petley textile artifacts in their Textile Preservation Workshop. The Nurse Petley exhibition will be on display at the Winkler Center until mid-March 2027. Contact the Center for an appointment chhp@ucmail.uc.edu.