LAST CLASS: “”Tonight is all about the last nursing class of
Bradford Hospital School of Nursing.””[neWLine]

Jean Peace Switalski of Cuba, N.Y., a member of the class of
1955, tells us all about this special reunion slated for the
Bradford Club:[neWLine]

“”In June of 1953, they had just finished high school, without
any time for summer vacation, moved into Hamsher House, unpacked
and began their clinical classes taught by the Penn State
professors.[neWLine]

“”They were ‘probies,’ and our ‘little sisters.’ Each of them
was assigned to one of us. We took them under our wings. Having
been in nurses training for a year now, we felt qualified to ‘lead
these girls to the Promised Land.'[neWLine]

“”We had ‘been there, done that.’ We were survivors of our first
year of nursing school. Little did we know, we had only dipped our
toes into the swirling waters.[neWLine]

“”The new girls, 25 of them, had newer and bluer modern uniforms
and looked so young and vulnerable.[neWLine]

“”Sadly, it turned out that they were to be the last group of
student nurses to graduate from the Bradford Hospital School of
Nursing. They would never experience being the ‘big sister’ since
there were no classes to follow them. My class left our ‘little
sisters’ in June of 1955.[neWLine]

“”The halls of Hamsher House, Bennet House and Emery Hall are
quiet now except for the ghosts and memories and ‘remember whens’ …
when the rooms were filled with young girls and housemothers and
laughing and crying and singing. We even had a choral group, put on
plays, had fundraiser card parties.[neWLine]

“”Every emotion was felt by we young ladies. Every day we faced
new situations. Our coping mechanisms became finely tuned in front
of the patients, instructors and doctors. Back at the nurses’
residence, we could safely display our real emotions at the end of
the day.[neWLine]

“”Remember: Our dear friend, ‘Annie,’ in the kitchen, Miss Abby
(97 years young and a 1929 BHSN graduate), the amount of things
those deep uniform pockets held, the tunnel, the short-sheeting,
the “”perverts,”” the initiation process, Drs. Medden, Cleveland,
Henry, Moss, Kolisch, etc., and the Valley Hunt Club.[neWLine]

“”Like all the graduating classes, some were lost along the way.
It was ‘survival of the fittest,’ only the strong
survived.[neWLine]

“”Twenty-two of the honored class tonight ‘walked the walk’ for
three years and graduated in June of 1956. Our congratulations to
them.””