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 Auchincloss Florence Nightingale Collection  Freud Library Columbia University Medical Center Archives Hyman Collection in the History of Anesthesiology Personal Papers and Manuscripts
Esther, as she was known, attended Hope College Preparatory School in Holland, Michigan, taught school for several years in her native state, and then studied one year at Hope College. In 1913 she entered the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing (now the Columbia University School of Nursing) in New York. She received her diploma in May 1916 and became a Registered Nurse (with Honor) on Aug. 31, 1916. In May 1917 she left for France as a nurse with U.S. Base Hospital No. 2, a unit made up of Presbyterian Hospital personnel. It was assigned to take over General Hospital No. 1 of the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) stationed at Étretat, France, in northern Normandy. Because of this the Presbyterian unit is sometimes referred to by that designation. To add to the confusion, the hospital was originally organized as American Red Cross Hospital No. 1. Nevertheless, its official U.S. title was Base Hospital No. 2. Though staffed by Americans, the majority of the hospital’s patients continued to be British servicemen. Fortuine served for the length of the war, returning to the U.S. with the rest of the unit in February, 1919. After a short time with her family in Michigan, she joined her brother Stanley – a 1916 graduate of Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons – to take a post at Mary McClellan Hospital in Cambridge, N.Y., where he was Surgeon in Residence. Esther Fortuine remained at McClellan for the rest of her career. She was Head Nurse in 1935-1936 and, after taking a three month course in orthopedic nursing, became orthopedic supervisor at the Hospital. She retired in 1953 and died April 11, 1960 in Midland, Michigan. SCOPE AND CONTENT: The bulk of Fortuine’s papers documents her World War I nursing service with U.S. Base Hospital No. 2 in France. Included are diaries; letters from family members, fellow nurses, and patients; postcards; photographs; a sketchbook of patients’ drawings and verses; programs for hospital events; artifacts; and documents relating to her military service and her career as a nurse. In addition, there is a small amount of papers documenting her post-war career including diaries from the 1930s, a few official nursing documents, and correspondence relating to her death and estate. The World War I diaries provide a vivid picture of daily routine at the hospital, including appraisals of the nurses and physicians with whom she worked and comments on patients. They also document her voyage to France, her first days at Étretat, her trips to the Alps and Pyrenees during leave, Armistice Day, and her return to the US in 1919. There are a few wartime letters to and from family and fellow nurses, but many more from patients who had returned to Britain, usually to further recuperate from their wounds. In addition, Fortuine kept a sketchbook in which patients wrote poems, expressed their thanks to the nurses, and drew sketches. Illustrative materials include numerous unmailed postcards, mostly of the Ètretat area and on many of which Fortuine wrote commentary; a few loose photos; and an album containing 187 photographs taken in France during the war. The images in the photograph album cover a wide range of subjects. Included are scenes of Ètretat and its surroundings; hospital patients; ambulances; Esther Fortuine and her nursing colleagues; and special events. Most of images are small snapshots. It is not known who took the photos; some appear in other Base Hospital No. 2 collections held by Archives & Special Collections. Most of the larger photographs were obviously taken by commercial photographers, while the snapshots were probably taken by Hospital staff members. The album also includes a number of post-war pictures of Esther and family members. Also included in these papers is a photocopy of A Red Cross Nurse in France during the Great War, 1917-1919 (Wasilla, AK: The editor, 2009) edited by Esther Fortuine’s nephew, Robert Fortuine, M.D. This work includes a transcription of the wartime diaries and letters and the patient sketchbook, as well as photocopies of many of the photographs and postcards. There is also a biographical sketch of Esther Fortuine and a brief historical overview of Base Hospital No. 2. The original copy of this work has been added to Archives & Special Collections’ M-Collection.
LANGUAGE: English. Nurses – United States – Diaries. Papers processed and finding written by Stephen E. Novak, April-May, 2009
Box Fo. flowers from the Alps Vanderberg, Holland, MI Lt. R.D. Wright Base newspaper, The Dooins, Jan. 26 & June 1, 1918, Nov. 13, 1920 (“American Edition”); and a published photo of Presbyterian Hospital nurses departing for France, 1917, among other clippings had tended at Étretat after they had been transferred to hospitals in the UK Hospital No. 2; see also Sketchbook (folder 18) 1917-1918 Minstrels,” March 28 & 30, 1918; Anniversary Dinner, May 14, 1918; Decoration Day Sports, May 30, 1918; Dinner menu and passenger list, U.S.A.C.T. Metapan, February 10, 1919 Base Hospital No. 2 (1 v.); see also, Patient writings (folder 13) 2 1 A Red Cross Nurse in France during the Great War, 1917-1919, ed. by Robert Fortuine (Wasilla, Alaska, 2009): transcription and/or copies of most of the material in the F. Esther Fortuine Papers including: wartime diaries and letters; copies of photos both loose and in the album; transcription of the sketchbook and patient letters and writings; copies of patient drawings. This is a copy: the original has been shelved in Special Collections’ M-Collection. Box 3 (flat box) Photograph Album, 1917-1919 for France
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