Primary Sources: People - Women: Nightingale, Florence

"The Florence Nightingale Collection of the Reynolds-Finley Historical Library includes 58 personal letters by Nightingale, dated 1853 to 1893, covering military and civil hospitals, nursing, sanitary affairs and public health issues in India, and various charitable contributions. The original 50 letters were acquired by Dr. Lawrence Reynolds in February of 1951. In January of 2020, 8 additional letters were generously donated to UAB by The Upper Room, a faith-based organization of Nashville, Tennessee, upon the closure of its Christian Art Museum. They are held in the Reynolds-Finley Historical Library on behalf of the UAB School of Nursing. Also, an original photograph of Florence Nightingale was donated by the Nu Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau and the University of Alabama School of Nursing in honor of Dr. Marie O'Koren."

"This collection consists primarily of letters written by Florence Nightingale throughout her life. Major topics of the letters include medical care for the soldiers and the poor, the role of nursing, and sanitation and public works in colonized India. These digitized items are part of a larger collection in the Wayne State University Library Special Collections, which contains more correspondence, books, and other items."

"The Florence Nightingale Digital Archive represents Tony Paterniti's personal collection of ephemera, books, artifacts, letters, and other materials related to Florence Nightingale. Paterniti's connection to Florence Nightingale is an aspirational one; Nightingale represents the nursing profession and her history is the history of nursing. Over time, Paterniti has devoted years of research to bring together this unique collection of materials that gives a fuller picture to the guiding light of the nursing profession."

"Woodward Library acquired most of this collection of letters written by and to Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) from a Boston book dealer in the 1960s. The first were obtained in 1966 and are a memorial to Jean McCash Fleming Moore, RN, whose parents donated money toward their purchase. Many of this group of letters were written by Nightingale to Mme Julius Mohl (nee Mary Clarke) her long-time friend. A second purchase of about 80 letters was made also in the 1960s. A few other items have been received as individual gifts and seven letters were acquired from Hugh M. Sinclair with books and papers purchased from him."

"The Florence Nightingale Letters Collection highlights aspects of Nightingale's work throughout her life. The correspondences exemplify her engagement in policy matters as well as her leadership in the field of Nursing. Many appear on black-bordered mourning stationery. Dr. Karl A Meyer accumulated the letters in this collection, later donating them to the Cook County School of Nursing. The Special Collections Department of the University of Illinois Chicago acquired the collection in 2000."

"The Florence Nightingale Museum holds objects once owned or gifted by Nightingale, artefacts related to the Crimean War and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses, as well as manuscripts and rare books." Some of these materials are accessible online.

"The Library's digital collections cover a wide variety of topics, including asylums, food, sex and sexual health, genetics, public health and war. "