A seminal figure in Pacific Northwest nursing will soon be a familiar name to Linfield University-Good Samaritan School of Nursing students.
Linfield University has been awarded a 2023 Oregon Heritage Grant from the Oregon Heritage Commission, part of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Alongside university matching funds, the $10,000 grant will be used by the Linfield University Libraries to create a permanent exhibit celebrating the life and work of Emily Loveridge on Linfield’s Portland campus.
Loveridge, who lived from 1860 to 1941, founded and led the first nursing school in the Pacific Northwest in 1890 — which would eventually become the Linfield University-Good Samaritan School of Nursing. The exhibit will be housed in the lobby of Building 2, which will soon be renamed Loveridge Hall.
“This is wonderful news — Emily Loveridge is a tremendous figure in nursing history, and her legacy lives on today,” said School of Nursing Dean Paul Smith. “It should be a fascinating exhibit. I hope it gives students, faculty and everyone on campus a sense of pride in our history, and inspiration to create our own legacies that will echo into the future.”
The exhibit will include vintage nursing uniforms and medical implements, photographs, quotes, and a timeline of the evolution of the Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing into the Linfield School of Nursing.
Loveridge’s memoir, “As I Remember,” and photos of the nursing school dating back to its founding are available to the public via DigitalCommons@Linfield and the Linfield University Archives. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. For more information, please contact University Librarian Ginny Blackson at gblackson@linfield.edu.
