Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Preferred Citation

Dorsye E. Russell Collection, Accession #2001/Nov/16, Special Collections and Archives, Health Sciences Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

Acquisition Information

Donated to the Tompkins-McCaw Library

Biographical/Historical Information

Dorsye Russell was known as a pioneer in Virginia nursing. At a time when women were not expected to continue their education past a bachelor's degree, Russell earned her master's making her one of the most educated nurses in Virginia. Russell has the distinction of being the only woman to have been the president of three major nursing organizations within Virginia; The Virginia Nurses' Association, Virginia League for Nursing, and the Virginia Organization of Nurse Executives.

Russell was heavily involved with the Medical College of Virginia Foundation and the Nursing Division of the MCV Alumni Association. She was a teacher and administrator and her legacy is one of service to the institutions she served. She was an assistant professor in nursing at MCV as well as at Patrick Henry Community College where she established their nurse training curriculum. She was director of nursing at several Virginia hospitals including Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Kings Daughter's Hospital in Staunton, and Lynchburg General Hospital in Lynchburg. She was appointed to the Governor's Committee on Nursing by Governor Mills Godwin in 1966. This Committee provided an accurate view of the challenges and needs of the nursing profession in Virginia at a time when it was most needed. From 1965 to 1975, Russell served on the State Board of Nursing.

Russell was also instrumental in establishing the Dorsye E. Russell Leadership Fund at MCV's School of Nursing in 1996. This endowment was envisioned to provide the needed funding for a course in professional organizational leadership and to make MCV a "flagship school" in Virginia. It is also intended to provide the skills needed for leadership within nursing associations.

Russell received many awards during her professional career, but the two most important were the Nancy Vance Award, the highest award given by the Virginia Nurses' Association in 1982, and just after her death, she was honored as one of the 50 pioneering nurses in Virginia. Though she never married and had no children, her legacy lives on in the organization she helped to build and the profession in which she worked. Russell is buried in Richmond's Hollywood cemetery. Her obituary can be found in the Fredericksburg Press Lance-Star.

Scope and Content

This collection contains correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, essays and published materials dating from 1942 to 1987, with the bulk of material dated from 1968 - 1973. This material deals mainly with Russell's work with the Virginia Nursing Association in which she served as an officer and later President. Missing from the collection are things related to Russell's personal affairs.

Arrangement

Records are arranged in chronological order.