In those days, we lived in a dormitory without air conditioning, the hospital was not air conditioned either. We had a housemother that monitored our every move. Our dates would have to come into the dorm, check in at the front desk and the switchboard operator would call us down to the lobby to meet our "gentleman caller." We signed in and out and could not stay out past 8 on weekdays and 10 on Friday and Saturday. Someone checked our cards at the appointed hour, came to our room if we had not signed in, and for lateness we were reported to the JUDICIAL BOARD. JD was an elected court of your peers that levied judgment and punishments for our infractions.
Dating was such a new experience. Fraternities parties were to be desired and for me very intriguing. My first one (I cannot remember which fraternity it was,) was with a blind date. I certainly do not remember his name but I remember the night as if it were yesterday. It was held at a cabin on the highway going toward Chapel Hill, 15-501. You cut off the main road, rode for just a little while then turned into the woods and there stood a cabin. The music was blaring, not by today's standards but certainly by that of the early fifties. The music of Elvis had not really taken hold. He had not yet recorded for Sun Records, that began a year later. These top ten songs could be heard. Loud meant that the volume was up, not the percussion.
Probably the sexiest song that year was No Other Love. Perry Como lasted for decades. Soon after the party started, I was offered a cup of what was being called PURPLE JESUS. Someone, thank goodness, whispered to me not to drink anything unless it was in a bottle and opened in front of me. I had a coke. Later I found out that P J'S were grape juice and grain alcohol. They would not have gotten me home for it would have been my first drink. The boy I was with was a junior. He was hell bent on "making out." I didn't date him ever again after he had told me I was the worse date he had every had. He did call me, but I somehow knew better. I found out later that he was one of the richest boys on campus, certainly he was not one of the best.
 |
| Duke Stadium in the Fifties |
I fell in love with football. I had attended a game my senior year in high school and now here I was on the very campus that those players went to class. Two of the girls that helped orient us were dating a real football stars. WORTH LUTZ and LLOYD CAUDLE were very handsome and very nice. We would walk over to the stadium to watch practices. These two relationships ended in marriage. It was so romantic to us to watch the two DUKE NURSES and their gladiators. It was there that I met SONNY JURGENSON. I had seen him when I went to the very first away basketball game in high school. He played for New Hanover in Wilmington. You can imagine how excited I was to have a date with him. As with my date with the fraternity "man", it did not go well. He was used to having girls drop in their tracks for him. I didn't. I am sure he would never remember that date, but I certainly do. I was very in awe, worried about my reputation, scared and generally a mess. He became the starting quarterback and was very famous as a player for the Washington Redskins and later a national announcer. For a girl who was not worldly, it was all a big puzzle.
The first semester does not sound very much like nursing. It wasn't. We had really not started learning anything to do with the ART AND SCIENCE OF NURSING. I wish that I had a list of all my classes in the correct order, but I guess it doesn't matter much. I watched in awe as the upperclassmen came in from work on the wards in DUKE HOSPITAL. I wanted so much to put on the student uniform starched and clean and take care of patients. We had already started attending student government meetings. They all began with us singing A CHARGE TO KEEP. It sounds so hookie now, but I can close my eyes and feel the sense of pride and responsibility. I was not pleased when these words were those chosen by Pres.Bush to title his book. It belonged to us. I only remember the first chorus:
A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,
A never dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
A God to glorify,
A never dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill:
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master's will!
My calling to fulfill:
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master's will!
Arm me with jealous care,
As in Thy sight to live;
And O Thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give!
As in Thy sight to live;
And O Thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give!
Help me to watch and pray,
And on Thyself rely,
Assured if I my Lord betray,
I shall forever die.
And on Thyself rely,
Assured if I my Lord betray,
I shall forever die.
We were actually a pretty special group. THE CLASS OF 1957 WAS THE FIRST GENERIC BSN CLASS AT DUKE. I along with about thirty others were the first to graduate from the program. We had others who joined us from other colleges in our sophomore year, but there are just a few that started and finished the program. We felt very special and we were. If there are any classmates out there that have the list of classes in the proper order, please let me know. My research filled in the blanks about the cost of our program. The cost for one semester of the BSN degree program was $540: ($175 for tuition, a $75 general fee, $80 for room rent, $200 for board,and $10 for laundry.) All of our meals were taken in the Hospital. Without my scholarships, I could never have gone to Duke.
DUKE was truly a leader in NURSING at that time. A few years after I graduated, THELMA INGALLS started the first graduate program in nursing in the country. I was so lucky to have sat in her classroom and listened to her words of wisdom.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you very much for your comments. Feel free to talk to me personally. I welcome corrections, concerns or other suggestions.