Brief History of the Solomont School of Nursing
The Solomont School of Nursing鈥檚 roots reach back to 1968, when then-Lowell State College President Daniel O鈥橪eary hired Gertrude Barker to launch a nursing program. She was one of the few women at the time in the country with a doctorate, which was in health education. Barker and her colleagues inspired a trail of leaders. Some worked as registered nurses early in their careers, discovered there was a better way to care for patients and fought to change the system.聽
The history of the program can be studied through the 聽made available to researchers at the university Library's , located at the Mogan Cultural Center.
May Futrell, who served as chair of the nursing program for 23 years, ushered in a new generation of high-level nurses. Seven years after the first nursing class began, Futrell secured over $2.2 million in federal funding to establish the nation鈥檚 first program that prepared Gerontological Nurse Practitioners at the master鈥檚 level. Below is a brief history of more notable accomplishments.
