Winter 2012 - The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

64th Reunion a Treat for Cadet Nurse Corps Class of ’48
A special group of women, alumni from the UT Cadet Nurse Corps Class of 1948, gathered at Kirby Pines Retirement Community
in September to reunite at their 64th class reunion. Theirs was the last class of nurses to receive special training preparing them
to treat soldiers wounded in World War II.
The nurse corps was created in 1943 and, at that time, the federal government launched a massive recruitment campaign, so
successful that by 1945, 85 percent of nursing students in the country were cadet nurses. This nursing class didn’t complete
the training because the armistice ending WWII was signed only months after they started. Still, they were part of a group of
American women who had answered the call of duty to their country. They all went on to enjoy successful nursing careers in
areas from public health to neurology.
Hosted by one of the alumni, Bea Barnes and her husband Roy, who are residents at Kirby Pines, the event began Friday night
with a dinner, and concluded Saturday. Other alumni of the class were Alice Buford Morris, Evelyn Harris Stafford, Mary Culver
Herring and Jo Boswell Sayers.
Dr. Laura Talbot, dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, spoke at the kick-off
dinner. Other UTHSC staff members present were Jada Williams, Nell Blair and Amanda Lane.
Bea said seeing her classmates was a treat. “It was delightful. It was just like homecoming.” She said that although the group had
stayed in touch over the years, it was the first chance they had to get together as a group in quite some time. The alumni finished
out the reunion on Saturday, after spending the day sharing stories about their careers, marriages, children and grandchildren.
(Top) The Class of 1948 following the presentation of their nurses’ caps and the capping ceremony. The caps symbolized the completion of their school work prior to beginning hospital training.
(Bottom, left) Old friends (from left) Alice Buford Morris, Evelyn Harris Stafford, Bea Adair Thomas Barnes, Mary Culver Herring and Dorothy Jo Boswell Sayers get together at the 64th reunion
of the Nurse Cadet Corps in the class of 1948 nurse graduates. (Bottom, right) Joining Bea Adair Thomas Barnes (center), who planned the reunion, are UTHSC team members (from left) Jada
Williams, Nell Blair, UT College of Nursing Dean Laura Talbot and Amanda Lane.
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