Linda Richards was born on a farmnear the Racquette River in WestPotsdam on July 27th, 1841 and grewup in rural Vermont. Nine years afterher father died of tuberculosis,Linda’s mother was diagnosed withthe infection as well. While Lindamade it her duty to take care of herill mother she became acquaintedwith the county physician, Dr.Currier, who allowed Linda toaccompany him on house calls.

By the time Linda turned 13 she hadreceived enough informal training tosplint, clean wounds, and applybandages. At 16 Linda became a schoolteacher near her home in Vermont butshe found this work to be dissatisfying.During this time, Linda became engagedto George Poole who joined the GreenMountain Boys to fight in the U.S. CivilWar. George returned severely woundedand Linda had another patient to nurseuntil his death in 1869.

By the time her fiancé died, Linda decided a career as a caretaker would suit her best. She washired as a ward maid, responsible for cleaning, feeding and watching patients residing inBoston City Hospital. During this time she encountered resistance to becoming a trained nurseand struggled to find a nursing program. Finally, Linda found training at the New EnglandHospital for Women and Children and was the first trained nurse graduating in 1873. At thispoint in American history, females did not have an established role in the medical workforce;many male physicians believed that women did not belong in hospitals. These perceptions andlack of nursing education programs in America created nurses that did not understand thescience or the art of nursing. Little did Linda know that she would change these conditionsthroughout her career.

Portrait of Linda Richards before leaving for England, 1877.

Pictured in the background is a photograph of the last untrained nurses of Ward 7 of Massachusetts General Hospital.

Picture of a portrait of Linda Richardsshowcased at Canton Potsdam Hospital.

Linda was hired by Bellevue HospitalTraining School in New York City where shehelped the board members understandthe value of sanitation and developed asystem for keeping written patient recordswhich is still used today. Linda leftBellevue Hospital to fight new battles atMassachusetts General Hospital.Appointed as the nursing programsuperintendent there, she proved thattrained nurses are an important part ofmedical teams.

With the creation of more nursing programs inAmerica, Linda was in great demand. However,she wanted more training and went to theNightingale School at St. Thomas Hospital inEngland in 1877. Here, Linda studied theEnglish technique of nursing and learned thatgerms caused diseases. In 1885 she wassummoned by the America Board of Missionsto travel to Japan and establish the country’sfirst nurse training program. Linda acceptedthis opportunity, opened the Doshita Hospitalin Kyoto, and oversaw the program until 1891.

Within a month of her return Linda became the headof the Philadelphia Visiting Nurses Society. Shebelieved in home health care for the ill residing inlarge cities. Her last endeavor was establishing thepractice for specially trained nurses in mentalinstitutions. After her retirement in 1911 Linda keptreading articles on nursing even though she wasunable to participate in active nursing. Linda died inApril of 1930, leaving behind a legacy in the art ofnursing and a workforce of nurses who wereaccepted and respected in the medical community.

Potsdam and St. Lawrence County have taken great pride inclaiming Linda Richards as their own. She has served as aninspiration to many local nurses. In 1941, nurse educators of St.Lawrence, Lewis and Jefferson Counties formed a local branch ofthe National and New York State Leagues of Nursing educationand named it The Linda Richards League for Nursing. The Canton-Potsdam Hospital contains a portrait of Linda and established theLinda Richards Society which recognizes those who help othersthrough contributions to the hospital.

Photographs from Linda Richard’s autobiography,Reminiscences of America’s First Trained Nurse andHistory of the Massachusetts General Hospital TrainingSchool for Nurses. Sources included “Linda Richards,Nursing’s Forgotten Lady” and ‘America’s First TrainedNurse” published in the St. Lawrence Country HistoricalAssociation Quarterly magazine. Text panel was createdby Falisha Gilman, Clarkson University, Spring 2010.

Photo of Linda Richards and her Japanese rickshaw driver.

Portrait of Linda Richards later in life.

Portrait of Linda Richards, 1900.

Pictured in the background is a photograph of the Nurses of Base Hospital No. 6, 1919.