Reba Cobb Schanz was from May’s Lick, Kentucky. She attended the Saint Francis School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio, graduating in the class of 1954. The graduation ceremony was held in St. Joseph Cathedral with Bishop Michael J. Ready awarding diplomas. She also studied obstetrics at Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. In November 1954 Schanz passed the registered nursing exam and was employed at the Columbus State Hospital. In June 1955 she married Robert Schanz. The class of 1954 was one of the last nursing school classes at Saint Francis as the nursing school moved to Saint Anthony’s Hospital in 1955 and Saint Francis Hospital closed.
The Reba Cobb Schanz Papers (0.25 linear feet) contain photographs, artifacts, news clippings and educational materials from the Saint Francis School of Nursing. News clippings discuss Saint Francis Hospital’s services to the needy and Reba Cobb’s nursing school experience. Additionally, there is an article that explains that rather than caps male nursing students received stripes. Pages from the Nursing Arts Wards Manual were filed in the order in which procedures are listed in the index. Photographs depict the capping ceremony for the class of 1954 at the Saint Francis school of nursing, a group portrait of the class of 1954, which included five male students, Reba Cobb, and Sisters M. Theresa and M. Cecilia. There is also a postcard of Saint Francis Hospital. The program and DVD are for the memorial service of Frank Washington Snell, Jr., an African American man who was one of Reba’s nursing school classmates.
The collection is arranged in alphabetical order by folder title.
The collection is open to the public and is available for viewing in the Medical Heritage Center. Materials do not circulate and must be used in the supervised reading room. Restrictions, including copyright, may exist and some materials may be too fragile to photocopy or digitize. The MHC charges for duplication services, which must be performed by staff.
[Identification of item], Reba Cobb Schanz Papers, SPEC.200806.SCHANZ, Medical Heritage Center, Health Sciences Library, The Ohio State University.