The Portland Sanitarium and Hospital (PSH) was founded in 1893 for the Seventh Day Adventist Church by Lewis J. Belknap, M.D. It followed the precepts of "Physio-therapeutics" and the "New Dietetics" as developed at the famous Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan of Dr. J. H. Kellogg. It was intended from the start to be a prep school for medical missionaries. After three years of changing locations, it found a permanent home at 60th and Belmont on Mt. Tabor.
In 1896, Dr. Belknap left for California, and the Church took over direct control. While administrators changed, the medical staff came under the long-term influence of Dr. William B. Holden, a prominent local surgeon, as Medical Director (1903-1955). The medical staff were normally also faculty and staff at the University of Oregon Medical School.
In 1897, after a need for trained nurses became apparent, PSH became the third local hospital to set up a Nurses Training School, after Good Samaritan (1890) and St. Vincent's (1892). It later took the name Portland Sanitarium and Hospital School of Practical Nursing.
Hazel Dawn Allison, the creator of this collection's album, was born on the Canadian prairies of Saskatchewan in 1920. She came to PSH in the spring of 1942 for a 3-year program, graduating in 1945. After a short visit back home, she returned to the Northwest for more schooling in the Walla Walla Nursing School in Washington. After graduation in 1950, she married Stanley Matterand. She went on to have a 50-year nursing career in local Skagit County hospitals. She died in 2013.
There are no restrictions on access. This collection is open to the public.
OHSU Historical Collections & Archives (HC&A) is the owner of the original materials and digitized images in our collections, however, the collection may contain materials for which copyright is not held. Patrons are responsible for determining the appropriate use or reuse of materials. Consult with HC&A to determine if we can provide permission for use.
This album was the personal property of student nurse Hazel Dawn Allison (R.N., 1945).
[Collection title], Collection Number [####-###], Oregon Health & Science University, Historical Collections & Archives.
2014-001 Woodland Park Hospital Auxiliary Photograph Album Collection
This album is filled with snapshots of the surroundings, fellow students, and staff of the Portland Sanitarium and Hospital from 1942 to 1948. It covers Hazel Dawn Allison's period of study as well as a reunion visit several years after her graduation. Included are individual and group portraits of administrators, doctors, nursing students, and the rotating interns and residents from the University of Oregon Medical School.