Test your knowledge of Samuel Merritt University and our community with fun Centennial Trivia!
- Who placed the bronze tablet at Dr. Merritt's tomb? And why?
The tablet was placed by physicians and members of the Samuel Merritt Hospital administration and nursing staff commemorating Dr. Merritt, the physician, shipmaster, philanthropists and founder of The Samuel Merritt Hospital.
- When was the first class of Samuel Merritt Hospital School of Nursing admitted?
1909
- How many students were in the charter class? And what was the breakdown of men and women?
Twelve. All women!
- What was the date of the first Samuel Merritt Hospital School of Nursing graduation?
May 16, 1912
- Where were the first Samuel Merritt Hospital School of Nursing dormitories located?
On the second and third floor of the Samuel Merritt Hospital South Wing.
- Who was Mrs. Henrietta Farrelly and what role did she play in the College's history?
Mrs. Henrietta Farrelly gave Samuel Merritt Hospital $50,000 for Farrelly Home for Nurses in 1911 freeing the second and third floor dormitories which had been used for student nurses. Former dormitories are converted to hospital use, adding 75 beds.
- Samuel Merritt Hospital School of Nursing was not the only school at Samuel Merritt Hospital in the late 1930's. What was the other school?
A school for medical librarians was founded in 1938 at Samuel Merritt Hospital.
- Where was Fabiola Hospital located and what role did it play in Samuel Merritt Hospital's history?
Fabiola Hospital was located on Broadway Street, and was the first general hospital in the East Bay. In the early 1930's Fabiola was forced to close its doors due to the market crash of twenty-nine and subsequent lean years. In 1940, its assets were turned over to Samuel Merritt Hospital… chosen as beneficiary because it came nearest to paralleling Fabiola's own benevolent program of providing care and services to the medically indigent, as well as education for student nurses. (Another interesting note: The building itself was sold to Henry J. Kaiser soon after the outbreak of World War II to later become the first of his Kaiser-Permanente Foundation system of hospitals.)
- Why was there such a shortage of physicians and nurses in the 1940's and what program was established to increase the number of nurses?
As West Coast industry shifted gears to meet the threat of war, the hospital community was disrupted as physicians and nurses left to serve wartime medical needs. The demand for nurses was particularly acute, and the Federal government moved to fill the gap with the Cadet Nursing Corps, offering scholarships to high school graduates to bring them into nursing.
- What "specialties" where there in nursing in the 1940's?
Nurses in the 1940's had no specialties but "TLC" (Tender Loving Care)… they were expected to administer all services involved in the care of their patients.
- Why were windows facing San Francisco Bay, at Merritt and Peralta Hospitals, blackened out in 1942?
To comply with wartime blackout regulations.
- What was it about the nursing student uniforms in the 1930's that was symbolic of "caring for the sick"?
The traditional white apron and bib was symbolic of care for the sick.