King's Daughters Hospital
Temple, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Temple Charter of the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons, a Protestant ecumenical group, was formed in 1893 to provide medical care to indigent citizens. The group, made up largely of educated women, rented rooms in a small house and opened King's Daughters Hospital in 1896. In 1898 a board of trustees was elected which appointed the first staff physicians; Cornelia Parsons became hospital superintendent. By 1920 the King's Daughters organization had discontinued support of the hospital facility. Considered ahead of its time from its earliest days, King's Daughters Hospital remains a major provider of affordable modern medical care. (1998)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1893 the Temple chapter of the King's Daughters and Sons, a Protestant charitable order made up largely of educated women, set out to provide care for the town's poor. They rented rooms in a small house and opened King's Daughters Hospital in 1896, appointing staff physicians and a superintendent, Cornelia Parsons. Considered ahead of its time, the institution grew into a lasting provider of affordable medical care.
Why it matters
It shows how organized women's charity built enduring public institutions in the era before formal public health, planting a hospital that outlived its founders.
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Related people
- · Cornelia Parsons
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
King's Daughters Hospital School of Nursing
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Nurse training began at Temple's King's Daughters Hospital as early as 1897, and formal classes started in 1903; by 1906 the hospital chartered an official nurses' school, extending its program to three years. Under leaders like director Mary Julia Putts, the school endured even the lean Depression years before a shortage of enrollees forced it to close in 1948. Its alumnae organized in 1921 and served in both world wars.
Anna Laura Cole
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Anna Laura Cole grew up in the tiny farming community of Turney and trained as a nurse at Scott & White during the depths of the Great Depression, taking charge of its nursing school in 1933 when Texas had barely one registered nurse for every thousand people. Over a 38-year career she modernized nursing education, helped launch the state's first baccalaureate nursing program, and served on the boards that set standards for licensing vocational nurses. By her 1969 retirement she had trained close to 870 nurses across Central Texas.
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