Scott and White School of Nursing
Belton, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The School of Nursing was founded in 1904 by Dr. Arthur C. Scott and Dr. Raleigh White, Jr., as a part of their Temple Sanitarium to provide professional training for nurses. Initially a small local student body was instructed by the doctors and nursing superintendent at their facility, a former Catholic convent on South Fifth Street and Avenue F in Temple. Doctors Scott & White based the nursing school on the philosophy of Florence Nightingale, and created an atmosphere of training and education. The school expanded over the years, and changes took place in both the name of the school and the diversity of the curriculum. In 1946 nurses' training included a liberal arts education in conjunction with Temple Junior College. By 1949 the school was ranked among the nation's top programs in nursing. In 1968 administrators planned a two-year phasing out of the diploma program in nursing and the beginning of the baccalaureate nursing program at Mary Hardin-Baylor College. During its 66 years of existence as a diploma program, the Scott & White School of Nursing graduated 1,233 nurses who served prominently in health care worldwide. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Doctors Arthur C. Scott and Raleigh White Jr. founded this nursing school in 1904 as part of their Temple Sanitarium, first teaching a handful of students in a former Catholic convent. Grounded in the philosophy of Florence Nightingale, the program grew into one of the nation's top-ranked schools by 1949 before its diploma program phased out in favor of a baccalaureate degree. Over 66 years it graduated 1,233 nurses who served in health care worldwide.
Why it matters
The school reflects the professionalization of nursing in 20th-century America and the expanding role of women in skilled medical careers.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Arthur C. Scott
- · Raleigh White Jr.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Luther Memorial
Belton, TX
Luther Memorial honors the earliest days of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, which began in 1845 at Independence as Baylor University's female department and moved to Belton in 1886 as Baylor Female College under president John Hill Luther. The first building here—a limestone structure with Victorian towers and arches, later named Luther Hall—burned in a 1929 fire that displaced more than 200 students without injury. Its charred ruins served as a backdrop for pageants and commencements until, beginning in 1954, its original limestone blocks and arches were incorporated into the memorial dedicated in 1955.
Woman's Wednesday Club of Belton
Belton, TX
Founded in 1898 as a twenty-five-member literary society meeting in Belton's Central Hotel, the Woman's Wednesday Club devoted itself to the study of literature and history. Members pooled donated books and successfully lobbied Andrew Carnegie to fund a public library, seeding its first collection.
Carnegie Library Building
Belton, TX
Completed in 1904 with a personal gift from steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, this Beaux Arts building in Belton was one of thousands of libraries the industrialist funded across America to put free reading within reach of ordinary people. Built of local kiln brick by courthouse contractor Ben D. Lee, it opened in 1905 stocked with 1,500 volumes donated by the Woman's Wednesday Club. It served as Belton's public library for seventy years, until 1975.
King's Daughters Hospital School of Nursing
Temple, TX
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.