“No Small Part”: Utah Women in Medicine, Nursing, & Midwifery, 1873 – 1930
"Shall We Have An Hospital"
As the leader of the Church’s Relief Society organization, Eliza R. Snow first discussed and promoted the establishment of a hospital for members of the Church in 1872. In addition to a hospital that would meet the needs of Latter-day Saint patients, Snow and the Relief Society also hoped to create a teaching hospital where, as stated in an 1876 address to members of the Spring City, Utah, Relief Society, “young” Latter-day Saint “girls could . . . become good, efficient nurses and understand the human system.” Snow was especially concerned about the health and well-being of “women and children.” “In every growing community,” as stated by Snow in 1879, “there seems to soon develop the need of a hospital devoted more especially to the interest of women and children, and this is now being felt among us.”
By the early 1880s, the need for an LDS hospital had become especially acute. According to the Relief Society, an “urgent necessity” existed for “a place where the sick and suffering, who have a claim upon our sympathy and care, can receive the medical and surgical aide which they require—in connection with the administration of sacred ordinances in their behalf.” In 1882, the Relief Society acquired a building in Salt Lake City, and on July 17 of that year, Deseret Hospital was dedicated by Church President, John Taylor.
Initially, the staff of Deseret Hospital included four physicians including Romania Pratt and Ellen Ferguson. Thanks to the generosity of donors and benefactors the Deseret Hospital was fully equipped with the “latest” medical “instruments and appliances” and could accommodate as many as thirty to forty patients. In keeping with President Snow’s original vision for a Church hospital, the Deseret Hospital would also educate and train midwives and nurses, as reported in a July 1882 article in the Deseret News.
From 1882 to 1893 the Deseret Hospital served more than 800 patients, many of whom were hospitalized at little or no cost to the patient. Following the economic Panic of 1893 and the subsequent economic depression, as well as the Deseret Hospital’s inability to meet general operating costs, the Hospital was no longer able to accept patients. Although it closed its doors to patients in 1893, the Deseret Hospital building continued to be used as a school to train midwives and nurses for another twelve years.
During the time of its operation, the Hospital blessed many lives.
This remarkable and well composed studio photograph of the Deseret Hospital Board of Directors was made in approximately 1882 and features the original Deseret Hospital Board members:
Front row, left to right: Emmeline B. Wells and Jane S. Richards.
Middle row, left to right: Marina N. Hyde, Zina D. H. Young, Eliza R. Snow, Mary Isabella Horne, and Phebe Woodruff.
Back row, left to right: Romania B. Pratt, Elizabeth Howard, Bathsheba Smith, and Ellis R. Shipp.
By 1884, the original Deseret Hospital located at Fifth East Street between South Temple and First South Street in Salt Lake City had become overcrowded. In need of a more spacious building, the Deseret Hospital Board of Directors decided to move to a new and larger location at “130 North 2nd West.” The new building, which had been previously occupied by the Union Academy, was not only larger, but also proved to be less expensive to maintain.
In this photograph of the Deseret Hospital from approximately 1884, the Hospital is surrounded by a white picket fence and cottonwood trees. Unfortunately, the occupants of the buggy are not identified.
The Grand Calico Ball
Like other 19th century charitable hospitals in the United States, the Deseret Hospital in Salt Lake City received donations from a variety of philanthropic organizations, including Latter-Day Saint Church organizations and community groups who organized balls, dances, charity bazaars, and other similar activities.
In 1883, the Salt Lake City Unity Club and Deseret Hospital administrators hosted a “Grand Calico Ball” to raise funds for the Deseret Hospital. Tickets for this Ball, which was advertised as “the social event of the season,” were sold for $1.50 each. The Ball was held in the Salt Lake Theatre on Valentine’s Day and eventually raised more than $500.00 for the Deseret Hospital.