Papers of famous bush nurse donated to UQ

A Queensland family has donated the papers of pioneering bush nurse Sister Elizabeth Kenny to The University of Queensland Library.

Sister Kenny worked on the Darling Downs in Queensland, and became internationally famous for her clinical management and teaching about the best treatment for paralysed children in the 1930s and 1940s.

Sister Kenny's adopted daughter, Mrs Mary McCracken, and her son-in-law, Mr Stewart McCracken, have preserved and maintained a most valuable archive of her life and works and donated the papers to the University.

In a time of great poliomyelitis epidemics, Sister Kenny's controversial methods of movement, warmth and passive physiotherapy proved to be the best treatment. She became an international cult figure in Australia, North and South America and Europe, prior to her death in Toowoomba in 1952.

The University of Queensland Library already has a small collection of Sister Kenny material, including reports of her treatment, lecture notes and correspondence. This generous donation will considerably augment the material already held.

The collection will be kept in the Fryer Library, which holds the special collections of the University of Queensland Library. The Fryer Library has an extensive Australian studies collection of published and unpublished material, with strengths in Australian literature, history and art.

The Kenny collection will be housed in environmentally controlled conditions which will ensure their long term preservation. Details of the collection will be available on Kinetica, the nation-wide listing of manuscripts and printed materials held throughout Australia. Scholars, national and international, will be able to locate information about the collection to assist in their research.

Professor John Pearn, Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health - Royal Children's Hospital, said it was very significant donation.

'The Sister Kenny archives are a priceless set of documents relating to the life and work of one of the best known Australians,' Professor Pearn said.

Fryer Library staff will collect the first consignment of the Sister Kenny material from Mr and Mrs McCracken later today. University of Queensland Librarian Janine Schmidt said she was delighted to accept the generous donation.

For more information contact Anne Horn (telephone 07 3365 2018 or email: a.horn@library.uq.edu.au)