Florence Nightengale's Nursing Cap

One of Florence Nightingale's nurse caps has been on display in the Westerly Hospital lobby since May 12, 1965, the 145th anniversary of Nightingale's birth. Donated by Mrs. Basil D. Hall, the cap came down to her from her great-grandfather Cyrus Hamlin, who was an American missionary and teacher in Constantinople during the Crimean War (1854-56). It's possible that the cap was a personal gift to him from Nightingale herself. Florence Nightingale, born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820, and raised in Derbyshire, England, is best known for her pioneering work in nursing. During the Crimean War, she established efficient nursing departments at Uskudar, and later at Balaklava. Working against the objections of military officers and doctors, who perceived her efforts as an attack upon their profession, she introduced such novel niceties as adequate blankets, decent food, and sterile conditions. Death rates from typhus, cholera, and dysentery fell dramatically under her care.