Summary

Creator: Barker, Sylvia M., MA, RN, CNNA
Title: Papers
Dates: 1928-2008
Volume: 2 boxes, 15 inches

Preface

This collection was received in pieces over many years, with Sylvia Barker herself donating various items to the Archives over time. In 1993, the Foundation of the New York State Nurses Association Inc. sent the Mount Sinai Archives a group of photocopies of speeches, articles, and papers that duplicated material that they already held. To these we have added additional reprints that existed in our own files. The bulk of the material came from the estate of Sylvia M. Barker after her death in 2014. This included files of her work as an officer of The Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association, and these have been placed with that record series. Framed photographs that Miss Barker had at her home were discarded, as they duplicated items already in the Archives' collection and were starting to degrade. The Archives also discarded the student cape that had belonged to Miss Barker, as it no longer had the distinctive Mount Sinai Hospital patch and the Archives already has many other complete capes in its collection.

Biographical Note

Sylvia M. Barker, MA, RN, CNNA lived from 1914-2014 and died a few months short of her 100th birthday. She was a graduate of The Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing, Class of 1936 and spent almost her entire career at Mount Sinai. As a clinical nurse, Sylvia Barker spent many years in the area of pediatric nursing. She then moved to nursing administration, with special expertise in the areas of risk management and labor relations. She was well known for her work with many professional organizations and her commitment to advancing the profession of nursing.

Sylvia M. Barker was born September 11, 1914 in upstate Schuylersville, New York and came to New York City in 1933 to attend nursing school at The Mount Sinai Hospital. She stayed on at the Hospital after graduation, serving on the wards and then as an Instructor of the Nursing of Children and then Nursing Arts in the School. During this time she received her Bachelor of Science degree from Teacher's College, Columbia University (1947). She married briefly and moved to Chicago in 1948, returning to New York in 1950 when she enrolled full-time at Teacher's College for a Masters in Nursing Education. In 1951, with her new degree in hand, she re-joined the Mount Sinai staff as the Supervisor in Pediatrics and remained in that role until 1966 when she joined the Nursing Administration as the Assistant Director, Inservice Education. In 1972 she was made Associate Director of Nursing as well as the Acting Director of Nursing for an interim period while a new Director was recruited. Gail Kuhn, RN, arrived at Mount Sinai in September 1972, and Miss Barker worked closely with her for the next 22 years.

Over the years Sylvia Barker honed her skills – and reputation – as a dedicated nurse administrator always working to make nurses, and the profession of nursing, better. She, along with Dr. Gail Kuhn Weissman, spent many hours at the labor negotiating table - a rarity for a woman in the early 1970s – and many additional hours overseeing the policies, procedures, and documentation that undergird the modern practice of nursing in a large hospital. She had a keen eye for detail and was very organized. These personality traits played a role in her developing an interest and expertise in the area of bylaw writing. As a member of many organizations - professional, personal and church-related – she was often responsible for ensuring that the organizational details were correct.

A career as long and distinguished as Sylvia Barker's is often rewarded with honors and awards. Such was the case for her. She received the Jane Delano Distinguished Service Award from District 13, the New York State Nurses Association (1982); the Distinguished Membership Award from the American Nurses Association (1998); the first annual Distinguished Alumnae Award (1990) and the Crystal Apple award from The Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association (1991). In 1994 she received the R. Louise McManus Medal for Nursing Service and then in 2008, the R. Louise McManus Award for Distinguished Service to Nursing, both from Teacher's College, Columbia University.

Sylvia Barker officially retired from The Mount Sinai Hospital in 1986. She assumed the title of Consultant for the next eight years and cut back her hours to only three days each week. This allowed her long weekends to travel and time to spend on her professional and personal interests. She had always been actively involved with the Methodist Church and in particular with the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew. She sat on many boards and committees and was committed to the Church's guiding principle of "justice and reconciliation for all persons regardless of age, race, economic or marital status, gender or sexual orientation."

After her second official retirement in 1994, Sylvia continued with her many interests. This included sending many of her personal archives to the Foundation of the New York State Nurses Association Inc. in Guilderland, NY starting in 1993. (The finding aid for that collection is available at http://foundationnysnurses.org/viewarchive.aspx?ID=33&refer=numeric). She also wrote three volumes of memoirs, starting in 2001, called S.M.B.: A Memoir. These joined a volume on the history of nursing at The Mount Sinai Hospital, The Sinai Nurse, written with Margery Lewis, RN, and published on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Hospital in 2002. After a serious fall in 2010, she was confined to her home, and was well cared for there by her friends, and supported by her community. Sylvia M. Barker died March 15, 2014.

Scope and Content Note

This small collection centers on Sylvia Barker's life at The Mount Sinai Hospital. In the Letters file is correspondence about her accepting the job in Chicago in 1948, as well as her negotiating her return to Mount Sinai in 1950/51. The Reprints, etc. are photocopies that were sent to the Mount Sinai Archives by the NYSNA Foundation in 1993. Included there are copies of papers that she submitted as a student at Teacher's College. Similar items are found in the Teacher's College file. The Bylaws found here are of interest because they show the organizations that Miss Barker was involved with over the years.

The most unique component of the collection is the files that she created about the Class of 1936 of The Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing, her class. She served as the lynchpin of the class, trying to gather information about classmates for reunions and round robin letters. There is also an interesting script for the Class Show that was put on in 1936.

Subjects

• Education, Nursing, Diploma
• Education, Nursing, Graduate
• Jack Martin Polio Respirator Center
• Mount Sinai Hospital. Dept. of Pediatrics
• Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing
• Pediatric Nursing

Container List

Series 1: Series Description