Biographical / Historical

Agnes M. (Marshall) Walker (1934-2010) was a native of Kenosha, Wisconsin, but pursued nursing studies and the initial years of her career in Chicago. She obtained a nursing degree from the James Ward Thorne School of Nursing, and a B.S.N. from Northwestern University, where she also studied neuropathophysiology at the graduate level. Marshall graduated in 1969. Along with a clinical position at Chicago Wesley Memorial Hospital, Marshall became an Associate Professor of Nursing at Northwestern, where she also established and directed the graduate program in Neurosurgical Nursing. While still a student in 1967, Marshall and a colleague, Barbara Therrien, took the first steps to establish a professional organization for neurosurgical nurses, formally organized the next year as the American Association of Neurosurgical Nurses (A.A.N.N., since 1983 known as the American Association of Neurological Nurses). Marshall served as its second president  . She launched the association's professional journal, The Journal of Neurosurgical Nursing, in 1969 (succeeded by The Journal of Neuroscience Nursing in 1986), and in the same year the World Federation of Neurosurgical Nurses. She also served as president   of this organization. Marshall married neurosurgeon A. Earl Walker, M.D., in 1975, and continued her career from their home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Scope and Contents

The Agnes M. Marshall Collection comprises three groups of materials: 1) correspondence files and writings by or about Marshall, including a neuroscience nursing textbook review by Marshall as well as her scripts of annual meeting keynote speaker introductions. Of particular interest here are the initial years of letters detailing the tasks and negotiations required to nurture the association and its journal; and, in 1983, the vigorous debate concerning the name change for the association. 2) American Association of Neuroscience Nursing (A.A.N.N.) materials, principally containing photographs of the annual meetings of the A.A.N.N. Also included are the minutes of the organizing committee and other items relative to A.A.N.N. history, including digital media files of video interviews with past presidents of the association. 3) World Federation of Neuroscience Nursing (W.F.N.N.) materials, most from the 1973 annual meeting in Tokyo, Japan. Also represented is an image of the first meeting of the association in 1969 (positive transparency, 35mm).

Researchers are advised to consult as well the American Academy of Neuroscience Nurses Collection.

Arrangement

The Agnes M. Marshall and A.A.N.N. materials are arranged in chronological order by item type. The W.F.N.N. materials are arranged by item type.