1932: Nurses Testify Against Birmingham Bill Restricting Nurse Registration to US Citizens

Representatives of registered nurses testified against bills introduced by Rep. Birmingham and Rep. Lewis R. Sullivan to restrict applications for registration as nurses to U.S. citizens, during a Feb. 4 hearing of the Legislative Committee on Public Health (Boston Globe, Feb. 5, 1932, p. 15).

Rep. Sullivan spoke in favor of his bill and then introduced James F. Burns, who said that many hospitals were bringing in cheap labor from other countries under contract. These women “will be allowed to go before the public as nurses after their training period,” he said.

Testifying against the bills were Josephine E. Thurlow, chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Nurses, Elizabeth Ross, president of the State Nurses’ Association, and Stella Goostray, member of the Board of Registration of Nurses and superintendent of Children’s Hospital.