Mary Adelaide Nutting (November 1, 1858 – October 3, 1948) was a Canadian nurse, educator, and pioneer in the field of hospital care. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University's first nurse training program in 1891, Nutting helped to found a modern nursing program at the school. In 1907, she became involved in an experimental program at the new Teachers College at Columbia University. Ascending to the role of chair of the nursing and health department, Nutting authored a vanguard curriculum based on preparatory nursing education, public health studies, and social service emphasis. She served as president of a variety of councils and committees that served to standardize nursing education and ease the process of meshing nurse-profession interest with state legislation. Nutting was also the author of a multitude of scholarly works relating to the nursing field, and her work, A History of Nursing, remains an essential historic writing today. She is remembered for her legacy as a pioneer in the field of nursing, but also her activist role in a time where women still had limited rights. Early life In November 1858, Mary Adelaide Nutting was born to Vespasian and Harriet Sophia Nutting at a hospital in Frost Village, District of East Canada (present-day Quebec). Her parents were of English descent. Her ancestors seem to have been Loyalists who emigrated to Canada from the US. This was a common trend for many people who remained loyal to the English crown during the American Revolutionary War, and subsequent to the US victory fled the country to seek refuge in the British colony of Quebec. One of six children, she was particularly close to her only sister, who shared similar interest in the arts and music. At a young age, Nutting's family moved to Waterloo, and this is where she spent a better part of her childhood. Education Despite coming from meager economic means, all the children received an education at the local village academy. Nutting's father was a court clerk whose income made it difficult to make ends meet. However, he thought that it was essential that his children get the chance to attend school. A gifted student, passionate about her studies, Nutting studied at the Bute House School in Montreal, and spent a brief period at a convent school in St. Johns Newfoundland. In 1881, Nutting, along with her mother and her siblings, took up residence in Ottawa, where she