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![Cap - 1999.267.53 - CD2001-60-021](/web/20071125230727im_/http://www.civilization.ca/hist/infirm/images/in26753a.jpg)
Toronto East General and Orthopaedic Hospital
School of Nursing, Toronto, Ontario
Gloria (Barwell) Kay, Graduated 1951
1999.267.53
![Gloria (Barwell) Kay](/web/20071125230727im_/http://www.civilization.ca/hist/infirm/images/inkay01a.jpg)
Gloria (Barwell) Kay
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Until the 1970s, trained nurses were
instantly recognized by their caps. Each school and hospital had its own
cap design and means of indicating the level of training. Today this
symbol of knowledge and caring has all but disappeared. Gloria Kay, a
retired nurse, believed that the caps should be
preserved, and in 1974 began a collection of caps, which nurses all
across Canada sent to her.
The caps shown here are a selection from the 167 Mrs. Kay recently donated
to the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The
Gloria
Kay Nurses' Caps Collection is now the most comprehensive
of its kind, dating from 1895 to 1983 and representing every province.
An exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, featuring 60 of the caps,
will be on display from February to September, 2002. It is located in the
open collections exhibit case in the corridor near the library.
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Gloria Kay, RN, MScN,
February 3, 1998
Photograph courtesy of The Record, Kitchener, Ontario
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