The St. Benedict's School of Nursing was founded in 1947 by the Sisters of Mount Benedict. The school operated from April 1947 to 1968. Over that forty-one year period, the school had 605 students and 357 graduates. In 1966, the program became the basis for Weber State Colleges Practical Nurse Program and eventually merged into Weber's Nursing Program. This oral history project was created to capture the memories of the graduates and to add to the history of nursing education in Ogden. The interviews focus on their training, religion, and experiences working with doctors, nurses, nuns, and patients at St. Benedict's Hospital. This project received funding from the Utah Humanities Council and the Utah State History.
St. Benedict's "Many people ask us how we ever got into Ogden since Catholics are in such a minority. Well, I tell them, the choice was either a government hospital or the sisters; so they chose what they thought was the lesser of two evils". -Sister Mary Margaret Clifford, Hospital Administrator
Weber State University Weber State University
St. Benedict's "I got into nurses training through Sister Berno. I got a scholarship from the Utah State Nurses Association. It was Sister Berno who recommended me for that. I'll forever be grateful to her for that. I was just in awe of the nuns and the student nurses and their uniforms. My training at St. Benedict's was invaluable. I received the best training there could have ever been". -Joan Garver Thornton, Class of 1956
Weber State University Weber State University
St. Benedict's "When we were little, my mother had a club called the Sunshine Playmate Club. We made little tray favors and took them up to St. Benedicts Hospital to put on the patients trays for the new mothers and in pediatrics. There are two of us there who actually did become nurses at St. Benedicts. The Sister asked, How many of you are going to be nurses? Well, all of us raised our hands. Afterwards, my cousin, who was one of them, said, Did you really mean it? Cause I didnt. But Gerry and I both said, Yeah, we meant it, we want to be nurses. And we both ended up being nurses".-Kay Costello Young, Class of 1959
Weber State University Weber State University
St. Benedict's "I remember our first night there. We were nothing but giggles because things were so strange for us. I'm not Catholic and neither is Imogene and so this was all new to us. It didn't take long for us to learn that there was no giggling and no silliness. They were very protective of the students which I have been forever thankful for. They wanted us to stay on a serious road and taught us that it was a job to do and we had to do it their way". -Betty Hoke Fernelius, Class of 1950
Weber State University Weber State University
St. Benedict's"The rules were not to be broken, and you knew that. We had to be in by ten o'clock through the week, eleven o'clock on weekends. We had to sign out with where we were going, and I can understand now, in case anything happened, they'd want to know how to reach us. Then we signed in. When we were in, they had bed check at ten o'clock. We all had to be in bed, and then wed get up and study after they left. Or study under the covers with a flashlight." -Betty Ori Nichols, Class of 1953
Weber State University Weber State University
St. Benedict's "There was one night we broke the rules rather badly but we did not get caught. Several of us went to Evanston in the evening without permission. I went to see my parents who were glad to see me while the others went to a nightclub or bar. Then we returned to Ogden well past curfew. We waited until the switch board operator had her back turned and was busy with a call. Then we all quickly sneaked into the hospital, down the elevator, through the tunnel and to our rooms". -Carol Cazin McCain, Class of 1962
Weber State University Weber State University
St. Benedict'sOur pharmacology teacher was Sister Rebecca. She said, "Now, were going to be real fair in here. Were going to give you a pretest to see what you already know about basic math and algebra, and if you pass it, you dont have to take the class." Not one soul passed, so we had a big class. We did learn a lot. -Patricia Payton Erickson, Class of 1960
Weber State University Weber State University
St. Benedict's"I still think that their habits were remarkable. They always looked neat and pious. They were very strict, very smart. They were good nurses; some of the best nurses I ever knew were some of our clinical instructors who were nuns. Some of the head nurses who were nuns were just awesome". -Sylvia Simoncini, Class of 1960
Weber State University Weber State University
St. Benedict's "I admired the Sisters. One could never forget dear Sister Estelle who taught us anatomy and physiology. She made the class very interesting and seemed to care about each of us. There was always a kind greeting from her whether she was in the garden, the hospital or class". -Carol Cazin McCain, Class of 1961
Weber State University Weber State University
St. Benedict's "We couldn't leave during the week and we had study hour from seven-thirty to nine-thirty and from nine-thirty to ten-thirty we got ready for bed. At ten-thirty, a nun came with her flashlight and made sure everyone was in bed. I kid you not it was like jail and you didn't get up or you didn't study after ten-thirty because all lights were out". -Clara Mann Sorensen, Class of 1950
Weber State University Weber State University
