Janet Mortimer Seward (nee Anderson) was born on May 5, 1898 at Crown Hill, near Barrie, ON. She graduated with her RN from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie in 1921. Coming to Brandon in 1927, she became a graduate of the first post-graduate class in pyschiatric nuring at the Brandon Mental Hospital. In 1929, she became superintendent of nurses at that same institution. She stepped down from her position when she married Ernest Seward (1877-1949), a widower, in 1934, but following her husband's death, she resumed her nursing career, finally retiring in 1966. The couple had no children. An active member of St. George's Anglican Church, she also volunteered for the Red Cross. Janet Seward died on June 14, 1991 in Brandon, MB. She is buried at Brandon Municipal Cemetery.
Custodial History
As part of the Westman Oral History Collection, this collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. The original tapes from the Westman Oral History project were deposited in the Brandon Public Library. Copies of these originals were made by Margaret Pollex of the Brandon University Language Lab at the request of Eileen McFadden, University Archivist in the early 1990s. These copies compose the collection held in the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Item is an audiocassette tape containing an interview with Janet Seward about health care and her experiences as a nurse. Subjects discussed include the working conditions in hospitals, medication and treatment that were done, patient care, and the doctors who worked in Brandon, including doctors Barager, Davidson, Goulden, Evans, Cromary, Peters, Bigelow, Shultz and Purdy. Postgraduates Miss Steward and Miss Cansfield are also mentioned. Interviewer is Phyllis Long.
Notes
History/bio information from the records and Seward's obituary. Transcript by Leah Stephens (2020). Description by Christy Henry.
Language Note
English
Audio Tracks
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