Shirley Stinson fonds
The Collections Management Section is pleased to make the Shirley Stinson fonds (PR4153) available for viewing in the Sandra Thomson Reading Room.
Born in 1929 in Arlee, Saskatchewan, and raised in Tofield, Alberta, Shirley Stinson was an influential nurse and educator whose career spanned several decades. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Alberta in 1953, followed by a Master’s in Nursing Administration and Doctor of Education from Columbia University. Stinson played a key role in establishing nursing as an academic discipline at the University of Alberta, where she founded one of Canada’s first Master’s and PhD programs in Nursing. A dedicated advocate for nursing research, she helped secure funding and promote advanced clinical practice. Stinson’s leadership earned her numerous awards, including the Jeanne Mance Award, induction into the Alberta Order of Excellence, and was appointed to the Order of Canada. Even after retiring in 1993, she continued mentoring nurses as a professor emerita and remained active in the field until her passing in 2020 from Parkinson’s disease.
The Shirley Stinson fonds documents both her personal and her professional life. It includes correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, and personal writings, as well as records related to her work as a nurse, educator, researcher, and consultant. The fonds also contains her research, publications, and reference materials, offering valuable insight into her contributions to nursing and healthcare.
