Elizabeth Kenny - papers, 1936-1937

MLMSS 5855

fonds

1936 - 1937

66420

1 box - 0.05 Meters
Textual Records - (manuscript)

Elizabeth Kenny (1886-1952) was born at Warialda, New South Wales on 20 September 1880. She received only limited primary school education and no official record exists of training or registration as a nurse. Enlisting on 30 May 1915, she served in the Australian Army Nursing Service, initially as a staff nurse and from November 1917 as a Sister. The methods she employed in the treatment of poliomyelitis were not widely accepted by the Australian medical profession. However, with the support of the Queensland Government a clinic was established in Townsville, Queensland in 1934. During the next few years other clinics were opened in Brisbane, other Queensland cities, interstate and overseas. Her work Infantile paralysis and cerebral diplegia was published in Sydney in 1937, and her autobiography And They Shall Walk, written in collaboration Martha Ostenso, was published in New York in 1943. She died in Toowoomba, Queensland on 30 November 1952.

The papers cover the period 1936-1937. They contain mainly correspondence relating to the establishment and operation of the Elizabeth Kenny Clinics in various States of Australia, and Elizabeth Kenny's efforts to gain recognition for her methods of treatment. The papers also include copies of specifications for equipment used during treatment, copies of lecture/address notes, invitations and newspaper clippings.