Hisa Nagano

Hisa Nagano (1865 – April 8, 1901) was a Japanese nurse and medical student in Chicago.

Hisa Nagano
Illustration of a Japanese woman, wearing a kimono; her dark hair is dressed in a topknot.
Hisa Nagano, from a Canadian newspaper in 1897.
Born1865
DiedApril 8, 1901
Kyoto
OccupationNurse

Early life

Nagano was a student at the Doshisha Girls' School in Kyoto. In 1892, Nagano and another woman, Natsu Sakaki, went to Chicago under the care of American temperance activists, to study at the Clara Barton Training School for Nurses. They both graduated in 1893.[1] Sakaki returned to Japan in 1895.[2]

Career

Nagano became head nurse at Chicago Baptist Hospital,[3] a temperance hospital, after completing her training.[4] "She is so happy, so deft, winsome, faithful, and full of cheery courage that we all love her," explained the hospital's superintendent in 1897.[5]

After a brief return to Japan in 1898, she decided to live in Chicago and study medicine. She enrolled in the College of Physicians and Surgeons,[6] and worked as a nurse in the city while pursuing her medical training. She also translated a Japanese novel, Morning Glory. [1]

Personal life

Nagano enjoyed Chicago's theatre offerings and restaurants.[7] Concerned for the effects of overwork and a harsh winter climate, the Japanese consul in Chicago Toshiro Fujita helped Nagano return to Japan to recover her health. Instead, she died from tuberculosis in Kyoto in 1901, aged 36 years.[1]

References
  1. Day, Takako (December 7, 2018). "Atypical Japanese Women - The First Japanese Female Medical Doctor and Nurses in Chicago - Part 2". Discover Nikkei. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
  2. "Japanese Girls and Nurses; Miss Sakaki and Miss Nagano Leave a Pleasant Impression in Chicago". Mineral Point Weekly Tribune. 1895-05-02. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-10-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "A Japanese Nurse; The Chief of Staff of a Chicago Hospital and Very Skillful". Washington Times. 1897-01-17. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-10-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Hodson, Jane (1898). How to become a trained nurse : a manual of information in detail ; with a complete list of the various training schools for nurses in the United States and Canada. Cushing/Whitney Medical Library Yale University. New York : William Abbatt. p. 115 – via Internet Archive.
  5. "Woman and Home; The Winsome Little Head Nurse of a Chicago Hospital". Ottawa Daily Citizen. 1897-04-19. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-10-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Purple Shirt Award: The Best and the Weirdest from Special Collections". Special Collections and University Archives, UIC. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
  7. "The Memoirs of a Head Nurse". Modern Hospital. 10: 434. June 1918.
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