To the many people at Massachusetts General Hospital who admired her, Ruth Sleeper was a pioneer in nursing education and a national leader in the field. But to Susan Harvey, she was Aunt Ruth, a force who exuded only kindness and compassion to the entire family. As a way to honor her great-aunt, Susie has made a planned gift through her estate that will support the areas of greatest need in Mass General’s nursing department.
“When I was a little girl, I always knew Aunt Ruth was a nurse. I just didn’t know she was a renowned nurse.”
I grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in a small village of 2,500 people. The closest large city – Detroit – was six hours away. My grandfather, Aunt Ruth’s brother, came from the east coast as a young man. Once he saw Lake Superior, he never left. Grandpa Sleeper was an engineer and the county road commissioner.
Aunt Ruth’s role at Mass General, the hospital’s outstanding programs and its leadership in medicine made giving here an easy decision. This gift will benefit nurses where they need it most, and that’s exactly the legacy I want to leave.”
One of my first memories of Aunt Ruth was staying at her apartment in Boston across from the Mass General. I found it all fascinating with traffic noise and sirens keeping me awake all night. Small towns are dead silent at night – this was a new and exciting adventure.
I also loved visiting Aunt Ruth and her sister Aunt Lil at their beach house in York Beach, Maine. I have so many lasting memories from those summer visits. In 2012 I made my mother a book for Mother’s Day about ‘The Sisters in the Brick House by the Sea,’ filled with articles and photos of Aunt Ruth’s nursing legacy.
Aunt Ruth was kind and always had a beautiful smile on her face, but at the same time, we knew she was a force. When we visited, Mom coached us for days on proper etiquette and manners. As a little girl, mom’s favorite line was ‘Aunt Ruth is special, and you need to be on your best behavior.’
Aunt Ruth taught our family to achieve excellence in whatever we attempted. Many of her lessons were taught indirectly through my mom. We were taught to show compassion, to listen and to always help others. Long before women had influence, she taught us to speak up and defend our thoughts. And to this day, every time I make a bed using her hospital corner technique, she is in my thoughts and brings a smile to my face. My mother and I were both named after her, with Ruth as our middle names.
For my mother’s 70th birthday, I contacted Mass General and asked for a hospital tour, including the Ruth Sleeper Suite in the Bulfinch Building. Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, DNP, NEA-BC, FAAN, who was the chief nurse at the time, went above and beyond: she set up a tea for my mother and several other retired nurses who worked with Aunt Ruth. Everyone went around the room and told my mother a story about Auth Ruth. My mother had tears running down her face, she was so touched. Mom told me hours before she passed that it was the best day of her life.
I have a few reasons for wanting to leave a legacy gift to Mass General in honor of Aunt Ruth. First and foremost, I want to memorialize her contributions to nursing, how she had a vision for what a nursing program should be and created a curriculum that turned nursing from a low-level skill job into an educated profession.
She had many other accomplishments. She was president of the National League of Nursing Education and the National League for Nursing, and she held leadership posts with the United Community Services, the American Red Cross, the International Council of Nurses and the Nursing Advisory Council of the Veterans Administration. Ruth also served as nursing adviser to the U.S. State Department, was a representative to the Status of Women Commission at the United Nations and received the Florence Nightingale Award in 1959.
I also want to acknowledge Auth Ruth’s contributions to making Mass General the standard for healthcare. I have an autoimmune disorder called dermatomyositis, which causes muscle weakness, and it affects my memory and cognition. It’s scary, but I haven’t quit living. I want to support medical research and treatments, and I want to make sure that diseases like mine receive the attention they deserve.
Finally, I want to uphold Aunt Ruth’s legacy — for my family and my mother. My mom would be pleased to know that this contribution, in memory of her and Aunt Ruth, will help Mass General continue to achieve excellence. Aunt Ruth’s role at Mass General, the hospital’s outstanding programs and its leadership in medicine made giving here an easy decision. This gift will benefit nurses where they need it most, and that’s exactly the legacy I want to leave.”
To learn more about how you can name Mass General in your estate plans and create a legacy to advance medicine, please contact our Office of Gift Planning at mghdevpg@mgh.harvard.edu or 617-643-2220.
