Chicago's Nurse Parade
Smeltzer, Carolyn Hope / Vlasses, Frances R. / Robinson, Connie R.
Chicago singularly honored nurses, our "Angels of Mercy, " for a decade (1949-1958). Father Clarence M. Brissette O.S.M., director of the Sorrowful Mother Novena, originated both Chicago's "Nurses Day" and Chicago's Nurse Parade in 1949. The purpose of the parade was twofold: to give the nurses a "day of glory" and to also encourage others to join this undermanned, noble, and caring profession. The first Chicago Nurse Parade (1949) had two flo...