Historic Face Mask Photos in Nursing Collection

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

September 3, 2020 Special Collections Staff Favorites

Several recent articles have highlighted the history of wearing face masks to prevent the spread of disease, particularly during the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919. This brought to mind a photograph in our Eastern Maine General Hospital School of Nursing Collection of an unidentified patient wearing a face mask, seated with two women, one of them in her nurse’s uniform. A handwritten note on the back provides date as 1917 and simply says this is “the man we used to call Mike.”

Wearing face masks to protect patients, circa 1950

Another photograph from the 1950s in the collection shows staff members wearing face masks to help protect young patients in treatment.

Both images are available for download in DigitalCommons@UMaine, with the titles of Eastern Maine General Hospital Nurses and Patient, and Eastern Maine General Hospital, Treatment with Iron Lung.

For more information, contact the Special Collections Department at 207.581.1686 or um.library.spc@maine.edu.

This favorite contributed by: Desiree Butterfield-Nagy