Honoring the memory of Parsons Hall and the future of UMSON.
You may have noticed a new structure and landscaping in the courtyard of the UMSON Building in Baltimore, just to the right of the main entrance on Lombard Street. It looks like a doorway, with lamps and a street number, and it has a gray granite base.
So … what is it?
It’s a cast stone sculptural replica of Parsons Hall. Named for Louisa Parsons, first superintendent of the University of Maryland School of Nursing upon its founding in 1889, Parsons Hall opened as a nursing students’ residence at 618 W. Lombard St. in November 1922, six years after Parsons’ death and 30 years after her tenure at the then-University Hospital Training School for Nurses. Prior to this, students lived in a section of the old University Hospital and in row houses next to the hospital.
Parsons Hall served as student housing for more than six decades, until the 1980s, and was later used as nursing faculty office space; the street address changed over time, as the building was expanded. The seven-story structure was demolished in 1998 for expansion of the University of Maryland Medical Center. To mark the occasion, the Alumni Association held a Wrecking Ball gala and sold bricks from Parsons Hall as memorabilia.
To honor the memory of Parsons Hall and the many nursing students and faculty who occupied it, we recently installed the nearly 11-foot-tall, cast stone sculptural replica of the entrance as it appeared in 1922. It includes the stone medallion that later adorned the front exterior. Newly installed landscaping and a bench accompany the replica.
A stainless-steel time capsule, to be opened in 25 years (that’s 2047), has been sealed inside the granite base of the sculpture.
So … what’s in the time capsule?
A collection of items — sourced from ideas contributed by UMSON faculty, staff, and students — that we believe reflect what it’s like to be a member of the UMSON community in 2022. Among many other items, here are some examples:
- A photo commemorating the Black Lives Matter social movement shows a banner on the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus. A cicada statue, part of an art installation recognizing the emergence of the 17-year Brood X cicada in 2021, appears in the foreground.
- Fundamentals of Nursing is the current, well, fundamental textbook for entry-into-practice students.
- Among others, Baltimore Sun clippings from 2020 recognize the first identified COVID-19 cases in Maryland and Kamala Harris, the nation’s first woman, first African-American, and first South Asian American vice president.
- Worn by Ann Mech, JD, MS ’78, BSN ’76, RN, assistant professor and director of legal affairs, supervisor of students at the 2021 COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the UMB Southern Management Corporation Campus Center, an included vest is a reminder of UMSON’s efforts there.
- COVID-19 vaccine and UMB Together pins commemorate the nation’s massive effort to vaccinate Americans against COVID-19 and UMB’s campaign to celebrate the return to in-person learning and working after 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- We all quickly learned what PPE stands for during the pandemic, and a photo shows what some PPE looked like in summer 2020.
- A mouse pad features excerpts of the School’s In UniSON: Together We Commit, Together We Act anti-oppression position statement, launched in 2021.
- The time capsule includes a sample of honor cords that signify organization membership and other honors, worn at graduation ceremonies.
- From fall 2021 - March 2022, KN95 masks were either strongly encouraged or required for everyone at UMB-owned and -operated facilities as the nation rode out the Delta and Omicron waves of COVID-19. So a KN95 mask is included.
- You cannot create a record of modern times without including COVID-19 vaccine vials and syringes.
- COVID-19 antigen home test kits are a household staple not only for evaluating symptoms to determine if they are a result of COVID-19 but for preventing the spread of the illness by testing prior to attending events and other gatherings.
- The time capsule contains all three issues (2019, 2020, and 2021) of 1807, UMB’s literary journal.
Posters in the UMSON lobby have more information and photos. Feel free to stop by to learn more!