“A Historical Tea” Recaptures Tradition—with Contemporary Flair

Afternoon tea in the parlor
Elegant silver on white linen by the fireplace
Miss Berigan poured.
Milk or lemon? Don’t take both. …
Sit daintily; especially if you sit on the floor
Curl your little finger and smile
No shop talk, keep it light.

–Beverly Steinhoff, Cert.’53, MS’73

Dressed in a nursing student uniform from bygone days, current nursing student Michelle Markoff mingles with tea guests.

A nursing alum’s words describe the honored tradition of afternoon tea in the Nurses’ Dormitory on the UW-Madison campus in the 1940s and ’50s. On June 17, 2006, tea was again served at the UW-Madison School of Nursing—but with a contemporary flair.

Aptly named “A Historical Tea,” the benefit drew two hundred alumni and friends to the Health Sciences Learning Center (HSLC) on a warm Saturday afternoon to revive history while lending support to nursing’s future—the new nursing sciences building.

As guests entered the HSLC atrium, they were invited to mingle with friends while enjoying the displayed nursing artifacts—vintage nursing caps and uniforms, enlarged photos of afternoon teas of the past, the first nursing stamp (circa 1897), and a coveted early American edition of Notes on Nursing by Florence Nightingale.

Tea honoree Signe Skott Cooper (center) performs the ceremonial tea pouring while Dean Katharyn May (left) and Margaret Idour, Cooper's longtime friend from Australia, watch and enjoy.

The tea gave center stage to Professor Emerita Signe Skott Cooper, the school’s grand dame of nursing who, from the time of obtaining her nursing certificate 1943, has dedicated her life to the practice and teaching of nursing and the guardianship of its history. Unsurprisingly, Cooper has been bestowed many honors, among them, the title of “Living Legend” by the American Nurses’ Association.

Cooper’s passion for nursing history is the driving force behind her generous support for a historical suite—to be named the Signe Skott Cooper and Hilda Skott Historical Suite and housed in the school’s proposed new building.

As the program began, guests took their seats at tables covered with white linen and bedecked with caches of tea, finger sandwiches, scones, and petit fours on tiered, mirrored trays. Silver teapots, crystal stemware, and centerpiece baskets of assorted teas also adorned each table. The gentle sounds of a harp played by nursing alum Nancy Blanchard Watts drifted through the HSLC atrium.

Nurses' Alumni Organization officers Susan Brown (left) and Marsha Rather hold up a $10,000 check to be presented to tea honoree Signe Scott Cooper.

Dean Katharyn May, PhD, RN, FAAN, welcomed alumni and friends, paying special tribute to those attendees who partook in afternoon teas in the nurses’ dorm. Following a ceremonial tea pouring from a silver tea decanter belonging to the school’s first dean, Helen Denne Schulte, guests were treated to a style show. Nursing students modeled a sampling of vintage nursing student uniforms from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s and the Cadet Nurse Corps (circa WWII)—all pieces from the school’s historical collection. NAO officers Susan Brown, PhD, RN, and Marsha Rather, PhD, RN, then stepped forward to present Cooper with a check for $10,000 to be used for the proposed historical suite.

The program’s finale, a video presentation titled “Shaping the Future of Care,” gave guests a ring-side seat to better understanding the impetus behind the benefit. Coleen Southwell, director of development and mastermind of the elegant tea, summarized the presentation’s focus.

“Investing in the school’s mission,” explained Southwell, “to better educate the faculty of tomorrow who, in turn, will educate the nurses we seek, as consumers of health care, is an excellent investment.” “This school needs to grow,” added May. “We then can continue to do what this school has done since its founding more than 80 years ago—serve the needs of the people of the State of Wisconsin, the nation, and beyond through nursing leadership.”