In 1893, Chicago became host to the World’s Fair known as the Columbian Exhibition. The fair celebrated 400 years of American progress, proclaiming cultural parity with Europe and asserting prominence as the world’s cultural, commercial and technological leader. Women, as never before, demanded recognition for their accomplishments.  In conjunction with the Exhibition, the International Congress of Charities, Correction and Philanthropy was held. In the ‘Hospitals, Dispensaries and Nursing’ section, twenty-nine papers from prominent international nursing leaders were read. These women brought extraordinary clarity of vision and dynamic energy to nursing as a developing profession.

The purpose of this research is to analyze, through thematic content analysis, the nursing papers presented at the 1893 Congress and to determine their impact on the developing nursing profession.  This research is part of a larger project which is examining cultural gender expectations and its relationship to the development of nursing during the 19^th century.