Retired School Nurse Displays Artwork Before Selling Collection

Eileen Stevenson of Washington Township is more than just a school nurse. She’s a mother, a grandmother and a passionate teacher who cares deeply about children—her own and those she cared for in the Mahwah School District.

It is this compassion that led Eileen to begin her nursing collection. In the 1980s, she started buying artwork. Her first piece was a Red Cross poster she and her husband Robert found. She put it on display in her office in Mahwah and the collection began to blossom.

“It made the nurse’s office more personal,” Eileen said. “It made it a more welcoming place to see some of these pictures and gave the children a sense of safety.”

“She filled her nurse’s office to make it a place that kids wanted to come to instead of a place that they were fearful of,” Robert said.

Some of her students created their own artwork because of the collection. A few did caricatures of Eileen and one student even created an Andy Warhol piece of her. She quickly added her students’ work to her own collection on the walls of her nurse’s office.

“It made me happy that the kids wanted to be a part it,” she said.

One of the student’s parents lent Eileen a World War I army uniform to put on display.

“I’ve always loved being a nurse and I was very, very proud of my profession,” Eileen said. “I read up on the history of nursing and I wanted to convey to my students the idea that nurses were people that through history were important to the well being of society.”

“The nursing profession is sometimes undervalued especially in times of war,” Robert explained.

After collecting nursing memorabilia for 30 years, Eileen is saying goodbye to her artwork after putting it on display one last time at the .

“I retired in June from the Mahwah school system and my husband thought perhaps since May is Nurses Appreciation Month, others might be interested in my collection,” Eileen said.

“I plan to put the stuff up on eBay after the month, since I no longer have an office or space for it.”

She put nursing statues and books on display at the library last October and said she got good feedback from local residents.

“There was a woman there saying her granddaughter was graduating from nursing school and she wished she had something like that to give her,” Eileen said.

When the Stevensons informed the library of the other pieces in Eileen’s collection, they offered her another display.

“We thought May would be the perfect time,” Eileen said.

Although she is not using her display at the library to sell her artwork, Eileen said she would be happy if her pieces stay local.

Residents can view the collection at the Washington Township Library, 144 Woodfield Road, through the end of May. The library is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.