Elizabeth Ferguson, age 9, of Peterborough, Ontario, for her question:

Who was Florence Nightingale?

There have always been kind women who tended the sick. There have always been mothers who looked at skinned knees and noses and kissed them better. But the first real nurse was Florence Nightingale. She is accepted as the founder of modern nursing. Miss Nightingale is one of Andy's favorite people.

She was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. Her parents were English and they named the baby girl for the city of her birth. The family was rich and elegant and planned for this lovely daughter to enjoy a life of social glamour. They did not guess that their little girl had a heart more beautiful than her beautiful face.

Evan at six, young Florence wanted more than a life of luxury. She wanted to help those less lucky. At 17, she was not ashamed to say that God had chosen her to do a special job of work for Him. She wanted to be a nurse and more. She wanted to set forth the duties of a nurse to train other woman in this noble work and tell the whole world about it.

Imagine a world with no nurses, none of our ladies in white to tend the sick. This was the world of young Florence Nightingale.  The nursing of that day was done by dirty, untrained women who attended births looked after children and watched over the aged. Polite society looked down on this so called nursing. When Florence told her elegant family that she wanted to be a nurse, they were horrified,

But rather than give up her works Florence gave up family, friends and finally the man she loved. At 31, she was given a chance to reorganize a small London Hospital. Her ideas of proper nursing were at last put to work and the work gained the attention of the British government.

England was at war with Russia in the Crimea. Of the wounded 40% died in squalor and neglect. Florence and 32 of her trained nurses were sent to help, The great lady toiled all day and throughout rest and at night she took a small lamp and made her rounds of the wards to see that all was well. The wounded soldiers now properly cared for, called her their Lady of the Lamp. The death rate among them dropped to two percent.

Word got back to England and the Lady of the Lamp became a national heroine. Vast sums of money were given to her to extend her work. Nurses were trained according to her high and noble standards. She helped to improve conditions throughout the army hospitals.

In her later years Miss Nightingale was less in the public eye, but she remained busy. She refused an honored burial in Westminster Abbey and, at 90 years of age she was carried to rest in her family churchyard on the shoulders of six sergeants of the British Army.