05/15/2026
In our final post for National Nurses Week, the University Archives and Special Collections would like to highlight more records from our UPEI Faculty of Nursing Fonds.
In 2025, Mona Thornton donated the nursing records of her aunts Christina and Keziah Kierstead. Both sisters tragically died young after contracting tuberculosis. The Kierstead sister’s diplomas, photos, and nursing artifacts are now housed in the UPEI Faculty of Nursing fonds (Reference code: F 14-7)
Image 1:
Keziah Kierstead was born in Glen Levit, New Brunswick on February 23, 1894, the oldest of the nine children of James and Christina (Po***ck) Kierstead. She graduated from the Elliot City Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1917, in Keene, New Hampshire, after which she returned to New Brunswick. While doing private nursing, she cared for someone with tuberculosis and contracted the disease. She passed away on June 10, 1919, at 25 years of age.
Image 2:
Christina Kierstead was born on April 27, 1908, was the 8th child of James and Christina (Po***ck) of Glen Levit, New Brunswick. She graduated with her nursing diploma from the Chicago School of Nursing in July 1939. Shortly after her graduation, she was admitted to a sanatorium in Toronto and treated for tuberculosis. After Christina recovered, she had a short career taking care of private patients. However, the tuberculosis recurred and she died on January 5, 1941, at 32 years of age.
