"Together we stand". Ruth Sleeper and the early years

On June 16, 1952, the National League of Nursing Education (NLNE), an organization that since 1912 had been instrumental in the crusade to advance nursing education in America, convened autonomously for the last time. Later that month, in a landmark incorporation, it would cease to function as an independent agency and would, instead, become the nucleus of the new, broad-based organization known as the National League for Nursing (1). During the final convention, a bittersweet "Hail and Farewell" luncheon was held, in which members reflected on the history of the NLNE and the future tasks of the new NLN. In a paper entitled "Nursing Moves Forward," chairman Pearl McIver asked the simple question that was on everyone's lips: "What then lies ahead for nursing?" (2, p. 184).