Richards, Linda [1841–1930] , a nurse considered to be the first American-trained nurse, and a graduate of the first class of the New England Hospital for Women and Children. She then studied at the Nightingale Training School in London and in 1873 organized the Massachusetts General Hospital Training School. In 1885 she was sent to Japan to develop a training school at the Charity Hospital. In 1891 she took charge of the Philadelphia Visiting Nurse Society. She is credited with being the first to keep written records on patients, a practice she started when she worked as night superintendent at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
