Ruth Chamberlin was born November 4, 1903 in Yonkers, New York. Chamberlin attended Hunter College in New York and received her B.S. and M.A. degrees from Teachers College at Columbia University in New York. She also graduated from Mt. Sinai Hospital School of Nursing in New York. She was the educational director at University Hospital of the Good Shepherd at Syracuse University, and later was director of the school of nursing there. Chamberlin was administrative head of the School of Nursing at the Medical University of South Carolina from 1937 until her retirement in 1966. From 1942 to 1945, she took a military leave during World War II to serve as major in the Army Nurse Corps, both in the US and in field hospitals in North Africa, Italy, and France. Back at MUSC, Chamberlin served as educational director from 1937 to 1949. In 1949, the position was changed to that of dean and she served until 1966. In 1987, she was appointed dean emerita of the College of Nursing. From 1940 to 1942, Chamberlin served as the first president of the South Carolina League for Nursing Education. From 1949 to 1951, she was president of the S.C. Nurses' Association and in 1949, president of District #1 S.C. Nurses' Association. From 1952 to 1953 and in 1956 she was adviser to the S.C. State Student Nurses' Association; also in 1956 she was chairman of the Education Division of the State League for Nursing. Chamberlin was the first woman to be a member of the South Carolina State Board of Health Executive Committee; she served by appointment of the governor from 1956 to 1963. In 1965, Chamberlin was granted the most distinguished award given by the S.C. State Nurses' Association in recognition of "outstanding participation in the professional organization and contributions to the achievement of its goals to the end that all people may have better nursing care." After she retired, she remained active in the community and chaired the Education Committee of the Metro Charleston March of Dimes and coordinated its Speakers Bureau activities. In 1967, The City Federation of Women's Clubs named her Woman of the Year in recognition of her service to the community. In 1970, she wrote a comprehensive history of nursing education at MUSC called The School of Nursing of the Medical College of South Carolina: Its Story. The same year she was named an honorary alumnus of the College of Nursing and in 1983, the college's historical library was named in her honor. Ruth Chamberlin died February 19, 1988 after an extended illness.
From the description of Ruth Chamberlin Collection circa 1930-1988 (Medical University of South Carolina Library). WorldCat record id: 310123047
