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The Graduate Nurses’ Association of Ontario (GNAO), the forerunner of RNAO, gathers in London, Ont. in 1918.

Guelph General Hospital is shown in 1914.

The RNAO convention is held in St. Catharines, Ont. on May 26, 1927.

Florence Emory is RNAO's first official president, serving from 1926-1929.

A group of prospective nurses take the provincial nursing exam in 1933. Photo courtesy of the Province of Ontario Picture Bureau.

RNAO members gather in Hamilton for the association's annual meeting in April 1935.

Gladys Sharpe of Toronto Western Hospital is pictured in this undated photo.

A nurse dons a Second World War-era uniform in this undated photo.

RNs sport nursing uniforms from different eras at RNAO's 1956 annual general meeting.

Alma Reid served as RNAO president from 1957-1958.

RNAO's districts, as they were in 1956, are depicted in this map.

RNAO's News Bulletin in 1957 featured the association's lamp logo, inspired by Florence Nightingale's nickname, "The Lady with the Lamp."

Construction begins on RNAO's new location at 33 Price St., Toronto.

A meeting is held at RNAO's headquarters on 33 Price St. in Toronto.

Nurses attend a refresher workshop at RNAO's Price St. headquarters.

An RNAO booth showcases the nursing profession.

Myrna Clark accepts her badge from Jean Maybee at the registration desk for the 1961 annual general meeting.

Florence Emory, RNAO's first president (right), poses with Blanche Duncanson, RNAO past-president, in this photo from 1962.

In April 1965, more than 1,000 nurses marched on Queen’s Park to call for the government to pass the Nurses’ Bargaining Act.

Two former RNAO executive directors, Florence Walker (1946-1959) and Laura Barr (1960-1976) pose for a photo together.

Florence Walker, left, RNAO executive director from 1946-1959, shares a moment with
Ella Howard, RNAO president from 1960-1962.

Albert Wedgery, RNAO's first male president, is pictured in 1967.

RNAO members at the 1969 annual general meeting raise their hands to vote on a motion.

Moyra Allen, left, and Mary Reidy, right, speak with RNAO President Laura Butler (1969-1971) at the 1971 annual general meeting.

A reporter interviews RNAO President Laura Butler (1969-1971).

RNAO President Laura Butler (1969-1971) delivers a speech.

RNAO's President-Elect Jocelyn Hezekiah, left, Executive Director Maureen Powers, centre, and President Irmajean Bajnok, right, pose at the 1977 annual general meeting.

RNAO members campaign for office at the 1983 AGM in Toronto.

A media conference about the Grange Inquiry is held in 1983. RNAO was granted legal standing in the inquiry into the deaths of multiple children at a Toronto hospital.

Attendees check out different booths at RNAO's 1983 AGM.

Cindy Guernsey is pictured with a burn patient from Burma in 1985.

RNAO holds candlelight vigils in Toronto and Ottawa on Nov. 21, 1996 to express concerns about the inappropriate dismantling of our publicly funded health-care system.

RNAO responds to a 1998 government announcement granting nurse practitioners additional authority.

RNAO President Sue Williams (left) meets with Liberal Health Critic Lyn McLeod. This initiative from the year 2000 marks the beginning of an annual tradition which would become RNAO's signature political event (later renamed Day at Queen’s Park).

RNAO Past President Judith Shamian speaks at Queen's Park Day 2000.

Participants chat at the inaugural BPG champions network workshop in June 2002.

RNAO moves into its new digs at 158 Pearl St. in Toronto in 2005.

Sheila Basrur, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health during the SARS crisis in 2003, was invested in the Order of Ontario after RNAO nominated her for the award. Here, she receives congratulations at the 2008 AGM flanked by Doris Grinspun and Premier Dalton McGuinty. Seven weeks later, Basrur died of cancer.

Premier Dalton McGuinty and Health Minister David Caplan visit RNAO in 2009 to announce more NP-led clinics in Ontario following the success of the first NP-led clinic in Sudbury in 2007.

RNAO President (2002-04) Adeline Falk-Rafael mails a postcard to Prime Minister Jean Chretien calling on the federal leader to protect and strengthen Medicare.

RNAO's media conference calling for public inquiry into SARS is attended by at least a dozen nurses wearing masks that read "muzzled," "silenced," and "ignored."

RNAO president Adeline Falk-Rafael and executive director Doris Grinspun speak to the media at a press conference at Queen's Park on June 9, 2003. The event was organized to deliver a formal request to Premier Ernie Eves asking the provincial government to order an independent commission of inquiry into the SARS outbreak.

On May 14, 2003, RNAO Executive Director Doris Grinspun is invited by the Ontario Hospital Association to accept a mounted and framed OHA advertisement recognizing the work of nurses during the SARS outbreak. The photo features RNAO member Susan Robinson.

RNAO members participate in the Caravan Against For-Profit Hospitals and Clinics in Toronto May, 2003. The event was organized by the Ontario Health Coalition.

On Aug 24, 2004, RNAO meets with Health Minister George Smitherman to discuss strategies to achieve the "70 per cent solution," which will see at least 70 per cent of RNs working full time, and the ministry's plan to introduce Local Health Integrated Networks. Pictured left to right: Director of RNAO's Centre for Professional Nursing Excellence Irmajean Bajnok, Executive Director Doris Grinspun, Minister Smitherman, and President Joan Lesmond.

RNAO Executive Director Doris Grinspun (centre) presents the key findings of the document Ensuring The Care Will Be There: Report on Nursing Retirement and Retention in Ontario, at a press conference in April 2006 together with RNAO President Shirlee Sharkey (left) and RPNAO President Linda LaHay.

RNAO CEO Doris Grinspun poses with two children attending a government announcement on the closure of four more coal-fired power units. RNAO is part of a coalition (Canadian Physicians for the Environment and the Ontario Clean Air Alliance) that wants the government to end its reliance on coal by the end of 2010.

RNAO president David McNeil (2010-2012) moderates a Politics and Pancakes breakfast on Sept. 16, 2011 in Windsor. The event was organized by RNAO's Windsor Essex chapter leading up to the 2011 provincial election.

RNAO staffers Monique Lloyd (left), Rita Wilson (right) and Irmajean Bajnok celebrate the official launch of NQuire project on Oct. 16, 2012.

Vanessa Burkoski shows off a picture of herself as a young nursing school graduate during her first speech as president at RNAO's AGM in April 2014.

RNAO members, including Victory Lall (left) CEO Doris Grinspun, and Lorraine Telford, participate in a National Day of Action housing rally in Yonge and Dundas Square in Toronto, November 2013.

CEO Doris Grinspun, centre, is among those in attendance at Belmont House long-term care home on March 3, 2014, where the Ministry of Health announced the placement of more nurse practitioners in long-term care.

RNAO CEO Doris Grinspun (left), President Rhonda Seidman-Carlson (centre) and President-Elect Vanessa Burkoski present RNAO's vision for nursing and health care in Ontario, Charting a course for the health system and nursing in Ontario at a press conference at Queen's Park on April 30, 2014.

RNAO past presidents attend the president's banquet at the association's 2014 annual general meeting. Pictured here are (L to R, back row): Irmajean Bajnok (1977-79), Rhonda Seidman-Carlson (2012-14), Charlotte Noesgaard (1997-98), Doris Grinspun (CEO, 1996-present), Wendy Fucile (2008-10), Mary Ferguson-Paré (2006-08). Seated (L to R) are: Valerie Smith (1993-94), Shirley Wheatley (1981-83), and Elsabeth Jensen (1989-90).

Nurses take part in Toronto's World Pride 2014.

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