A historical descriptive method was used to study Anna Caroline Maxwell's contributions to the development of four organizations (American Society of the Superintendents of Training Schools of Nurses, 1893; Nurses' Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada, 1897; The Association of Graduate Nurses of Manhattan and Bronx, 1902; and New York County Nurses Association, 1904) that reformed the nursing profession, and her activities and influences as a nurse educator during the early years of the profession, 1880-1904.

Chapter I introduces Anna Caroline Maxwell and presents the conceptual framework. The concepts of professional associations and training schools of nursing; themes such as nurses as workers, socioeconomic and political issues, and reform; and variables such as sponsors, actors, curriculum, hospitals, and activities of nurses are threads used to evaluate Anna Maxwell's contributions to the establishment of nursing associations that brought "order" within the nursing profession and standardization of nursing education.

Chapter II describes Anna Maxwell's early life and education. Early decisions to become involved in the reform of nursing, nursing education and hospitals are described and analyzed. Chapter III describes the condition of nurses and nursing education in the United States before the formation of the early nurses associations and her efforts in organizing the nursing curriculum in three renown schools of nursing. Chapter IV describes the instrument of reform, the early nurses associations, and the role they played in organizing nursing and nursing education. In Chapter V, Anna Maxwell's role as a leader and a mentor is discussed along with the significance of the historical study.

Through research into Maxwell's life, historical events were explored and a more crystalline portrait of the organization of several nursing organizations emerged.