Arlene Draffin Jones and Joann MacMorran Collection

Arlene Draffin Jones and Joann MacMorran had long careers as nurses working in northern communities and with TB outreach in Manitoba. Both avid photographers, they have donated use of their photos to the MITHP. The Jones-MacMorran photos were taken during the course of their work as TB nurses in northern communities and at the Winnipeg Central TB Clinic between the mid-1960s through to the early 1990s. The collection features images of health care and daily life in northern Manitoba from the 1960s to the early 1990s in communities including Pukatawagan, Tadoule Lake, Cross Lake, Shamattawa, and others.

Joann was a lifetime resident of Riverview, attended Kelvin High School, and graduated from the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in 1955. She obtained a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Manitoba 1965. She completed the post graduate course TB Today at the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. Her early nursing career took her to Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, England, and Calgary. In Winnipeg she worked for the Victorian Order of Nurses, as a Student Advisor at University of Manitoba, for the Faculty of Nursing and Manitoba, and for Provincial Public Health.

Joann MacMorran’s trailblazing work was as Provincial Nurse Consultant in Tuberculosis and Chronic Pulmonary Disease for 30 years. Joann was a tireless worker and her patients appreciated her good humour, care and support. She visited many Indigenous communities in those years finding active cases, administering treatment and bringing help and support. She is remembered kindly by the patients, health care workers, and community members she developed relationships with in northern communities and as nurse mentor in Winnipeg.

MacMorran was also involved with TB case finding in newcomer communities in Winnipeg, taught nurses and medical students the basics of case finding and treatment, and provided supports within the medical and government programs. With Arlene Draffin Jones she developed a teaching manual for nurses about TB patient management that was used in the University of Manitoba nursing program for many years.

Joann MacMorran also served as Provincial Chair of the Advisory Committee that developed a number of health related educational tools, including facilitating the introduction of nursing responsibilities related to the DNA tracing of TB contacts. She made a significant contribution to health care in Manitoba, throughout North America, and in the Caribbean, Europe, Taiwan and influenced care of persons in Russia, South Africa, and Central America through tuberculosis nursing programs.

MacMorran was active in several organizations, including the Canadian Legion International Peace Camp as Health Director and the Canadian Club. She was a founding member of the Canadian Respiratory Society and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. After retirement as Provincial Nursing Consultant she joined the Canadian International Development Agency in a project in Guyana. During her time there, she was involved in the creation of an electronic TB registry and the reactivation of the Guyana Chest Society was reactivated and she assisted in the development of a TB manual for the TB Direct Observed Therapy workers.

Joann’s favourite place was her family cottage at Grand Beach. A keen photographer, she took pictures of the many people she met and places she visited. She was an enthusiastic and productive volunteer with the University of Winnipeg’s 55 Plus Program Committee, a longtime supporter of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Prairie Theatre and the Manitoba Opera. She received the Manitoba Registered Nurses Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2021 the 150 Manitoba Trailblazer Award from the Nellie McClung Foundation.

Prior to her death from COVID in 2021, Joann was working with University of Winnipeg professors, Drs Erin Millions and Mary Jane McCallum on this project.

Arlene graduated from the Winnipeg Grace Hospital and received a Teaching and Supervision Diploma from the University of Manitoba, a Bachelor Degree in Science of Nursing from Lakehead University, a Master’s degree In Education from the University of Manitoba and a Post Graduate Course “TB Today” from the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. She worked in clinical practice, research, teaching and community health and Independent Practice in Canada, the U.K. and Ethiopia and has presented her research and projects in the USA, France, Spain, China and Australia and for the Government of Guyana. Arlene was the Patient and Family Educator at the Respiratory Centre for five years in the 1970s and worked for eight years at the Health Education Director for the Manitoba Lung Association in the 1980s.

Her work in tuberculosis education and promotion of healthy lungs includes the development of numerous guidelines, booklets, a comic book, videos, teaching manuals, seminars, workshops targeted to patients, families, health care workers, refugees and many visits to Indigenous communities.

An enthusiastic community activist (even ran for City Council in 2007), she has served on the Boards of the Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses (now the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba), the Manitoba Association of Registered Respiratory Technicians (MARRT), the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC), the Parish Nurses Advisory Committee, and the North End Community Renewal Corporation (NECRC). Jones is a Past President of the Women’s Health Research Foundation, Nor-West Community Health Centre, Canadian Nurses Respiratory Society, the NCWC Development Organization, Provincial Council of Women of Manitoba and the Council of Women of Winnipeg. Currently she is on the boards of the Council of Women of Winnipeg, Luxton Residents Association, the Manitoba Lung Association and belongs to Westminster United Church, The Compassionate Friends, and attends St. John’s Anglican Cathedral.

Arlene co-produced and hosted with her late husband Robert (Bobby Jones), a Cablevision program “Seniors on the Move” for 7 years. They operated a Bed & Breakfast in their North End Home for 15 years. Her son Richard and daughter-in-law Maryanne, 4 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren keep her up to date and very busy. Arlene enjoys theatre, symphony, and jazz, writing, cooking, and keeps fit at the SMART Fitness classes. She is the recipient of the Celebrating Woman Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Canadian Lung Association and the Soroptimist International “Helping Women Award.”