Mrs. Dr. Charlotte Blake Brown, Mrs. Dr. Martha E. Bucknell, and ten San Francisco women founded Children's Hospital (then called the Pacific Dispensary for Women and Children) on February 26, 1875. From a $30-a-month group of rooms at 520 Taylor Street, the Dispensary moved six times before arriving, in 1887, at its current location at California Street near Maple.

In 1880, while the Dispensary was located at the two-story Hoyt House at 22nd and Mission Streets, the Training School for Nurses was founded. It was the first such school west of the Rocky Mountains. At the time of its founding there was one pupil, Jessie Astredo. The motto of the school was "Be Ye Faithful." The designated uniform was gray with a white apron and cap. The course required one year to complete.

Supported with difficulty by private donations and funds from bazaars, the Dispensary organization incorporated in 1885 as "Children's Hospital --A Hospital for Children and Training School for Nurses."

The Children's Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association --the oldest such association on the Pacific Coast --was founded in 1901. It has been active in promoting and maintaining high standards of nursing care, as well as setting up special funds to aid members and students.

Children's Hospital School of Nursing accepted its last class in 1955. The school's final class of seventeen students graduated on August 23, 1957.