Image of Anchorage Community College practical nurses, graduation, 1964. 
Anchorage Museum, Ward Wells Collection, B1983.91.C6260.1 

Throughout history, women have worked as caretakers and healers in their homes and communities. With the rise of hospitals in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, nursing became one of the few professions that welcomed women. Nursing remains a gender-segregated profession. with women making up 91 percent of the workforce, according to the 2010 census.