Abstract
In 2016, students and faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago recreated and celebrated the life of nursing leader, Anne Larson Zimmerman (1914-2003). Students conducted archival research and oral histories. Faculty transformed their findings into a script recreating Zimmerman's life. Following months of rehearsals, 22 nursing students, directed by 2 theater students, offered 3 performances of While I am Here: The Life and Legacy of Anne Zimmerman. Audiences included Zimmerman's family, the general public, students, and nurses. Through their engagement in the project, students discovered in Zimmerman a role model for social justice leadership and deepened appreciation of nursing history's relevancy.