I am researching the struggle for equality in healthcare, a lesser-known dimension of the civil rights movement. Although the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to “separate but equal” in public schools in 1954, segregation persisted for years in medicine. However, by the mid-1960s, a combination of protests, federal legislation, and judicial rulings had significantly disrupted the Jim Crow practices that had long plagued hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics.((Encyclopedia of Alabama, “Hill-Burton Act“))
As I delve into this complex and multifaceted intersection of civil rights and medicine, one area I am concentrating on is the integration of Delaware nursing schools, a significant achievement for the civil rights movement. During the 1950s, nursing schools commonly practiced segregation, limiting opportunities to pursue careers in the caring professions and make meaningful contributions to their communities.
Delaware Schools
In 1950, Delaware had seven nursing schools--four in Wilmington, one in New Castle County, and two downstate. These programs excluded Blacks leading to a severe shortage of professional African American nurses in the state.((National League of Nursing Education, “State-Approved Schools of Nursing: Schools Meeting Minimum Requirements Set by Law and Board Rules in the Various States and Territories, (New York), 1950))
The National League of Nursing Education produced this 1950 list:
- Delaware State, Farnhurst, established in 1929, 13 students
- Beebe, Lewes, 1921, 10 students;
- Milford Memorial, 1926, 21 students;
- Delaware, Wilmington, 1897, 160 students;
- Memorial, Wilmington, 1888, 92 students;
- St. Francis, Wilmington, 1924, 66 students;
- Wilmington General, Wilmington, 1910, 50 Students
To gain insight into nursing schools in the City, I am examining records of three Wilmington hospitals. The materials archived at the Lewis B. Flinn Medical Library at Christiana Care offer valuable insight into the policies, practices, and enrollment of these institutions during the mid-20th century.
In 1954, a significant civil rights healthcare milestone occurred in Delaware. Late that year, Wilmington Memorial Hospital Superintendent, Grace L. Little, announced a groundbreaking decision to open admission to the school for qualified candidates regardless of race. This decision marked a significant turning point in the fight for integrated medical education in Delaware, overturning in one institution the discriminatory policies that had long excluded Black students from the program.((Hospital to Accept Nursing Students Regardless of Race,” Morning News, December 7, 1954))
In the fall of 1955, when a new class began at Memorial Hospital, two African American students, Ive Brown of Felton and Carrie Thomas of Chester, PA, proudly stood alongside their classmates for the annual “probie” photo.((“32 Student Nurses Start Memorial Class, Journal-Every Evening, September 7, 1955)),((“Probie Class Photo,” 1958, Wilmington Memorial Hospital))
A Civil Rights Healthcare Milestone
For the first time, African American students were admitted to a registered nurses training program in Delaware. When the hospital held its 65th graduation in 1958, Carrie Thomas and fifteen other young women had completed the course of study for registered nurses. Ive Brown graduated from a one-year practical nursing course at Brown Vocational High School.((“15 Graduate at Memorial,” Morning News, September 4, 1958)).
This milestone, a significant step forward in the struggle for equality in healthcare, contributed to Delaware’s civil rights movement. My work on other dimensions of the civil rights struggle in medicine continues in Delaware.
For additional photos on integrating nursing schools in Delaware, see this album on Facebook.