National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses was a professional organization for African American nurses founded in 1908.

Foundation

The first convention of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, Boston, 1909

In 1906, Connecticut nurse Martha Minerva Franklin surveyed African American nurses to see what challenges they faced as a group.[1] Franklin determined that the prestigious American Nurses Association was technically open to African American members, but many State Nurses Associations refused to admit black members. State-level membership was required to join the American Nurses Association and thus, many qualified African American nurses were barred from full membership in the national association.[1]

In 1908, fifty-two nurses, including Martha Minerva Franklin and Adah Belle Samuels Thoms, met in New York City and decided to start the NACGN. Franklin was elected president at the first meeting.[2]

As they left the meeting they had three main goals: "to advance the standards and best interests of trained nurses, to break down discrimination in the nursing profession, and to develop leadership within the ranks of black nurses." To do this, the acting presidents of the NACGN not only actively fought for integration by other means but also attended the annual ANA conference to bring awareness to the topic.[2] In 1912, the NACGN had 125 members. By 1920, that number has risen to 500.[3]

1918 flu pandemic and the resulting nurse shortage to finally integrate the United States Army Nurse Corps. In December 1918, eighteen African American nurses were appointed to the United States Army Nurse Corps. They were assigned to Camp Grant and Camp Sherman with full rank and pay. Although the patients were not segregated and the nurses were assigned to all services, the African American nurses were housed separately from the white nurses.[4]

Carrie E. Bullock served as NACGN president from 1927 to 1930. Bullock worked to increase communication and community among black nurses. In 1928, she founded and edited the NACGN's official newsletter, The National News Bulletin.[3]

Alma Vessels John was hired. She would shepherd the organization until its dissolution in 1951.[6]

From 1934 to 1939, Estelle Massey Osborne was NACGN's president.[7]

World War II

Initially, the

Fort Bragg. Staupers continued to campaign for greater inclusion, meeting with Eleanor Roosevelt, white nursing groups, military leaders, and black advocates.[8] By 1943, the number of black nurses serving in the armed forces had increased from 56 to 160. By the end of the war, the War Department was drafting all qualified nurses, regardless of race.[9]

In 1943, Congresswoman Frances P. Bolton (R-OH) introduced a bill to create government grants for nursing programs in order to increase the number of trained nurses available during World War II.[10] The Bolton Act (1943) forbid discrimination and brought about an increase in the number of black nursing students in the country.[2]

Professional organizations slowly began to increase membership opportunities for black women. In 1942, the National League of Nursing Education changed its by-laws to allow applicants barred from state leagues to directly join the national organization. Follow the national change, several state Leagues of Nursing Education began admitting black members.[2] By the end of World War II there were only 2.9 percent black nurses (compared to blacks making up 10 percent of the population) or eight thousand registered black nurses in the United States.[11]

Integration with the American Nurses Association

During the civil rights movement in the late 1940s and 1950s more nursing schools were accepting black applicants. Estelle Osborne wrote in the Journal of Negro Education that in 1941, 29 United States nursing schools had a nondiscrimination policy and by 1949 that number was up to 354.[11] In 1949, the members of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses unanimously voted to accept a proposed merger with the American Nurses Association. NACGN membership voted the NACGN out of existence in 1951.[2]

Notable members

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780763710095
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e "National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses records 1908โ€“1958". Collection overview. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, NYPL. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1135581237
    .
  4. ISBN 9780674627345
    .
  5. ^ "Profile of a Famous Nurse: Mabel Keaton Staupers". Retrieved 2016-06-05.
  6. OCLC 394569
    .
  7. ^ "Estelle Massey Osborne papers". New York Public Library. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  8. ISBN 9780299159641
    .
  9. ISBN 9781118836545
    .
  10. ^ "United States Cadet Nurse Corps: 1943โ€“1948". Rochester General Hospital. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
  11. ^
    OCLC 156816848.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Association_of_Colored_Graduate_Nurses&oldid=1180191675"