Salaria Kea

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Salaria Kea
Kea in March 1937
Born(1913-07-13)13 July 1913
Milledgeville, Georgia
Died18 May 1990(1990-05-18) (aged 76)
Akron, Ohio
Known forSpanish Civil War
World War II
SpouseJohn O'Reilly
Medical career
ProfessionNurse

Salaria Kea O'Reilly (born 13 July 1913 in

Abraham Lincoln Battalion.[2][3]

Early life

Kea was born on 13 July 1913 in

Harlem Hospital's staff dining room and was also able to improve the working conditions of African American nurses. After her graduation Kea stayed in New York and became the head nurse of Seaview Hospital.[2] During her employment at Seaview she became affiliated with the American left. Some reports indicate that she eventually joined the Communist Party USA in 1935, [1] however Kea herself in later years denied ever having been a member or even having known what Communism was in that time period.[4][5]

Spanish Civil War

Salaria Kea and her husband John O'Reilly, whom she met while volunteering in Spain

During the

Midwest
flood victims, but was rejected because of her ethnicity.

Following the outbreak of the

Abraham Lincoln Battalion in March 1937.[2] A major inspiration for the move was her Catholic faith.[7]

After her arrival in Spain, Kea helped establish a

Spanish Nationalist Army but managed to escape with the help of International Brigade soldiers after being held for six weeks. In Villa Paz, Kea met an injured Irish soldier, John O'Reilly, whom she later married. In early 1938, Kea was transferred to different units in Aragon, Lerida and Barcelona and was herself injured in a Nationalist bombing raid. Her wounds were so severe that she was sent back to the United States in May 1938. The same year, Kea wrote her Spanish memoirs While Passing Through. They were published as a pamphlet named Salaria Kea: A Negro Nurse in Republican Spain.[2]

World War II and later years

In 1940 John O’Reilly was allowed to immigrate the United States. He was soon drafted to serve in the military during World War II. In the beginning of 1944 Kea started working as a volunteer nurse for the United States Army as part of the first group of African American nurses the Army was allowed to recruit. In the United States Kea and O’Reilly experienced strong racism. In Akron they experienced personal threats and property damage, and Kea often referred to her time in the International Brigades as the best days of her life since they were free from discrimination.[2] After the war the O'Reilly family lived in New York, where Kea worked in several hospitals coordinating staff desegregation. In 1973 the couple retired to Akron where Kea died on 18 May 1990.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Salaria Kea Biography Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Salaria Kea's Spanish memoirs". The Volunteer. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  3. ^
    ISBN 9781905007875
    (p. 151-4)
  4. Amsterdam News
    . Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  5. ^ O'Sullivan, Mark (11 May 2021). "What Do We Know About Salaria Kea's Irish Husband? - The Volunteer". Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  6. ISBN 978-1-4088-5398-6
    .
  7. ^ Mikkelsen, Edward Jr. (2007-01-18). "Salaria Kee O'Reilly (1913-1991) •". Retrieved 2021-11-09.

External links

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