Harlem Hospital School of Nursing was a training school for
African-American women
Black women are women of sub-Saharan African and African diaspora, Afro-diasporic descent, as well as women of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal and Melanesians, Melanesian descent. The term 'Black people, Black' is a Race (human catego ...
, which was established at
Harlem Hospital
Harlem Hospital Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, is a 272-bed, public teaching hospital affiliated with Columbia University. It is located at 506 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City and was founded in 1887.
The hosp ...
in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1923. It was founded due to the lack of nursing schools in New York that accepted African American women. Until 1923, the
Lincoln Hospital School for Nurses in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
was the only school that allowed the enrollment of Black women.
When
Mayor Hylan sought reelection in 1921, the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
and other community organizations lobbied the mayor to improve healthcare access.
Around the same time, Lurline Vassall of Brooklyn, was denied entry to the
Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing
The Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing (HBSON) is the nursing school of Hunter College, a public university that is a constituent organization of the City University of New York (CUNY). It is located on the Brookdale Campus, at East 25th Street an ...
because of her race.
Lurline's father William Vassall launched a campaign to open a school for black nurses.
In response, Hylan's administration supported the creation of the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing.
The school opened on January 3, 1923, with a class of twenty black women.
It was a two and a half year program.
The Harlem Hospital School of Nursing closed in 1977.
Notable alumni and personnel
*
Renee Amoore
*
Goldie Brangman-Dumpson - graduated in 1943
*
Rosetta Burke - graduated in 1957.
*
Irma Dryden - graduated in 1942
*
Alma Vessells John - attended 1926-1929.
*
Hazel Johnson-Brown
Hazel Winifred Johnson-Brown (October 10, 1927 – August 5, 2011) was a nurse and educator who served in the United States Army from 1955 to 1983. In 1979, she became the first Black female general in the United States Army and the first Black ch ...
attended 1947-1950
the first Black female general in the United States Army and the first Black chief of the
United States Army Nurse Corps
The United States Army Nurse Corps (USANC) was formally established by the U.S. Congress in 1901. It is one of the six medical special branches (or "corps") of officers which – along with medical enlisted soldiers – comprise the Army Medica ...
.
*
Salaria Kea O'Reilly - attended 1930-1934.
*
Estelle Massey Osborne
Estelle Massey Riddle Osborne (May 3, 1901 – December 12, 1981) was an African American nurse and educator. She served in many prominent positions and worked to eliminate racial discrimination in the nursing field.
Early life and education
Es ...
- taught in the late 1920s.
See also
*
Adah Belle Thoms
Adah Belle Samuels Thoms (January 12, 1870 – February 21, 1943) was an African American nurse who cofounded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (serving as President from 1916-1923), was acting director of the Lincoln School ...
References
External links
*http://northbysouth.kenyon.edu/1998/health/hospny.htm
Nursing schools in New York City
Educational institutions established in 1923
Historically black universities and colleges in the United States
1923 establishments in New York City
Harlem
Education in Harlem
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