Ianthe Blyden (April 14, 1899 – June 30, 1984) was a Virgin Islander, born at a time when the islands were held by the Danish. She trained as a nurse and served for fifty-three years at Knud Hansen Memorial Hospital, for thirty-seven of those years she was head nurse. She was instrumental in the development of nursing in the US Virgin Islands and the influence for establishing the island's nursing board.

Early life

Ianthe Amelia Blyden was born on April 14, 1899 in the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colonization of the Americas, Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas ...

. She was the eldest of nine children born to Terecita Blyden, a nurse-midwife, who had come from Saint John. Terecita had been trained by an aunt who had studied the profession in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. The family owned a sugar manufactory in Saint John at Annaberg and another at Mary's Point. Blyden completed her schooling through age thirteen, the maximum schooling at the time.

Career

Blyden began her career as a teacher on Saint John at the age of fifteen for a salary of $2.50 per month. After a year, she decided not to pursue teaching and instead went to the Danish Municipal Hospital in Charlotte Amalie to study nursing under the doctors there. In 1916, she began working as a nurse for the monthly salary of $5.00. The following year, the Danish West Indies were sold to the United States, which brought in Navy Nurses to implement a three-year training program. She became a nurse-anesthetist and worked in the pharmacy and laboratory as an assistant. She also acted as a midwife when needed. In 1932, during the malaria epidemic, she was appointed head nurse, becoming the first native-born islander to hold the post. Climbing the professional ladder, she was made chief nurse, nursing supervisor and finally director of nurses. In 1946, having graduated from the Municipal Hospital School of Nursing, Blyden took a leave from her supervisory duties to complete post-graduate studies in surgical nursing at the

Lincoln School for Nurses The Lincoln School for Nurses, also known as Lincoln Hospital and Nursing Home School for Nurses, and Lincoln Hospital School of Nursing, was the first nursing school for African-American women in New York City. It existed from 1898 to 1961. I ...

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, New York City. In the early 1950s, soon after the Danish doctor, Knud Hansen died, the old Danish Hospital was replaced with a new facility, named in his honor. In 1952, when the

Colonial Council The Colonial Council was an advisory body of the Government of Germany that existed from 1890 to 1907 again from 1911 to 1913. It advised the Imperial Colonial Office, a part of the Foreign Office, on political and economic matters relevant to the G ...

passed the inaugural Nurse Practice Act, Governor Morris de Castro appointed Blyden, Ilva Benjamin, Clarissa Milligan, Ingerborg Nesbitt, and Josephine Singleton for the Board of Nursing. Blyden was the driving force in the formation of the St. Thomas Chapter of the Licensed Practical Nurses Association, which formed in 1956. Blyden retired in 1969 after having served for fifty-three years in nursing with thirty-seven of those as a head nurse.

Death and legacy

Blyden died on June 30, 1984, in St. Thomas and her services were held at the Memorial Moravian Church.

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