Published inNurses You Should Know·Oct 15, 2022Sylvia MendezCivil Rights Activist and Nurse who was awarded the 2011 Presidential Medal of Freedom — Sylvia Mendez was born in 1936 in Santa Ana, California to Gonzalo Mendez, a Mexican activist and agricultural business owner, and Felicitas Gómez Martínez de Mendez, a Puerto Rican farmer and activist. Shortly after Mendez’ birth they moved to Westminster, California, where her parents leased farmland from a Japanese-American family…California4 min readCalifornia4 min read
Published inNurses You Should Know·May 11, 2022Mary Yone AkitaNurse Leader and Public Health Organizer — Mary Yone Akita was born presumably in Los Angeles, California in 1898. She is widely known for opening her personal home in the 1910’s into a maternity hospital for issei (first generation Japanese) women. Akita as one of the earliest Japanese American nurses in the United Stated, provided a well…Asian American4 min readAsian American4 min read
Published inNurses You Should Know·Feb 21, 2022Jane Edna HunterSocial Worker, Nurse, and founder of the Phillis Wheatley Association — Jane Edna Hunter was born in Pendleton, South Carolina and grew up in a tenant house on the Woodburn Plantation. She attended Ferguson and Williams Academy in Abbeville, South Carolina. In order to support herself after the passing of her father at 10 years old, Jane completed domestic work for…Black History Month4 min readBlack History Month4 min read
Published inNurses You Should Know·Feb 14, 2022Dame Ruth Nita BarrowPublic Health Nurse, Diplomat, and General-Governor of Barbados — Ruth Nita Barrow was born in Barbados to Reverend Reginald Grant Barrow and Ruth Alberta Barrow in 1916. Barrow grew up in a family of activist and politically active individuals. She attended St. Michael’s Girls’ School and later enrolled as a nursing student at Barbados General Hospital. she went on…Black History Month3 min readBlack History Month3 min read
Published inNurses You Should Know·Feb 11, 2022Esther McCreadyNursing Trailblazer and first African American admitted to the University of Maryland School of Nursing — Esther McCready was born on January 10, 1931 to John and Elizabeth McCready in Baltimore, Maryland. As a child, McCready knew she wanted to be a nurse. She worked as a nurses’ aid at Sinai Hospital in East Baltimore while in high school in the maternity ward. …Black History Month4 min readBlack History Month4 min read
Published inNurses You Should Know·Feb 5, 2022Major Della Hayden Raney JacksonFirst African American Chief Nurse in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps — Della Hayden Raney Jackson was born in Suffolk, Virginia on January 10 as the 4th of 12 children. She attended Lincoln Hospital School of Nursing in Durham, North Carolina graduating in 1937. Lincoln was one of the earliest Black nurse training programs to provide educational and employment opportunities for Black…Black History Month3 min readBlack History Month3 min read
Published inNurses You Should Know·Feb 1, 2022Notes on Black History MonthWhat We Have Learned Along the Way — For those joining us for the first time — welcome! To those who’ve joined us since day one, thank you for your commitment to diversifying our nursing history. May this overview serve as a helpful guide and provide context to the forthcoming stories of Black nurses. Most importantly, may this…Black History Month11 min readBlack History Month11 min read
Published inNurses You Should Know·Dec 17, 2021Charlene PlatonNurse Leader, Entrepreneur, & CEO — Charlene Platon was born in Los Angeles, California, at the hospital where her mother currently works as an intensive care unit registered nurse. As an individual born into a family of nurses, the hospital and healthcare environment were a familiar setting; Charlene would frequently visit her mother during her hospital…Nurse3 min readNurse3 min read
Published inNurses You Should Know·Nov 20, 2021Misty WilkieNurse Educator and Researcher — Dr. Misty Wilkie grew up on multiple reservations in North and South Dakota and Minnesota. She earned her Associate Degree in Nursing in 1997 (Hibbing Community College), Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2001 (Bemidji State University), and her Master of Science in Nursing in 2005 (University of North Dakota)…Native American Heritage3 min readNative American Heritage3 min read
Published inNurses You Should Know·Nov 11, 2021Marcella LeBeauLakota Elder, Nurse Leader, and World War II Veteran — Marcella LeBeau (Wigmuke Waste’ Win /Pretty Rainbow Woman) was born on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in Promise, South Dakota in 1919. Marcella was one of five children born to Florence Four Bear Ryan, who was from the Two Kettles subtribe of the Lakota people, and Joseph M. Ryan, an…Native American Heritage3 min readNative American Heritage3 min read
