Running head: THE FACE OF NURSING EDUCATION DURING SEGREGATION:
The Face of Nursing Education During Segregation: 1950s-1960s
Monique Veney
Coppin State University
NURS 530 Curriculum Development in Nursing
December 3, 2014
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THE FACE OF NURSING EDUCATION DURING SEGREGATION:
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The Face of Nursing Education during Segregation: 1950s-1960s
To say that “the educational system in the United States of America has certainly
evolved since the Jim Crow era” would be an understatement of epic proportions. Most every
institution in our great country has progressed since that dark time in our nation’s history in
which people of color, particularly those of African descent, were marginalized, segregated and
discriminated against for merely being born on the wrong side of the color spectrum. The
Constitutional Rights Foundation describes the Jim Crow era as a period of time in American
history after The Reconstruction period, in which Constitutional laws were enacted and enforced
that assured that Blacks or “colored people” were treated as second-class citizens and remained
separate and unequal to Whites Americans (2014). Among some of the laws that were on record
during this era were ones that said Black children could not attend the same educational
institutions as Whites nor should Blacks receive healthcare in the facilities or in the same
hospital wards as Whites. In many occupations Black and White individuals could not work in
the same rooms, ride in the same modes of transportation, live on the same streets or engage in
interracial relationships (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2014). These laws were based on the
notion of “white supremacy” and coupled with slavery serve as a foundation for racial tensions
that many feel still permeate our society. The Jim Crow era and segregation was officially
lawfully ended in 1964 by the passage of The Civil Rights Act signed by President Lyndon
Baines Johnson (The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration [U.S. National
Archives], n.d.).
Soccial/political themes of the decade
The passage of this law and the fight for racial equality pursued by many of our great
Civil Rights leaders has served to produce a multitude of opportunities for Blacks and other
THE FACE OF NURSING EDUCATION DURING SEGREGATION:
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marginalized groups of people including women. However, this was not always the case. Before
and during the time of the segregated south and the racially unequal but slightly more
progressive north, there was a need for qualified nurses, yet Black nurses and Black individuals
in need of health care too faced discrimination and unequal treatment congruent with the
sociopolitical culture of the time. Dr. Georgie Labadie, a professor at The University of Miami
tells a writer at The Minority Nurse her recollections of being a young student nurse in the South
in the 50s and 60’s. She particularly recounts working on a maternity ward that segregated not
only the mothers but also the infants, making it more difficult for the nursing staff to care for the
poatients because of work flow patterns.
Type of nursing education
Nurse educators training and the nurse educators responsibility
Point(s) of emphasis in nursing education
Implications for nursing practice
Implications for nursing research
THE FACE OF NURSING EDUCATION DURING SEGREGATION:
(Blecher, 2002)
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References
A brief history of Jim Crow. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.crf-usa.org/black-historymonth/a-brief-history-of-jim-crow
Blecher, M. B. (2002). Making history. Retrieved from
http://www.minoritynurse.com/article/making-history
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). Teaching with documents: The
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission . Retrieved
from http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-rights-act/