A Sourcebook Of The North Carolina Association Of Colored Nurses

The first 50 years of organized professional nursing the United States were marred by racial exclusion, prejudice and segregation. From education to employment to membership in professional associations, African American nurses in North Carolina, indeed in all the states of the old Confederacy and in much of the nation, faced legal, social and professional discrimination. When the North Carolina State Nurses Association (NCSNA) was formed in 1902, membership privileges were extended only to white nurses. Although North Carolina was then home to several high-caliber nursing schools for African Americans, including Good Samaritan in Charlotte, St. Agnes in Raleigh and Lincoln in Durham, their graduates were barred from participating in the only professional nursing organization in the state. Membership in the American Nurses Association (ANA) was granted primarily through membership in its state affiliates until 1948; therefore, membership in the predominant national professional association was also closed to most southern African American nurses.