A Look Back At The NC Association Of Colored Graduate Nurses

When NCNA 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 St. Agnes in Raleigh, Lincoln in Durham, and Good Samaritan in Charlotte, their graduates were barred from participating in the only professional nursing organization in the state. Membership in the American Nurses Association was granted only to members of state affiliates until 1948; therefore, ANA membership was denied to all southern African American nurses until that time.