News
April 12, 2019

Hidden No More

Christine Phelan Kueter
University of Virginia School of Nursing
Some 25 UVA LPN graduates of the Burley High School and UVA Hospital program that ran from the 1950s through at least 1980 were honored before hundreds at an April 6 "Hidden Nurses" ceremony.

An icon of a nurse's cap to signify scholarship in nursing history. An April 6 "Hidden Nurses" ceremony was a powerful moment for us, and a chance to properly celebrate UVA nurses whose important stories have, heretofore, remained in the shadows.

Twenty-five nurse pioneers from the 1950s-'60s segregated Burley LPN program were recognized, and the names of more than 100 others - either deceased or whose whereabouts are, as yet, unknown - were read. Hundreds attended; many were moved; still more were inspired.

Honoring UVA-Burley LPN graduates across the decades.
The UVA-LPN program began in the 1950s, graduating more than 160 black LPNs.
0/42
LPN grads and family members at lunch
Over lunch, and an afternoon ceremony, LPN grads and family members recalled...
1/42
Burley LPN graduates look at class pictures
...segregated Charlottesville, Burley High, and nursing before integration...
2/42
Burley LPN graduates share memories at lunch
... with family members and loved ones who celebrated these nurse pioneers.
3/42
Burley LPN graduates and friends at lunch
More than 160 LPNs graduated from UVA's program from the 1950s to the '80s ...
4/42
Burley LPN graduate Patricia Daniels shaking hands
...and April 6 brought together friends old and new.
5/42
UVA Nursing Dean Dorrie Fontaine mingles with Burley LPN graduates
UVA Nursing's faculty and dean, Dorrie Fontaine, mingled with LPNs...
6/42
ANA past-president Pam Cipriano greets Burley LPN graduates
ANA past-president Pam Cipriano, a UVA faculty member, was on hand ...
7/42
Family member taking picture of Burley LPN Class of 1951 class photo
... while the loved ones of LPN graduates who'd died shared their memories.
8/42
UVA's program was created to deal with a post-WWII nursing shortage ...
9/42
Burley LPN class pictures in display case
... and offered Charlottesville's black students a path into nursing.
10/42
Burley LPN graduates and friends talking with UVA faculty
After integration in 1967, the year that all-black Burley High School closed...
11/42
Burley LPN graduates and friends
...the LPN program moved to UVA Hospital where dozens of black nurses took part.
12/42
Burley LPN class photo
Burley LPN class photo
13/42
Burley LPN graduates and friends gather at McLeod Hall auditorium
Burley LPN graduates and friends gather at McLeod Hall auditorium
14/42
Burley LPN graduates and friends gather seated at McLeod Hall auditorium
Burley LPN graduates and friends gather seated at McLeod Hall auditorium
15/42
UVA Nursing Dean Fontaine with Burley LPN graduate Marilyn Woodfolk
LPN graduate Marilyn Woodfolk.
16/42
Burley LPN graduate Barbara Starks Jackson
Burley LPN graduate Barbara Starks Jackson.
17/42
Burley LPN graduate Ida Woodfolk Rogers
Burley LPN graduate Ida Woodfolk Rogers.
18/42
Burley LPN graduate Josephine Morrison
Burley LPN graduate Josephine Morrison.
19/42
Burley LPN graduate Charlotte Ward Swingler
Burley LPN graduate Charlotte Ward Swingler.
20/42
Burley LPN graduate Mollie W. Terry
Burley LPN graduate Mollie W. Terry.
21/42
Burley LPN graduate Clariece Coles Harris
Burley LPN graduate Clariece Coles Harris, who was featured in ...
22/42
Burley LPN graduate Clariece Coles Harris Daily Progress article
... 1959 Daily Progress article, which she shared at the April 6 event.
23/42
Burley LPN graduate Mrs. Mary Jones
Burley LPN graduate Mrs. Mary Jones.
24/42
Burley LPN graduate Sarah Kelley
Burley LPN graduate Sarah Kelley.
25/42
Burley LPN graduate Maude Boykin
Burley LPN graduate Maude Boykin.
26/42
Burley LPN graduate Louelle Jackson Walker
Burley LPN graduate Louella Jackson Walker.
27/42
Burley LPN graduate Shirley Brown
Burley LPN graduate Shirley Brown.
28/42
Burley LPN graduate Mary Ivory Dickenson
Burley LPN graduate Mary Ivory Dickenson.
29/42
Burley LPN graduate Anna Hunter
Burley LPN graduate Anna Hunter.
30/42
Burley LPN graduate Patricia Daniels
Burley LPN graduate Patricia Daniels.
31/42
Ms. Copeland-Whitsett honors Burley LPN graduate Marcia Chisholm
Ms. Copeland-Whitsett honors Burley LPN graduate Marcia Chisholm.
32/42
Burley LPN graduate Phyllis Brackett
Burley LPN graduate Phyllis Brackett.
33/42
Burley LPN graduate Barbara Brackett
Burley LPN graduate Barbara Brackett.
34/42
Burley LPN graduate Constance Green
Burley LPN graduate Constance Green.
35/42
Burley LPN graduate Mary Winston Thomas
Burley LPN graduate Mary Winston Thomas.
36/42
Burley LPN graduate Lucy Morton
Burley LPN graduate Lucy Morton.
37/42
Ms. DeTeasa Gathers honors Burley LPN graduate Charlotte Brown.
Ms. DeTeasa Gathers honors Burley LPN graduate Charlotte Brown.
38/42
Loved ones honor Burley LPN graduate Anne Mae Merritt.
Loved ones honor Burley LPN graduate Anne Mae Merritt.
39/42
Honoring Burley LPN graduate Bessie Jackson.
Honoring Burley LPN graduate Bessie Jackson.
40/42
Honoring Burley LPN graduate Marguerite Murray.
Honoring Burley LPN graduate Marguerite Murray.
41/42

At the time, these nurses - many of whom are now in their 80s and 90s - were not allowed entry into UVA because of their race. Driven by a critical nursing shortage after World War II, nursing department director Roy Carpenter Beazley established a yearlong LPN program with Charlottesville’s black vocational high school, Jackson P. Burley High, the main school for black students until integration in 1967. After that, the LPN program continued at UVA Hospital at least until 1980, and possibly later.

These black nurses went on to help desegregate UVA Hospital, and their presence and experiences were the first steps toward integrating the nursing profession.

Our hope with the "Hidden Nurses" project - organized by Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry's director Barbra Mann Wall, associate dean Susan Kools, executive director of development Kelly McCaskill, development communications manager Jessica Eustace, and PhD in nursing student Tori Tucker - is to broaden how we tell nursing's story. Thanks to a Jefferson Trust grant, we're doing just that.

To these LPN graduates and their family members and loved ones: We salute you. We are proud of you. And we ask for your forgiveness for the wrongs committed against you.

“It’s an important moment in the history of the University of Virginia,” said UVA President Jim Ryan, and one in which “we are actively reckoning with the darker parts of our history and trying to atone for our past sins. I am committed to working each day to repair broken relationships and build trust. This will take time and daily effort, but I am committed.”

###

PHOTO CREDIT: Jennifer Byrne

Tags: