St. Agnes Hospital School of Nursing
Location:
Raleigh, NC
Date Est.:
1896
Date Cls.:
1961
Opened in 1896 by Sarah Hunter, wife of the head of St. Augustine's College, St. Agnes Hospital offered the first professional training for black nurses in North Carolina. In 1909 a new facility was completed, built by the masonry students of St. Augustine's College from stone quarried on the college's campus.
The African American community in Raleigh depended on the hospital for healthcare. St. Agnes is said to have charged just enough for its services to let the patients keep their dignity but not so much as to keep them from seeking help. In 1937 St. Agnes Training School was accredited by the American Medical Association. The hospital closed in the wake of the civil rights movement in 1961, and it is estimated that nearly 700 nursing students were trained there during its existence. (From NC Dept of Natural and Cultural Resources)
Resources
Histories
- History of the St. Agnes Hospital and School of Nursing [Vimeo video]
- Saint Agnes Hospital (St. Augustine's College Campus), brief history (circa 1980) available in digitized format through the Raleigh Historic Development Commission
People and Biographies
- Annie Bell, 1920 St. Anges graduate
- Lucinda Boler, 1927 St. Agnes graduate
- Thelma Stanback Bowser, 1940s St. Agnes graduate
- Selma Burke, St. Agnes graduate, nurse and sculptor
- Henrietta Colvert, early graduate of St. Agnes
- Christabelle Dilworth, St. Agnes graduate
- Thelma Anderson Gibson, St. Agnes graduate
- Katherin Howe King, St. Agnes graduate from Wilmington, NC
- Lillian Robinson, 1920 St. Agnes graduate
- Cathleen Shaper, 1920 St. Agnes graduate
- Mary Singletary, St. Agnes graduate
- Julia Smith, St. Agnes graduate
- Adah Belle Samuels Thoms, St. Agnes Head Nurse 1900-1903
Articles
- Cobb, W.M. (1961). Saint Agnes Hospital, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1896-1961. Journal of the National Medical Association, 53(5), 439-446. Available online at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2641988/pdf/jnma00693-0004.pdf.
- Leah, H. (2019). Raleigh's St. Agnes Hospital, serving the African American community when no others would. ABC News 11. Available online at https://abc11.com/st-agnes-history-civil-rights-raleigh/3013554/.
- Pollitt, P., & Reese, C. N. (2000). St. agnes school of nursing: A legacy of hope. ABNF Journal, 11(1), 3-6. Publisher version of record available at: https://login.proxy006.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/218874747. (PDF copy available from UNC Greensboro).
Archives
- A Record of Fifty Years [St. Augustine's College], 1867-1917. Digitized copy available at Digital NC.
- Catalog of St. Augustine's School 1899-1900. Digitized version available at archive.org.
- Catalog of St. Augustine's School 1915-1916. Digitized version available at archive.org.
- Nursing photographs of St. Agnes Hospital School of Nursing from North Carolina State Archives
- St. Agnes Hospital Nursing School, St. Augustine's College, Raleigh, NC, 1949 [photograph series]. From the Albert Barden Collection, North Carolina State Archives.
- Items related to St. Augustine's College on Digital NC
Newspaper Clippings
- 1896, Oct 18. St. Agnes Hospital. News and Observer, p.5. Raleigh, North Carolina.
- 1897, Feb 05. St. Augustine's School, Next Session begins Thursday, Sept. 30, 1987. The Gazette, p.3. Raleigh, North Carolina.
- 1898, Apr 22. First Commencement, The Nurses Training School of St. [Agnes] Hospital Turns Out Two Graduates. The Press-Visitor, p.1. Raleigh, North Carolina.
- 1899, Apr 13. "The St. Augustine School, in Raleigh, for colored people, has of late years introduced a department for training nurses, ..." Goldsboro Weekly Argus, p.1. Goldsboro, North Carolina.
- 1903, Mar 06. The St. Augustine School. The Free Press, p.5. Southern Pines, North Carolina.
- 1916, Aug 31. Colored District Nurse [Annie Groves] Named. News and Observer, p.3. Raleigh, North Carolina.
- 1920, Sep 03. "However, the other two school nurses, Miss Marion Edwards and Miss Blanche Hayes, ..." The Charlotte Observer, p.15. Charlotte, North Carolina.
- 1922, Mar 04. St. Agnes Fill Real City Need, Is Accredited School and Drive Now on Will Enable It to Function Properly. News and Observer, p.10. Raleigh, North Carolina.
- 1922, Nov 30. Needy Will Not Go Hungry Today, Associated Charities Distributed 300 Baskets Thanksgiving Cheer. News and Observer, p.11. Raleigh, North Carolina.
- 1943, Mar 13. St. Agnes Puts Caps on 27 Freshmen Nurses. The Afro American, p.17. Raleigh, North Carolina.
- 1953, Jun 13. Miss [Rebecca] Hennie Honored [St. Agnes graduate]; Mt. Morries Executive. The New York Age, p.20. New York, New York.
- 1959, Nov 21. In The Time Of Need. The New York Age, p.10. New York, New York.
- 2001, Jun 22. Historic hospital recovering its purpose. The News and Observer, p.2. Raleigh, North Carolina.
![Colored District Nurse [Annie Groves] Named](https://img.newspapers.com/img/thumbnail/80431079/252/260/60_5110_680_497.jpg?cs=86400){kind=link}
Compiled by:
Phoebe Pollitt