North Carolina Nursing History

Clara Peck was Greensboro's first Public Health Nurse.

In 1909 a group of public spirited women in Greensboro organized the District Nurse and Relief Association and employed Clara Peck as the first public health nurse in town.  She made 7,750 visits in her first three years caring for anyone of any age with any condition who sought out her services.  Soon she focused her attention to the prevention and care of tubercular residents of the town.  The Greensboro Chapter of the Tuberculosis Association, using funds acquired from the sale of Christmas Seals, supplemented Peck’s income so she could devote more time to visiting Greensboro residents with tuberculosis in their homes to help them follow recommended treatments.  When Guilford County established a Health Department she served as the first Nursing Supervisor.  During the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918, Peck worked closely with the American Red Cross to care for victims of that disease.  When she died in 1926, the local papers remembered her with gratitude for her work among the sick and “fallen” of Greensboro.