North Carolina Nursing History

Frances Allen, a native of Ellenboro in Rutherford County, trained as a registered nurse at Knoxville General Hospital School of Nursing in Knoxville, Tennessee, and earned her bachelor of science degree in nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a public health nurse during the 1944 polio epidemic. (Photo right: Frances Allen is standing third from left.)

Here is her story:

“There were only two public health nurses in Catawba County at the time of the polio epidemic, and the other nurse-besides myself-had left to join the Army Nurses Corp to help fight the War. Since I was the only public health nurse, the job seemed insurmountable.

“When the research physicians form Yale came to the county, they wanted a nurse who knew the territory and had scientific knowledge to work with them to collect stool specimens from family members of polio patients who were in the hospital. They wanted one special person rather than several, so the specimens would be collected in a uniform manner and their research would be scientific. I was selected to do this. Of course, Dr. Whims and Dr. Hahn were the front line directors.

“Doctors from Yale gave me specific instructions. Each home was to be visited to collect specimens when a new patient was admitted. I was given a carrying bag with dry ice, so the specimens could be preserved. Two visits had to be made-the first to leave specimen containers and instruct family members on how to collect specimens, and the second visit to collect the specimens and take it back to the researchers.

“Of course, on the visit I recorded a short , but detailed, history of the family, a description of the house and surroundings, family names, and work that [family] members were involved in at the time.

“These visits required a lot of travel from daylight to dark. I recall one visit in Watauga County that took me up a small unpaved road. I then had to park my car and walk about one-fourth mile to the house. Of course, there were dogs to combat, but luckily no dog bites. The family proved to be very cooperative, and I collected-and put on ice-their specimens to take back to researchers.

“I traveled to Wilkes, Burke, Caldwell, and Alexander counties. I do not recall visiting any black families because few black families lived in those areas.

“At the time of the epidemic, nurses from all over the United States were brought to Hickory, and the Hickory Hotel was turned over to nurses and physicians.

“I was in the hospital every day where patients were treated by the Kenny hot pack method. Schools were closed, and children were asked to stay home rather than be in crowds. In fact, the whole town was somewhat quarantined for a time. Later, as the number of cases became fewer, the worst cases were transferred to Charlotte Memorial Hospital.

“The next big job for me and health educators was to plan and schedule gamma globulin clinics for all school children. These clinics were run by public health nurses, other nurses, physicians, and volunteers and required a large number of personnel who gave of their time. Not every school was a site for a clinic, but children, along with the teacher, were bused to the clinic site. Parents were required to sign a permission slip, and most parents signed for the shots.”

Nurse Frances Allen and the 1944 Polio epidemic in Hickory

As all of our lives are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is good to remember and honor a nurse who played an important role during an earlier epidemic in our state.

In 1944, the national nursing workforce was seriously depleted meeting the needs of WWII. That summer, a severe polio epidemic swept through North Carolina crippling and killing thousands, mostly children. Hickory was the hardest hit town and earned the nickname “Polio City” by newspapers and radio stations across the state. Families with stricken children left the mountains and northern foothills heading toward Charlotte Memorial Hospital’s polio ward but the hospital was soon overcrowded and closed its doors to new patients. Many of the families from the Catawba River valley made it no further than Hickory before they learned there was no room in Charlotte for their children. In what became known as the “Miracle of Hickory” in early June 1944, doctors, nurses and citizens of Hickory working with staff from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis decided to act. In less than three days they turned a local camp for underprivileged children into an emergency polio hospital. The first patients were admitted just 54 hours after decision to create a polio hospital was made. For nine months, regardless of race, hometown, or ability to pay, the hospital cared for 454 children with polio including African Americans and one Native American child. It is probably the first non-segregated health care facility in North Carolina.

Frances Allen was the only nurse employed by the Catawba County Health Department when the epidemic began. Born in 1916 in Ellenboro, North Carolina, she graduated from Knoxville General Hospital in 1937 and soon joined the Catawba County Health Department. Nurse Allen played a vital role in the success of the “Miracle of Hickory”. Here is her story in her own words.

“There were only two public health nurses in Catawba County at the time of the polio epidemic, and the other nurse had left to join the Army Nurses Corp to help fight the War. Since I was the only public health nurse, the job seemed insurmountable. When the research physicians form Yale came to the county, they wanted a nurse who knew the territory and had scientific knowledge to work with them to collect stool specimens from family members of polio patients who were in the hospital. They wanted one special person rather than several, so the specimens would be collected in a uniform manner and their research would be scientific.

Doctors from Yale gave me specific instructions. Each home was to be visited to collect specimens when a new patient was admitted. I was given a carrying bag with dry ice, so the specimens could be preserved. Two visits had to be made-the first to leave specimen containers and instruct family members on how to collect specimens, and the second visit to collect the specimens and take it back to the researchers. Of course, on the visit I recorded a short but detailed, history of the family, a description of the house and surroundings, family names, and work that [family] members were involved in at the time.

These visits required a lot of travel from daylight to dark. I recall one visit in Watauga County that took me up a small unpaved road. I then had to park my car and walk about one-fourth mile to the house. Of course, there were dogs to combat, but luckily no dog bites. The family proved to be very cooperative, and I collected-and put on ice-their specimens to take back to researchers. I traveled to Wilkes, Burke, Caldwell, and Alexander counties.

I was in the hospital every day where patients were treated by the Kenny hot pack method. Schools were closed, and children were asked to stay home rather than be in crowds. In fact, the whole town was somewhat quarantined for a time. Later, as the number of cases became fewer, the worst cases were transferred to Charlotte Memorial Hospital.”

In 1955, thanks to the work of Dr. Jonas Salk, a vaccine for polio was developed and given to school children across the country. North Carolina made the polio vaccine mandatory for school attendance in 1959 and the horrors of polio are now mostly forgotten. In 1951 Allen earned her Bachelor of Science degree in public health nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill followed by a master’s degree in nursing in 1962. Nurse Allen briefly left Hickory to teach at Berea College in Kentucky and at Western Carolina University. She returned to Hickory and taught at Lenoir Rhyne College’s nursing program. In 1984, Lenoir Rhyne established the Frances Allen Scholarship of Excellence in Community Health Nursing. She died in Hickory on October Oct 29, 1999.