Is an international organization of nurses which was founded in
In 1920,Hennrietta Vinton Davis established the Black Cross Nurses (BCN) in Philadelphia as an auxiliary of the of Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA). The BCN served as the women's auxiliary of the UNIA,placing women in a supportive role,while the men's auxiliary serve in a protective role.Marcus Garvey wanted everyone in the UNIA to feel they belonged within the organization,and the BCN served that purpose for women.
The BCN was based on the World War I nursing model of the Red Cross.
Local chapters were established with a matron,head nurse,secretary,
and treasurer to provide health services and hygiene education to
African-American members of the community.Few programs existed which would admit people of African descent into nursing training at the time and many health facilities provided unequal care to African-American patrons; one of the goals of the organization was addressing these discrepancies.Doctors,nurses and lay practitioners took courses
ranging from six months to a year to make sure that standardized care
was was being given.In addition, upon graduation from the course,each
member was required to purchase and wear their official uniform.
In many ways,the organization functioned as a social reform movement,while developing role models for young women.It promoted
education,good health and hygiene,juvenile rehadiliation,maternal and infant care, and training in proper nutrition.It also provide a professional,organized structure for members,giving them a means to appear in roles of public leadership.In articles which appeared in the Negro World,nurses addressed a wide variety of topics from advice to
expectant mothers to contagious diseases,heart disease,and hygiene,as well descriptions of the conditions,symptoms,and treatment options.
Benevolent community service included distributing clothing and food to those in need.
The requirements of membership were that the women be active members of the UNIA,between and 45 years and "of Negro blood and African descent.Nurses were also required to be able to read and write in order to promote literacy in their communities literacy and serve as example to others. As an overriding goal,the organization used social health concerns to uplift the African-American race from degeneracy,
believing that by creating a sanitary living environment,the community
would proposer. Units quickly formed in cities across the United States,
as well as in The Caribbean and Central America.
In the early 1920s,the United States UNIA organizations spread into thirty-eight states,and membership in the Black Cross Nurses in the tens of thousands.The largest branch in the world was located in Harlem.Within a few years of the formal organization of the Black Cross Nurses,there were chapters in Alabama,Chicago,Louisiana,New Jersey,
New York,and Virginia,with international chapters in Belize,Nova Scotia,
Panama,Trinidad and Tobago. By 1927,membership had declined,but Black Cross Nurses provided education for African-American nurses and
health care access to African-American in their communities through the 1960s.
All white uniforms including dress,shoes,stockings and a cap adorned with a black cross encircled a red background with a green center were worn for dress and official functions.Duty uniforms,consisted of a green dress over which was worn an ivory apron accompanied by black shoes and stockings,set the BCN nurses apart from other nurses and united
them as symbolically as members.Green was chosen as a representation of growth and renewal.Critcism of the dress and cape steemed from a comparison to a nun's habit,while UNIA men's uniform resembled military attire.
Ancillary responsibilities of the BCN included singing in a choir and marching in parades.Choir rehearsals were on Friday.Marching practice was necessary as local chapters participated in parades on holidays such as Memorial Day and the Fourth of July,sometimes carrying the Black Nationalist Flag.
Belize:The Belize Black Cross Nurses Organization was established in British Honduras in 1920 by Vivian Seay,who led the organization until her death in1971.Dr. K.Simon,medical officer for the Cayo District,moved to Belize Town in 1921,and began instructing members of the UNIA in midwifery,to combat the high mortality rates for inflants and mamas.He urged that members take instructions under Belize Town public Hospital matron Lois M.Roberts;an Englishwoman,in general hospital procedures and hygiene.As Lois had been unable to secure sufficient nurses for her training program,she agreed to accept Black Cross Nurses.By 1922,seventeen of the first training class of twenty nurses passed their exams and were awarded their nursing certificates.By 1923,there were twenty-four certified nurses,who were each assigned a territory in Belize Town to administer to the needs of the poor,as unpaid volunteers.In the aftermath of the 1931 Belize hurricane,the nurses helped in the Public Hospital and in relief camps.
An annual event called the Baby Exhibition,was completion to award healthy inflants in various age categories and display proper parenting to the populace.It was a popular event which consolidated the public
perception of the nurses as professionals,since they chose the contestants,and the approval of the government,since the colonial medical authorities determined the winners.They also conducted studies and research on the health of communities,as well as humanitarian projects like the 1934 Palace Unemployed Women's Fund,aimed at providing groceries to unemployed mamas.
Vivian,and thus the organization,were staunchly in opposition to universal suffrage.On the hand,they sought Victorian morality as a means to improve society as a whole and were rigidly opposed to the baser habits of the lower class while on the other,they expanded women's spheres from within the confines of domesticity.For the first time,midde-class black women,who were trained as nurses,were publicly active and held positions of community leadership.The attempts
to control others' morality were not always appreciated and Vivian's political poor and working-class women,while at the same time
strengthening middle-class Creole political worth.
Though the organization never came under government control,by 1952
the Black Cross Nurses had influenced the health policies of seven of the colonial governors of British Honduras.It was the most active and lasting black organization in the country,and though it lost momentum after Vivian's death was revitalized in the 1980s and continues to serve the humanitarian needs of communities in which its members lives.
Caribbean:The Black Cross nursing organizations of Cuba sprang up mostly in the areas which were highly influenced by British West Indians and in company towns like those that existed for the United Fruit Company.The organization in Banes,Cuba,was developed as an avenue to create acceptance and respectability for blacks,promoting pan-Africanism.The organization thrived until 1932 when the combination of economic depression and rising Cuban Nationalism turned toward labor militancy and communism.
Caribbean:
The Black Cross nursing organizations of Cuba sprang up mostly in areas which were highly influenced by British West Indians and in company towns like those that existed for the United Fruit Company.The organization in Banes,Cuba,was developed as an avenue to create acceptance and respectability for African Americans,promoting pan-Africanism.The organization thrived until 1932 when the combination of economic depression and rising Cuban Nationalism turned toward labor militancy and communism.
The Black Cross Nursing organization of Jamaica was organized in 1922.Sarah Grant,who had trained students at Victoria Jubilee Hospital,
trained 29,nurses,though their training remained rudimentary and the
organization was always a volunteer auxiliary which did not develop
into a strong organization.
Canada
In Canada,the Black Cross Nursing organized as a response to denial of
black women's participation in World War I efforts to assist wounded soldiers.The women organized to provide medical help including child care services,first aid,health care,nutrition education and other services.Approximately 25% of the black population of Canada joined the Universal Negro Improvement Association of Canada
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