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Historically, people of African descent have struggled to enter, practice and have their contributions recognized in the nursing profession.
The first nursing school in Canada opened in 1874, with the first Baccalaureate program offered in 1919. However, in this female dominated profession, Black women were not permitted to train as nurses until the late 1940s. Instead, Black women who aspired to be nurses were instructed to travel and train in the United States.
After completing her nursing education across the border, Toronto native Bernice Redmon became the first Black woman to work in public health in Canada when she was hired by the Nova Scotia Department of Health to work in Sydney in 1945. At the beginning of her career, Redmon also became the first Black VON nurse in Canada.
Three years later, the first two Black women to graduate from a Canadian nursing school did so in Halifax.
Gwennyth Barton, born and raised in Halifax, and Ruth Bailey of Toronto graduated from Halifax’s Grace Maternity School of Nursing in 1948 – almost three-quarters of a century after the school opened.
In 1954, Clotilda Douglas Yakimchuk of Whitney Pier, N.S. became the first Black woman to graduate from the Nova Scotia Hospital School of Nursing. She would go on to be an advocate for social justice and was appointed the first Black president of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Nova Scotia (now known as the Nova Scotia College of Nurses). A mentor to many, Clotilda was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of Nova Scotia as well as many other awards.
Black Cross Nurses
Traditionally, nursing was considered one of the most respectable careers available to educated, middle-class women. Nursing represented the highest ideals of womanhood at the time: purity, morality, nurturing and maternal care. At the time, Black women were not deemed to meet these ideals were prevented from pursuing nursing as a career.
Although Black women were not allowed to train as nurses in the province, an auxiliary group known as the Black Cross Nurses offered an alternative to pursuing a nursing education in the States – a safe and inviting place for the Black community.
Because nursing schools would not accept them, they were not professionally trained nurses. Despite the barriers, these women had considerable knowledge. Many were midwives, caring for mothers and babies. They tended to their communities, educated them about nutrition, hygiene, and provided public and reproductive health education. Many took St. John Ambulance courses to become better educated in areas of public safety, first aid and maternity care.
In Sydney, the BCN was there for women in childbirth and maintained support for new mothers immediately after. They taught women about the importance of breastfeeding and how to keep the milk clean.
Despite the fact that women of the BCN were not professional nurses, the auxiliary group allowed them to assume a similar role and pursue their ambition to work in healthcare. The BCN uniform of a white cap and gown adorned with a black cross, was intended to demonstrate the same professionalism and wholesome womanly qualities that were expected of nurses.
Information on Black Cross Nurses and the impact they had in Canada is in danger of being lost as material documentation is sparse and few community elders are left to tell their own stories of the BCN. Representation matters and it is important to preserve the history of Black Nova Scotians working in healthcare settings.
