Analyzes the impact of racism on the development of the nursing profession in both the northern and southern US. Traces the growth of a parallel networks of hospitals, training schools, and nurses' associations in reaction to white hospitals excluding black patients, nurses, and doctors. Examines the exploitation of racism in white nurses' struggles for autonomy, status, and freedom within the white male medical establishment.

Includes index.

The origins of the Black hospital and nurse training school movement: an overview -- Northern Black hospitals and nurse training schools -- Training nurses in southern Black hospitals -- Black collegiate nursing education: a case study -- Racism, status, and the professionalization of Black nursing -- The politics of agency and the revitalization of the NACGN -- Black women in white -- We shall not be left out: World War II and the integration of nursing.