Feb 18, 2021
Day -507 — Daily Haibun Journey — Adah Belle Samuel Thoms
Thoms graduated from the Lincoln Hospital and Home School of nursing in 1905. She was 25 at the time. Later that same year she became the acting director, though because of her ethnicity she was never officially named director, Thoms was deeply committed to helping black nurses gain equal rights and better opportunities. She also worked to set up the National Association of Colors Graduate Nurses and fought for black nurses to be able to serve in the American Red Cross and US Army Nurse Corps. Thomas authored the book Pathfinders: A History of Colored Graduated Nurses. She is celebrated for her work as an educator and crusader. In honor of her contributions to nursing and racial integration she received the Mary Mahoney Medal.
