Mary Keys Gibson
Mary Keys Gibson | |
|---|---|
 Gibson in 1952 | |
| Born | Mary Keys 1854 Mississippi, US |
| Died | 1952 (aged 98) |
| Education | Chautauqua School of Nursing |
| Occupation(s) | Midwife, nurse |
| Known for | Civil rights activism |
Mary Keys Gibson (also Gipson,[1] 1854–1952) was an American nurse. Gibson, a former enslaved person, worked as a midwife for many years and later earned her degree in nursing in 1907 at age 53. Gibson was the first African American to earn an accredited nursing degree in the Southern United States. She helped desegregate nursing as a profession.
Biography
[edit]Gibson was born in Mississippi in 1854 and was an enslaved person.[2] As a young person, she was asked to tend to the sick and injured on the plantation where she was enslaved.[1] After the Civil War, she and her family moved to Sherman, Texas.[2] She met her husband, Reverend Franklin Gibson, in Sherman and the couple moved to Fort Worth in 1872.[1] Together, they helped found what became the Carter Metropolitan CME Church.[1] Mary Gibson worked as a midwife and her husband encouraged her to get a degree in nursing.[2]
Gibson attended a correspondence school, the Chautauqua School of Nursing because segregated school in Texas did not offer degrees in nursing at the time.[1] When she graduated at age 53 in 1907, she became the first African American person in the Southern United States to earn an accredited nursing certificate.[3][1] In 1909, she lobbied the Texas legislature to pass educational and licensing standards for nursing.[2] Gibson worked to desegregate nursing as a profession.[4] She was involved in 1948 to help desegregate the American Nurses Association.[1]
Gibson died in 1952 at the age of 98.[2][1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h Kennedy, Bud (16 March 2019). "'Mary Keys Gipson Is Just as Important as Amon Carter': One Man's Mission to Remember a Pioneer Nurse". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Fairley, Bill (1998-02-04). "History Slights Nurse". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 22. Retrieved 2020-05-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Timeline of Texas Women's History". Women in Texas History. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
- ^ Kennedy, Bud (1999-06-06). "The Famous". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 168. Retrieved 2020-05-14 – via Internet Archive.
- 1854 births
- 1952 deaths
- African-American nurses
- American women nurses
- People from Sherman, Texas
- People from Fort Worth, Texas
- 19th-century American slaves
- American midwives
- American Nurses Association
- People enslaved in Mississippi
- Christians from Mississippi
- Methodists from Texas
- African-American Methodists
- People of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church