I
Portland Observer Thursday, October 19,1978 Page 3
^Mùhf ^UniM H/AikuMt
b y Kathryn H. Bogle
W ho was the first Black Registered
Nurse to practice in an Oregon
hospital? When and where did she
first work?
Audrey C . Ellis was the nurse.
Good Samaritan Hospital was the
place and 1943 was the year. Add
thirty years and we have the date o f
Audrey's retirement — 1973.
Mrs. Ellis was born in Oklahom a
but was reared in Missouri. For het
nurse
education
and
training.
Audrey attended classes in General
Hospital, No. 2, in Kansas C ity. In
that hospital one o f her instructors
was D r. De Norval Unthank. Theit
paths were to cross again within a
few
years with
an
important
for Audrey as a result. General
Hospital graduated Audrey in 1930.
Directly after being graduated,
Audrey said she remained several
months to work at General Hospital
before she moved on to New Orleans
and Charity Hospital there. An
illness forced a return to Missouri
and her fam ily, Mrs. Ellis remem
bers.
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Audrey Ellis, (standing, right) is shown with Anne Williams, Gertrude Rae
and Charlotte (Rutherford) Williams in April of 1950. (Photo courtesy of V.
Rutherford)
gone to the hospital to visit her
mother. W hile there, attending to
her mother's small wants. D r. U n
thank also dropped in to see his
patient. Knowing only too well there
were no Negro nurses in any o f
Oregon’s hospitals, and, knowing
equally as well that many hospitals
were needing nurses during those war
years, D r. Unthank suggested in his
special kind o f quiet, wry humor that
“ this would be good timing to put
M rs. Ellis to work at Good
Audrey Ellis at Wilcox Memorial
Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital.
1944.
W ith her recovery Audrey took a
post at St. John’ s Catholic Hospital
in Tulsa, Oklahom a.
St. Johns had both Black and
white patients in the population. A t
this hospital the patients were all un-
*der the same roof, but the races were
divided so that people o f color were
confined to one floor. O nly Black
nurses and white doctors attended
patients on this floor. Total white
medical staff looked after all other
patients
on
all
other
floors.
Segregationist policies, this way,
were kept intact. Black physicians
were not permitted to practice here at
all. Mrs. Ellis worked for several
she may not be immediately noticed
as being o f different color from the
m ajority.
In the close daily contacts in her
work in the hospital wards and
corridors
tnere
was
someone,
however, who did notice Mrs. Ellis
color — and objected. Objected to
working beside a Black person in this
professional capacity.
Relates M rs. Ellis: “ 1 did not mind
being moved when 1 was told o f my
reassignment. The new ward I was
given was in Pediatrics and 1 loved
working with children. They asked
me if I wanted to know the name o f
the person who had objected to my
presence. 1 didn’ t really want to
know and I declined to hear the in
formation. I felt that it would be
easier for me to never know the iden
tity o f this person.
“ During my thirty years at Good
Samaritan, since that first early ex
perience, 1 have not felt segregated
or singled out because o f my color. 1
have
spent
several
years
in
Pediatrics, and have enjoyed my ex
perience on Medical-Surgical duty.
Most o f all, 1 guess 1 enjoyed the
time I spent at W ilcox M em orial (the
Maternity Section o f the hospital).
“ Although I have been Charge
Nurse and Assistant Head Nurse
many times in my career, I am not
fond o f the administrative positions.
I like bedside patient care and am
always happiest giving this care and
attention to my patients.”
A t an awards banquet, an annual
affair at Good Samaritan, M rs. Ellis,
as honored guest, was given a com
memorative pin set with diamonds in
recognition o f her highly esteemed
work and faithfulness.
In retirement, M rs. Ellis gives
much o f her time to the St. Vincent
de Paul Child Development Center.
And — you guessed it — she also
volunteers in the Patient Adm itting
Department at Good Samaritan
Hospital.
“ I would like to be sure that every
Black girl or boy who has an interest
in the field o f nursing knows that
there is money now available for their
education and training i f they can
qualify. The University o f Oregon
Health Sciences Center can tell them
how and where to apply. Nursing has
been a wonderful and satisfying
career for me and I ’ m sure that for a
young person the future here could
be exciting and rewarding.”
© 797« F am ily A lb u m N orth w est
S am aritan!"
The suggestion did not fall on deaf
ears. Mrs. Ellis did her part. She ap
plied. The hospital did its part. The
hospital accepted the application and
very soon Audrey received her
assignment on the hospital floor.
Mrs. Ellis, a slender, attractive
person o f quiet, reserved demeanor,
happens, also, to be o f rather light
complexion in her fam ily. In public
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years in this environment.
In 1943, Mrs. Ellis joined other
members o f her fam ily who came to
the Far West — first to C alifornia
and then to Portland.
By chance, Mrs. Ella Trout,
Audrey’ s mother who had joined the
fam ily exodus from the midwest,
became ill in Portland. The family
sought a physician and found Dr.
U nthank. He placed Mrs. T ro ut in
Good Samaritan Hospital.
Mrs. Ellis picked up the thread of
her reminiscence saying that she had
Audrey Elli»
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