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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 1978)
Portland Observer Thursday, October 26, 1978 Page 3 ^U mh , ftotíkwat by Kathryn Bogle Sometimes in a life when the low places of despair appear to dominate, the inner strengths take over and the high places o f the soul take form and outlive. The strengths were always there but now they are discernable and become the driving force from within. You have seen this happen. So it was with a lady named Ger trude Stitt. Classmates among the student nurses clipped the G ertrude to " T ru d y ” . As Trudy Stitt she was graduated from Good Samaritan Hospital. She was the first Black nursing school graduate from any hospital in Oregon. This was in 1949. But let us begin at the beginning, with her family telling the story of this rem arkable lady. Letting us know what a strong, courageous woman she was. Trudy was born in Alabama, in Roanoke, a town about eighty miles west o f Atlanta, Georgia. She was the daughter o f Joseph Stitt and Susan Jones. H er birthdate was given as March 22, 1926. The hour of her birth goes unknown for there was no clock in the Stitt home. They did not own a clock. They could not af ford this luxury. Concerning the time o f Trudy’s birth parents and grandparents are certain o f this much; the baby was born between the hours o f the evening freight train on March 21st and the morning freight train on March 22nd. Later on the little girl Trudy en tered her first school. She had to walk two miles to get there. In those years in the South, white children rode in a school bus to their school while Black children walked to theirs. Trudy showed herself to be a diligent student and by the time she was ready for the eleventh grade she was sent as a boarding school student to Southern Normal School. Upon graduation in 194S, Trudy was offered a scholarship to Iowa College which she declined because she had decided within herself to become a nurse. Her hopes were that she might enter nurse training in nearby Atlanta. At Roanoke, meanwhile, several able members o f T ru d y ’ s fam ily, aunts and uncles included, had joined a great exodus to the ship yards of the West during World War II. Gertrude "Trudy'' Stitt In a flood o f re ief Trudy bought her tickets and then she realized that she had been referret to as a “ lady” . It was the first time sh had ever been Trudy was left in Roa toke with the responsibility o f car ng for two young cousins. Plans wo ild be made to relieve her o f child cart so that she could go on with her ed cation in Atlanta. In due time it was deck ed that Trudy should deliver the chiilren to their parents where they w et, now living in Vancouver, Washit. <ton. Within a few days following, 1 -udy found herself in Chicago, waiting in line at the railway station for tickets to the west coast. Lines were long and slow moving. Reservations for departure to the “ City o f Portland” were made only every other day. Trudy’s brow must have furrowed in anxiety as she held the hands of her two small charges and thought o f the limited funds in her purse which she had to make last to their destination. As she inched slowly towards the ticket w indow , T ru d y heard the ticket agent say that he would be closing the window for that day as soon as he had waited on the lady. Stricken and terrified with the thought that she was now alone and stranded with two small boys in that vast place jammed with strangers jostling each other, Trudy stepped aside and out o f line. Seeing Trudy’s distress, someone tapped her arm and convinced her that she was the lady the ticket agent meant to serve next. called a “ lady” and now her head lift ed and her eyes held a new light. It was a good omen, she felt. After arrival in Vancouver and joining her relatives there Trudy quickly found work as a domestic. She needed to earn as much as she could for the Atlanta Nursing School term in the fall. Across the Columbia river in Port land, Oregon, the Rt. Reverend Ben jam in Dagw ell, Bishop o f the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Oregon, had made a special promise. He had pledged his faith in the brotherhood o f mankind. He had also been told o f the glaring over sight in the hiring practices o f all Oregon hospitals. This included the hiring at Good Samaritan Hospital, the progressive and excellent Port land institution o f his own diocese. At that time, and it could be easily verified, there were hardly five Black male janitors in all o f Portland’ s several hospitals (hence Oregon) put together. There were no Black em ployees other than these few men. There was one nurse, there were no ward clerks, no lab orato ry technicians. A udrey Ellis R .N ., alone represented the entire Black population among nurses in the state. The record stands that Good Samaritan hired Mrs. Ellis in 1943. Were there any Black girls in nurse training? No, the good Bishop learn ed. Why? The Bishop wanted to know. W e ll, the first Black girl would have to be some sort o f super- woman to graduate. Why? The Bishop pursued the topic. Well, he was told, the first Black nurse trainee had to be a good scholar, she had to have good health and good morals. She would have to have stamina and she had to want to be a nurse above all else. And, of course, a special kind o f personality, set with sufficient built-in resilience, would have to be a natural faculty of this jewel. He had promised, and he would find her, the Bishop concluded. In Vancouver, Trudy was enjoying being near her family once again. Her family encouraged her to think o f staying in the vicinity. They want ed her to try to get into her nursing career in this new locality. The stage was literally set. Trudy entered Good Samaritan School of Nursing in September, 1946 — the first Black to enter nursing school in the state. She was the jewel found. Trudy was president o f her class when she was graduated in Septem ber o f 1949. She was voted “ best bedside nurse” and she made history by being the first Black nursing school graduate from Oregon. Local hospital doors, closed before to Black employment, now swung open to all regardless o f race. To be continued next week. © Family Album Northwest VOTE NOVEMBER 7,1978 Robert Edward Phillips for MSD, Position 11 • • • • • • Equitable and fair taxes Services to the elderly Safe communities Citizen participation Program accountability Help for middle income families Paid f o r by Koben Phillips f o r M S D Committee, Position I I , Pat Massey, Treasurer, S72S N .E . Kodney, Portland, Oregon 97211. Buy ® Certificate of Deposit at American State Bank and W e ìl Give You This Color TV: 19" Magnavox solìd state color TV PPS provides 24-hour info Keep the lines o f communication open to the public. That's the goal of the P o rtlan d Public School’ s “ Citizen Information” service. C itizen In fo rm atio n , 233-9833, has been expanded to a 24-hour telephone line. During regular busi ness hours, callers’ questions will con tinue to be answered by the public in formation staff. Evenings and weekends, an elec tronic answering service takes the caller's name, address, phone num ber and question. Staff will contact the caller during the next business day, or respond by letter as soon as possible. The Citizen Inform ation service was established about six years ago to help school patrons quickly find answers to questions they have con cerning the Portland Public Schools. Realizing that many people find it d iffic u lt to call during regular business hours, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the Public Information Depart ment installed the phone service to reach those people who might other wise be missed — just because the of fice was closed. 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Masons begin crime survey On Saturday, October 28th begin ning at 10:00 a .m ., the Portland Police Bureau C rim e Prevention Unit in conjunction with the gréater Northeast Precinct Council and the Prince Hall Masons will conduct a canvassing in the area between N .E. Failing Street and N .E . Skidmore Street from N .E . Sixth Avenue and N .E. 12th Avenue. The purpose of the canvass is to generate block meetings and security surveys; to in crease awareness o f the burglary cime problem in that area and to solicit any suspect in fo rm a tio n . Members o f the public are en couraged to “ give crime prevention a hand in that neighborhood,” by volunteering to canvass. The staging area will be the M att Dishman Cen ter, 77 N .E. Knott. 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