Lillian Holland Harvey
Established the first baccalaureate nursing program in Alabama
Lillian Holland Harvey was born in Holland, Virginia in 1912. She began her educational career with a nursing diploma from Lincoln Hospital School of Nursing in New York. She then received her Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 1944, Master’s degree from Columbia University’s Teacher College in 1949, and a doctorate in education from Teacher’s College at Columbia University in 1966. Dr. Harvey served as director of nurse training at the Tuskegee School for Nurses starting in 1945 and became the dean in 1948. During her tenure, she transitioned the program to become the first to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing in Alabama.
Dr. Harvey was a proponent for the integration of Black nurses in the workforce. She advocated for the full participation of Black nurses throughout Alabama, as seen in her desegregation efforts as the only Black nurse in the Alabama State Nurses’ Association. Many recognized the leadership and commitment Dr. Harvey had toward improving social, economic, and political rights. She served on the President’s Commission for the Status of Women during the Kennedy administration. She received the Mary Mahoney Medal from the American Nurses’ Association in 1982 and was inducted into the Alabama Nursing Hall of Fame in 2001.
Sources
We sourced information for the above biography from Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame and the University of Alabama Capstone College of Nursing.
Learn More
To learn more about inclusion in nursing and be part of the national discussion to address racism in nursing, check out and share the following resources:
Know Your History
- American Association for the History of Nursing to attend monthly webinars on topics of nursing history, view the calendar here.
- Nursing CLIO to engage with historians and scholars committed to deep work around historical accuracy in healthcare and nursing.
Examine Bias
- NurseManifest to attend live zoom sessions with fellow nurses on nursing’s overdue reckoning on racism or to sign their pledge.
- Breaking Bias in Healthcare, an online course created by scientist Anu Gupta, to learn how bias is related to our brain’s neurobiology and can be mitigated with mindfulness.
Support & Advocate
- National Coalition for Ethnic Minority Nurse Association to stay engaged with topics relevant to nurses of color.
