Pattie Carter
*The birth of Pattie Carter is celebrated on this date in 1875. She was a Black nurse and administrator.
She was the daughter of Hawkins W. Carter, who served Warren County as a representative and state senator during the Reconstruction era. She obtained her education from Shaw University, St. Agnes Hospital, and Lincoln Hospital in New York City. She came to Lincoln Hospital in Durham, N.C., in 1912.
During her 37 years at Lincoln, she served in nearly every leadership capacity. She was known to prepare meals in the kitchen, dispense medications from the pharmacy, mop floors, and lend a hand where needed. In 1927, William K. Boyd, in The Scalpel, attributed the success of the institution to her dedication and countless hours of work. Carter instilled into the students the tenets of "Ethics and Hospital Etiquette," which read,
"Nurses must at all times observe the ethics of nursing, cultivate a professional spirit which includes cheerful, willing obedience to authority, as well as the trying of duties of the sick room." Her mantra was that dignity, decorum, and quiet of manner must be observed. Also, unnecessary waste of time must be avoided. All communications with visiting doctors, interns, patients, orderlies, or any other person shall be strictly professional."
She was elected President of the Durham Chapter in 1926 and served in that capacity again in 1946. She gave a talk about the organization's history at the 1937 convention. She died in 1950 in Durham at age 75.
