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The members of the Nursing Class of 1965 will celebrate their 60th anniversary in July. The class was the first racially integrated nursing class in LaGrange. The landmark class was created as a result of the Manpower Development Training Act (MDTA).

The MDTA was enacted in 1962 after being signed into law by President John F. Kennedy. The legislation aimed to address unemployment and skill shortages in the United States by funding training programs to help unemployed and underemployed workers acquire the skills for much-needed and available jobs.

At this time, employment in LaGrange was difficult, especially for women of color. Through the Department of Labor Office, many of these women were found to have skills useful for nursing. The MDTA provided funds to create a nursing class at City-County Hospital on July 6, 1964. The class of 18 black women and two white women was held in the basement of City-County Hospital under the instruction of Registered Nurse Carolyn Wilson.

The class graduated in June 1965 and later that year took the state board tests to become full-fledged nurses.

Although most of the nurses were immediately hired by City-County Hospital, racial integration was a process. Before 1965, patients were separated by race. According to Troup County Archives and Legacy Museum Director Shannon Galvin Johnson, the first floor was reserved for black patients and cared for by black staff, with a separate dining room for black staff.

After the MDTA, nurses were hired and assigned to all floors of the building, and the separation of patients by race also ended.

“Many of these nurses built fine reputations for themselves as they worked to improve the health of the county. Among them is Bertha Broughton, who was employed by the hospital for 38 years, with 31 of those years spent in the intensive care unit,” Johnson said.

Another of the nurses, Dorothy Bush, worked for the hospital for many years before pursuing a position with the Troup County Health Department. She was not only the first nurse of color at the health department, but she was also the first lead nurse of color at the hospital.

The present members of the class include: Bertha Broughton, Louneal Colenan, Lenora Fitzpatrick, Martha Gattis and Catherine McGhee.

Nurses Marian Ayers, Dorothy Bush, Pamela Carden Davis, Mary Alice Gunn, Gaynell Newman Hudson, Eula Davis Jackson, Dora Herndon Lewis, Annie Rachel Rowland, Iula Stiggers, Lavonia Estes Thornton, Calvin Jackson, Frances Sellars Harris, Ella Pearl Tucker Boddie, Vera Griggs and Hattil Kimbrough have since passed.

Combined, the group of nurses had more than 400 years of service to the LaGrange and Troup County community.