TURNER-HELEN

ONE  OF  THE  FIRST  AFRICAN  AMERICAN

MEMBERS  OF  NAVY  NURSE  CORPS

Helen Fredericka Turner was an African American woman living in the middle decades of the 20^th century and was not expected to succeed.   At that time society expected her to work at a menial job and be thankful for what she was given in the way of employment, but she was a trailblazer who accomplished much.  She was reportedly born on July 3, 1919 in Augusta, Georgia, and at an early age decided that nursing was the career for her. 

Although the Navy Nurse Corp was established in 1908, no African American women had been accepted into the Corps prior to the start of World War II in 1941.  Numerous women had applied for enlistment but were routinely denied with concise rejection such as no “colored nurses,” the billets were “full,” or that they would not be “happy or adaptable” among its ranks.  As World War II broke out, letters from black nurses continued to arrive at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and often contained comments both about the lack of black nurses in the Corps, and the fact that they were not even given the courtesy of being considered.  One such letter addressed to the Secretary of the Navy in 1943 read, “Why should I, an American citizen, have to knock so hard and so long for a birthright…especially when my country needs me?”

Prominent professional organizations and individuals protested the Navy’s failure to admit black women and in late 1943 even Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady, wrote to the Secretary of the Navy to voice her concerns.  At long last and under pressure, in January 1945 the Navy announced that applications from female African American nurses would be considered.  Thus, on March 8, 1945 the first black female nurse was inducted into the Navy at New York City as an Ensign and joined the Navy Nurse Corps.  During the ensuing months until World War II ended in August 1945, only three more African American nurses were admitted into the Navy.  Helen Fredericka Turner was one of these pioneering women. 

Available historical records are scarce concerning Turner’s service in the Navy but it appears she had been employed as a nurse for several years prior to her service and was a 1939 graduate of an accredited nursing school as this was a rigid requirement for her Navy enlistment.  Records reveal that only one of the four African American nurses remained in the Navy following World War II.  It appears that Turner continued her nursing career upon release from the Navy and in 1965 was hired by the University of Connecticut as a faculty member in its esteemed School of Nursing.  She was the first full time African American faculty member at UConn and in 1983 was named a professor emeritus at UConn School of Nursing upon her retirement after working there for 18-years.

Helen Turner  was secretary of the Connecticut Nurses Association in the early 1960s, was a board member of the Women’s League of Hartford for more than 10-years including a 5-year term as president, and was appointed by the Connecticut Governor to the Committee on the Status of Women as well as the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunity.  She died on September 26, 1992, survived by her husband and two children.  She is buried at Windham Center Cemetery in Windham, Connecticut.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)