470
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(MILITARY—WORLD WAR II.) TUSKEGEE FLYING SCHOOL.
Personal
Scrap Book of Captain Della Hayden Raney.
Copious photographs, clippings,
Association of Military Surgeons’ Certificate, Signed photograph of Colonel Bousefield,
head of the entire African American Medical Group at Tuskegee, plus other ephemera
connected with the Tuskegee Flying School Large 4to, original pictorial blue and silver
stamped leatherette.
SHOULD BE SEEN
.
Tuskegee, ALA, 1943-1980’s
[1,500/2,500]
When the United States entered World War II Nurse Della Hayden Raney Jackson, anxious
to serve her country, applied for a position in the Army Nurse Corps. However, her application
was denied due to race. Until 1941, the Army only employed white nurses. Despite rejection,
Nurse Raney persisted in her efforts to become an Army nurse, which also required the endorse-
ment of the American Red Cross. Her determination paid off. In April, 1941 she became the
first African American nurse accepted into the US Army Nurse Corps, at the rank of 2nd
Lieutenant. In January 1941, the Army opened its Nurse Corps to African American nurses
but established a limit of 56 who were only allowed to care for African American service men.
Battling racial barriers almost at every turn, Raney persisted and devoted her life to the needs of
our armed servicemen. This scrap book is a partial record of her nearly half century of service.
