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Storyline

Chapel Hill’s nurse for Black residents, 1924–1941

The public health nurse who worked among Chapel Hill’s Black residents from 1924: her hiring by the Community Club, the seal money, town share and Black residents’ share that paid her, her clinics and classes, and the canvasses Black citizens organized for her salary.

In briefNurse A. D. Compton carried most of the health work among Chapel Hill's Black residents from 1924, with her salary paid from tuberculosis-seal money, the town, the Red Cross and Black residents. She visited homes, examined schoolchildren, gave typhoid inoculations and held baby clinics. Her support was often in doubt: by December 1927 the Red Cross could no longer give its share, Black citizens organized a canvass for theirs in 1929, and in 1930 the tuberculosis fund could pledge support only until June. From 1927 a yearly football game, run by the University YMCA, raised money for her. In 1939 she wrote in the Weekly of the change from wells and privies to sewer, town water and clinics.

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The full story

On January 1, 1924 a Black nurse known as Nurse Compton, a 1922 graduate of Lincoln Hospital in Durham, began work for the Chapel Hill Community Club's health department, visiting homes and examining children at the Black schools. By November seal money, raised by selling tuberculosis Christmas seals, had paid $450 toward her work, and she had inoculated 68 people for typhoid and brought 36 patients to a free tuberculosis clinic. On March 1, 1926 the aldermen voted $37.50 a month toward her salary if the Black community made up its $125 shortfall; Black residents were to give $25 and the Red Cross and seal fund $37.50, and she worked under Health Officer S. A. Nathan. In 1927 she ran a Community Club clinic for Black babies at Rock Hill Baptist Church, and the University YMCA began a yearly football game between Black teams to raise money for her.

By December 1927 the Red Cross could no longer give its $120 a year. In late July 1928 the Red Cross, the Community Club and the Tuberculosis Association agreed to keep her. By April 1929 Black citizens had formed a committee under Kennon Cheek to raise their $300 share of her $1,200 salary. That September county welfare superintendent George H. Lawrence wrote that Orange County had no public health nurse of its own, and by November 29 Cheek's committee had divided the town into sections for a canvass. In February 1930 falling collections let the tuberculosis fund, which had given $450 a year toward her salary, pledge support only until June 1, and that December the seal committee reported $300 paid toward her salary, with the town, the Red Cross and Black residents paying the rest.

In July 1931 she made 67 sick visits and gave 282 typhoid inoculations, and in 1932, with $150 from the seal fund toward her salary, she examined Black schoolchildren every month, held a baby clinic and typhoid inoculation stations, and organized groups of mothers to study diet, home sanitation and home nursing. In 1933 she held three clinics for Black babies, with Dr. B. U. Brooks of Durham giving his services. On November 24, 1934 the University YMCA's yearly game on Emerson Field, the Orange County Training School against the Chatham County Training School, raised about $105 for her support.

In December 1936 Nurse A. D. Compton, who had carried most of the health work among Chapel Hill's Black residents for thirteen years with tuberculosis-seal money, set up a clinic room at the Black school, furnished with a bed, cabinet and linoleum given by members of the Black community, and she lent sickroom equipment, washing the returned linen herself for lack of funds.

In 1937 she began a garden contest with the Mothers' Mission Clubs, and on December 4, 1937 the yearly benefit football game raised more than $100 for her work, when Chapel Hill's Black school beat Henderson's 13 to 6. In the garden contest, about 95 per cent of Black families in Chapel Hill and Carrboro had gardens in 1938, she told the Weekly, and they canned about 2,000 quarts of fruit and vegetables that August and September. On December 3, 1938 the game raised almost $100, when the Orange County Training School beat Dudley High School of Greensboro on Fetzer Field.

In an article for the Weekly on December 1, 1939 Nurse Compton recalled that her first census of the Black section had counted about 900 people, a number since nearly doubled, and described the change from wells and privies emptied by wagon to sewer and town water, curbs and gutters, tonsil and baby clinics, a weekly town garbage truck and the newer health and welfare departments.

On November 22, 1940 the Orange County Training School beat the Creecy school of Rich Square on Fetzer Field in a benefit game that netted $200 for the nurse who served the Black residents of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the best result, said Harry Comer of the YMCA, which managed the game, since the first such game. On November 28, 1941 the Black school's game against Lexington on Fetzer Field cleared $275 for the nurse fund; Comer said it drew the biggest crowd since the games began, and members of the University Janitors Association sold $160 of the 25-cent tickets.

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 29 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Community Club hires a nurse to serve Chapel Hill's Black community The health department of the Chapel Hill Community Club engaged a Black nurse, known as Nurse Compton and formerly of Lincoln Hospital, who began on January 1, 1924, visiting homes, examining children at the Black schools and organizing clean-up campaigns. By May 1926 the town had taken over part of her salary and she worked under Health Officer Nathan.The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 7, 1924, p. 1 (The Colored Nurse Is Doing Valuable Work Among Her People) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, December 1, 1939, p. 4
  2. Christmas seal money pays for tuberculosis care and a free clinic in Chapel Hill The Community Club's seal sale committee reported that seal money had sent an Orange County man to a sanatorium and paid $450 toward the nurse working among Black residents, who inoculated 68 people for typhoid and brought 36 patients to a free tuberculosis clinic.The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 27, 1924, p. 1 (Report on Use of Seal Money)
  3. Chapel Hill's Christmas Seal fund pays toward the Black public health nurse Reporting before the 1925 seal sale, the Community Club's health department said the tuberculosis fund had spent $256 more than the previous year's sale raised. It had paid $450 toward the salary of the Black public health nurse, $321 for sanatorium care of white and Black patients, and $30 for scales for the Black school's health crusade.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 4, 1925, p. 1
  4. Chapel Hill's aldermen vote town money toward the Black public health nurse The aldermen voted $37.50 a month toward the salary of the town's Black public health nurse, on condition that the Black community make up its $125 shortfall from the year before. The Black community was to give $25 a month and the Red Cross and the tuberculosis seal fund $37.50, all paid through the town, with the nurse working under the health officer. People: R. D. W. Connor, S. A. NathanSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 5, 1926, p. 1
  5. Orange County Training School students show their Red Cross home nursing training On May 12, 1926, five girls who had finished the Red Cross home nursing course under Nurse Compton showed their bed-making, bandaging and care of the sick at the Orange County Training School, Chapel Hill's Black school, along with a fashion show of dresses made in its domestic science classes. The Weekly reported that the town government had taken over part of the nurse's salary, first paid by the Red Cross, the tuberculosis seal fund and Black residents, making her a town employee under health officer S. A. Nathan. People: S. A. NathanThe Chapel Hill Weekly, May 14, 1926, p. 1
  6. Christmas Seal money pays for a public health nurse for Black residents of Chapel Hill The Christmas Seal committee reported that during 1926 it spent $367 to maintain a public health nurse among Black residents of Chapel Hill, $320 for patients sent to sanatoria and $25 for the King's Daughters, out of a 1925 sale of $582 in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The local Red Cross had also paid $157 toward the nurse's salary.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 3, 1926, p. 1
  7. Annual benefit football games fund Chapel Hill's Black public health nurse From 1927 a yearly football game between Black teams, sponsored by the University YMCA, raised money for the public health nurse serving Chapel Hill's Black community, a project run by the Community Club. The 1941 game, played on Fetzer Field, involved the Orange County Training School and raised $275 net. People: Harry F. ComerThe Chapel Hill Weekly, November 21, 1941, p. 1 (Negro Game Next Week)
  8. Clinic for Black babies opens at Rock Hill Baptist Church A clinic sponsored by the Community Club and run by Nurse Compton examined 26 Black babies a year old or younger, two pairs of twins among them, with Dr. B. U. Brooks of Durham giving his services. Brooks offered to come back, and the clinic was held again on May 30, June 13, June 27 and August 8.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 20, 1927, p. 3
  9. Chapel Hill aldermen adopt the 1927-28 budget The board approved Town Manager E. M. Knox's budget, calling for $24,758 from taxes, and his report on five years' growth: automobiles in town up from 95 in 1921 to 500, sewer connections from 180 to 440, street lights from 40 to 95, and $275,000 spent on permanent improvements, with an $8,134 deficit turned into a $5,311 surplus. The town now paid a full-time health officer and a Black community nurse. People: Edward M. KnoxSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 1, 1927, p. 1
  10. The Red Cross stops paying toward the salary of Chapel Hill's Black public health nurse Opening the Christmas Seal sale on December 5, the Community Club's health committee announced that the Red Cross, which had given $120 a year toward the salary of Chapel Hill's Black public health nurse, could no longer do so, so a larger seal sale was needed. Mrs. Howe was to speak for the sale in the three Black churches.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 2, 1927, p. 1
  11. Chapel Hill charities agree to keep the nurse serving the Black community At a meeting in late July 1928, the Red Cross, the Community Club and the Tuberculosis Association decided to keep the public health nurse who worked among Chapel Hill's Black residents. The town paid $37.50 a month, the Tuberculosis Association $37.50, and Black residents raised the other $25; the Red Cross, which had given $2,804 since 1920, added $60 toward the 1927 deficit. People: Henry A. WhitfieldThe Chapel Hill Weekly, August 3, 1928, p. 1
  12. Black Chapel Hill committee organizes to pay its share of the nurse's salary Leading Black citizens formed a committee, with Kennon Cheek as president, to raise their $300 share of the $1,200 salary of the nurse who worked among Black residents; the town and the Community Club each gave $450. They planned a benefit concert of spirituals at the Rock Hill Baptist Church on West Franklin Street. People: Kennon Cheek, Louis H. HackneyThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 26, 1929, p. 1
Show all 29 dated events
  1. County welfare superintendent notes Orange has no health officer or public health nurse In a letter to the Chapel Hill Weekly, county welfare superintendent George H. Lawrence wrote that Orange County had no county health officer, no county health department and no public health nurse, and that little preventive health work was being done. He contrasted Orange with Vance County, which had a health officer, a hospital and a tuberculosis sanatorium. People: George H. LawrenceThe Chapel Hill Weekly, September 27, 1929, p. 3 (letter from George H. Lawrence, Supt. of Public Welfare)
  2. Black residents of Chapel Hill canvass the town to support their health nurse Black citizens organized a health week, to open with sermons in their churches on December 1, and divided the town into sections to raise $300, their share of a Black public health nurse's support, with a closing rally to hand the money to Mrs. H. D. Carter of the Community Club's health department. Kennon Cheek chaired the canvassing committee of John W. Johnson, F. J. Edwards, Walter Hackney and Sarah Caldwell. People: Kennon CheekThe Chapel Hill Weekly, November 29, 1929, p. 1
  3. Falling collections force the tuberculosis fund to limit its support of Chapel Hill's Black nurse The treasurer of the local tuberculosis fund, which had been giving $450 a year toward the salary of the nurse serving Black residents, said small collections allowed it to pledge support only until June 1, the end of the town's fiscal year.The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 14, 1930, p. 1
  4. A&P president J. R. Hartford gives $150 toward Chapel Hill's Black nurse J. R. Hartford, president of the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company and a friend of Mrs. R. B. Lawson, sent her $150 for the support of the nurse serving Chapel Hill's Black residents.The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 14, 1930, p. 1
  5. A baby clinic for Black families opens at Rock Hill Baptist Church A clinic for Black babies opened at Rock Hill Baptist Church in Chapel Hill on May 1, 1930, and ran for several weeks, weighing and measuring an average of 18 babies a session while physicians advised mothers on feeding and care. Dr. Turner of Durham attended each session, the nurse was assisted by Callie Strowd and Etta Guthrie, and Andrews-Henninger and S. Berman gave prizes.The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 18, 1930, p. 5
  6. Christmas seal fund pays $300 toward the nurse for Black residents Opening the 1930 seal sale, the committee reported that the previous year's sale had netted $362 and that $300 had gone toward the salary of the public health nurse serving Chapel Hill's Black residents. The town, the Red Cross and Black residents paid the rest, and Black residents planned a concert and a football game to raise their share. People: Kennon CheekThe Chapel Hill Weekly, December 5, 1930, p. 1
  7. Chapel Hill's public health nurse for Black residents gives 282 typhoid inoculations in a month The nurse serving Chapel Hill's Black residents reported 67 sick visits, 214 general visits, an inspection of sanitary appliances and 282 inoculations against typhoid fever in July.The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 14, 1931, p. 1
  8. The nurse serving Black Chapel Hill holds a baby clinic and typhoid stations The anti-tuberculosis committee reported that its Christmas Seal money had paid $150 toward the salary of Nurse Compton, who served Chapel Hill's Black residents, and $130 for a patient at the state sanatorium. In 1932 she examined Black schoolchildren every month, visited homes, held a baby clinic and typhoid inoculation stations, and organized groups of mothers to study diet, home sanitation and home nursing.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 2, 1932, p. 1
  9. Public health nurse Compton holds three clinics for Black babies in Chapel Hill Public health nurse Compton, who served Chapel Hill's Black residents under the Community Club's health department, held three clinics for Black babies, with Dr. B. U. Brooks of Durham giving his services. Speaking for the club, Mrs. A. M. Jordan credited the nurse's work for the good condition of the babies, and two merchants gave prizes for the three best.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 21, 1933, p. 2
  10. The Orange County Training School plays Chatham's training school to support the Black community's nurse The annual football game between Black high school teams on Emerson Field, sponsored by the University YMCA, matched the Orange County Training School of Chapel Hill against the Chatham County Training School on November 24, 1934. Gate receipts came to about $140, and after expenses and Chatham's $25 guarantee about $105 went to support the nurse who served Chapel Hill's Black residents.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 14, 1934, p. 5
  11. Nurse A. D. Compton sets up a clinic room at Chapel Hill's Black school Nurse A. D. Compton, who had carried most of the health work among Chapel Hill's Black residents for thirteen years with tuberculosis-seal money, established a clinic room at the school, furnished with a bed, cabinet and linoleum given by members of the Black community, and planned a course in sickroom practice for the graduating class. She weighed and examined the children every year and lent sickroom equipment, washing the returned linen herself for lack of funds.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 4, 1936, p. 6
  12. Black schools of Chapel Hill and Henderson play a benefit game for the community nurse The football game on Emerson Field raised more than $100 toward the trained nurse who did public health work among Chapel Hill's Black residents. Chapel Hill won 13 to 6, and President and Mrs. Frank Graham were among the spectators. People: Frank Porter GrahamThe Chapel Hill Weekly, December 17, 1937, p. 5
  13. Black families in Chapel Hill and Carrboro raise gardens and put up 2,000 quarts in a nurse-led contest A vegetable garden contest begun in 1937 by Nurse Compton and the Mothers' Mission Clubs No. 2 and No. 3 carried on through 1938; Nurse Compton told the Weekly that about 95 per cent of Black families in Chapel Hill and Carrboro had gardens and that they had canned about 2,000 quarts of fruit and vegetables in August and September. No prizes were given that year because a ten-day wet spell in July spoiled all the gardens just before judging; Rev. J. S. Miller, Rev. J. S. Holt and the Mothers' Club officers helped lead the exchange of seeds, plants and produce.The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 14, 1938, p. 2
  14. The Orange County Training School football game clears nearly $100 for the Black nursing service The University YMCA's annual benefit football game, begun eight years before, matched the Orange County Training School against Dudley High School of Greensboro on Fetzer Field, with four University varsity players as officials; Chapel Hill won, and the game cleared almost $100 toward the nursing service for Black families too poor to pay for it.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 9, 1938, p. 5
  15. Nurse Compton reviews her years of public health work among Chapel Hill's Black residents In an article for the Weekly on December 1, 1939, Nurse Compton, a 1922 graduate of Lincoln Hospital in Durham, recalled that her first census of the Black section counted about 900 people, a number that had since nearly doubled. She described the change from wells and privies emptied by wagon to sewer and town water, curbs and gutters, tonsil and baby clinics, a weekly town garbage truck, and the newer health and welfare departments.The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 1, 1939, p. 4
  16. A Training School football game raises $200 for Chapel Hill's Black community nurse The Orange County Training School beat the Creecy school of Rich Square on Fetzer Field in a benefit game that netted $200 for the nurse who served the Black residents of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Harry Comer of the Y.M.C.A., which managed the game, said it was the best result since the first such game eleven years earlier. People: Harry F. ComerThe Chapel Hill Weekly, December 6, 1940, p. 1
  17. Benefit football game raises $275 for the Black public health nurse fund The Black school's football game against Lexington on Fetzer Field, sponsored by the University YMCA, cleared $275 for the public health nurse fund for Black residents, $50 more than the year before. YMCA secretary Harry Comer said it drew the biggest crowd since the games began in 1927, and members of the University Janitors Association sold $160 of the 25-cent tickets. People: Harry F. ComerThe Chapel Hill Weekly, December 5, 1941, p. 1

Places in this history

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Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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Background on Public health in rural Orange County

Background reading on Public health in rural Orange County. These works cover the broader subject and may not discuss this storyline. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

Community health assessment, Orange County, NC

2011 · Orange County Health Dept.

Orange County Health Department's community health assessment for the county, dated December 2011 and published in Hillsborough. A public health report of 240 pages plus 124 unnumbered pages, with color illustrations and maps.

UNC

Cedar Grove, Orange County : an action-oriented community diagnosis : findings and next steps of action

2002 · Dept. of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Graduate students in health behavior and health education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill produced this action oriented community diagnosis of Cedar Grove in 2002, completed for a course in the School of Public Health. It sets out findings on community health services, public health and economic conditions in that part of Orange County, with next steps for action. Seventy-three pages.

UNC

Annual report

Orange-Person-Chatham District Health Department (N.C.) · 1964 · Orange-Person-Chatham District Health Department

The 1964 annual report of the Orange-Person-Chatham District Health Department, the joint public health agency that served the three counties from offices in Chapel Hill. Public health in Orange, Person and Chatham counties runs through the series.

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