In Part 3 of our Black History Month series, we culminate by honoring Verna Hill, a nurse, scholar, and community leader whose life reflects the enduring legacy of Black nurses in shaping the profession and expanding what care can look like.
In Part 1, the we recognized Black nurses whose leadership, advocacy, and mentorship strengthened both the profession and the UW community. Their work broke down barriers in education and practice, creating pathways for future generations while advancing more equitable models of care.
In Part 2, we looked further back, honoring Black nurses and caregivers who shaped nursing long before the profession fully opened its doors to them. From Civil War-era figures such as Sojourner Truth, Susie King Taylor, Harriet Tubman, and Lucy Higgs Nichols, to the “Black Angels” who provided critical care during the tuberculosis epidemic, these nurses practiced skilled, community-rooted care despite systemic exclusion and lack of formal recognition. Their contributions laid essential foundations for public health and health equity.
Now, in Part 3, we turn to Verna Hill’s story. Born in Hope, Arkansas in 1927, she carried hope not as an abstract idea, but as a daily practice. After navigating segregation and discrimination to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1954, she built a career spanning public health, mental health nursing, international health exchange, and mentorship. As a longtime leader in the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization, she invested in scholarships, advocacy, and community-building to ensure Black nurses would not walk alone.
Verna Hill’s life connects the throughline of this series: Black nurses have always shaped the profession—sometimes from the margins, often without recognition, but always with vision. Her legacy reminds us that nursing is not confined to clinical walls. It is the ongoing work of seeing who is left out and building what should exist.