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CAMPUS MIRROR
3
Thanksgiving Rally
On the morning of November 25, 1943,
the students of Spelman College and
members of the faculty and staff as
sembled in Howe Memorial Hall to make
their Thanksgiving contributions. A spirit
of gratitude and humbleness pervaded
the room. It was during a thoughtful
silence that a Chopin Prelude was played
by Eolyn Murrell. This appropriate ren
dition was followed by the reading of the
President’s Proclamation by Ella Tyree,
president of the Spelman Students Asso
ciation. The program continued with the
call to worship, the reading in unison of
the 95th Psalm and Silent Meditation
and Prayer led by Pearl Dorch, student
superintendent of the Sunday School.
Then came the very interesting Thanks
giving Rally. For two months the cam
pus had been convassed for donations
for this cause. Now the results of the
drive were to be made known. A spirit
of competition bad prevailed among the
various organizations and the classes.
Who would have the largest donation?
The results are as follows:
v it , c t a (Pledge .... $ 7.00
Faculty and Staff | Cash 378 . 8 2
Buildings and Grounds Dept. _ 18.25
Total _ $404.07
Student Organizations:
Y. W. C. A— ___ $ 10.00
Sunday School 12.00
Pan-Americana Club 5.00
Home Economics Club 5.00
Athletic Council 5.00
Total _ $ 37.00
Student Classes:
Freshman Class ... $ 75.00
Sophomore Class 59.65
Junior Class 60.00
Senior Class 85.07
Total _ $279.72
Grand Total $720.79
As is the usual custom, the body ap
propriated the money to the organiza
tions that they thought needed the money
most. The $720.79 was apportioned thus:
Spelman Missionaries (5) .. $250.00
United Community and War
Relief Fund 250.00
Red Cross 50.00
World Student Service Fund 100.00
Local USO 50.00
Georgia Training School,
Macon. Georgia 20.79
Total $720.79
The Y. W. C. A. project had also
included the collection of clothes and
foodstuffs to fill boxes for needy families.
The response to the appeal was very
great and the Y. W. C. A. was able to
deliver on Thanksgiving morning beau-
fully packed boxes overflowing with the
necessities of life.
Mrs. Ludie Andrews
Carolyn Taylor, ’44
The second person to step before the
camera in our series of “meet the people
you come into contact with daily but
know so little about,” is Mrs. Ludie An
drews, superintendent of McVicar Hos
pital, Spelman College.
It was on the seventh of December that
I entered the hospital to ask Mrs. An
drews for an appointment to interview
her as she sat at the desk in her office
reading. After we had exchanged greet
ings, she asked, “Did you want to see
me?” Then I explained the purpose of
my visit.
“Well,” began Mrs. Andrews, “I'll have
to look up some notes and papers and see
whether I have done anything. You see,
it’s hard to talk about yourself. You
come back — when do you have to have
this information?” “As soon as I can get
it,” was my reply. “Well, come back to
morrow night and I’ll have some facts
ready for you.” I thanked Mrs. Andrews
very much but did not make any effort
to leave because I was not satisfied with
her answer. It was quite easy for me to
find out about her from other sources,
but I wanted my information directly
from her.
Fortunately for me she asked, “What
are you going to do when you are gradu
ated?” “You know nursing is a good
field,” continued Mrs. Andrews, “even
after you finish college.” After she had
pointed out the virtues in the nursing
profession, I was almost persuaded to
choose that for my own vocation. How
ever, instead of coming to a decision. I
asked Mrs. Andrews about her own
graduation and her first job. By this time
I was sitting comfortably in the rocking
chair in her office and ready to extend
the interview.
“After my graduation from the Spel
man School of Nursing in 1906. a doctor
named E. C. Davis gave me my first job.
This was at the Lula Grove Hospital
which was connected with the Atlanta
School of Medicine, situated on Cain
and Lucky street, a white medical school
with a hospital for colored patients. I
was the only trained colored nurse. Be
side taking care of my patients I had to
help in the operating room.
“Because I felt the need of more trained
Negro nurses, in spite of a heavy sched
ule, I planned my time and organized
that hospital so that Negro women could
receive training there. Two classes were
graduated while I was in charge. This
school finally merged with Emory Uni
versity.”
During Mrs. Andrews’ seven years of
service, she supervised her students in
an operation done by Dr. Howard Kelly
of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. After the
operation he turned to her and said, “I
have never been better served even by
nurses I trained myself.” Fortunately
for her. the director of the hospital heard
this statement and was moved to give her
a raise in salary.
“Was Grady Hospital your next stop?”
I asked.
“Yes, I left Lula Grove and went to
Grady in 1914.”
“How was the situation there when you
entered?”
“Somewhat critical. Due to a lack of
understanding, there existed a wide gap
between patient and doctor, patient and
nurse. At first the patients did not want
me to do anything for them, but after I
had had a few talks with them, they felt
I was their friend and welcomed me.”
“What kind of trouble did you have
before you convinced them?”
“Well, the first thing was in regard
to their general appearance. They just
didn't want me to touch them after they
came to the hospital because no one else
bad ever done anything for them in that
particular. Another thing was that they
would slip out of the hospital. The doc
tors would sign the patients up two or
three days ahead of time for an operation
and when the day came, the patient
could not be found.”
“Why did they slip out? Didn't they
give any reason for leaving?’’
“Oh, yes, they gave a very sensible
reason. They said that they didn’t want
to be operated on without the consent of
their husband, wife, or parents. I ex
plained to them that no one could operate
on them without permission. After that,
we didn’t have any more slipping out.”
“Now that I had won the confidence of
my patients,” continued Mrs. Andrews,
“my next step was to organize a school
for the training of Negro nurses.”
The school Mrs. Andrews organized is
now known as the Municipal Training
School. Here Mrs. Andrews served as
Superintendent of the Colored Nurses of
Grady for six years, from 1914 to 1920.
“How long did you work before you
could get ‘R.N.’ for the colored nurses of
Georgia?”
“Ten years I worked on that project,
almost alone. I called only one meeting
of the nurses. You see, if no one knows
what you are doing except yourself there
is less danger of your plans being ex
posed.
“The State Board required that we
have our vouchers signed by two people
that had known us for a long time before
we could take the state examination.
This was difficult for us. When we
knocked on people’s doors and they found
out it was a nurse, they refused to see us.
This didn’t discourage me; the more dif
ficult time I had, the more determined I
became. I knew there was something in
that ‘R.N.’ You see, we could work side
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