The Pulse
“ Her sacrifice will not be in vain as we continue the work to ensure equality for all under the law.” HERSHAW DAVIS JR., MS, BSN ’09, RN CLINICAL INSTRUCTOR
Remembering Esther McCready UMSON’s First AfricanAmerican Student
KARL MERTON FERRON/BALTIMORE SUN
BY LAURA HAGER AND CYNTHIA SIKORSKI
Esther E. McCready, DPS ’15 (Hon.), DIN ’53, the first African American to gain admission to UMSON, died Sept. 2 after a lengthy illness. She would have celebrated her 90th birthday this past January. In 1950, at 19 years old, McCready sued for admission to UMSON after the School originally denied her admission based on her race. The School offered to pay McCready to attend a Tennessee nursing school, which a Baltimore court upheld. With the help of her attorney Thurgood Marshall, who had already gained prominence for his work with the NAACP, McCready took her case to the Maryland Court of Appeals, which ruled in her favor. The case helped lay the groundwork for the 1954 landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, which ruled racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruling, however, marked only the beginning of McCready’s struggle for justice and equality. At UMSON, she faced students who were hostile toward her, professors who ignored her, and supervisors who attempted to sabotage her work. Her courage helped open the doors for generations of African-American nursing students, for whom she served as a mentor and role model. Today, 53% of UMSON’s student body self-identifies as minority.
Upon graduation in 1953, McCready passed the state nursing boards on her first attempt and began a career that included nursing, teaching, and public speaking. She also pursued her passion for music, completing undergraduate and graduate degrees at the Manhattan School of Music. She served for 20 years as an educator in the New York City public school system, sang with the Metropolitan Opera, toured with opera singer Grace Bumbry, and taught child actress and singer Raven-Symoné “Raven” Pearman. McCready returned to Baltimore in the mid-1990s. She served on UMSON’s Board of Visitors from 1996 2004 and on the Alumni Council and as a docent for its Living History Museum from 2002 - 12. In 2004, McCready was inducted into the Maryland Women’s
McCready in 2017 with her graduation photo in UMSON’s Living History Museum
NURSING FOR/UM • SPRING 2021 • 3