During an era when African-Americans and women made great strides in many professions in the United States, some people rose to the forefront for their accomplishments. One of those people was Hazel Johnson-Brown.
To say that she came a long way is an understatement. In 1947, Johnson-Brown was rejected from the West Chester School of Nursing due to her race. Fast forward to 1979, when she rose to the pinnacle of military nursing. In that year, Johnson-Brown became the first black woman promoted to the rank of general in the U.S. Army and the first African-American chief of the Army Nurse Corps.
On Oct. 10, 1927, Hazel Johnson-Brown was born into a family of seven children in West Chester, Penn. Inspired to become a nurse when she was 12, she enrolled in the Harlem School of Nursing in 1947. After graduation, she worked as a nurse at Philadelphia Veterans Hospital before joining the Army in 1955.
What she thought would be a two-year tour became a distinguished 28-year career in the military. Her timing was good; Harry Truman had banned segregation and discrimination in the military during his presidency and opportunities opened up for minorities.
“I think the nurse corps has been more progressive as far as human rights. When I came in, there were no problems that I encountered so far as being black,” she told Ebony magazine in 1980. “I was very fortunate that I was given assignments that allowed me to demonstrate my ability and potential for greater ability.”
Her rise through the ranks was impressive. Starting as a first lieutenant, she was promoted to captain, major, lieutenant colonel, and when she was named a colonel in the mid-1970s, she became the highest ranking black woman in the armed services. During that time, she served as project director at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command; dean of the Walter Reed Army Institute School of Nursing; and special assistant to the chief of the U.S. Army Medical Command in Korea.
She was named Army Nurse of the Year on two occasions and her military decorations included the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Legion of Merit.
When she was named chief of the Army Nurse Corps in 1979, she was promoted to brigadier general. In that job, Johnson-Brown oversaw more than 200 health care facilities across the globe and commanded about 7,000 military nurses.
“Positive progress towards excellence, that’s what we want,” she told Ebony magazine shortly after her promotion. “If you stand still and settle for the status quo, that’s exactly what you will have.”
After four years in that post, she retired from the military but not from nursing. While she was in the military, Johnson-Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a master’s degree in nursing education and a Ph.D. in education administration.
After working as government affairs director of the American Nursing Association from 1984 to 1986, she was a professor of nursing at George Washington University and later at George Mason University in Virginia. She also established the Center for Health Policy, Research and Ethics at GMU.
Johnson-Brown retired from teaching in 1997 and served on several university and health administration boards until her death on Aug. 5, 2011.
A statement she made to Ebony in 1980 probably summed up her life best. “I’ve really done what I wanted to do. In fact, I’ve done more than I ever expected to do.”
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