East Texas daughter / Helen G. Green.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Green, Helen G., 1937-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Green, Helen G., 1937-.

Green, Helen G.

Green, Helen G., 1937---Childhood and youth.

African American women--Texas, East--Biography.

African American women.

African Americans--Texas, East--Biography.

African Americans.

African American nurses--Texas--Dallas--Biography.

African American nurses.

Race relations.

Texas, East--Biography.

Texas, East.

Tyler (Tex.)--Biography.

Tyler (Tex.).

Dallas (Tex.)--Biography.

Dallas (Tex.).

Texas, East--Race relations.

East Texas.

Texas--Dallas.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

x, 300 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Fort Worth, Tex. : TCU Press, [2003]

Summary:

Helen Harris Green was the first black woman admitted into a Dallas school of professional nursing, the first black to be a nurse-manager at the Harris Methodist Hospital in Euless, the first black department director at Timberlawn Psychiatric Center, the first black president of the Texas Society of Healthcare Educators, the first black to be on the board of directors for the TSHE division of the Texas Hospital Association, and the first black chairperson of the board of directors of TSHE. Raised in poverty in East Texas, Helen Green was blessed with an educated mother who was determined to help her daughter rise beyond the circumstances of her childhood and who emphasized that education was the key. Her father, less well educated, believed in ruling the roost with an iron fist, and her brother ran away from home in rebellion. Willie Raye Harris protected her daughter from the same fate. Green's vivid description of her childhood in segregated East Texas is riveting, giving a clear picture of the place and the time.

Married and a mother at an early age, Green never lost her ambition. She studied, in a segregated class, for her certificate as a Licensed Vocational Nurse. While working as an LVN, she applied for admission to professional nursing schools and was consistently turned down for seven years. Finally, she was accepted into the Methodist Hospital of Dallas School of Nursing, where she was clearly an experiment. Green met encouragement and support from the dean and faculty and most of her classmates, but she also endured curiosity, scorn, and rudeness from some professional healthcare workers, some students, and patients. On graduation, she received the Florence Nightingale Award for academic and clinical excellence. Over the years, Green's continuing education -- she earned a masters degree in business administration -- and her professional success placed great strains on her family. She and her husband, Sed, were periodically at odds and even divorced briefly. Her daughter, Shalimar, distanced herself from the family and developed a drug problem. And her son, Chris, was often saddened by the anger between his parents.

Helen Green's story, told frankly and honestly, reflects the experiences of many black citizens, no matter their profession, during the fifties and sixties and on into the twenty-first century. Her determination and courage are to be admired, her humor and insight to be appreciated, her love and compassion to be shared with the world. This is the story of one East Texas Daughter who learned that sticks and stones might break her bones and even slow her progress, but never end it.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Trip 1

Chapter 2 Wavering Hope 18

Chapter 3 On the More 31

Chapter 4 Recognizing Discrimination from My Own 45

Chapter 5 My Brother's Keeper 52

Chapter 6 Baby Steps 71

Chapter 7 Ten Years Later 86

Chapter 8 Fine-Tuning the Cause 103

Chapter 9 Pain and Deception 113

Chapter 10 Prelude to the Future 128

Chapter 11 The Beginning 145

Chapter 12 Advancing, Hoping, and Praying 163

Chapter 13 On the Way to the Finish Line 177

Chapter 14 The Price of the Challenge 196

Chapter 15 Pride and Poverty 211

Chapter 16 Tokenism, Racism, Prejudice, and Bias 221

Chapter 17 The Inevitability and the Price of Change 235

Chapter 18 Carrot and Stick 246

Chapter 19 Moving On

My Way 267

Chapter 20 Loss and Grief 272

Chapter 21 When in Rome ... 288.

ISBN:

087565276X

OCLC:

50844128