Esther McCready

American nurse and teacher (1931–2020)

Esther McCready

Born	(1931-01-10)January 10, 1931 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died	September 2, 2020(2020-09-02) (aged 89) Randallstown, Maryland, U.S.
Known for	Nursing, Desegregation

Esther McCready (January 10, 1931 – September 2, 2020)^[1] was a nurse and teacher who desegregated the University of Maryland School of Nursing in 1950.^[2] The case was filed in 1949 in Baltimore City Court by National Association for the Advancement of Colored People lawyers Charles Hamilton Houston and Donald Gaines Murray^[3] (McCready v. Byrd, 1949). After the court sided with the university, the case went to the Maryland Court of Appeals, where it was argued by Houston, Murray, and Thurgood Marshall.^[4] The lower court's ruling was overturned by the Maryland Court of Appeals, and McCready began classes on September 5, 1950.^[5] She is in the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.

After she graduated in 1953,^[6] McCready continued her career working for Druid Health Center, Morgan State University as head nurse, Cornell Medical Center in post-operative recovery, Harlem Hospital in the emergency room, and at New York University. Her career also included years as a general education teacher in public school in New York. In addition to nursing, McCready attended the Manhattan School of Music, where she earned a master's degree. She participated in traveling opera groups who toured around United States and Europe.^[7]

Early life

Esther McCready was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in East Baltimore.^[8] Her parents, John and Elizabeth McCready, both were not involved in medicine or politics. She grew up with three other siblings in a loving household.^[9] She attended the segregated Dunbar High School in Baltimore, earning acclaim as an honor student. She also worked as a nurses' aide at Sinai Hospital.^[10] From a young age, Esther always knew she wanted to be in the nursing field from watching the way nurses worked during her visits to the hospital for routine check-ups.

References

^ "Remembering Esther McCready, A Nursing Pioneer". UMB News. September 4, 2020.
^ A Maryland Pioneer: at 78 Esther McCready Serves As A Volunteer At the University Where She Broke Down Racial Barriers 60 Years Ago. Jacques Kelly. The Baltimore Sun, April 20, 2009.
^ Suit Filed Against U. of Md., 6 Pending: Racial Policy Forced Action Other Suits to Be Filed This Week. The Baltimore Afro-American, Aug 6, 1949, p. C7.
^ Equality’s struggles: Baltimoreans reflect on Civil Rights era and their struggles for equality. Julie Scharper, The Baltimore Sun, June 28, 2014.
^ Negro Nurse Studying At University: Supreme Court Refusal To Act Reveals Girl Is In Hospital Class. The Sun, Oct 10, 1950, p. 34.
^ "Esther McCready, MSA SC 3520-14290". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
^ "Esther McCready, Maryland Women's Hall of Fame". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
^ "Esther McCready, first African American student at U-Md. nursing school, dies at 89". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
^ "Esther McCready, RN: Nursing Advocate for Civil Rights". www.nursingworld.org. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
^ Pollitt, Phoebe (2016). "Esther McCready, RN: Nursing Advocate for Civil Rights". Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. 21 (2): 7. doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol21No02PPT01. PMID 27854428.

Maryland Women's Hall of Fame

1980s

1985	Margaret Brent Rachel Carson Rita C. Davidson Gladys Spellman Harriet Tubman
1986	Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson Elizabeth Ann Seton Henrietta Szold Jeanette Rosner Wolman Hiltgunt Zassenhaus
1987	Clara Barton Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Juanita Jackson Mitchell Mary Shaw Shorb Helen B. Taussig
1988	Barbara Mikulski Sadie Kneller Miller Mary Eliza Risteau Martha Carey Thomas Verda Welcome
1989	Bertha Adkins Eugenie Clark Lavinia Engle Lena King Lee Estelle R. Ramey

1990s

1990	Lucille Maurer Enolia McMillan Pauli Murray Adele Hagner Stamp Mary Lemist Titcomb
1991	Rita R. Colwell Mary Elizabeth Lange Claire McCardell Bessie Moses Alta Schrock
1992	Annie Armstrong Anna Ella Carroll Rose Kushner Margaret Collins Schweinhaut Carmen Delgado Votaw
1993	Rosalyn Blake Bell Lucille Clifton Elizabeth King Ellicott Jean Spencer Martha Ellicott Tyson
1994	Rosalie Silber Abrams Mary Elizabeth Banning Harriet Elizabeth Brown Connie Morella Mary Adelaide Nutting
1995	Jill Moss Greenberg Mary L. Nock Amanda Taylor Norris Nettie Barcroft Taylor Euphemia Mary Goldsborough Willson
1996	Madeleine L. Ellicott Ethel Ennis Mary Digges Lee Brigid G. Leventhal Barbara A. Robinson
1997	Diane L. Adams Sol del Ande Mendez Eaton Catherine R. Gira Helen L. Koss Rosa Ponselle
1998	Constance Ross Beims Mary Katharine Goddard Elaine Ryan Hedges Mary Carter Smith
1999	Florence Riefle Bahr Lillian C. Compton Edith Houghton Hooker Elizabeth Fran Johnson Bernice Smith White

2000s

2000	Constance Uriolo Battle Lois Green Carr Sonia Pressman Fuentes Josephine Jacobsen Rosetta Stith
2001	Kathleen Feeley Misbah Khan Charmaine Krohe Eunice Kennedy Shriver Sandra W. Tomlinson
2002	Mabel Houze Hubbard Florence P. Kendall Mary Young Pickersgill Lorraine Sheehan
2003	Virginia Walcott Beauchamp Edith Clarke Kathryn J. DuFour Ruth L. Kirschstein Etta Haynie Maddox Debbie Yow
2004	Edmonson sisters Nancy Grasmick Esther McCready Margaret Byrd Rawson Vivian V. Simpson
2005	Shoshanna Shoubin Cardin Bessie Olive Cole Susan R. Panny Edyth H. Schoenrich
2006	Susan Pardee Baker Liebe Sokol Diamond Bea Gaddy Marilyn Hughes Gaston Rebecca Alban Hoffberger Grace Snively
2007	Annette M.Deener Sally T. Grant Prasanna Nair Karen H. Rothenberg Audrey E. Scott
2008	Ramona McCarthy Hawkins Ellen Moses Heller Billie Holiday Pauline Menes Toby Orenstein Emily Wilson Walker
2009	Ilia Fehrer Diane Griffin Harriet Legum Allyson R. Solomon Anne St. Clair Wright

2010s

2010	Claire M. Fraser Anne Catherine Hoof Green Irene Morgan Kirkaldy Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps Bernice R. Sandler Lillie D. Shockney
2011	Carol W. Greider Barbara Holdridge Ligia Peralta Gertrude Poe Lucy Diggs Slowe June A. Willenz
2012	Maureen Black Margaret Dunkle Nancy Kopp Alice Manicur Diana Gribbon Motz Gwendolyn Rooks
2013	Helen Delich Bentley Jean B. Cryor Charlene Dukes Ellen Sauerbrey Linda A. Shevitz Beatrice P. Tignor
2014	Dorothy F. Bailey Agnes Kane Callum Renee E. Fox Susan K. Goering Henrietta Lacks Ann Cipriano Rees
2015	Beverly B. Byron E. Gail de Planque Mary S. Feik Katherine O'Brien Linda L. Singh Sue Fryer Ward
2016	Sophia Arabatzis Balis Oretha Bridgwaters-Simms Mary C. Goodwillie Elaine Danforth Harmon Joanne Katz Lizette Woodworth Reese
2017	Marsha Coleman-Adebayo Carolyn Colvin Donna Edwards Mary Garrett Katharine Blodgett Gebbie Katie Ledecky Helen Maroulis Lilian Welsh
2018	Sandra I. Barnes Sandra Williams Ortega Emily Saunders Plummer Rita L. Robinson Hattie N. Washington
2019	Marielsa A. Bernard Augusta T. Chissell Dominique Dawes Virginia Hall Rosa Gumataotao Rios Evelyn Williams Townsend Phyllis B. Trickett Pauline Woo Tsui

2020s

2020	Victorine Q. Adams Evelyn O. A. Darden Claire Parkinson Nancy Roman Leslie R. Wolfe
2021	Elizabeth Bobo Margaret Hawkins Ruby Reese Moone Nancy K. Welker Celeste Revillon Winans
2022	Dorothy Blum Mary L. Cleave Gloria Richardson Beatrice Rodgers Odessa M. Shannon
2023	Janeen L. Birckhead Charlotte M. Cooksey Ana Sol Gutierrez Gloria G. Lawlah Jackie Ronne
2024	Adrienne A. Jones Susan C. Lee Brooke Lierman Aruna Miller Nancy Pelosi