Viola Welch, first registered African-American nurse in Manatee

Viola Welch, a native of South Carolina, was one of three African-American women enrolled in the nursing program at the Benedict College Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, where she worked 12 hours a day to pay for her education.

Upon graduating from college, she came to work at the newly opened Christine Roof Memorial Hospital in Bradenton, under the chief surgeon Dr. John R. Bowling, becoming the first registered African-American nurse in Manatee County. The Christine Roof Memorial Hospital, located at 1713 Manatee Ave. W., was funded by D.R. Roof and was established as a memorial to his daughter, Christine, who had died of appendicitis in 1922. In a Dec. 25, 1925, issue of The Land of Manatee, writers boasted about the newly built hospital with state of the art equipment, stating that it had “modern accessories for the care and comfort of its patients.”

When Welch first arrived in Manatee County in 1925, segregation was prevalent, which included hospitals as well. The Christine Roof Memorial Hospital contained 35 beds and had a separate annexed building located on the property for black patients.

While African-American patients were treated at the hospital, they were expected to return to their homes following surgical procedures. When the Christine Roof Memorial hospital closed in 1929, Welch moved with Bowling to the 40-bed, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa.

After working in Tampa for several years, Welch eventually returned to Bradenton in 1938 and began working at the county hospital located on Sixth Street East. While at the county hospital, Welch worked 12-hour shifts, seven days a week.

With segregation still present in Manatee County, the county hospital required black patients to have surgeries performed in a separate space from the main hospital building. Patients were walked across the grass for surgery, and would be carried back in a stretcher to their ward after the procedure.

Nearly 28 years after Welch arrived in Bradenton, she became supervisor of the first floor at the newly opened Manatee Memorial Hospital in 1953. When Manatee Memorial first opened, the first floor served black patients in every capacity. It served as a surgery center, a maternity ward and even treated mental illness. During her time as the supervisor at Manatee Memorial, the hospital was desegregated. Forty-one years after starting her career in Manatee County at the Christine Roof Memorial Hospital, Welch retired in 1966 from hospital work, though she continued to work at nursing homes.

Welch’s establishment as the first registered black nurse in Manatee County is an important landmark event within Manatee County’s history. Over her long career as a Manatee County nurse, Viola was able to see the progression of medical facilities, as well as the end of segregation. In order to learn more about the influential women in the community, and the history of women in Florida, be sure to visit Manatee Village’s new exhibit — Progressive Women: Herstory in Florida, 1840-1918 opening March 9.

This story was originally published March 4, 2018 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Viola Welch, first registered African-American nurse in Manatee."