[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 26 (Thursday, February 29, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E261]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   COMMEMORATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______


                               speech of

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 28, 1996

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, since 1976, February 
has been celebrated as Black History Month, but the origins of this 
event date back to 1926, when Dr. Carter G. Woodson set aside a special 
period of time in February to recognize the heritage, achievements, and 
contributions of African-Americans.
  I want to extend greetings to all of you who are celebrating Black 
History Month during this important time of renewal and reflection for 
our country.
  History has its own power and black women more than ever before need 
its truths to challenge hateful assumptions, negative stereotypes, 
myths, lies, and distortions about our own role in the progress of 
time.
  Black women need to know the contradictions and ironies that our 
unique status presents to a country founded on the proposition that all 
men are created equal and endowed with the inalienable rights of life, 
liberty, and opportunity to pursue happiness.
  Brave Texas women have used violence, stealth, the legal system, and 
political strategies to protect themselves and their loved ones. While 
the private lives of most black women occur within their family 
settings, those stories remain closed to the public eye.
  This evening I would like to highlight not only the trials and 
tribulations but the bold and creative initiatives black women of Texas 
have made and contributed to this society.
  Women have traditionally tended their families, friends, and 
neighbors, but around 1900 nursing became professionalized. Mrs. Mary 
Keys Gibson was among the first southern blacks to receive a nursing 
certificate from an accredited school, the Chautauqua School of Nursing 
in Jamestown, NY, in 1907.
  Nursing was not taken seriously as a profession in Texas until 1909, 
when the Texas Graduate Nurses Association persuaded the legislature to 
pass licensing standards and procedures. By 1912, approximately 65 
hospitals existed in the United States, including 6 in Texas.
  The Wright Cuney Memorial Nurse Training School was located in 
Dallas. Mrs. C.H. Graves opened her home to the sick in Temple in 1916. 
Later, as a nurse, she founded the Memorial Colored Hospital, which 
operated until the 1950's.
  Miss Annie Mae Mathis of Austin was possibly the first African-
American on the staff of the Texas State Board of Health. Hired in 
1922, she was the first black maternity and infancy nurse in the bureau 
of child hygiene. Over the next few years, she addressed thousands of 
white women at Methodist conferences, published an article on ``Negro 
Public Health Nursing in Texas,'' and surveyed 500 homes in Houston 
County in 1934.
  She recruited black school teachers and midwives to try to improve 
conditions. In other communities, she organized adult health classes, 
clinics, and instruction for midwives.
  Federal legislation, beginning with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, has 
helped to raise the glass ceiling for black women. In Texas, they took 
advantage of each opportunity presented--to get out of the domestic 
labor ghetto and into white-collar and professional jobs, to use their 
educational opportunities to enter politics, and to make the process 
work for their objectives.
  Like our predecessors, black women of the nineties continue to pursue 
not only our continued advancement, but the objectives involving the 
next generation and the preservation and extension of their history and 
culture. In addition, a goal of this generation of black women is 
solidarity with other disadvantaged groups.
  While racism is far from ended and the economic battle for racial and 
gender parity is not yet won, many black women are respected leaders 
who improve the quality of Texas and help shape the future of the 
State.
  Judging by black Texas women's lengthy and admirable history of 
trials and triumphs, the transformation of the world is underway. The 
strong women are coming, it is indeed our time.

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