Women's Activism NYC

Hazel Johnson-Brown

1927 - 2011

By: St | Date Added:

Hazel Johnson-Brown made history when she became the first African-American woman general in the United States Army in 1979. Hazel Johnson was born on October 10, 1927 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Her family made a living off their livestock and selling fruits and vegetables. The family also had business with the soup company, Campbell, in which they supplied the tomatoes they grew for Campbell’s tomato soup. Early on Johnson excelled in all her academic courses and was inspired to become a nurse at the age of 12. After graduating high school, Johnson applied to the West Chester School of Nursing, but was ultimately rejected into the school for being black. Johnson did not let this stop her, she left for New York City in 1947 and enrolled in the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing. Johnson’s nursing career began in the Harlem Hospital emergency ward where she began as a beginner level staffing nurse and slowly rose through the ranks as the years went by. In 1955, Hazel Johnson joined the military. Johnson joined seven years after President Harry Truman eliminated segregation in the military. She thought it would be an opportunity to explore the world and sharpen her nursing skills. Johnson quickly rose through the ranks in the Army, eventually being appointed the first African-American Chief of the United States Army Nursing Corps, with the rank of Brigadier General. Here Johnson commanded 7,000 male and female nurses in the National Guard and Army Reserves. Johnson also set policy and oversaw operations in 8 Army medical centers, 56 community hospitals and 143 freestanding clinics in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, and Panama. In 1981, Johnson married David Brown and was known from there on as General Hazel Johnson-Brown. Hazel Johnson-Brown retired from the military in 1983 with an impressive list of credentials and awards. Some of the positions she held include project director at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command in Washington, D.C.; 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.

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