Jessie Sleet Scales

Jessie Sleet Scales (1865 to 1956) was the first African-American public health nurse in the United States. Born in Stratford, Canada West, she graduated from Provident Hospital in Chicago in 1895 and took further training at Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, then worked at a resort in New Jersey before deciding to become a district nurse. On 3 October 1900 she became the first black district nurse at the New York Charity Organization Society, where she worked to persuade the city's African-American community to accept treatment for tuberculosis. Her first reports were published in the American Journal of Nursing, and with Elizabeth Tyler she helped found Stillman House to improve health in the black community.