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History

South Carolina from A to Z

“B” is for Banks, Anna DeCosta [1869-1930]

By Walter Edgar

Published February 10, 2016 at 5:00 AM EST

“B” is for Banks, Anna DeCosta [1869-1930]. Nurse. Banks was one of the first students to earn a diploma from Hampton Institute's Training School for Nurses in Virginia. Returning home, she was the first head nurse at Charleston Hospital and Training School. DeCosta dedicated her life to nursing and seeking more equitable health care for African Americans. Promoted to superintendent of nurses, she devoted more that 32 years to this hospital and nurses’ training. She also was a visiting public health nurse for the Ladies Benevolent Society of Charleston for 24 years. At her death in 1930, she was believed to be the oldest trained nurse in the state at that time. In 1959 when McClennan Hospital was relocated closer to the Medical University, it was renamed McClennan-Banks to reflect Anna DeCosta Banks's influence on regional health care.

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South Carolina from A to Z history

Walter Edgar

Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.

See stories by Walter Edgar