Hazle Elizabeth Walker Blakeney
Hazle Elizabeth Walker Blakeney
1918-1997
Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing
Charlotte, North Carolina, 1940
- First Chair of the Department of Nursing at the Norfolk Division of Virginia State College (now Norfolk State University) in Norfolk, Virginia
- Initiated and led the associate degree in nursing program at the Norfolk Division of Virginia State College in 1955
- Nationally recognized consultant and advisor in the field of nursing education
Hazle Elizabeth Walker Blakeney influenced the education of numerous students even before she moved to Virginia in 1954. In that year she came to Norfolk to develop a new Department of Nursing at the Norfolk Division of Virginia State College, now Norfolk State University. There she organized an innovative two-year program leading to an associate degree in nursing, the second to be offered in Virginia. The program, accepted as one of the pilot schools in the research project directed by Dr. Mildred Montag of Teachers College, Columbia University, was approved by the Virginia Department of Education and by the Virginia State Board of Examiners of Nurses. Through her efforts Virginians of all races have greater access to the nursing profession.
"...Dr. Blakeney devoted her life to education, nursing practice, cooperation and collaboration to promote change and enhance nursing services, student enrollment and advancement and the promotion of health in the community. 'May the Work I've Done, Speak for Me' was sung at her memorial service as a testament to all those whose lives she touched."
Shelly Lewis, RN, and Bennie Marshall, RN
Blakeney Hall of Fame Nomination, 2005
