Frances Reed Elliot

Frances Reed Elliot (1892-1965) was the first African American accepted into the American Red Cross Nursing Service, on July 2, 1918. 

She was born in Knoxville, Tennessee to her mother who was a plantation heiress and her father an African American farm worker. Orphaned at the age of six, she spent her early life in foster homes.

After graduating from Knoxville College, she taught history, but decided to pursue a career in nursing. She graduated from the Freedmen's Hospital School of Nursing in 1913. Her first job was as a private-duty nurse. Later, she worked at Provident Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and completed additional courses at Columbia University.