Everlyn Louise Swales Holland

Nurse, civil rights worker, activist, member of numerous St. Mary’s County Boards and recipient of the St. Mary’s County Commission on Women Lifetime Achievement Award 2010

1932 –

Everlyn Swales Holland was born in St. Mary’s County in 1932. The schools were segregated at that time, and when she graduated from  Benjamin Banneker High School in 1949, there were only eleven grades in the one high school open to Black students. She started working at the age of 11, washing dishes at Leonard Hall School for Boys, and never stopped working until she retired in 1998 from a 40 year nursing career at St. Mary’s Hospital. In the early days, the hospital was segregated and she tended to the patients crowded into the wing for African Americans. Over time she worked in all areas, including Pediatrics and the Emergency Room. At a time when there was a dire shortage of nurses at the hospital, she helped create and raise funds for the Louise Bush Scholarship fund. Scholarships were given to encourage student nurses to complete their studies and return to St. Mary’s County to work – a “grow your own” effort.

Her community service is both long and deep. She and her late husband Melvin worked with local and national citizen’s civil rights groups in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, including the NAACP and a local group called Citizen’s for Progress, promoting equity in education, business, and social services. Citizen’s for Progress members were involved in, among other things, voter registration drives. The group created a community center and started a credit union in Oakville, MD. They also published a cook book called 300 Years of Black Cooking in St. Mary’s County, which evolved through three editions and has been republished by the St. Mary’s County Library.

Ms. Holland served for over 30 years on the St. Mary’s Branch NAACP Education and Political Action Committees. She also served on several county boards including the Library Board; St. Aloysius St. Vincent DePaul Society; St. Mary’s County Social Services Board; and the Health Partners Clinic in Waldorf and St. Mary’s County. She served on the St. Mary’s County Board of Education’s Growth Management Committee. She was one of the founders of the St. Mary’s County Commission on Women and received a lifetime achievement award from the group in 2010.

In 1996 and 1997, Everlyn Holland was interviewed by Merideth Taylor as part of the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions (UCAC) Oral History Project. See links to  verbatim transcripts below. Of particular interest in the 1996 interview may be the extensive comments on her years as a nurse in the segregated St. Mary’s Hospital. In the 1997 interview, she shares her memories of life in St. Mary’s County during WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam wars and talks extensively about the national and local Civil Rights struggle, (including names of local leaders), the gains and losses of school desegregation, and community relations. She also touches on the subjects of religion and music.

Additional Resources

Everlyn Louise Holland – Oral History Interview (1st)

A log of the 1996 interviews (1 and 2) in which she discusses her childhood, living on a farm, topics include food, Christmas, attending St. Aloysius Church, visiting family in North Carolina, illness and home remedies, going to Banneker High School and her years as a nurse in the segregated St. Mary’s Hospital. Part of the Oral History Project of the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions (UCAC). Interviewer is Merideth Taylor. The interview is  part of the Slackwater Collection at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Everlyn Louise Holland – Oral History Interview  1997

A verbatim transcript of the 1997 interview with Everlyn Holland she shares her memories of life in St. Mary’s County during WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam wars and talks extensively about the national and local Civil Rights struggle, (including names of local leaders), the gains and losses of school desegregation, and community relations. She also touches on the subjects of religion and music.

Health Care and Home Remedies  – Reminiscing About the African American Experience  with Everlyn Swales Holland. A Youtube video created by UCAC  featuring African American.  Contributions. Ms. Holland, the nurse, remembers the health care and home remedies her mother would use. 1:57 minutes, transcript available.

Economics – Reminiscing About the African American Experience  with Everlyn Swales Holland.  A Youtube video created by UCAC featuring African American Contributions. Ms.  Holland talks about her first jobs and how her family made “ends meet” in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. 3:13 minutes, transcript available.

Morals and Values -Reminiscing About the African American Experience with Everlyn Swales Holland. A Youtube video created by UCAC featuring African American Contributions. Ms. Holland speaks to social and cultural difference. 2:10 minutes, transcript available.

Note:  The three videos listed above videos can be found on the UCAC website -Oral History Project.

300 Years of Black Cooking in St. Mary’s County  The Cookbook created by St. Mary’s County Library.