Myrtle M. Patten
Health Pioneer – Calvert County’s First Public Health Nurse
(1895 – 1983)
Myrtle M. Patten RN, was Calvert County’s first public health nurse. Fresh out of nurses’ training in 1927, she emerged a as pivotal figure in Calvert health care between 1927 and the 1970’s. She was responsible for much of the care for the African American community. Myrtle had immeasurable impact on the lives of African American families in Calvert County. Testimonials reveal that her tireless dedication and unwavering service was unmatched.
As a scholarship student she received her basic nurse training in Boston, Massachusetts and public health training in New York City. She is described as nurse, midwife, emergency medical technician, dental assistant, and counselor. She visited the homes of African American families, delivered babies, did well-baby checks, vaccinated preschoolers and inoculated farmers and laborers for smallpox and tuberculosis. She kept the school census. When she retired, her position ended.
Patten worked for Calvert Hospital when it was segregated. Many African American Calvert women tell stories of doctors turning over the delivery of their babies to Ms. Patten in the hospital or she would deliver the babies in their homes.
She was a courageous pioneer, always seeking to improve her nursing skills. On January 31, 1933, The Baltimore Afro-American newspaper reported her as one of two Black nurses taking courses with 50 white State nurses at the Institute of Public Health Hygiene Johns Hopkins Hospital. The caption states that she and Marjorie A. Porte, RN from Chestertown, were the only two African American nurses in the state of Maryland.
Education was important to her. Pupil enrollment increased sharply due to her influence. She told parents to send their children to school because, “Education was the only way out”, if they wanted a better life for their children.
Nurse Patten was born in 1895 in Georgia and died in 1983 at the age of 88 in a nursing home in Baltimore, Maryland. It is impossible to express the positive impact she had on the Calvert community or what obstacles she had to face and overcome. Myrtle Patten had a passion for exceptional health care and making a difference in every life she touched.
Additional Resources
Inspiring African American Women of Calvert County, Sponsored by the Friends of Calvert Library, 2017. Book.
Taking Courses at Johns Hopkins Afro- American (1893-1988) Jan 21,1933; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Baltimore Afro-American pg1.
Event, exhibit, book honor inspiring black women of Calvert | Local News | somdnews.com
Goddard, Richlyn F. (1995). Persistence, perseverance and progress: History of African American Schools in Calvert County, Maryland, 1865-1965. MD: Maryland Humanities Council. See Calvert Library, Photo
CalvertHealth – Beginning in 1927, Myrtle Patten served as the… | Facebook
Maryland Independent, Celebrate Our Past. Know our us Now. By Dean Teague, March 29, 2019 PressReader.com – Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions,
