From barriers to breakthroughs: How CWRU educators have shaped the history of race and community-based care
A Western Reserve Historical Society exhibit explores the contributions of Black nurses—including how several Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing community members made a lasting impact on the profession.
At the Western Reserve Historical Society, a powerful exhibit titled “Race, Place and Community-Based Healthcare in Cleveland, Ohio, c. 1957 to Present” celebrates the contributions to an often overlooked—but deeply influential—part of the city’s healthcare history. Through photographs, artifacts, timelines and personal narratives, the exhibit traces how Black nurses, physicians and community leaders shaped access to care in Cleveland—and how their work continues to influence medicine today.
The exhibit, which runs through October, preserves stories that might otherwise get lost in history. APP’s Carolyn Harmon Still, PhD (GRS ’10, nursing; MGT ’16), associate professor and assistant dean of research at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, helped gather materials and shape the narrative. To her, the exhibit’s greatest impact lies in its ability to reveal rapidly forgotten history.
“What the exhibit is trying to convey is some of the history that is foreseen to be lost and not told, especially regarding medicine and nursing,” she said. “Many visitors leave surprised by what they learn in the exhibit; the first thing they say is, ‘wow, I didn’t know this happened.’”
The School of Nursing community will see some familiar faces in the exhibit. Significantly, several figures from Case Western Reserve’s School of Nursing are prominently featured, including Dean Emeritus May Wykle, PhD (NUR ’62, ’69; GRS ’81, education), the first Black dean of the nursing school, and Faye Gary, EdD, Medical Mutual of Ohio Kent W. Clapp chair and professor of nursing. Their presence underscores the school’s longstanding leadership in advancing diverse perspectives and backgrounds in the profession, as well as commitments to community engagement and improving health outcomes for all.
Still emphasized their importance as role models. “These women are more than deserving to be recognized; they have mentored so many people of color to achieve above and beyond. It’s so valuable for people coming behind them to see how they overcame obstacles and persevered—and then came back to teach others.”
Upon entering the exhibit, visitors are greeted with the symbolism of the Sankofa bird, which serves as a reminder to look back to move forward, before exploring the progression of early nursing pioneers through modern community care initiatives. The exhibit includes historical nursing figurines, archival images of segregated classrooms and special pieces of history, including a ceremonial nursing cape. It also highlights the critical role of Cleveland nurses in founding the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) in 1971, which was established to address the lack of Black nurses in mainstream healthcare and issues of racism in the profession.
“There’s a lot of history here in Cleveland, with the first chapter of the NBNA being founded here,” Still says. “Other organizations were not totally inclusive, and these nurses recognized the need for a group that represented their voice. These nurses were true trailblazers; they faced so many roadblocks, but they continued to be advocates for themselves and the profession.”
Beyond honoring the past, the exhibit carries a forward-looking message. It challenges visitors to consider their own role in supporting nurses and strengthening community health systems. In preserving stories of resilience, advocacy and innovation, the exhibit does more than document history: it connects Cleveland’s healthcare past to its future.
“The goal is to take a look back at history and absorb it,” Still says. “There’s a trickle-down effect from the work of our predecessors. Ask yourself how this knowledge can help us develop pathways to make nursing even better, and what you can do to support nurses as they continue helping those most in need.”
