Estelle Massey Osborne

Estelle Massey Riddle Osborne (May 3, 1901 – December 12, 1981) was an African American nurse and educator. She served in many prominent positions and worked to eliminate racial discrimination in the nursing field.

Early life and education Estelle Massey was born in Palestine, Texas in 1901, the eighth of eleven children. Despite being uneducated and working in menial jobs, her parents, Hall and Bettye Estelle Massey, sent all of their children to college. She joined the first nursing class of St. Louis City Hospital #2 (later Homer G. Phillips Hospital), and became a head nurse there after graduating in 1923. She attended summer sessions at Teachers College, Columbia University, and eventually attended as a full-time student with the aid of a scholarship from the Rosenwald Fund. She received a bachelor's degree in 1930, and a master's in nursing education in 1931, becoming the first African American to do so.

She married Dr. Bedford N. Riddle in 1932. working to change discriminatory policies. By the end of World War II, 20 new nursing schools had begun admitting black students, the Cadet Nurse Corps had inducted 2,000 black members, and bans on black nurses had been rescinded by both the Army and Navy.

Organization memberships Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority President of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN), 1934–1939 American Nurses Association Board of Directors (ANA's first black elected official), 1948–1952 ANA delegate to the International Council of Nurses, 1949 American Nurses Association Hall of Fame, 1984 Chi Eta Phi Omicron Chapter honorary life membership She had no children.