Prudence Burns Burrell

alt=Surgical ward treatment at the 268th Station Hospital in 1944 with Prudence Burns on the left, standing next to Elcena Towncent and an unidentified nurse. Surgical ward treatment at the 268th Station Hospital in 1944 with Prudence Burns on the left, standing next to Elcena Towncent and an unidentified nurse.

Prudence Hathaway Burrell ( Burns; March 23, 1916 – February 29, 2012) was an African American nurse and author. During World War II, she served in the Army Nurse Corps in segregated hospitals, mainly in the Pacific theater. Her autobiography Hathaway, was published in 1997. Burrell continued to tell the story of African American nurses in the war throughout her life.

Early life and education Prudence Hathaway Burns was born in Mounds, Illinois on March 23, 1916. She grew up with a caretaker in Danville, Illinois. Burrell trained at the nursing school at a segregated hospital in Kansas City, General Hospital No. 2, and was certified as a registered nurse in 1939. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Army's quota of only 48 black nurses was lifted, and recruitment of African American nurses began nationwide. She eventually attained the rank of first lieutenant, but was technically not allowed to treat white troops. On October 15, 1943, she and her unit were stationed in Australia for six months before they were transferred to a hospital in Milne Bay, New Guinea. In May 1945, the hospital unit was transferred to the Philippines. After the war, Burrell continued to study at the University of Minnesota and graduated in 1951 with a bachelor's degree. She and her husband moved to Detroit and Burrell worked as a math teacher. Burrell wrote her memoir Hathaway, which was published in 1997. As of 2001, she had a list of about 80 nurses she had traced.