Anna DeCosta Banks, RN

Anna DeCosta Banks, RN, was born in Charleston in 1869 and educated in that city's public schools. After graduating from the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia, she entered the Dixie Hospital at Hampton for her nurse training and became one of the first graduates of the school. After working for the Dixie Hospital for two years as head nurse, she returned to Charleston. In 1898 she became the first head nurse of the Hospital and Training School for Nurses and years later became superintendent of nurses. She dedicated her entire life to nursing. When she died in 1930, she received the following tribute: "All ages, classes, races, called her blessed."