National activist organizations, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, working in collaboration with Black health professional organizations pushed hard to secure opportunities for service in WWI for African American health professionals. Barriers began to fall, but were most pronounced for Black nurses. Additionally the War effort increased financial support for health professions education for Black nursing, dental and medical students and reduced the required curricular time to graduation thus increasing the total number of Black health professions students trained during the mid-to late 1940s.

Objectives

1. Discuss the effort to increase recruitment and service of black physicians and dentists in World War II
2. Discuss the effort to increase recruitment and service of black nurses in World War II
3. Discuss the impact of the US Cadet Nurses Corps on opening up nurses training schools and job opportunities for black students and graduate nurses
4. Discuss the role of the Julius Rosenwald Fund, the NAACP and other leadership organizations on the racial integration of the Armed Forces