Mrs. Ludie Clay Andrews
1875 – 1969
Mrs. Ludie Andrews was born in 1875 in Milledgeville, Georgia, where she graduated from Eddy High School. She entered nurse training at MacVicar Hospital at Spellman Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated in 1906.
Following graduation, Ludie Andrews was hired as Superintendent of Lula Grove Hospital and Training School, an affiliate of the Atlanta School of Medicine. At Lula Grove Hospital, she was responsible for educating student nurses. When Emory University merged with Lula Grove Hospital, Ludie Andrews became superintendent of the Colored Department at Grady Hospital. Because of her superior skills in organization and nursing, Dr. W.B. Summerall acquired her expertise to organize the Municipal Training School for Colored Nurses.
Classes began, and three years later in 1917, the first class graduated. Ludie Andrews worked diligently to meet State requirements, and in 1917, the school was chartered and accredited. The 1920 class was the first to graduate from the accredited school.
Continuing to follow her dream, Ludie Andrews worked against tremendous odds for almost ten years to secure state registration for Black nurses in Georgia. The State offered her a license to conciliate her; however, she refused because other qualified Black nurses were not given the same opportunity. At her own expense, she initiated legal action against the Georgia State Board of Nurse Examiners.
Subsequently, in 1920, all Black nurses who graduated from an accredited schools of nursing in Georgia, were allowed to take the same State Board Examination for Registration as White nurses. She became the first Black Registered Nurse in Georgia.
Following her departure from Grady Hospital and the Municipal Training School for Colored Nurses, Ludie Andrews worked from 1922 until 1928 as Superintendent of the Morehouse College Infirmary. From 1928 until 1948, she was Superintendent of Morehouse-Spelman-Atlanta University Infirmary. She retired from active duty in 1948.
Ludie Andrews did not confine herself to activities of her profession. She worked with many worthy social, political, and religious, community organizations. Among her contributions are:
President of, and health teacher for neighborhood Union of Atlanta
Chairman of the Relief Committee of the Atlanta Tuberculosis Association.
Teacher of Health Education at Spellman-Morehouse summer school.
Member of State and Local Interracial Committees
Member of Y.M.C.A.
Trustee of the Atlanta Urban League
Mrs. Ludie Andrew’s life of service and dedication ended in January 1969. Truly an Angel of Mercy, she has appropriately been named the Dean of Georgia Black Nurses.
