Ernestine Small received her B.S. in Nursing from Tuskegee Institute in 1963. While at Tuskegee Institute, she was a member of Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society. She would later go on to receive her M.S. in Medical-Surgical Nursing from the Catholic University of America. Prior to coming to UNCG, Ms. Small worked at Moses Cone Hospital as a staff nurse and for the United States Employment Service Professional Registry as a private Duty Nurse.
In 1967, Ms. Small made history at UNCG by joining the School of Nursing as the first minority faculty appointment. During her time at UNCG, she acted as an advisor to the Neo-Black Society and the Nu Rho chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. In 1989, she was the third recipient of UNCG’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Award. Ms. Small was also active in the North Carolina nursing community serving as the first African American president of the North Carolina Nurses Association (1979-1981) as well as being on the North Carolina Board of Nursing (1982-1985).
Entry by Lucy Mason, summer 2015 intern