Della H. Raney
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Short description|African-American army nurse (1912–1987)}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Della H. Raney
| image = Capt. Della H. Raney, Army Nurse Corps, who now heads the nursing staff at the station hospital at Camp Beale, CA - NARA - 535942.jpg
| caption = Raney in 1945
| image_upright = 1.25
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1912|01|10}}
| birth_place = Suffolk, Virginia, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1987|10|23|1912|01|10}}
| death_place =
| allegiance = United States
| branch = United States Army
| serviceyears = 1941–1978
| rank = Major
| unit = Army Nurse Corps
| battles = World War II
| awards = Good Conduct Medal
Women’s Army Corps Service Medal
WWII Victory Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
American Campaign Medal
| laterwork =
| spouse =
}}
Della Hayden Raney (January 10, 1912 – October 23, 1987) was an American nurse in the Army Nurse Corps. Raney was the first African American nurse to report for duty in World War II and the first to be appointed chief nurse. In 1944, she became the first black nurse affiliated with the Army Air Corps promoted to captain, and she was later promoted to major in 1946. Raney retired from the Army in 1978.
Biography
Della H. Raney was born on January 10, 1912, in Suffolk, Virginia.{{Cite web|title=Maj. Della H. Raney|url=https://www.army.mil/africanamericans/profiles/raney.html|website=African Americans in the U.S. Army|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123052538/https://www.friendsoftuskegeeairmennhs.org/airmen-pilot-support-staff.html|archive-date=23 January 2021}} She graduated from the Lincoln Hospital School of Nursing in 1937.{{cite web | title=Those Who Supported the Airmen -The Tuskegee Airmen Nurses| website=Friends of Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site|url=https://www.friendsoftuskegeeairmennhs.org/airmen-support-team |date=21 October 2022}} At Lincoln, she worked as an operation supervisor and before enlisting in the military had also worked at the Community Hospital of Norfolk, Virginia, and at the K.B. Reynolds Hospital in Winston-Salem.
In April 1941, Raney reported for duty and was the first African American nurse to serve in the Army Nurse Corps in World War II.{{Cite book|last=Kodosky|first=Robert J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHXADwAAQBAJ&q=%22della+h+raney%22&pg=PA126|title=Tuskegee in Philadelphia: Rising to the Challenge|publisher=The History Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-4671-4467-4|location=Charleston, South Carolina|pages=126|language=en}} Raney, commissioned as a second lieutenant, was first stationed at Fort Bragg, where she worked as a nursing supervisor. The next year, she was transferred to the Tuskegee Army Air Field Station Hospital. Raney worked as the chief nurse there and was promoted to captain in 1944.{{Cite journal|date=April 1944|title=Negro Nurses|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaacYlvOuRsC&q=%22della+h+raney%22&pg=RA5-PA8|journal=National Negro Health News|volume=12|issue=2|pages=7|via=Google Books}} Also in 1944, she was transferred to Fort Huachuca.{{Cite web|title=Della Hayden Raney (Jackson)|url=https://www.awfdn.org/trailblazers/della-hayden-raney-jackson/|website=Army Women's Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=May 17, 2020}} At the time, she was the only black woman to earn that rank and work for the Army Air Forces. In 1946, she was on terminal leave from Camp Beale where she worked as head nurse.{{Cite news|date=July 13, 1946|title=Only Negress With Rank of Major Visits Sacramento|pages=2|work=The Sacramento Bee|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51472459/the-sacramento-bee/|access-date=May 17, 2020|via=Newspapers.com}} Raney was also promoted to the rank of major that year. She was the first black nurse promoted to the rank of major in the US Army. In the 1950s, she was stationed at the Percy Jones Army Medical Hospital.{{Cite news|date=February 16, 1951|title=Major Della H. Raney|pages=2|work=Alabama Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51471461/alabama-tribune/|access-date=May 17, 2020|via=Newspapers.com}} Raney served in the Army until her retirement in 1978.
She was honored for her service by the Tuskegee Airmen in 1978. Fellow soldiers called her "Maw Raney."
On October 23, 1987, Raney died. The Tuskegee Airmen and the National Black Nurses Association created a scholarship named after her in 2012.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{commons category-inline}}
- [https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgdqYWNrc29uEgVkZWxsYQ--/ Arlington National Cemetery]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raney, Della H.}}
Category:African-American nurses
Category:United States Army Nurse Corps officers
Category:People from Suffolk, Virginia
Category:African Americans in World War II
Category:Female United States Army personnel
Category:Military personnel from Virginia
Category:20th-century African-American women
Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
Category:United States Army personnel of World War II
Category:United States Army Air Forces officers