Mary L. Petty

Biography

Mary Louise Petty (January 4, 1916 – September 14, 2001) was an American Army nurse and a pioneering figure in the racial integration of the United States Army Nurse Corps during World War II. She became the first African American nurse in the corps to achieve the rank of captain. In 1944, she was appointed to lead a nurse training program for Black women at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and in 1945, she commanded the first group of African American nurses deployed to serve in the European Theater. Petty’s leadership occurred during a national campaign led by civil rights groups to end racial exclusion in the military.

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