3 health care heroes from Hennepin History Museum s new exhibit February 19, 2021 3:05pm Text size Copy shortlink:
Frances McHie Rains
Thiede s favorite story in the exhibit: Frances McHie applied to the University of Minnesota School of Nursing in 1929. Because she was Black, the school rejected her application. McHie brought the issue to the Minnesota Legislature, which voted that she should be enrolled in the school. Three years later, she graduated at the top of her class. She also went on to break color barriers across the country, Thiede said. She was not only a nurse, but obviously an activist. She was an educator. She was the first Black nursing supervisor at Minneapolis General Hospital and later worked in cities across the United States. She married Dr. Horace Rains in 1951 and settled down in California, where she continued to break barriers in medicine and work in community service.