Black History Fact Of The Day

Red, Black & Green Elsie Law LogoRuth Carol Taylor became the first African-American flight attendant in the United States. She is also a registered nurse and a journalist. In 1955, she graduated from the Bellevue School of Nursing.

On February 11, 1958, she was on a flight from Ithaca to New York City as America’s first Black stewardess. Approximately six months later, she was forced to resign from her flight attendant job due to her marital status. When she got married, she violated a rule that demanded that flight attendants remain single. Carol Taylor later admitted she only had interest in being a flight attendant to combat racism which said that she couldn’t before she was Black.

In 1977, Carol Taylor returned to nursing. She also created the “Racism Quotient,” a test to measure racist attitudes. Also, in 1985, she penned, “The Little Black Book: Black Male Survival In America.”

[Bibliography: BlackPast.org]

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