Rosslee Tenetha Green Douglas papers

Rosslee Tenetha Green Douglas (1928-2011) was born to Rozenia and Anglin Green in Florence County, South Carolina. Green's youth was spent in Charleston, South Carolina, with her education at the Buist School and the Avery Institute, (high school division). Green initially focused on a nursing career, completing her training at Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana in 1948, and the Lincoln School for Nurses, New York. During her time at Lincoln, she met and married Earl Walton Douglas in 1952. After graduation, Green Douglas worked as a nurse at the New York City Department of Hospitals, and as a Visiting Nurse and Supervisor of Nursing at Brookdale and Bedford Hospitals in Brooklyn, New York.

Green Douglas returned to South Carolina in 1969 and graduated with honors from the College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina (M.U.S.C) in 1972, becoming the first African-American graduate. She served as an administrator for the Franklin Fetter Family Health Center, where she established the regulations to license home health care agencies in South Carolina. Green Douglas was appointed by South Carolina Governor James B. Edwards to the State Industrial Commission in 1978, also becoming the first African-American to serve in that capacity.

Douglas was sworn in as Director of the Office of Minority Economic Impact, United States Department of Energy (DOE), on May 29, 1981. She became the Ronald Reagan Administration's first African-American female appointee, responsible for implementation of Executive Order 12320 signed on September 15, 1981, title "Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)." The order required federal agencies to significantly increase HBCU participation in federally sponsored programs. As director, Green Douglas helped establish a minority bank development program and provided financial aid to African-American colleges and universities. In 1984, President Reagan appointed her to serve on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission, established to plan the January 1986 celebration. In 1985, Green Douglas was appointed by the Secretary of Energy to serve on the Health and Human Services Family Violence Committee. She returned to Charleston in 1986 and served as a volunteer nurse at a clinic for the homeless and eventually as an administrator for the Women's Information Children's Program, established by the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

In recognition of her lifetime achievements, Green Douglas was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1985. Dr. Green Douglas passed away November 27, 2011 in Walterboro, South Carolina.

SOURCES:

University of South Carolina Libraries, "Rosslee Tenetha Green Douglas papers, 1938-2001." (http://library.sc.edu/socar/mnscrpts/rtgd.html), 2003, 2005, accessed 21 May 2014

Waring Historical Library. "Opening Doors: Rosslee Tenetha Green Douglas, R.N., Women at the Medical University of South Carolina." (http://waring.library.musc.edu/exhibits/MUSCwomen/Douglas.php), 2011, accessed 21 May 2014