Nursing Hall of Fame

The Central San Joaquin Valley Nursing Hall of Fame inducted Fresno hospice pioneer Nancy L. Hinds (pictured far right) and Fresno City College nursing educator Dr. Carolyn C. Drake (pictured near right) at its fifth annual awards luncheon.

They join other nursing leaders recognized for their lifetime dedication and achievements in nursing with plaques in McLane Hall, which houses California State University, Fresno’s Department of Nursing.

The Hall of Fame was created in 2004. It is a collaborative project involving nursing leaders and sponsored by Fresno State’s College of Health and Human Services, the Nursing Leadership Council of the Central San Joaquin Valley; and the Mu Nu Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society.

Drake began her career more than 40 years ago as a nurse’s aide, becoming the first female African American to get a job other than domestic work in Orrville, Ohio, in 1964. She graduated from Akron (Ohio) City Hospital School of Nursing, and worked in private and public nursing before moving to California.

She later received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Fresno State and her Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from University of Southern California She began her teaching career at Fresno City College, where she became associate dean of instruction and nursing director in 1994, building the largest nursing program west of the Mississippi.

She is the founding president of the Central Valley Black Nurses Association. She has won the NAACP Image Award, the Rosa Parks Award, the Top 10 Business/Professional Women of the Year and numerous career awards. Drake also is a Wall of Honor inductee at the Fresno Black Heritage Museum.

Hinds, a pioneer in the care of the terminally ill in the U.S and authority in end-of-life care, also has enjoyed a four-decade nursing career that began in Ohio (Cleveland) and included work in the West Indies and Africa.

She began caring for the terminally ill in her home in 1980. Today, Hinds Hospice includes a home as well as outpatient services in Fresno, Madera and Merced counties, serving thousands of families.

She developed such other programs as the Center for Grief and Loss, Angel Babies and perinatal, pediatric, multicultural outreach and inmate hospice programs.

Hinds, who holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from St. John’s College in Cleveland, Ohio. She has received numerous honors, including the Pope John XXIII Award and the National Unsung Heroine Award from Mitsubishi Motors.

For more information about the Nursing Hall of Fame, contact Mary Barakzai at 559.278.3428 or maryb@csufresno.edu.