By Bonitta Best
DURHAM – The W.A.R. Memorial Nurse Aide 1 Training Academy is opening a Licensed Certified Nursing Training School in Durham. The grand opening ceremony is July 8, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1217 Holloway Street, at the Old Agape Corners School.
W.A.R. are the initials of lifelong Durham resident Dr. William Alphonza Reeves, now deceased. His eldest daughter, Dr. Rona Reeves Tankard, and her husband, Dr. Perry Tankard, are the owners of the proprietary school sanctioned by the North Carolina Community College System.
William Reeves made history by becoming the first male nurse – Black or white – in North Carolina.
Reeves’ interest in the medical field began at Hillside High School in the late 1950s. The school sponsored a class that allowed Hillside graduates to enroll in a one-year program to become a Licensed Practical Nurse.
“During this era, men were not allowed to become nurses,” Jennifer Tankard Hobbs, Reeves’ oldest granddaughter, said.
Hobbs discovered her grandfather’s history-making accolade through nine years of researching their family tree, old newspaper articles and confirmation by Reeves’ class instructor, Adell Butts.
Reeves earned the respect of the entire Durham community, serving as a private duty nurse for Black and white upper class families. But he didn’t stop there. Upon his death in May 1989, he owned a funeral home and florist in East Durham.
The Nurse Aide I Training Academy allows the family to continue his legacy of community service.
“My father was a community person and used his resources to help many in the inner city that were down and out,” Tankard said. “He also helped many that were not able to afford to give their loves ones a decent burial. He was an extraordinary man, and a jack-of-all-trades and a master of many. I didn’t think that there was anything my dad could not do.”
Princess Reeves Platter, of Fort Washington, Maryland, will speak on behalf of their father.
“Our school will prepare the students to pass the CNA State Board test, encourage good work ethics as well as job placement,” Perry Tankard said. “We want to supply the medical field with good, quality nurse’s aides, great employees and good citizens of Durham.”
Other Durham Black history makers will be honored at the grand opening celebration. The late Ethel McCullum, who was the first Black head nurse at Duke University Hospital, will be represented by her daughter, Rita McCullum Smith.
Lizzie Shannon Kee, mother of gospel legend John P. Kee, is another honoree. Lizzie Kee worked at Duke Hospital scrubbing floors with nothing more than a toothbrush. Daughter Beverly Kee will speak on her behalf.
The public is invited to the celebration and to learn more about the training academy.
