A Collection of Grady Student Nurse Dolls

Name: A Collection of Grady Student Nurse Dolls Dressed by Verdelle Bellamy, MS, RN

Description: This installation documents 10 dolls (nine Black and one White) by various, mostly unknown makers, made in different years, dressed by Verdelle Bellamy, MS, RN, to portray the specific uniforms worn by student nurses enrolled in Grady Hospital’s nursing schools in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1917 through 1975. The main Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing was chartered in 1898 for Whites only. Grady Hospital Municipal Training School for Colored Nurses (MTSCN) was founded in 1917 as a separate training facility for Black students. The separate training programs for Black and White students continued until 1965. The lone White doll represents a circa 1949–1964 White student nurse of Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing.

1917–1934. A 17-1/2-inch tall vinyl doll with sleep eyes models a dark blue dress with a white collar, white cuffed sleeves, a white starched pinafore-style apron, a “puffy” or gathered white nurse cap, and white nurse shoes that replicate the uniform worn by Grady Hospital MTSCN students from 1917-1934. The caps were usually heavily starched to maintain their shape. The white eyeglasses are an additional accessory, not part of the required uniform.

1940–1948. The 11-inch vinyl doll on the right wears a pink uniform, a white floor-length apron, and the school’s hallmark “puffy” white cloth nurse’s cap to represent the 1940–1948 Grady Hospital MTSCN student nurse uniform. The glasses are an extra accessory.

1941. (Left) A 19-inch vinyl doll with sleep eyes models a light blue dress, a below-the-knee white apron, a white cloth puffy nurse cap, black stockings, and black shoes to represent the 1941 Grady Hospital MTSCN student nurse uniform.

1948–1949. On the right, the full-length pink dress, white apron, and white cap represent the uniform worn by Grady Hospital MTSCN student nurses during this one year. The model on the right is an approximately 14-inch circa 1930s Patsy-type composition doll with painted side-glancing eyes.

1949–1964. By this time, the Grady Hospital MTSCN student nurse uniform remained the same for several years. Black students wore a below-the-knee-length pink dress with a white pinafore apron, a white nurse cap, white stockings, and white shoes as illustrated on the left. The unknown doll model stands 19-1/2 inches and has brown sleep eyes.

1949-1964. White students who attended the Whites-only Grady Hospital School of Nursing wore the style uniform modeled by the circa 1930s composition Patsy-type doll on the right. The nursing pin on the doll’s collar was first used in 1964. The white circular area of the pin reads: Grady Memorial Hospital Atlanta. The blue area on the same pin reads: School of Nursing Chartered 1898. The doll wears a second pin that reads “Home Nursing” and has a red cross symbol within a square above and to the left of the wording. View the slideshow below for additional photos.

1964–1969. This doll represents the blue chambray uniform worn by student nurses when White and Black students trained in the desegregated Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing.  A typewritten label attached to the lower skirt of this doll’s dress reads: Grady Memorial Hospital Student Nurse 1964–69. The dress label matches the doll’s object card. Missing its nurse cap, this doll wears a light-blue knee-length dress and a white pinafore-style apron with white slip-on shoes. The doll model is Mattel’s 11-1/2-inch Julia doll (1971–1972) that represents the nurse role played by Diahann Carroll in the TV series Julia, which aired from 1968–1971.

1964–1969. The doll on the right represents the pink uniform worn by student nurses in the combined Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing. The dress is worn underneath a white pinafore-style apron. A white nurse cap, the usual white stockings, and white nurse shoes complete this standardized uniform. Vogue’s 11-inch Littlest Angel models this uniform.

1969. The doll on the left models a replica of the Grady Memorial School of Nursing uniform worn by Black and White nursing students in 1969. A belted blue dress with a pleated bodice, a white pointed collar, and white-cuffed, three-quarter-length sleeves is worn with white stockings and white slip-on shoes. The “puffy” nurse cap remained part of the uniform. Standing 14-1/2 inches tall with brown sleep eyes, the doll model is Jill by Vogue.

1975. The male doll represents Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing’s first Black male nurse graduate, Richard Charles Bonhart. Mr. Bonhart graduated on June 6, 1975. The uniform includes a white short-sleeved shirt with a point collar and button closure, white pants, and black shoes. The wire-rimmed eyeglasses are an added accessory. Olmec’s 11-1/2-inch Menelik is the 1975 male nursing student uniform model.

Other: Grady Hospital’s Municipal Training School for Colored Nurses played a vital role in educating African American women who went on to serve their communities with skill and dedication during the mid-twentieth century. These uniforms symbolized professionalism, discipline, and resilience at a time when Black nurses were essential to public health yet faced limited opportunities due to racial segregation.

While working as a nursing instructor at Grady Hospital in 1962, Verdelle Bellamy was recruited to enroll at Emory College of Nursing, becoming one of the first two Black students. Allie Saxon was the other recruited Black student. Verdelle Bellamy, MS, RN, graduated in 1963. She became “a national nursing icon and Georgia nursing leader” (Auchmutey). These 10 dolls, which she meticulously dressed with special attention to detail, were acquired in June 2011 from Ms. Bellamy by Mary Dixon Smith, who, in 2001, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, was the historian for the National Conclave of Grady Graduate Nurses (NCGGN). The NCGGN is an organization of professional nurse graduates of the Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia. It has a long history of hosting and collaborating on historical exhibits and holds an extensive collection of historical Grady graduate nurse artifacts.

At the age of 88, Verdelle Bellamy, MS, RN, died in 2015. This collection of dolls was later purchased by a retired pharmacist at a flea market in Atlanta from a vendor, who found them in an abandoned storage locker.  The current owner believes the dolls may have been on display at Grady Hospital in 1982 for its 100th Anniversary.

Slideshow (Photos and descriptions are courtesy of a retired pharmacist and nurse memorabilia collector.)

References:

Auchmutey, Pam. “Opening Doors for Others.” Emory Nursing Magazine, Fall 2015, Emory University, https://emorynursingmagazine.emory.edu/issues/2015/fall/alumni_news/opening-doors/index.html. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026.

Auchmutey, Pam. “Tribute: Verdelle Bellamy 63MN: Nursing Pioneer Helped Integrate Emory.” Emory Magazine, Summer 2015, Emory University, https://magazine.emory.edu/issues/2015/summer/register/tribute-bellamy/index.html. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026.

“Grady Student Uniform.” The National Conclave of Grady Graduate Nurses, https://ncggn.org/index.php/grady-student-uniform. Accessed 25 Jan. 2026.

“National Conclave of Grady Graduate Nurses Collection.” AARL Archival Collection, Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, Fulton County Library System, https://www.fulcolibrary.org/aarl/aarl-archival-collection/. Accessed 27 Jan. 2026.

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