She ‘paved the way for us’: Arlington’s first Black nurse honored in Juneteenth celebration
Every morning in high school, Margaret Taylor would wake up early to ride a bus 13 miles from her home in Arlington to Fort Worth’s segregated I.M. Terrell High School in Fort Worth.
Years later, Taylor continued her routine of early mornings, this time as the city’s first Black nurse in the city of Arlington. Taylor would wake up at 5:30 a.m. to start her day at Arlington Memorial hospital, today known as Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, where she worked for almost 50 years.
“You had in your plan that Sister Taylor would break a barrier that needed to be broken,” said the Rev. James P. Thompson of Arlington’s Mt. Olive Baptist Church said during a prayer. “You chose the person that was able to handle it with integrity and with spiritual guidance of your leadership.”
Taylor, 82, was recognized by local officials and Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital in a ceremony Monday for her historic work. Taylor was joined by friends, family, and former colleagues at the hospital where she worked her entire career. Taylor was one of dozens of students who left Arlington to continue their education while schools remained segregated. Some students were charged a fee to take the bus, plus an additional fee to attend school in Fort Worth. Because of these barriers, “few of Arlington’s Black students continued their education beyond the eighth grade until the late 1960s,” according to a report completed for the city of Arlington and the Texas Historical Commission. The Arlington school district was forced to integrate its schools in 1965.
After graduating from Terrell in 1957, Taylor attended a new, one-year nursing program at Arlington Memorial Hospital. When she graduated in 1967 and began working, she was the city’s first Black nurse in its history, according to the Arlington Historical Society.
“I have much love, respect and honor for you for paving the way for us in 1967,” said Janet Hicks, a longtime friend and former colleague of Taylor.
Former colleagues recalled Taylor’s bright smile, fast walk, and crisp, white uniform. She kept her uniform spotless, she said, by scrubbing her shoelaces and polishing her white shoes every Sunday, before her work week started.
Despite Taylor’s historic work in Arlington, her loved ones said they didn’t learn about the significance of her achievements until they became adults. Taylor typically avoided from drawing attention to herself, they said.
“Even though this moment is celebrating her, she’s not making this moment about her,” said Rev. Patrick Taylor, Taylor’s son. “That’s just who she is.”
Tayla Vaughn, 31, said she didn’t learn about her grandmother’s history until she was in her 20s. The two have worked to preserve Black history in Arlington by contributing their memories to the Arlington Black History Community Archive, a project of the Arlington Public Library System.
The ceremony was organized in recognition of Juneteenth, commemorating the announcement on June 19, 1865, that proclaimed the freedom of slaves in Texas, almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
The holiday has a long history in Fort Worth. Longtime city resident Opal Lee campaigned for decades to make Juneteenth a national holiday. Lee earned her nickname as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” when the day was officially declared a federal holiday in 2021.
