Gertrude Hodges, class of 1959, the first African American to graduate from the Johns Hopkins Hospital Training School for Nurses in Baltimore, is sharing her history and stories with young black nurses.

Hodges spoke Oct. 28 at a Black Student Nurses’ Association mixer, telling about 20 students, faculty and staff at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing about her experiences as a student and the future she sees for nurses.

In high school, Hodges ignored the advice of a guidance counselor, who questioned whether the nursing profession was open to blacks, and sent a letter inquiring whether Hopkins accepted “colored” nursing students.

“I didn’t care what anybody said,” Hodges said. “I knew I wanted to be a nurse since was 4 years old.”

After graduating in 1959, she went on to earn her master’s degree, and then began to teach nurses. She spent decades inspiring students at Baltimore City Community College — many from disadvantaged backgrounds — to work hard and achieve academic degrees in nursing. For these and other accomplishments, she recently was presented with a 2009 Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumna Award.

In thanks for her presentation, the BSNA gave Hodges a plaque inscribed with a quote from Harriet Tubman: “Every great dream begins with a dreamer.”

Hodges was the little girl who dreamed of being a nurse. Now she is the woman who has spent more than 40 years in the field, loving her career choice.

“I have never regretted going into nursing,” Hodges said.