Hilda Richards: Trailblazer at IU Northwest

By: Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant

In both academia and in the nursing profession, Hilda Richards was a trailblazer. Richards, the first African American chancellor in the entire IU system, helped to promote diversity and equal opportunities at Indiana University Northwest. Richards used her career experiences in the nursing field to expand and enrich opportunities available for students at IU Northwest and throughout the entire IU system.

Early Life and Education

Born on February 7, 1936, in St. Joseph, MO, Richards grew up in a variety of places across the United States. Her parents, Rose Avalynne “Lynne” and Togar Ballard separated when she was a child; she spent part of her early childhood in Hutchins, KS, and in Chicago, IL with her father.

In the early 1940s, doctors told Rose Avalynne that her daughter needed to live in a more suitable climate for her health, so the pair relocated to Hawaii soon afterwards. In 1949, they moved to Sunflower, KS, after Richards’ mother remarried.

Lynne earned a degree in mortuary science and she had strong opinions and high hopes for her daughter’s education. In an interview, Richards reflected that, “Mother believed in a good Catholic education, and she did not believe in a segregated education.”[1]

However, the area near Sunflower, KS did not have integrated Catholic schools. To gain a high school education, Richards and her mother moved to St. Louis where she worked as a companion and server at dinner parties to an elderly white woman, earning under ten dollars a week. She attended Rosati-Kain High School, the first Catholic high school in St. Louis to be integrated. Here, Richards excelled; she took part in many extracurricular activities like Latin club and graduated fourth out of 123 students in 1953.”[2]

Inspired by her mother to greatly value education, Richards wanted to attend college and pursue a career in the medical profession. However, the United States was still deeply segregated at the time, making this dream more challenging to turn into reality. While in high school, Richards met a representative from St. John’s School of Nursing.

Despite applying to the program and scoring well on tests, the Mother Superior of the college would only admit Richards if she pretended to be Mexican because there had never been a Black student at the college and the administration feared that white parents would react poorly. Richards plainly stated, “I have been Negro for seventeen years. If my parents find out that now I am something else they would be very upset.” [3]

Richards did not let this setback affect her. Instead, she persevered and applied to St. John’s sister school in Springfield, MO and was accepted. Richards’ two years in Springfield were turbulent; this area was one of the most infamously racist areas in the United States and the discrimination she experienced made her want to leave college.

Nuns on the campus contacted the Mother Superior of the St. John’s School of Nursing and Richards was able to finish her degree at her original choice. She graduated in 1956 and became the first Black woman to graduate from St. John’s School of Nursing.

A Groundbreaking Career in Nursing and Academia

After graduation, Richards moved to New York City where she worked as a psychiatric nurse at Payne Whitney Hospital; she was one of the first Black nurses at that institution.  Almost a year later, Richards joined City Hospital’s new psychiatric facility, where she later became the adolescent psychiatric unit’s head nurse. [4]

She continued her education at Hunter College in New York, where she earned her bachelor of science degree in nursing education in 1961.[5] After then worked  towards her master’s of education degree in psychiatric nursing at Columbia University, which she earned in 1965.  In 1981, Richards returned to Columbia University to earn her doctorate of education.

Community Work

Despite being busy with coursework, Richards found time to volunteer at the Harlem Rehabilitation Center, a holistic mental health treatment center where in addition to treatment, people obtained vocational jobs.[6]

By the mid-to-late 1960s, the civil rights movement became the impetus for many new organizations. In 1969, Richards joined the New York chapter of the Black Nurses Association, before the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) had even fully formed.

She helped organize the chapter into the national organization, NBNA, which formed in 1971. Richards was one of many members of the NBNA that recognized the failings of the health care system for Black people and sought to improve it by banning together with other Black nurses.

Richards became a member in the national organization in 1973, a national board member in 1974, and served in several core leadership roles throughout the next few decades, including as first vice president in 1984 and parliamentarian in 1998. Richards served as the eighth president in the organization’s history from 1999 to 2003.[7] She helped make the National Black Nurses Association visible, by advocating for the creation of the Journal of the National Black Nurses Association in 1985, increasing scholarships, and facilitating partnerships between the organization and other associations and companies. [8]

Transitioning from Nursing to Academia: Coming to Indiana University

Six years after earning her first master’s degree, Richards earned a master’s of public administration degree in health administration from New York University in 1971.[9] The following year, the Medgar Evers College of Brooklyn began a nursing program, with Richards as the chairman of the health sciences division. The college began in 1971 and had 2,600 full time students by 1974.

Richards became a leader in high education when she went to Ohio University in 1979 and was appointed dean of the College of Health and Human Services; not only was she its first Black academic dean, she was also the first female academic dean.[10] She remained in this role for seven years until she went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

In 1993, IU President Thomas Ehrlich appointed Richards as chancellor of IU Northwest, and Richards promptly moved to Gary, IN.[11]

Ehrlich noted that Richards’ enthusiasm, experience at urban colleges, and leadership qualities made her especially well-equipped for the position.[12] Her appointment as chancellor filled the leadership void that IU Northwest had after former Chancellor Peggy Gordon Elliott resigned in 1992 to be appointed the president of the University of Akron.[13] In her role as chancellor, Richards yet again broke the mold: she became the first African American chancellor in the entire IU System.

Dedicated to improving the IUN campus and its offerings, Richards used innovative techniques to help meet the diverse needs of the region. During her six-year tenure, she expanded IU Northwest’s teaching goals to include the nearby towns of Merrillville and Portage, allowed for more flexible scheduling of classes, and even encouraged the creation of Swingshift College, a program at IUN that allowed shift workers and adult learners to attend class once a week and twice a day for convenience and ease.

Moreover, Chancellor Richards improved campus accessibility by expanding the child care center, the student activities center, and the health education building. During this time Richards established scholarships for minority students.[14] Chancellor Richards’ tenure at IUN expanded the accessibility of a college education to those from all walks of life.

Chancellor Richards stepped down from IUN in 1999. Her tenure helped IU Northwest blossom into one of the most diverse campuses in northwest Indiana and beyond. [15]

Her Legacy

After retirement, Richards has remained active in her community. She moved to Chicago in 2000, where she became an Aids Foundation of Chicago (AFC) board member. Richards reflected that, “There are things in my life that made me feel connected to AFC. AIDS didn’t come out until the 1980s, but I was born a long time before that. I knew people very close to me who, had they lived that long, [may] have had AIDS. I’m just so close to the issue.”[16]

In addition to her volunteer work with the AFC, she volunteered with hospice and as a docent at the Art Institute of Chicago. Demonstrating her continued dedication to higher education, she enrolled in coursework at the University of Chicago.[17]

Richards has received many awards throughout her lifetime. Medgar Evers College, where she chaired the nursing program and worked as an associate dean of academic affairs, awarded her an honorary doctorate in 2005.  In 1994 she received the Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion, an award bestowed upon people who have exhibited “meritorious national or international service to Indiana University.”[18] Most recently, Richards was awarded the IU bicentennial medal in 2019, awarded to individuals who have broadened the reach of Indiana University. [19]

Bibliography

1. “Exiting Chancellor Stressed Diversity,” The Times, 01 July 1999.
2. “Hilda Richards.” In Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 49. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2005. Gale In Context: Biography.
3. “Hilda Ballard Richards ’53: Inspiring a New Generation,” R-K Today, no. 103, Fall 2018, 8-9.
4. “Honoree: Hilda Richards,” Indiana University Honors & Awards.
5. Indiana University Board of Trustees. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 13 June 1992
6. Indiana University Board of Trustees. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 07 May 1993.
7. “New IUN Chancellor Appointed: 1^st African-American woman in post,” The Times, 08 May 1993, pg. B1-B2.
8. “Nursing Program at Medgar Evers College Is Given Full Accreditation,” The New York Times, 03 November 1974.
9. “Retiring AFC Board member blazed trails for Black women in health care and academia,” Aids Foundation of Chicago, 09 March 2016.
10. “Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion,” Indiana University Honors & Awards,

Notes

[1] “Hilda Richards.” In Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 49. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2005. Gale In Context: Biography (accessed December 3, 2019). https://link-gale-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/apps/doc/K1606003044/BIC?u=iuclassb&sid=BIC&xid=67e8867e.

[2] “Hilda Ballard Richards ’53: Inspiring a New Generation,” R-K Today, no. 103, Fall 2018, pg. 8-9. URL: https://rosati-kain.org/sites/rosatikain/files/57395_rktoday_cx_web.pdf.

[3] “Hilda Richards.” In Contemporary BlackBlack Biography. Vol. 49. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2005. Gale In Context: Biography (accessed December 3, 2019). https://link-gale-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/apps/doc/K1606003044/BIC?u=iuclassb&sid=BIC&xid=67e8867e.

[4] “Hilda Richards.” In Contemporary BlackBlack Biography. Vol. 49. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2005. Gale In Context: Biography (accessed December 3, 2019). https://link-gale-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/apps/doc/K1606003044/BIC?u=iuclassb&sid=BIC&xid=67e8867e.

[5] “Hilda Ballard Richards ’53: Inspiring a New Generation,” R-K Today, no. 103, Fall 2018, pg. 8-9. URL: https://rosati-kain.org/sites/rosatikain/files/57395_rktoday_cx_web.pdf.

[6] “Retiring AFC Board member blazed trails for Black women in health care and academia,” Aids Foundation of Chicago, 09 March 2016, URL: https://www.aidschicago.org/page/inside-story/retiring-afc-board-member-blazed-trails-for-black-women-in-health-care-and-academia.

[7] “Hilda Richards.” In Contemporary BlackBlack Biography. Vol. 49. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2005. Gale In Context: Biography (accessed December 3, 2019). https://link-gale-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/apps/doc/K1606003044/BIC?u=iuclassb&sid=BIC&xid=67e8867e.

[8] “Hilda Richards.” In Contemporary BlackBlack Biography. Vol. 49. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2005. Gale In Context: Biography (accessed December 3, 2019). https://link-gale-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/apps/doc/K1606003044/BIC?u=iuclassb&sid=BIC&xid=67e8867e.

[9] “Hilda Richards.” In Contemporary BlackBlack Biography. Vol. 49. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2005. Gale In Context: Biography (accessed December 3, 2019). https://link-gale-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/apps/doc/K1606003044/BIC?u=iuclassb&sid=BIC&xid=67e8867e.

[10] “Hilda Richards.” In Contemporary BlackBlack Biography. Vol. 49. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2005. Gale In Context: Biography (accessed December 3, 2019). https://link-gale-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/apps/doc/K1606003044/BIC?u=iuclassb&sid=BIC&xid=67e8867e.

[11] “Hilda Richards.” In Contemporary BlackBlack Biography. Vol. 49. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2005. Gale In Context: Biography (accessed December 3, 2019). https://link-gale-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/apps/doc/K1606003044/BIC?u=iuclassb&sid=BIC&xid=67e8867e.

[12] “New IUN Chancellor Appointed: 1^st African-American woman in post,” The Times, 08 May 1993, pg. B1-B2. URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/310960629/?terms=%22Hilda%2Brichards%22.

[13] IU Trustee Minutes, 13 June 1992, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington, URL:  http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=1992-06-13.xml&chunk.id=d1e74&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e74&brand=iubot&text1=chancellor&text2=northwest&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=121#.

[14] “Exiting Chancellor Stressed Diversity,” The Times, 01 July 1999. URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/309422185/?terms=%22Hilda%2Brichards%22%2B%22indiana%2Buniversity%22.

[15] IU Trustee Minutes, 07 May 1999, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington, http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=1999-05-07.xml&chunk.id=d1e74&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e74&brand=iubot&text1=chancellor&text2=northwest&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=61#.

[16] “Retiring AFC Board member blazed trails for BlackBlack women in health care and academia,” Aids Foundation of Chicago, 09 March 2016, URL: https://www.aidschicago.org/page/inside-story/retiring-afc-board-member-blazed-trails-for-blackBlack-women-in-health-care-and-academia.

[17] “Retiring AFC Board member blazed trails for BlackBlack women in health care and academia,” Aids Foundation of Chicago, 09 March 2016, URL: https://www.aidschicago.org/page/inside-story/retiring-afc-board-member-blazed-trails-for-blackBlack-women-in-health-care-and-academia.

[18] “Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion,” Indiana University Honors & Awards, URL: https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/presidential/benton-medal.shtml.

[19] “Honoree: Hilda Richards,” Indiana University Honors & Awards, URL: https://honorsandawards.iu.edu/search-awards/honoree.shtml?honoreeID=981.