Recognizing a woman trailblazer
The Pettis County NAACP, Sedalia Business Women (SBW) and Bothwell Regional Health Center will honor local community activist Lauretta Emerson for her contributions to Sedalia and Pettis County at 1:30 pm Aug. 8 in the Bothwell Hospital lobby. The event is open to the public.
SBW past president Dianne Simon said a large portrait of Emerson and a plaque will be hung in the lobby as part of SBW’s effort to recognize women trailblazers in the community.
“We celebrated our 100th anniversary last year and recognized Judge Hazel Palmer by rehanging her portrait at the Pettis County Courthouse,” Simon said. “It’s fitting to hang Lauretta’s portrait at the hospital because she began her nursing career in Sedalia.”
Emerson, now 96, arrived in Sedalia from Texas in 1951 as a 22-year-old and became Sedalia’s first Black nurse and superintendent of City Hospital #2, Sedalia’s hospital for Blacks. She worked at City Hospital #2 until it closed in 1956 and then was a Registered Nurse at Whiteman Air Force Base for 31 years. She later worked part-time for two years at Bothwell Regional Health Center.
During her career, Emerson served 13 years on the Sedalia City Council and 14 years on the Sedalia Police Personnel Board. She also was a member of the Pettis County NAACP, the Minority Health Advisory Committee on AIDs, and Pettis County Community Partnership. She earned her funeral director’s license and was on the board of Alexander May Funeral Home. Emerson volunteered for 40 years with the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, and in 1997, she was named the Sedalia Area Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year. She also raised five children with her late husband, Melvin “Pete” Emerson.
Lori Wightman, Bothwell CEO, said Emerson’s contributions to equal access to quality health care are significant and worth recognizing.
“In a time when legalized health care racial segregation was still in place, Lauretta worked tirelessly at City Hospital #2 for years serving her community, oftentimes in less-than-ideal conditions,” she said. “She was given a room when she first started and was on call 24 hours a day. She was the only nurse there until it closed in 1956, and then spent the rest of her career continuing to care for people at Whiteman and in Sedalia.”
Emerson made her mark in Sedalia’s and Bothwell’s history books when she walked into John H. Bothwell Memorial Hospital nine months pregnant and in active labor with her third child in August 1955.
“At that time, Blacks weren’t routinely admitted to the hospital and no Black babies had been born there,” Wightman said. “Lauretta wanted her baby to be born in a safe place and she knew she couldn’t be turned away.”
On Aug. 1, 1955, Emerson gave birth to her daughter, Kay, who was the first Black baby born at Bothwell.
Simon said Emerson is a one-of-a-kind woman and it’s important to recognize her legacy.
“In her heyday, Lauretta was a force of nature,” she said. “Even at 96, she’s still a strong-willed woman full of convictions. We’re thrilled to honor her life and legacy in this small way.”
Bothwell Regional Health Center is located at 601 E. 14th St.