Year Honored: 1988

Birth: 1921 - 2004

Born in: Pennsylvania

Biography

Jane E. Mitchell was the first registered nurse to be hired in a Delaware hospital. She attended Howard School in Wilmington, then Provident Hospital School of Nursing in Baltimore, before earning an RN and a bachelor’s in Nursing from the University of Delaware. Later, she completed a master’s degree from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.

Mitchell was hired by the Delaware State Psychiatric Hospital after her graduation. She served in a number of positions during her career there, including as Director of Nursing by the time she retired in 1979. She also served as Assistant Dean for Minority Recruitment and Counseling with the College of Nursing at the University of Delaware, as Vice President of the Delaware Nurses Association, and as a member and President of the Delaware State Board of Nursing.

In her free time, Mitchell volunteered with the AARP, the Henrietta Johnson Medical Center, the American Cancer Society, and Meals on Wheels.

Mitchell was married to Littleton Mitchell, a civil rights activist, Tuskegee Airman, and President of the NAACP for 30 years. The Delaware Historical Societies Center for African American Heritage is named in honor of the Mitchell’s. her other honors include Woman of the Year by the National Association of College Women (1969); Outstanding Negro Woman from the Sigma Rho Nursing Sorority (1970); NAACP Unsung Heroine Award; UD Medal of Merit; Delaware State Arts Council Award of Merit; and the Jane E. Mitchell Building at the Delaware Psychiatric Center (1998).
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Sources and Additional Readings

In Memoriam Jane E. Mitchell. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://www1.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2005/oct/mitchell111604.html

Littleton and Jane Mitchell Papers. Manuscript and Archival Collection Finding Aids. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://library.udel.edu/special/findaids/view?docId=ead%2Fmss0629.xml%3Bquery

Mitchell Center for African American Heritage. Delaware Historical Society. (2022, January 7). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://dehistory.org/visit/jane-and-littleton-mitchell-center-for-african-american-heritage/