about zipporah
July 2021
Zipporah Parks Hammond was a Colorado pioneer of social change who, at an early age, knew she wanted to help and care for others. In 1946, “Zippy”, a life-long Coloradan, became the first black woman to graduate from the University of Colorado Nursing School despite the segregation and racism she routinely faced.
Hammond subtly and gracefully broke down barriers. She elevated the status of women, not just black women, by refusing to be held back by societal and institutional roadblocks which existed that made attaining her goal so difficult.
After World War II broke out, Zipporah enlisted in the Cadet Nurse Corps in 1943 despite segregation and Jim Crow laws that existed at the time. A Rocky Mountain News writer, Lee Casey, noted that at the time "... in Colorado, out of 1,600 student nurses, now in training, 60 were Japanese-American and only one was black. That student nurse was Zipporah Parks Hammond, whose dearest dream was nursing. Although the school was leery, she was accepted at the University of Colorado School of Nursing but allowed to have no roommate." As a result of her service she is recognized in the Women In Military Service to America Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Shortly after graduation from nursing school Zipporah was recruited to be Chief Surgical Nurse at the John A. Andrews Hospital-Infantile Paralysis Unit at the Tuskegee Institute’s Polio Clinic where she served until she was taken ill by tuberculosis. She returned to Colorado and was hospitalized for many months. Unable to continue her nursing career, Zipporah returned to CU to build on her nursing degree and earn a Medical Records Librarian certificate. During her 30-year medical records career she taught and mentored many. The University of Colorado School of Nursing honored Hammond in 2004 for her tenacity, passion and vision. In 2012 the CU College of Nursing Alumni Association honored Zipporah with the inaugural pathfinder ”Award”. In 2009, she was honored as a “Living-Legend” among black women in Denver who have made significant contributions to their community and society.
To learn more about Zipporah's career, contributions, and accomplishments, or to contribute your thoughts, click here.
Hammond subtly and gracefully broke down barriers. She elevated the status of women, not just black women, by refusing to be held back by societal and institutional roadblocks which existed that made attaining her goal so difficult.
After World War II broke out, Zipporah enlisted in the Cadet Nurse Corps in 1943 despite segregation and Jim Crow laws that existed at the time. A Rocky Mountain News writer, Lee Casey, noted that at the time "... in Colorado, out of 1,600 student nurses, now in training, 60 were Japanese-American and only one was black. That student nurse was Zipporah Parks Hammond, whose dearest dream was nursing. Although the school was leery, she was accepted at the University of Colorado School of Nursing but allowed to have no roommate." As a result of her service she is recognized in the Women In Military Service to America Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Shortly after graduation from nursing school Zipporah was recruited to be Chief Surgical Nurse at the John A. Andrews Hospital-Infantile Paralysis Unit at the Tuskegee Institute’s Polio Clinic where she served until she was taken ill by tuberculosis. She returned to Colorado and was hospitalized for many months. Unable to continue her nursing career, Zipporah returned to CU to build on her nursing degree and earn a Medical Records Librarian certificate. During her 30-year medical records career she taught and mentored many. The University of Colorado School of Nursing honored Hammond in 2004 for her tenacity, passion and vision. In 2012 the CU College of Nursing Alumni Association honored Zipporah with the inaugural pathfinder ”Award”. In 2009, she was honored as a “Living-Legend” among black women in Denver who have made significant contributions to their community and society.
To learn more about Zipporah's career, contributions, and accomplishments, or to contribute your thoughts, click here.