Biography

Salaria Kea was born on July 13, 1913 in Georgia. When Kea was six months old, her father, a worker in a sanitarium, was killed by a patient. Her mother then took Salaria and three other children to Akron, Ohio. When her mother returned to Georgia she left her children in the care of family friends. Kea's three older brothers supported her while she completed school. During her summer vacations Kea worked in the offices of a local doctor, an experience that would influence her choice of vocations. After Kea completed high school three nursing schools in the Akron area refused to admit her because of her race. In June 1930 Kea moved to New York to enter the Harlem Hospital Training School from which she graduated in 1934. She worked for Sea View Hospital and then for Harlem Hospital. While working in Harlem, Kea associated with left-wing groups and joined the Communist Party in 1935. In 1936 Kea volunteered as a Red Cross nurse to assist victims of disastrous floods in the Midwest, but her services were refused on account of her race. Shortly thereafter she learned of a U.S. medical mission preparing to serve in Spain. Salaria Kea left for Spain, aboard the SS Paris, on March 27, 1937. She sailed in a party of twelve nurses and doctors. In Spain she was assigned to the American Hospital at Villa Paz. There she met Pat O'Reilly, who had been wounded while serving with a British International unit. They were married at the hospital and subsequently made a life together in the United States. In late 1938 she returned to the United States, on board the SS Queen Mary, to help rally support for the Spanish cause. Kea resettled in New York and for a time made speeches on the Spanish cause before a variety of groups, including churches, schools, and the NAACP. Later she taught classes for practical nurses and nurses' aides. Kea served in the Army Nurse Corps in the last months of World War II. Her experience in the Spanish Civil War was highly valued by her superiors. Pat O'Reilly rejoined his wife when the international volunteers were withdrawn from Spain. They settled in Akron where she died in 1991.

ALB Archival Materials

Images

Salaria Kea in Spain

ALBA PHOTO #13, Box 02, f. #9_Salaria Kea

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