Gertrude Theresa Hodges, the first African American Johns Hopkins School of Nursing graduate, died of stroke complications March 28 at her East Baltimore home. She was 88.

Mrs. Hodges also headed the nursing education program at the Baltimore City Community College.

Born in Campbell Hall at Hamptonburgh, New York, she was the daughter of James Jones, a railroad worker, and his wife Elizabeth, who sold eggs, turkeys and hams at a market.

Mrs. Hodges grew up on a working farm.

“It was the Depression and she learned the values of hard work and self-reliance. Her brother taught her how to drive on a tractor. She and her siblings were educated in a one-room schoolhouse,” said her daughter, Lisa R. Hodges-Hiken.

“She knew she was destined to become a nurse — she was named after two aunts who were nurses,” her daughter said. “Her high school counselor questioned her choice when she wrote to Johns Hopkins to ask whether or not they accepted ‘colored’ students.”

In 1959, Mrs. Hodges went on to become the first Black graduate of what was then called the Johns Hopkins Hospital Training School for Nurses, now the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.

“She had the strong support of her family,” her daughter said. “Her eldest brother sent her money regularly. Her strength, perseverance and ability to hold herself to a high standard carried her through the experience of being singular at Hopkins.”

She remained at Hopkins for two years as a teacher and then left Baltimore. She graduated from Columbia Teacher’s College and earned a master’s degree in nursing from New York University.

She returned to Baltimore and taught at what is now Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital before joining the faculty of the Community College of Baltimore in 1966. She was named associate professor in 1970 and swiftly went on to become chair of the nursing department.

In a 1991 Baltimore Sun story, Mrs. Hodges said that many poor and poorly educated people in Baltimore today regard nursing as the first step to a better situation.

“The entrance level salary is $20,000 to $23,000 a year,” she said. “If you’ve been on welfare, that looks pretty good.”

“The health field right now is wide open,” she said in 1991. “Look at the want ads in the Sunday paper — pages of them. Once she has her RN, a nurse can go on to become specialized, like a nurse anesthetist, or a critical-care nurse.”

Mrs. Hodges worked to grow the college’s nursing program and the construction of the nursing training facility in 1976.

She also nursed at Provident, Bon Secours, Mercy, St. Agnes and Johns Hopkins hospitals.

While at Bon Secours Hospital, she was introduced to her future husband James E. Hodges Jr., the first African American to graduate the School of Pharmacy at the University of Maryland.

She was a member of Chi Eta Phi, a nursing honors sorority. In 2009, she received the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumna award. She was also chair of the Maryland State Board of Nursing Examiners for many years.

In 2015 the Black Student Nurses’ Association at Hopkins created a scholarship in Mrs. Hodges’ name.

She retired in 1997 and became a volunteer with the Parent’s Community Advisory Board with the Baltimore City Public Schools and the Dunbar High School nursing program. She joined BUILD and helped renters purchase homes in Sandtown-Winchester.

Mrs. Hodges enjoyed the arts, and was an avid reader and world traveler.

A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3200 Walbrook Ave. She had been a member of the Presbyterian Session, a church trustee, a Sunday School teacher and Presbyterian Women’s Committee member.

Survivors include a son, Victor Hodges, of Columbus, Ohio; a daughter, Lisa R. Hodges-Hiken, of Baltimore; a stepson, James Hodges, of Baltimore; and four grandchildren. Her husband, James E. Hodges Jr. died in 1998.

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