Miss Susie Keith, an attractive and well-loved nurse at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, met her death Tuesday, 27 October 1936, by eating food prepared with roach poison mistaken for flour. She died three hours after she consumed the food. The only meal prior to the poison consisted of a banana, eaten before seven o’clock that morning. Upon her arrival at Charity, she was still hungry and desired the hospital breakfast, but it cost money, and she had used her last remaining cents to buy the banana.
By 10:45 AM, she noticed a tray of fried liver that had recently been prepared and placed on a platter in the diet kitchen. Since she was still hungry, she decided to eat a portion of the liver. Within a few minutes, she realized it had a peculiar taste and mentioned this to several other nurses close by. She then left the remainder of the liver on her plate. May Calico (age 26) of 2113 Bienville Street and Miss Josephina McKay (age 24) had eaten a portion of the fried liver also. Several minutes later, both ladies remarked that their throats were burning. Miss Keith soon agreed. “Come to mention it, I have burning throughout my entire chest and in my stomach.”
At 11:00 a.m., lunch was served. Nurse Keith, still not feeling well, ate a small amount of rice moistened with bean gravy and half a scoop of ice cream. Returning from the restroom, she again complained of not feeling well. Other nurses noticed how quickly she appeared to be declining. Just at that moment, an orderly rushed into the room and said, “Did you all know that the liver you all ate was poisoned?”
As her condition worsened, the other nurses hurriedly called their superior in charge. It was soon discovered that the liver had been dipped accidentally in a deadly poison of sodium fluoride instead of regular flour.
An investigation by hospital personnel indicated that the liver had been prepared for two patients who were on special diets. Usually, a nurse prepared the meal; however, on this occasion, Henry Benjamin (42, 1827 Perdido Street) cooked the liver. He then told Miss Keith and the other nurses they could have the leftover liver that had not been put on the patients’ trays. Usually, the extra food was eaten by the nurses and orderlies with the knowledge of those in charge.
It was soon discovered that two orderlies had eaten a small portion of liver before returning to the nurses’ station. They were Benjamin Goins, 32, of 2038 Perdido Street, and Thomas Boutee, 39, of 326 South Liberty Street. Both men became ill, were treated, and were released.
Nurse Keith was immediately taken to the emergency receiving room, where she remained for the better part of an hour before receiving treatment. During her wait, she is reported to have remarked, “I’m going to die right here because nobody will do anything for me, and I don’t want to die.”
Following treatment with a stomach pump, she was moved to a bed in the ward. Physicians soon gave up hope of saving her life, as sodium fluoride is next in strength to cyanide, the most deadly and quickest poison known to modern science. She died shortly after 2:00 p.m.
After her death, many citizens were outraged that her death was partially caused by hunger. Both breakfast and lunch were first served to white personnel. Those who arrived later ate what was left, which sometimes was said to be nothing at all. Hospital personnel made plans to give Black nurses more convenient times for eating breakfast and lunch. Questions also arose as to why the poison was housed in the diet kitchen with other food items such as flour since the two were almost identical in appearance.
Funeral services for Nurse Keith were held in the chapel of Geddes and Moss Funeral Home at 5:00 p.m. Thursday, October 29, in New Orleans. The eulogy was delivered by Reverend N. A. Holmes, pastor of Central Congregational Church, who prayed that the sacrifice of her life would mean something in the future for Negro nurses at Charity Hospital.
A procession of automobiles, in which rode more than two dozen registered nurses in uniform, accompanied the corpse to the railroad station, forming a guard of honor around the remains of the young woman whose tragic death stunned the entire city. Interment was made in her native home of Augusta, Georgia.
Sources: The Louisiana Weekly; 31 October 1936 pages 1,3 and 4; The Louisiana Weekly 07 November 1936 page 1; Wikipedia “Sodium Fluoride Toxicity”
Lolita Villavasso Cherrie & Dominick Cherrie for publishing
So sad.🥺