This thesis explores the history of nursing education in the 1940s under the Bolton Act, its effect on the students, and the contribution made by students to lessen the nursing shortage in the Deep South. During World War II, the recruitment of nurses by the military furthered the nursing shortage in the South, which was also plagued by low nursing standards. The Bolton Act helped create a supply of students to serve the southern population and improve educational standards. During training the cadets provided valuable service and after the completion of their training, many entered the nursing profession. By the 1950s and 1960s, the Bolton Act’s legacy had aided in the improvement of nursing education standards, the racial integration in health care, and fought against the post-war nursing shortage.