"During an era when jobs for African American women were primarily limited to domestic service, Porter graduated from Tuskegee Institute’s School of Nursing in 1904.
"[4]Following graduation, she returned to Bowling Green to serve as one two registered nurses at the private St. Joseph Hospital, which was operated by the McCormack brother doctors.
[4] She retired in 1960 but even after that, she continued to offer substitute care for registered nurses at Bowling Green's City-County Hospital as needed.
[5] She was an organizer of the George Washington Carver Community Center, a local Interracial Commission after World War II.
Gates conducted an oral history interview with Porter's nieces, Alice Ruth and Shella Proctor.