Viola Pettus was an African-American woman, born about 1886, who lived in Marathon, Brewster County, Texas.
Career
Viola is remembered in Texas for her courageous work as a nurse during the 1918 flu pandemic. Viola was married to Benjamin Pettus. They had three daughters: Ura, Hazel, and Dorothy.
The United States Census lists the Pettus family as living in Justice Precinct 3, Brewster County, Texas, in 1910 and 1920.
Membership
Her legendary service — even to members of the Ku Klux Klan — formed the basis for one of the plot lines in American Night: The Ballad of Juan José, a play by Richard Montoya, a member of the Culture Clash performance group.
