Mary Mahoney became the first female African American nurse in America in 1879 at the age of 33 years. She worked during her nurse training with families in Massachusetts and was renowned for treating patients as if they were her family. She prided herself on her work, trying to change the attitudes people had towards minorities in healthcare. In 1896 she became a member of Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada, which did not generally admit people of colour. In response to discrimination, she created the National Association of Coloured Graduate Nurses in 1908. In 1993 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
1845
1926
USA
African American
1879- first African American nurse
1896- member of NAAUSC (Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada)
1908- created NACGN (National Association of Coloured Graduate Nurses)
Mary was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1845. Her parents were freed slaves who moved to there to escape discrimination. She was the eldest of three siblings and studied at Phillips School, which was integrated. She wanted to be a nurse from a young age and joined the New England Hospital for Women and Children, and worked as a cook and janitor from the age of 18.
Mary became a nurse in 1879 after being in nursing school for 16 months, prior to which she had worked with families in Massachusetts as a nurse. She later created the NACGN (National Association of Coloured Graduate Nurses)for minorities to feel included in nursing, as they were not allowed into the NAAUSC (Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada). After decades of nursing she became the Director of the Howard Orphanage Asylum for Black children in New York City and stayed in this role until 1912.
A Mary Mahoney Memorial Health Centre was built in Oklahoma City in her honour.
A resolution was passed by the House of Representatives of the US Congress on April 2006 in honour of Mahoney.
The Boston Women’s Heritage Trail includes the ‘Mary Eliza Mahoney Dialysis Centre’.
She remained unmarried.
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mahoney#:~:text=After%20decades%20as%20a%20private,40%20years%20in%20the%20profession.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Eliza_Mahoney
https://nursing-theory.org/famous-nurses/Mary-Mahoney.php
