Hidden Figures: Mary Mahoney #BlackHERstoryMonth 21/29 (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Mary Mahoney #BlackHERstoryMonth 21/29

Mary Eliza Mahoney, America’s first black licensed nurse, was born in Massachusetts on May 7, 1845. Her parents were originally from North Carolina, free blacks who had moved north prior to the Civil War, and they had all three of their children in the north. The eldest, Mahoney attended the Phillips Street School in Boston. At the age of 20, Mary Mahoney began working as a nurse, while at the same time performing janitorial duties at the New England Hospital for Women and Children. Incorporated on March 18, 1863, the New England Hospital provided its patients with medical care by solely female physicians, and assisted women in the study of medicine. On March 3, 1878, Mary Mahoney was accepted into New England Hospital’s graduate nursing program. During her training, Mahoney participated in mandatory 16-hour-per-day ward duty, where she oversaw the well-being of six patients at a time. She was also required to attend day-long lectures as part of the rigorous 16-month program. On August 1, 1879, Mahoney was among the three graduates out of the 40 students who began the program, and the only Black American awarded a diploma. Upon her graduation Mary Mahoney became the first Black American professional licensed nurse. Mary Mahoney worked as a nurse for the next four decades, and during her 40-year career she devoted herself to fighting the rampant discrimination against black women in nursing at the time. She is widely recognized as a pioneer who opened the door for many black women in nursing, and when the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) was organized in New York in 1908, Mahoney was made a lifetime member, exempted from dues, and elected chaplain for her accomplishments. On January 4, 1926 Mahoney died from breast cancer at New England hospital. She was eighty-one. In 1936, the National Association for Colored Graduate Nurses founded the Mary Mahoney Award in honor of her achievements. The award continues to be awarded today by the American Nurses Association, is given every two years to individual nurses or groups of nurses who have made outstanding contributions to opening and advancing opportunities in nursing to members of minority groups. ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: MARY ELIZA MAHONEY: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/mahoney-mary-eliza-1845-1926/ MARY E. MAHONEY: https://www.aahn.org/mahoney 'Black History Legacy - Mary Eliza Mahoney, The First Black Nurse:' https://www.essence.com/black-history-month-2019/mary-eliza-mahoney-the-first-black-nurse/ 'Mary Mahoney:' https://www.biography.com/activist/mary-mahoney 'MARY MAHONEY, FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN NURSE: https://nursing-theory.org/famous-nurses/Mary-Mahoney.php 'Mary Eliza Mahoney Biography - The First Black Nurse:' https://www.jacksonvilleu.com/blog/nursing/mary-eliza-mahoney/ 'Mary Eliza Mahoney:' https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mahoney