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Mary Elizabeth Mahoney was
born in Boston, on May 7, 1845. Her parents were Charles and
Mary Jane Mahoney. Mary used to live in North Carolina which was a
slave state but then moved to Massachusetts which was a free state.
They lived in Roxbury . She
became interested in nursing when she was a teenager. She was to
become the first African American registered nurse in America. She went to work at The New England Hospital for Women and Children . At the hospital Mary was a cook, janitor, maid, and a washerwomen. She worked long hours seven days a week. At the age of thirty three Mary entered nursing school as a student. The nursing program was established by Dr. Marie Zakrzewska. At Mary's training school there were only forty students. Four of them passed the training school and Mary was one of them. She was the first black woman to earn a nursing degree and from that date August 1, 1879 history changed. After Mary's graduation, she registered with the nurses directory in Boston and became a care nurse. Mary never got married, but she treated her patients like her own family often cooking for those who are in her care. She co-founded The National Association of Graduate Colored Nurses in 1908 along with Adha B. Thomas. This organization would later become the American Nurses Association (ANA). Mary died on January 4, 1926 of cancer. She did not get any awards when she was alive. After her death the NACGN created an award in her name to honor her nursing career and outstanding women in nursing. Fifty years after Mary's death people had a big ceremony to honor the nurses for working very hard. Most of the people voted for Mahoney's picture to be up on the nursing hall of fame. Her entry into the nursing hall of fame insured Mahoney's place in history. In 1992 she was entered into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Mary Eliza Mahoney is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Everest, Massachusetts. |