Discrimination and prejudice existed in Boston, though it was not nearly as prominent and profuse as it was in the South during that same time period. In 1850, the African American community in Boston was small, consisting of less than one percent of the population (Tortorice, 2017). This lesson proved to be very important throughout her life and is speculated to have driven her passion, profession, and political involvement in America (Ungvarsky, 2016). At a very early age, Mary learned from her parents the significance and importance of racial equality (Spring, 2017). Mary was the oldest of three kids and had a younger brother, Frank, and a younger sister, Ellen. Her parents were freed African American slaves who were originally from North Carolina, yet shortly after getting married they left and moved to Massachusetts to avoid prejudice and discrimination (Tortorice, 2017). Mary Eliza Mahoney was born to Charles and Mary Jane Mahoney in the Dorchester neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts on (Ungvarsky, 2016). Bennett, RN, MSN - Associate Professor - Utah Valley Universityįigure 1. She was inducted into the A.N.A.’s Hall of Fame in 1976.Nursing Across the Ages by Sean N. established an award in her honor (later continued by the A.N.A.) to raise the status of black nurses. Mahoney contracted breast cancer in 1923 and died in 1926. When that movement succeeded with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, she was among the first women in Boston to register to vote - at the age of 76. In retirement, Mahoney was still concerned was deeply concerned with women’s equality and a strong supporter of the movement to gain women the right to vote. The NACGN members gave Mahoney a lifetime membership in the association and a position as the organization’s chaplain. In her speech, she recognized the inequalities in her nursing education, and in nursing education of the day. When that later organization proved slow to admit black nurses, Mahoney strongly supported the establishment of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (N.A.C.G.N.), and delivered the welcome address at that organization’s first annual convention, in 1909. In 1896 Mahoney became one of the first black members of the organization that later became the American Nurses Association (ANA). As Mahoney’s reputation quickly spread, she received private-duty nursing requests from patients in states in the north and along the south east coast. Mahoney refused to take her meals with household staff to further dismiss the relation between the professions. During the early years of her employment, African American nurses were often treated as if they were household servants rather than professionals. Mahoney’s professionalism helped raise the status and standards of all nurses, especially minorities. Families who employed Mahoney praised her efficiency in her nursing profession. She worked for predominantly white, wealthy families and the majority of her work was with new mothers and newborns. Out of a class of 42 students, she and three white women were the only ones to receive their degree – the first Black woman to do so in the United States.Īfter receiving her nursing diploma, Mahoney worked for many years as a private care nurse, earning a distinguished reputation. Mahoney graduated in 1879 as a registered nurse. In 1878, at age 33, she was accepted in that hospital’s nursing school, the first professional nursing program in the country. Despite the NEHWC’s progressiveness, Mahoney worked there as a cook, maid, and washerwoman for 15 years before she was admitted as a student. The NEHWC became the first institution to offer a program allowing women to work towards entering the healthcare industry, which was predominantly led by men. Nursing schools in the South rejected applications from African American women, whereas in the North, though the opportunity was still severely limited, African Americans had a greater chance at acceptance into training and graduate programs.Īt the age of 18, she decided to pursue a career in nursing, working at the New England Hospital for Women and Children. Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African American woman to complete nurse’s training in the United States, and an active organizer among African American nurses.īorn in Boston in 1845 to freed slaves, Mahoney knew early on that she wanted to become a nurse however, Black women in the 19th century often had a difficult time becoming trained and licensed nurses.
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