![]() She also challenged discrimination against African Americans in nursing. She was one of the first African Americans to graduate from a nursing school, and she prospered in a predominantly white society. Mary Mahoney, an American nurse, the first African-American woman to complete the course of professional study in nursing, was born on (some sources say April 16), in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Place of Birth: Dorchester, Massachusetts After retiring from the Army, Johnson-Brown headed the American Nurses Association’s government relations unit and directed George Mason University’s Center for Health Policy.Ĭompiled by Alison K., Digital Content Specialist, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.Mary Eliza Mahoney – African American nurse. In 1979, she became both the African American woman promoted to brigadier general and the first to command the U.S. Johnson-Brown enlisted in 1955, just seven years after President Truman banned segregation in the armed services, and rose through the ranks. ![]() After graduating she worked at the Philadelphia Veteran’s Hospital where colleagues, noticing her leadership abilities, suggested she join the U.S. Undeterred, Johnson-Brown went to the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing to obtain her nursing degree. Hazel Johnson-Brown decided as a child she wanted to become a nurse but when she applied as a young adult to the West Chester School of Nursing, she was rejected because of her race. After leaving military service, Washington continued his commitment to the nursing field through teaching at several universities. By the end of his military career, Washington achieved several other firsts including becoming the first male Army Nurse Corps officer to be promoted to the rank of colonel and the first black male nurse to be selected, attend and receive certification for residency education at the U.S. In 1967, he became the first male, black or white, to receive a regular commission in the U.S. Army began in 1954 as a medical aidman with the rank of private. In 1929, Thomas published Pathfinders: A History of the Progress of Colored Graduate Nurses, the first book to chronicle the experiences of black nurses in America. During WWI, Thoms also successfully campaigned to have black nurses admitted into the U.S. In response to the racism faced by nurses of color, Thoms helped organize the National Association for Colored Graduate Nurses and served as the organization’s president from 1916 to 1923. Though she was in effect the acting director until her retirement in 1924, Thoms was not given the title because of her race. In 1906, she was named assistant superintendent of nurses. Notably, Mahoney was also a supporter of the suffrage movement and, at age 76, was among the first women in Boston to register to vote after passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.Īdah Belle Samuels Thoms graduated from the Lincoln School for Nursing in New York in 1905 and began working at Lincoln Hospital full time as the head nurse on the surgical ward. She also supported the creation of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses and delivered the welcome address at the organization’s first annual convention in 1909. After graduation, Mahoney became one of the first black members of the American Nurses Association. ![]() Known as the first professional African American nurse, Mary Eliza Mahoney became a registered nurse after graduating from the New England Hospital for Women and Children’s nursing school in 1879. Taylor later wrote a book, Reminiscences of My Life in Camp, about her life and her experiences as an African American nurse during the Civil War. Colored Infantry and traveled with the regiment nursing injured and sick soldiers. There she married Sergeant Edward King of the Union 33rd U.S. ![]() Simons Island where she opened a school for African American children and adults. Catherine Island and soon relocated to St. When the Civil War broke out, King escaped with her family to the Union-controlled St. Born into slavery in Georgia, Susie King Taylor learned to read and write as a young girl though it was prohibited for her to do so. ![]()
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