Mary Eliza Mahoney
Mary Eliza Mahoney (born May 7, 1845 in Dorchester (Massachusetts) , † January 4, 1926 in Everett (Massachusetts) ) was the first state-certified African American nurse in the United States of America .
Mary Eliza Mahoney was born on May 7, 1845, the daughter of freed slaves from North Carolina . She wanted to become a nurse, but in the aftermath of the Civil War it was hardly possible for black women to get a training position at a nursing school. When Mahoney turned 18, the New England Hospital for Women and Children opened , offering the first health education designed for women. At 33, Mahoney was eventually accepted into the 16-month program. Of the 40 students, only Mahoney and three white students passed the final exam. After graduating, she first worked as a private nurse, from 1911 to 1912 she took over the management of the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum (English: Howard Orphanage for colored children ) in Kings Park , Long Island , New York .
Mahoney joined the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada (later American Nurses Association (ANA)) , a professional organization made up of predominantly white nurses . Black nurses were not welcome in the association, so in 1908 Mahoney founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) with Martha Minerva Franklin and Adah Belle Thoms , which did not allow discrimination based on skin color. After retiring from work, Mahoney campaigned for women's suffrage, and in 1920 became one of the first Boston women to register as voters. She died of breast cancer in 1926.
In 1951, the NACGN became part of the ANA, which took over the award, the Mary Mahoney Award , which was founded in 1936 , a medal awarded every two years to care workers from ethnic minorities.
Awards
- 1976 inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame
- 1993 inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
Mahoney is remembered by various facilities such as the Mary Mahoney Memorial Health Center , Oklahoma City or the Mary Eliza Mahoney Dialysis Center , which is a stop on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail .
literature
- Mary Eliza Mahoney. In: Amsterdam News. (English) accessed on June 11, 2020
- Mary Eliza Mahoney 1845-1926. In: Black Past. (English) accessed on June 11, 2020
- Horst-Peter Wolff: Bedford-Fenwick Born Mason, Ethel. In: Horst-Peter Wolff (Ed.): Lexicon for care history. "Who was who in nursing history". Urban & Fischer, 1997, ISBN 3-86126-628-8 , p. 125.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mahoney, Mary Eliza |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American nurse |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 7, 1845 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dorchester, Massachusetts |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 4, 1926 |
| Place of death | Everett (Massachusetts) |