Eager to encourage greater equality for African Americans and women, Mary Mahoney is noted for becoming the first African American licensed nurse.
Mary Eliza Mahoney was born in the spring of 1845 in Boston, Massachusetts. Born to freed slaves who had moved to Boston from North Carolina, Mahoney learned from an early age the importance of racial equality.
When she was in her teens, Mahoney knew that she wanted to become a nurse, so she began working at the New England Hospital for Women and Children. Here, Mahoney worked for 15 years in a variety of roles, such as janitor and cook. She also had the opportunity to work as a nurse’s aide, enabling her to learn a great deal about the profession.
The New England Hospital for Women and Children operated one of the first nursing schools in the United States. In 1878, at the age of 33, Mahoney was admitted to the hospital’s professional graduate school for nursing. The program, which ran for 16 months, was intensive. Of the 42 students that entered the program in 1878, only four completed it in 1879.
Mahoney was one of the women who finished the program, making her the first African American in the U.S. to earn a professional nursing license.
After she finished her training, Mahoney decided not to follow a career in public nursing due to the overwhelming discrimination often encountered there. Instead, she pursued a career as a private nurse. She was known for her efficiency, patience, and caring bedside manner that made her extremely well-known with wealthy families up and down the east coast.
Mahoney eventually retired from nursing after spending 40 years in the profession. She has been recognized with numerous awards and memorials since her death in 1926, standing as a testament to her legacy.
