![]() Lillian Holland Harvey (1912-1994) received her diploma in nursing in 1939, her first stop in a long journey of education. To this day, the ANA (who incorporated the NACGN in 1949) honor the Mary Mahoney award to those nurses who exemplify integration in their field. ![]() Prior to her death, Mary Eliza championed women's rights and was among the first women to register to vote in Boston in 1920. In 1908, Mary Eliza co-founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) and was a lifetime member. She joined the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada, which later would become the American Nurses Association (ANA), but found the institution to be uninviting toward the black nurses. Mahoney spent many years as a private nurse, where she continued to advocate for the profession of nursing and integration of black nurses to the institutions. Out of 42 students that entered the program, Mary Eliza was one of 4 who completed the year-long intensive program, and the only African American. In 1878, at 33 years of age and 10 years after beginning her employment with The New England Hospital for Women and Children, Mary Eliza was admitted to one of the first integrated nursing schools in the United States. Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1926) is noted for becoming the first licensed African American nurse. RELATED: Improving Cultural Competence in Nurses Mary Eliza Mahoney She was eventually awarded a military pension for her service during the Civil War and was buried with military honors upon her death. After the war, Harriet Tubman continued her nursing work and started a home for the elderly. She was also essential to the Union military commanders as a spy with her knowledge of the surrounding areas and her ability to blend into Confederate-controlled areas. Tubman was essential to the troops who were infected with dysentery and smallpox, using natural and herbal remedies for treatment and healing. Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), the American Abolitionist, is famously known from her work helping slaves travel the Underground Railroad to seek freedom. Black nurses such as Harriet Tubman, Mary Eliza Mahoney and Lillian Holland Harvey did not let the sentiments of their time prevent them from improving not only the lives of those around them, but the profession of nursing as a whole. The profession of nursing shares a long and prestigious history of African-American nurses who dared to break through cultural norms to offer care to their communities.
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