One of my favorite stories in nursing history is that of Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845 – 1926)
Mary Ezra Mahoney is the first Black nurse in the US to earn a professional nursing license and the first to graduate from a professional graduate school for nursing that was run by the New England Hospital for Women & Children. The school was extremely competitive and had many requirements, so out of the 42 students that entered the program in 1878, only four completed it in 1879, and Mary Mahoney was one.
She championed increased access to nursing education and fought against discrimination in the profession throughout her career. She supported the creation of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) in 1908.
