Mary Eliza Mahoney

Mary Eliza Mahoney (b. May 7 1845 – d. January 4 1926) was the first African-American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States, graduating in 1879.

In 1908, she co-founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) which eventually merged with the American Nurses Association (ANA) in 1951. She is commemorated by the biennial Mary Mahoney Award of the ANA for significant contributions in advancing equal opportunities in nursing for members of minority groups.

Life
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Mary Eliza Mahoney worked at the New England Hospital for Women and Children (now the Dimock Community Health Center) for fifteen years before being accepted into its nursing school, which was America’s first nursing school. The Hospital was founded by women doctors in 1862 and started its nursing program in 1872 with five students, including Linda Richards who emerged as the first graduate nurse in America.

After gaining her nursing diploma in 1879, Mahoney worked for many years as a private care nurse, earning a distinguished reputation. From 1911 to 1912 she served as director of the Howard Orphan Asylum for black Children in Kings Park, Long Island, New York.

In 1896, Mahoney was one of the original members of a predominantly white Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada, which in 1911 became the American Nurses Association (ANA). In 1908 she was cofounder of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN).

In retirement, Mahoney was still concerned with women's equality and a strong supporter of women’s suffrage (the movement to gain women the right to vote.) In 1920, she was among the first women in Boston to register to vote. She died in 1926, aged 80.

Commemoration
Mahoney’s grave is in Woodlawn Cemetery, Everett, Massachusetts.

In recognition of her outstanding example to nurses of all races, the NACGN established the Mary Mahoney Award in 1936. When NACGN merged with the American Nurses Association in 1951, the award was continued. Today, the Mary Mahoney Award is bestowed biennially by the ANA in recognition of significant contributions in advancing equal opportunities in nursing for members of minority groups.

Mahoney was inducted into the ANA's Hall of Fame in 1976. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.


 * Mary Mahoney Memorial Health Center, Oklahoma City
 * Mary Mahoney Lecture Series, Indiana University Northwest
 * Honoring Mary Eliza Mahoney, America's first professionally trained African-American nurse. House of Representatives resolution, US Congress, April 2006 H.CON.RES.386