Mary Eliza Mahoney
Throughout the month of February, we’ll be celebrating Black History Month by highlighting Black people who have changed the course of history through their pioneering work in the medical field. These brave men and women found ways to circumvent cultural and socioeconomic oppression to bring the world lifesaving and healthcare contributions. Today, we’re celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Mary Eliza Mahoney.
She was the first African American professional nurse in the United States (1879). Mary’s parents moved from North Carolina to Boston, where she was born on April 16, 1845. In Boston, black children were not permitted to attend schools with Whites until 1855, and even in New England, domestic service was the only way for a Negro woman to make a living. Interested in a nursing career from eighteen, Mary was a “nurse” for several prominent white families before entering formal nurse training. On March 23, 1878, she was admitted to the nurse training program at the New England Hospital for Women and Children; she graduated sixteen months later at the age of thirty-four.