Mary Eliza Mahoney

1. Mary Eliza Mahoney 1st African American Nurse 1845- 1926

2. Beginnings Born in Boston on May 7, 1845 Child of Charles & Mary Jane Steward Began school at age 10 (1855) Showed an interest in nursing at the age of 18 (1863) Mahoney may have attended Phillips Street School; Boston. (isn�t verified)

3. Beginnings Continued� No documents say where she lived between birth and 1875 when she showed up at her sisters in Boston. First two decades of her life were times of turmoil and great change.

4. Mid-life Mahoney worked at the New England Hospital for Women and Children for 15 years as cook, wash woman, janitor, and unofficial nurses assistant. (Roxbury, Mass.) While working there she impressed a woman physician who encouraged her to apply to nursing school.

5. New England Hospital Small in size Created as a direct response to the prejudice against woman as full participants in medicine. Founded in 1862. Cared mostly for woman during pregnancy and delivery. Boston Fire Nurses gave 25% of their wages toward solving the hospitals money crisis.

6. Extended Education 1878 admitted for Nursing Training at the age of 33 though the age limit was 31. 42 students started the program with only 4 graduates. The course was 16 hours a day, 7 days a week with training in hospital medical and at home care. Graduated Nursing School in August of 1879 Each student while in school was in charge of one ward. (6 beds)

7. Tuition Mahoney and others didn�t pay tuition, they got paid. They got $1 per week (1st six months of probation), $2 per week (2nd six months of probation), and $3 per week (last four months of probation) This money was to be used for their uniforms.

8. After school Mahoney traveled to Washington D.C to care for an army surgeon, the husband of a friend, who had tuberculosis. She also traveled to New Jersey to care for a patient who she had cared for when the patient was a baby. Private Duty Nursing Charged $15 by week And $2.50 by day

9. Possible Mentors Mrs. Ednah Dow Cheney May have played role in her nursing career Cheney was manager, secretary, and president at the New England Hospital

10. Recognition Mahoney was listed in the registry of the Boston Medical Library�s directory. Mahoney was chosen by black nurses as an inspiration for their quest for inclusion into the nursing main stream.

11. National Association of Colored Graduates In 1908 the organization was founded to raise standards and combat racial bias in the profession. At the 1st annual meeting in Boston Mahoney gave the welcoming address. Then, she was elected chaplain.

12. Rough Times When Miss Mahoney signed on with the Boston Directory she had to eat in the kitchen alone. As nursing became more popular among society racial injustice flared excluding African Americans from main stream.

13. Family Mahoney had one brother (Charles) & two sisters (Ellen, Louise) Ellen attended a nursing school but was unsuccessful. And Louise died at an early age. Mahoney was engaged to a physician but it didn�t work out. Even though she never had a family of her own she developed relationships with families she worked for and physicians.

14. Later Life Retired from nursing in 1912. Ended her nursing career at an orphanage in New York. Mahoney was one of the first women to register to vote in 1920. Died on January 4, 1926 of breast cancer. (81 years old) Buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, Mass.

15. After Death In 1936, affiliates of NACGN (National Asso. Of Colored Graduate Nurses) established an award in her name to honor sister nurses. In 1951 NACGN and ANA (American Nurses Association) merged and continued the award.

16. After Death Continued� In 1976 Mahoney was inducted into the Nursing Hall of fame. 1984 Chi Eta Phi & ANA organized a national pilgrimage to her grave in her honor.

17. Timeline

18. References American First Black Professional Nurse Journal of Nursing History (1986) Encore American & Worldwide News (1978) http://www.bridgew.edu/hoba/mahoney.cfm