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Mary eliza mahoney health center8/12/2023 Throughout American history, African American nurses have shown grit, integrity and perseverance to earn the same qualifications and positions as their non-black colleagues. Harvey also has an award in her name by the Alabama Nurse’s Association, among many of her legacy achievements. A recipient of the Mary Mahoney Award from the ANA, Dr. During her reign, she strove to improve integration on many levels in the state of Alabama, including attending the Alabama Nurse’s Association where she was required to sit in a separate section. Harvey served as the Dean of Nursing at Tuskegee Institute for 25 years until her retirement in 1973. During WWII, she used her position as Dean to create training programs and opportunities for black nurses to join the Army Nurse Corps. Harvey initiated the process to turn the diploma-program school into a full baccalaureate nursing program – becoming the first in the state of Alabama. Harvey’s intensity toward education and learning landed her first the director of nurse training at the Tuskegee School for Nurses, a historically black nursing school that offered only 3-year degree programs. Her bachelor’s degree in 1944 led to a master’s in 1948 and eventually her doctorate from Columbia University in 1966. 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. 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. February is also known as African American History Month, and many institutions such as the National Park Service and The Smithsonian Institution join in paying tribute to the struggle for generations of African Americans to achieve full citizenship as well as common societal American opportunities. The United States has recognized the importance of Black History as a country for nearly 100 years.
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