Mary Eliza Mahoney
(1845 – 1926)
FIRST BLACK PROFESSIONAL REGISTERED NURSE IN THE UNITED STATES
First Black professional nurse in the United States (1845 – 1926). She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the “first colored girl admitted” (Medical and Nursing Record Book, 1878) to the nurse training program at the New England Hospital for Women and Children. Mary Mahoney’s accomplishments led her to be inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame in the year of 1976. She was also inducted into the National Women Hall of Fame in 1933. Mahoney received induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993. She died in Boston on January 4, 1926, at the age of 80. (SOURCE: Duke University Medical Center Library)