Families who employed Mahoney praised her efficiency in her nursing profession. She worked for predominantly white, wealthy families and the majority of her work was with new mothers and newborns. Out of a class of 42 students, she and three white women were the only ones to receive their degree – the first Black woman to do so in the United States.Īfter receiving her nursing diploma, Mahoney worked for many years as a private care nurse, earning a distinguished reputation. Mahoney graduated in 1879 as a registered nurse.
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In 1878, at age 33, she was accepted in that hospital’s nursing school, the first professional nursing program in the country.
Despite the NEHWC’s progressiveness, Mahoney worked there as a cook, maid, and washerwoman for 15 years before she was admitted as a student. The NEHWC became the first institution to offer a program allowing women to work towards entering the healthcare industry, which was predominantly led by men. Nursing schools in the South rejected applications from African American women, whereas in the North, though the opportunity was still severely limited, African Americans had a greater chance at acceptance into training and graduate programs.Īt the age of 18, she decided to pursue a career in nursing, working at the New England Hospital for Women and Children. Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African American woman to complete nurse’s training in the United States, and an active organizer among African American nurses.īorn in Boston in 1845 to freed slaves, Mahoney knew early on that she wanted to become a nurse however, Black women in the 19th century often had a difficult time becoming trained and licensed nurses.
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