Black from the Past | Mary Eliza Mahoney

 


 



Welcome to our first Black from the Past highlight of the
season where we’re shining a light on Mary Eliza Mahoney, the
first Black woman to study and work as a professionally trained
nurse in the United States.




 




Quick Facts: 




 Born in Boston, MA to freed slaves

 Worked as a nurse in the early 19th & 20th
centuries

Started working at the New England hospital for women &
children as a teenager. She spent 15 years working there as a
cook, a laundress, janitor and nurses aid.

 Attended the nursing at New England hospital and was
on the 4 students (out of 42) who finished in 1879

One of the first women to who registered to vote after the
passage of the 19th.

Mary Eliza Mahoney died at the age of 80 in 1926.





 




Were you aware of Mary Eliza Mahoney’s journey? Who’s the next
Black influential woman that should be featured in our Black
from the Past series?





Black from the Past is a segment of the Shades of Strong
podcast where where we’re preserving and normalizing Black
history by shining a light of Black women who have made
significant contributions to the Black female culture, but are
often forgotten.





 






[Source: Spring, Kelly. “Mary Mahoney.” National Women’s
History Museum. National Women’s History Museum, 2017]




Do you have a family member or know of someone you would like to
see us shine a light on?  Send us an email at
hi@shadesofstrong.com with the subject line Black
from the Past suggestion and we’ll do our best to make
it happen.


 



PREVIOUS BLACK FROM THE PAST FEATURES


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