The First: Mary Eliza Mahoney

Welcome to Civics and Coffee. My name is Alycia and I am a self-professed history nerd. Each week, I am going to chat about a topic on U.S history and give you both the highlights and occasionally break down some of the complexities in history; and share stories you may not remember learning in high school. All in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee. 

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Hey everyone. Welcome back. 

While I am not as active as I should be, I have dabbled in creating podcast-based content on TikTok where I shared bits of trivia about people and events from United States history. One of the most popular videos to date highlights a woman who broke the race and gender barrier to become the first Black licensed nurse in American history, Mary Eliza Mahoney. 

While Black women had a long tradition of performing the work of nurses, Mahoney represents the first time the work was acknowledged in an official capacity. And as I will get into later in the episode, despite the fact that there remains significant room for improvement in terms of diversity within the medical and nursing professions, Mahoney was pivotal for breaking several barriers, thereby opening a profession to Black women who otherwise had very limited options. 

So this week, I am chatting about Mary Eliza Mahoney. Who was she? Why is her career so impactful? And how did she influence nursing moving forward?

Grab your cup of coffee, peeps. Let’s do this. 

Entering the world in 1845 in Boston, Massachusetts, Mary Eliza Mahoney was one of three children born to her parents Mary Jane Stewart Mahoney and Charles Mahoney. Mahoney’s exact date of birth remains officially unconfirmed, however I did see April 16th listed as a possible date when collecting my research. Mahoney lived with her parents, who were freed slaves originally from North Carolina, and her siblings - a sister named Ellen, and a brother Frank. The family of five lived in a home located at 31 Westminster Street in the Roxbury neighborhood. When I looked up this address hoping there would be a historic house museum, I was a little disappointed as Mahoney’s childhood home is no longer standing and has since been replaced by what appears to be a small apartment complex. 

As a child, Mahoney attended the Phillips School. Established in 1824, the Phillips School initially catered to white students and Black children were sent to a different local, underfunded schoolhouse. Upset at the disparity, Black parents pushed for more inclusion, successfully pushing Phillips to become an integrated institution in 1855, making it the first public integrated school in the United States. Mahoney knew from an early age that she wanted to be a nurse - deciding at just 18 her preferred career path. She sought employment at the local New England Hospital for Women and Children - doing whatever work was available, perhaps with the hope that someday she could join the ranks of the existing medical staff. Although Mahoney likely chose the hospital due to its proximity to her family, the New England Hospital for Women was a pretty impressive facility and was already making history before it ever decided to launch a nursing program. 

Originally incorporated in 1862, the hospital not only treated both black and white patients, but it was also established specifically with women in mind. The hospital hired female physicians to treat patients - which was groundbreaking given the period - and was built as a teaching hospital aimed at training future generations of women in medicine, whether as physicians, or as Mahoney did, through their nursing program. They even included in their founding documents that one of their purposes in establishing the hospital was to combat the idea that women were somehow unsuited to be doctors. They wanted to prove that women could be good doctors and skillful surgeons. 

While on staff, Mahoney performed a host of duties; everything from laundry, cooking, and serving as a janitor. Although New England Hospital was training nurses as early as 1866 and formalized said training in 1872, it wasn’t until 1878 that the program was up and running in an official capacity, ready to assess and license potential nurses. Applicants to the training program had to be quote “well and strong, between the ages of 21 and 31, good reputation as to character and disposition” end quote. Likely understanding the history of the moment and realizing that future opportunities for women were at least partially on the line, the New England Hospital made sure only those who truly stood out were admitted to their inaugural class, conducting interviews with potential future students. 

Mahoney joined 41 others and enrolled in New England Hospital’s intensive 16-month nursing program. Their training included twelve months where students were exposed to various areas of the hospital including the medical, surgical, and maternity wards. Their training was not just observation; it included students taking direct charge over six patients where they were responsible for overseeing the admitted patient’s complete care. When they weren’t learning about the proper procedures for the various wards within the hospital, enrollees attended lectures on a myriad of topics including surgical nursing and food for the sick. Once this first year of training was complete, students were then sent into private homes as an extension of the hospital to demonstrate their competency and apply what they had learned thus far in their program. In order to be successful, the women enrolled in the program had to demonstrate competency in each clinical area for which they were trained. Much like what we see in medical dramas on television, the nurses in training conducted rounds, took orders from doctors, and reported to a head nurse who was responsible for overseeing the student’s development. 

At the end of the training, the hopeful nurses were finally evaluated to determine whether they had the proper qualifications and temperament required to be successful. Of the 42 students admitted to the program, only four were considered passable, including Mahoney. With her completion of the nursing training program, Mahoney became the first African American woman in United States history to become a licensed nurse. It was a considerable accomplishment and I think one that Mahoney did not take lightly. After all, she had wanted to become a nurse for a majority of her life; how wonderful it must have felt to finally achieve her long time goal. Mahoney was not the only black woman in the program; there was at least one other Black woman, her sister, Ellen who tried to complete the program. Unfortunately she was unable to pass the rigorous and laborious training requirements and was not part of the graduating class of registered nurses. 

With a license, Mahoney became a pioneer for other black women who sought professional recognition for their work. As I mentioned at the top of the episode, African American women had been performing the work of nurses for decades, but they did so in an unofficial, often unpaid and therefore largely unrecognized, capacity. For her part, Mahoney must have sensed on some level the magnitude of the moment. She committed to the field with her whole heart, building a reputation for a strong work ethic and calm demeanor in the face of chaos. 

However, Mahoney was acutely aware of the pervasive racism still facing black Americans. It was racism, in part, that prompted Mahoney to forego public health and go into private nursing. Having a degree allowed Mahoney to command a higher salary and more respect in her chosen career. As a nurse, Mahoney built a sterling reputation and she successfully managed to combat some of the racist notions permeating the country, even if it was only limited to her individual patients. But Mahoney’s success also influenced, in some small part, future decisions regarding who to admit to nursing programs. Given her accomplishment, it became less controversial to admit fellow black women to the program. By completing her training and leaving with a positive reputation for her professionalism and willingness to work hard, Mahoney helped keep the door open for the Black women coming in behind her, whether she intended to or not. 

As I mentioned earlier, Mahoney was recognized as someone who had a delicate bedside manner and an ability to remain calm. Her professionalism ensured her placement with well-paying, upper class white households. She used her position to her advantage, pushing for increased diversity in the nursing profession, ensuring it was also a viable career for fellow black women who were all too often stuck performing work as a domestic with little options for advancement. When she wasn’t caring for her ill patients, Mahoney spent time advocating for increased diversity within the profession and doing her part to keep the career open for fellow Black women. 

So while she may have been a small woman, sitting at just 5 feet, Mahoney cast a long shadow. And she wasn’t happy with simply carving out a career for herself. Throughout her four decade career, Mahoney took steps to improve the nursing profession for her successors, including helping to establish the National Association for Colored Graduate Nurses in 1908. At the organization’s first conference held in Boston in 1909, Mahoney gave a speech that was very well received and she was elected the national chaplain and received a lifetime membership, partially in thanks to her contributions to the nursing profession.

And prior to establishing her own organization, Mahoney joined the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States & Canada in 1896. She worked diligently, albeit quietly, to improve the level of equality in nursing in the United States, hoping to reduce the barriers for her fellow black women to enter the nursing profession. Mahoney continued as a private nurse for several decades before becoming the director of the Howard Orphanage Asylum for black children in Kings Park, Long Island. She worked as the director for a year before finally retiring from the profession. 

And if you thought a little thing like retirement would slow Mahoney down, think again. In her retirement, Mahoney continued her advocacy for improved conditions for her fellow women and was a strong supporter of the suffrage movement. She made sure to register to vote in Boston’s 13th ward on August 18, 1920, the very same day Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment, finally granting women the right to vote. Listed as her profession on her voter registration card? Trained nurse. 

Mahoney was diagnosed with breast cancer, entering the New England Hospital - the very hospital who trained her and gave her her career - on December 7, 1925 where she stayed until she passed away on January 4, 1926. She was 80 years old. 

Although Mahoney proved that Black women could pass the rigors of a nursing program, the profession remained largely out of reach for many others hoping to enter the field as many programs remained closed off to women of color. Before 1928, there were just 36 schools that permitted black nursing students and a majority of these institutions were located in major cities, making accessing the requisite training a barrier to many living in rural communities or who did not have the means to relocate. Between 1879 and 1928, roughly 2800 women completed their training and, like Mahoney, struggled against the pervasive racism embedded in public nursing. This prompted many of the women to follow in Mahoney’s footsteps, entering the field of private nursing where they served primarily white patients who could afford the expense of having a private nurse on staff. 

Mahoney’s career and legacy was acknowledged posthumously with the creation of an award in her name. In 1936, the National Association for Colored Graduate Nurses established the Mary Mahoney award which honors individuals who promote integration within the nursing profession. The award still exists as of this recording in 2024 and is given to any registered nurse or group of nurses who demonstrate the level of commitment to integration as Mahoney. 

In 1973, Helen S. Miller led fundraising efforts to establish a monument in Mahoney’s honor. Miller was a previous Mahoney award recipient and was successful in raising enough funds to erect a memorial at Mahoney’s gravesite in Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, Massachusetts. In 1993, Mahoney was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca, New York which celebrated Mahoney for her achievement in becoming the first licensed nurse and her lifelong efforts to increase integration within the profession.

Writing about Mahoney in 1954, nursing professor Mary Ella Chayer said quote: “she was a sound builder for the future, a builder of foundations on which others to follow may safely depend,” end quote. Although there has been progress with increasing diversity in medicine, there remains a large gap. As of 2020, only 6.7% of nurses are black, despite comprising 12% of the United States population per 2020 census data. 

Mary Eliza Mahoney opened a door for fellow Black women in achieving her long term goal of becoming a licensed nurse. Through her tenacity and calm demeanor, Mahoney demonstrated that women of color were hardworking, intelligent individuals who could perform the work of nurses just like anyone else. Mahoney sought to leave her profession in a better position than when she started and those efforts continue to be recognized, almost one hundred years after her death. 

Thanks, peeps. I’ll see you next week.

Thanks for tuning and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Civics & Coffee. If you want to hear more small snippets from american history, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening and I look forward to our next cup of coffee together. 

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