[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 121 (Monday, September 25, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING MARY ELIZA MAHONEY, AMERICA'S FIRST PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED 
                         AFRICAN-AMERICAN NURSE

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 19, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in 
honoring Mary Eliza Mahoney who was the first African-American 
registered nurse in the United States. She was a visionary, a leader, 
and because of her dedication and untiring will to encourage future 
generations, would become an inspiration to thousands of men and women 
of color who work diligently every day in the field of nursing.
  Mary Mahoney's interest in the nursing profession began when she was 
just a young girl. She worked for fifteen years at the New England 
Hospital for Women and Children (now Dimock Community Health Center) in 
Roxbury, Massachusetts as a nurse's assistant, but this would not be 
her only occupation. She also worked as a cook, a janitor, and a 
washerwoman. In 1878, at the age of 33, she was admitted as a student 
into the hospital's nursing program established by Dr. Marie 
Zakrzewska. Sixteen months later, she was one of four who completed the 
course.
  After graduation she worked primarily as a private duty nurse for the 
next 30 years all over the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. At 
the culmination of her nursing career, she was the director of an 
orphanage in Long Island, New York, a position she held for 10 years.
  In 1896, Mahoney became one of the first African-American members of 
the predominantly white American Nurses Association (ANA). However, 
recognizing the need for nurses to work together to improve the status 
of African Americans in the profession, she helped to establish the 
National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN). This was 
important in many ways. It was because of her inspiring efforts and 
unselfish devotion to caring for others that helped make it possible 
for nurses to be received at the White House by President Warren G. 
Harding. Mahoney also gave the welcoming address at the first 
convention of the NACGN and served as the association's national 
chaplain.
  Mahoney's life of tending to the needs of the sick ended with her 
death on January 4, 1926. She was indeed an icon in the nursing 
profession, bringing to light the hard work, sacrifice, and commitment 
that nurses put forth everyday.
  My sister Frances was a nurse for many years before retiring, and I 
saw the hard work, the sacrifice, and long hours of commitment that she 
gave to this notable profession. She made me appreciate even more what 
nurses do and how they are a vital and valued part of the healthcare 
industry.
  Mary Mahoney advanced the nursing profession and was not afraid to 
confront issues that affect nurses. She was a woman of superlatively 
high standards, complete integrity, and boundless enthusiasm for 
whatever task she took in hand. It was because of the life she lived 
and her outstanding contributions to nursing, that The Mary Mahoney 
Medal was established in her honor posthumously by the NACGN in 1936. 
In 1976, she would be further remembered by being inducted into the 
Nursing Hall of Fame.
  Madam Speaker, let us honor this woman of courage and faith by 
passing this resolution.

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