Mary Mahoney: The Struggle Of Black Women In Nursing

Black women went through many hardships to obtain equality in nursing. There are several things that have to be accounted for to understand the struggle of black women and what they went through to achieve equality in the nursing field.
Mary Mahoney was admitted to the nursing school of the New England Hospital for Women and Children, and became the “first black woman to complete nurse's training in 1879” (Jones 123) upon graduation. This shows how large of a struggle it was for African American women to complete training. Mary Mahoney was widely recognized within her field as a pioneer who opened the door of opportunity for many black women interested in the nursing profession. Martha Franklin was the very first black women “to actively campaign for racial equality in nursing” (American Nurses Association). In 1897 Martha Franklin graduated from the women’s hospital training school for nurses in Philadelphia and was the only black graduate of her class” (Martha Minerva Franklin). Martha organized collaboration of black women for inclusion in the nursing field. She “reached …show more content…
The president of the National Association for Colored Graduate Nurses was Martha Franklin. In 1909, this organization stated that “black nurses must meet required standards for all nurses so a double standard was not practiced on them” (American Nurses Association). This association had very low recognition because it was a black association in a segregated society. Low recognition would prevent black women’s voices of being heard in regards to the importance of desegregation in the nursing field. This also prevented support from other people in society, because many people didn’t know that this organization even existed, therefore no changes would be made until recognition for this association was