For Black History Month, Retractable Technologies would like to celebrate some of the African Americans who have changed history and who better than nurses. Nurses, such as Mary Eliza Mahoney, Harriet Tubman, Goldie D. Brandgman-Dumpson, and Adah Bellet Thoms, have broken barriers, defied the odds, and made an indelible impact on healthcare and society. These pioneers, along with many others, laid the foundation for a more inclusive and impactful healthcare system, inspiring generations of nurses and changing the course of history. Things would have been much different if it weren’t for these nurses’ contribution to healthcare and beyond.
Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1926)
Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1926) began working at the New England Hospital for Women and Children as a teenager, initially performing custodial and maintenance work before advancing to a nurse’s aide. In 1878, she was admitted to the hospital’s graduate school of nursing, making history as the first African American in the U.S. to earn a professional nursing license. In 1908, Mahoney co-founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses with Adah Bell Thoms. Later, from 1911 to 1912, she served as the director of the Howard Orphanage Asylum for black children in Kings Park, Long Island, New York City.
Harriet Tubman (1820’s-1913)
Born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland, in the 1820s, Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom in 1849. Determined to help others achieve the same, she became a conductor on the Underground Railroad, risking her life to free over 300 slaves. In 1860, Tubman joined the Union Army, where she served as a cook, a nurse, and even a spy. She played a crucial role in the Combahee River Raid, which liberated more than 700 slaves in South Carolina.
Goldie D. Brangman-Dumpson (1917-2020)
Goldi D. Brangman-Dumpson graduated in 1943 from the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing and went on to create and serve as the director of the Harlem Hospital Nurse Anesthesia program in 1949, a position she held until her retirement in 1985. Under her leadership, the program welcomed a diverse group of nurses. On September 20, 1958, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. arrived at Harlem Hospital after an assassination attempt, Brangman-Dumpson, along with a team of doctors, played a key role in saving his life. In addition to her work at Harlem Hospital, she made history as the first and only African American president of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists.
Adah Belle Thoms (1870-1943)
Adah Belle Thoms was a trailblazer for racial equality in nursing. In 1908, she co-founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses with Mary Eliza Mahoney, and under her leadership, the organization established a national registry to help black nurses find employment. In 1916, Thoms joined the National Urban League and the NAACP to combat the discrimination faced by herself and other black nurses. She also advocated for the inclusion of black nurses during World War I, urging members of the American Red Cross to allow them to serve, which resulted in black nurses being enrolled in the Army Nurse Corps in 1918. Additionally, Thoms authored Pathfinders: A History of the Progress of Colored Graduate Nurses, published in 1929, which documented the achievements and challenges of black nurses.
You can learn a lot about history through nursing. There are nurses who tirelessly strive for the right of inclusions, breaking barriers for future generations, and created organizations to help make a better world. Nurses have the potential to help others by more than caregiving.
APA Citation:
Adah Belle Samuels Thoms, Pathfinders: A History of the Progress of Colored Graduate Nurses (New York: Kay Printing House, 1929).
Dobschuetz, B. (n.d.). Adah Belle Samuels Thoms. Adah Belle Samuels Thoms | Alexander Street Documents. https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1010597921
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Piccotti, T. (2023, December 11). Harriet Tubman: Famed abolitionist and Underground Railroad Conductor. Harriet Tubman. https://www.biography.com/activists/harriet-tubman
Public Broadcasting Service. (n.d.). Harriet Tubman. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1535.html
Spring, Dr. K. A. (n.d.). Biography: Mary Eliza Mahoney. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mahoney
Whitehead, D. (2023, January 16). Remembering Goldie Brangman, the CRNA who helped save dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Virginia Association of Nurse Anesthetists. https://virginiacrna.org/remembering-goldie-brangman-the-crna-who-helped-save-dr-martin-luther-king-jr/
Uribe, J. S. (2022, February 9). Goldie Brangman-Dumpson. Medium. https://medium.com/nurses-you-should-know/goldie-brangman-dumpson-165d67c89ed3