Nursing Leader: Mary Mahoney

This is a series of post regarding notable nursing leaders who have given many contribution to nursing and their influence uplifted the nursing profession.


Nursing Leaders
Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, Lillian Wald, Lavinia Dock, Margaret Sanger, and Mary Breckinridge are among the leaders who have made notable contributions both to nursing's history and to women's history. These women were all politically astute pioneers. Their skills at influencing others and bringing about change remain models for political nurse activists today. Contemporary nursing leaders, such as Virginia Henderson, who created a modern worldwide definition of nursing, and Martha Rogers, a catalyst for theory  development


Mahoney (1845-1926)
Mary Mahoney  was the first African American professional nurse. She graduated from the New England Hospital for Women and Children in 1879. She constantly worked for the acceptance of African Americans in nursing and for the promotion of equal opportunities (Donahue, 1996, p. 271). The American Nurses Association (2006b) gives a Mary Mahoney Award biennially in recognition of significant contributions in
interracial relationships.