Mary Eliza Mahoney R.N.

At the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Roxbury, Massachusetts, a three-by-five, black, paper-covered memorandum book is kept under lock and key, along with other historical materials dealing with the founding and operation of this institution devoted to the medical and nursing education of women. On page five of this simple little book, the name Mary Mahoney has been inscribed. Thus began the record of the indomitable courage of the ninety pound Negro woman who became the first graduate as a nurse in America.