[NFBV-Announce] Days 4 and 5 of Black History Month

Fri Feb 5 16:33:43 UTC 2021

Hey NFB Family and Friends,

Prepare to be enlightened and educated!  Days 4  and 5  of our Black
Empowerment Committee's  contribution to Black History Month is below 

Day 4 of Black History Month 

Mary Eliza Mahoney, born in 1845, dedicated her life to the field of
nursing. After finishing high school, she applied at many schools and was
denied because of her race or the fact that she was a woman. She started
working at the newly created New England Hospital for Women and Children and
continued there for many years. 

In 1878, she applied for admittance to the school and although she did not
meet the age requirements at the time of her admittance (ages 21-31), they
allowed her enroll in their 16-month program in part to her servicer there.

After working extremely long hours, she completed the program and graduated
in 1879 as a registered nurse, the first Black woman to do so in the United
States.

In 1896, she joined the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and
Canada (NAAUSC).They weren't very welcoming to African Americans and in
1908, she became co-founder of the National Association of Colored Graduate
Nurses (NACGN). Their mission was to not only improve the standards to the
nursing profession but to also breakdown and dismantle the ongoing
discrimination in the field. Over the years, as admittance to notable
medical platforms for African American women rose, the NACGN decided to
merger with the NAAUSC in 1951, which by this point was called the American
Nurses Association.

She continued to work as a private nurse and at one point the director of
the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum for Black children in New York. After she
retired, she helped fight for equality for African Americans as well as
voting rights. In 1920, she was among the first women in Boston to register
to vote.

She died in January 1926, after battling breast cancer for 3 years. 

She was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 1976
and into the National Women's Hall of Fame in1993.

s             

Submitted by: Andre Hill 

Day 5

Bessie Stringfield better known as the motorcycle queen of Miami, is a
trailblazer, a pioneer who broke down barriers not just for black riders but
also for women and Jamaicans. She was the first black woman to ride across
the United States on a motorcycle by herself.  She was born in Kingston,
Jamaica to a white Dutch mother and a Jamaican father in 1911

When she was 19 years old, she got permission from her mom to purchase a
motorcycle. In 1930, the interstate highway system was nonexistent, this
meant that Stringfield had to navigate haphazard Roads, on paved and
sometimes just dirt. However, she did so skillfully. To support herself
while traveling across the country, she performed in motor vehicle shows
performed stunts and rolled in motorhomes. 

After her first trip across the country, she made the journey seven more
times eventually visiting all 48 states, and Europe, Brazil, and Haiti. In
world war two, she was the only woman to serve as motorcycle dispatch.

She is the first woman to be inducted in the motorcycle Hall of Fame. She
paved the way for black Americans to be able to travel and enjoy the freedom
to roam in our country and beyond.

When she was about five years old both parents contracted smallpox and died
soon after. She was adopted by and Irish Catholic woman. Bessie's simple
credo was, "what I did was fun and I loved it". She told a journalist that
"when I  get on a motorcycle, I     put the man upstairs in front... I am
very happy on two wheels".  Bessie died in February of 1993.

Submitted by Nastaha Hubbard

Member of the

Peace,

Jacki Bruce

Corresponding Secretary, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia
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