“The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis” sheds light on a crucial aspect of medical history that had long been overlooked: the significant contributions of Black nurses in combating tuberculosis in New York City.
These nurses played a pivotal role in helping develop treatments and prevention strategies for the contagious lung infection which was once one of the deadliest diseases in the world, killing one in seven people.
Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and spanning into the 1960s, the book chronicles the experiences of seven courageous Black nurses who cared for patients at Sea View Hospital on Staten Island.
Amidst the tuberculosis epidemic, young white women began leaving the nursing field in droves in the late 1920’s to escape the disease. Their departure created a nursing shortage and the city of New York recruited young Black women from the Deep South to fill the void. They were offered employment, a salary and a way to escape from the segregation of the Jim Crow south. Despite facing racism, discrimination, and very challenging conditions at Sea View, these women remained steadfast in their commitment to providing compassionate care to those suffering from tuberculosis.
“Many thought Black women were expendable and sent them to work under difficult conditions, but I always say this story is triumphant,”said the book’s author Maria Smilios. “These women are heroes.”
The Black Angels tells the stories of Virginia Allen, Edna Sutton, Missouria Louvinia Meadows-Walker, Clemmie Phillips, Phyllis Alfreda Hall Lambert, Marjorie Tucker Reed, and Kate Gillespie, hidden figures in public health. Despite the challenges they faced, these Black nurses made significant contributions to the treatment and cure of tuberculosis. They participated in drug trials that ultimately led to successful treatments, helping to combat the epidemic that had plagued communities for decades.
Through a blend of research and interviews with historians, medical professionals, the surviving nurses and their families, Smilios’ book highlights the resilience and dedication of these unsung heroes of public health.
“It’s a story that shows us that people are always willing to take care of us,” said Smilios. “There’s somebody who’s going to rise to the occasion and be there,” she said. In this instance it was Black women who likely would not have gotten the same care in return if the roles were reversed and they were the patients.
These women were overworked, underpaid and regularly faced racism and discrimination, yet saved countless lives for over two decades. It was their patients that gave them the name the Black Angels. In addition to their medical duties, these courageous Black nurses confronted institutional racism and actively advocated for the desegregation of the entire New York City hospital system.
NYC Health + Hospitals recently held an April celebration recognizing the Black Angels for their care and the countless lives they saved. Allen, who is now 93 years old and one of the last surviving Black Angels, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the DAISY Foundation, a recognition given to nurses who have devoted their lives to the compassionate care of others.
“I am really speechless,” said Allen of the recognition. “Thank you all for your honors, respect, and for the nurses who gave so much of themselves. To work at Sea View Hospital, at the time I went there at the age of 16, I was not sophisticated enough to know the dangers of tuberculosis but due to the fact that I was trained very well by wonderful, well-educated nurses, I am able to stand here in front of you today, germ free. Thank you very much to all who have come to participate here today and those nurses to give them the honor they receive. I am just a vessel here to accept them.”
These women saved millions of lives and Smillios said they did it humbly. “ When I talked to the families, I said to them, do you realize what your grandmother or aunt has done? And they said, she was doing her job “she just went to work.”
