Meet the Black Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis
The Black Angels were a group of several hundred Black nurses who heeded the call to work at Sea View Hospital in Staten Island between 1929-1961, due to an increasing shortage of nurses. At this time, white nurses working at Sea View were resigning at a high rate mostly due to fears over tuberculosis, which was killing their colleagues as it spread.
In early 1929, there was a noticeable increase in the number of white nurses resigning from their positions at Sea View Hospital. A variety of reasons were cited, but one of the main reasons at that time was to escape the disease, which was killing their colleagues as it spread.
Sea View Hospital, a facility where the poorest people from New York were sent to get treatment, was severely understaffed and underfunded. With nurses leaving the facility, emergency meetings took place to gather ideas to replace the Sea View nurses in order to prevent the hospital from shutting down. They decided to concentrate their efforts on recruiting Black nurses from southern states.
Black nurses answered the call and worked at Sea View for decades, while enduring abuse from patients and residents, to care for patients with a deadly disease that had no cure. Had it not been for these nurses, countless more people would have been left without care or treatment, and many of them would have died.
In 1952, 97 of the nurses at Sea View became part of the isoniazid drug trials and consequently changed the course of global history. Dr. Edward Robitzek, who headed the clinical team responsible for developing the first TB drug trials, said, “Had it not been for the Black nurses none of this [the trials] would have been possible.”
It is crucial that we tell the stories of these brave nurses who stepped in and stepped up when most others did not. They risked their health and safety to care for their patients and ultimately were the reason why a cure for tuberculosis was discovered. 97 nurses participated in these studies and trials. Here are some of their stories.
You can learn more about the Black Angels by reading The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tubeculosis. Link to book on Amazon.
Edna Sutton
Edna arrived at Sea View in 1929. Born in Savannah, Georgia, she was the oldest of six. A natural caregiver and a brilliant student, Edna dreamed of becoming a surgeon. Despite the barriers she faced, Edna still found her way into the operating room. She was one of the few surgical nurses that Sea View hired – a highly competitive and demanding job. In the early 1930’s, surgery became the gold standard of treatment, and the nurses hired to work in the surgical ward were regarded as the best. Despite being designated as one of “the best”, Edna had to endure working for a white supervisor who refused to allow the nurses at Sea View to wear masks. Yet, she stayed dedicated to caring for her patients and helping to find a cure. She was highly involved in her church and organizations such as the NAACP and NASCGN, which worked toward Black nurses gaining equality in the profession. She was also one of the first black nurses to buy a home in an area that is now heavily populated by professional nurses.
Missouria Louvinia Meadows-Walker
Missouria was born in Clinton, South Carolina. Growing up, her mother taught her how to read the stars, be fearless, and value herself. She was a shining student with a particular love for history, literature, jazz, and medicine. She went on to study at Howard University, where she studied under Estelle Massey Osborne, and Mary Mcleod Bethune.
At Sea View, Missouria worked in the men’s ward, often a dangerous place, where she experienced daily harrassment and verbal abuse from patients. For a year, she was assigned to care for a Nazi POW – a gravely ill man who wanted to kill her by infecting her with TB.
Despite all of this, she persevered.
In the 1940’s she was promoted to supervision for the ward. Then, in 1952, she was selected to oversee the isoniazid trials.
While at Sea View, she was a fierce advocate for nurses’ rights. She established a fund for nurses at her church and welcomed anyone who needed a place to stay into her home. After she retired, she continued to care for people in her neighborhood, even going so far as to buy beds and care for some of the sickest of them in her own home.
Missouria’s nephew said that she dreamed of becoming a nurse, changing the world, and seeing equality for all Black people. Her niece added, “This was her calling and she stayed the course and believed God would help work it out.”
Virginia Allen
Virginia was inspired to be a nurse at a young age when she was her aunt Edna in her nurse’s whites. Edna invited Virginia (at the age of 16) to come to Sea View during the nursing shortage. Virginia worked as a nurse’s aide in the Children’s Hospital.
In 1952, she participated in the isoniazid trials.
She went on to graduate from the School for Practical Nursing as an LPN, and continued her long career in nursing. She became involved in her community and fighting for civil rights. At 92, she is still an essential part of the Staten Island community, where she serves on various boards, champions women’s issues, and advocates for education reform. She loves music, art, literature, theater, and traveling.
She is guided by the principle, “This world is all we have, and it is our duty to care for one another with love.”
Sources
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/08/realestate/nurses-seaview-hospital-staten-island.html