“The history of American nursing is a record of care across social, racial, economic, and geographic lines. The profession has long aligned itself with the needs of the underserved,
sometimes in direct opposition to the social norms of the time. One of the earliest examples are Lillian Wald, a New York nurse and social reformer serving the immigrant community of New York City’s lower east side, and Mary Eliza Mahoney, who became the first African American professionally trained nurse in the United States in 1879. Both, in their own ways,
championed equity and integration in nursing education and care, laying a foundation for social and racial equity in the profession.”