On May 7, 1845 Eliza Mahoney was born. She was the first African American women to study and work professionally as a nurse in the United States of America. At the age of 18 she began working at the New England Hospital for Women and children as a cook and cleaning lady. Mahoney was always fascinated with nursing and in 1878, after working in the hospital for 15 years; she was accepted in the hospital’s nursing program. It was a challenging program and of the 42 students who began in 1878, only four graduated. Mary Mahoney was one of them, and she graduated on August 1, 1879. After Mahoney graduated, she registered with the Nurses Directory at the Medical Library in Boston to find work as a private-duty nurse. Before long families began to hire Mahoney and she became well-known in the nursing community. Her reputation grew, and she was called to nurse patients in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and North Carolina. In 1896 Mahoney joined the newly founded Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada, which later changed into the American Nurses Association. Even though Mahoney was an active member in that organization she still believed in equality for all nurses and wanted African American nurses to have the same rights as Caucasian nurses. In 1908 she joined the National Association of Colored Graduated Nurses to raise awareness for African American nurses. The association later awarded her a lifetime membership and elected her as their national chaplain. Sadly, Mary Mahoney died on January 4, 1926 at the age of eighty-one. She accomplished a great deal in her lifetime and paved the way for African American women become apart of nursing