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Celebrating Nurses as Unsung Heroes

March 30, 2022 @ 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
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This event will honor Ms. Virginia Allen, one of the “Black Angels” who treated African American tuberculosis patients at Staten Island’s Seaview Hospital in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s.

Recently feted as a "living legend" by the prestigious Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, where she has been a long-time volunteer, Virginia Allen was one of 300 Black nurses who cared for quarantined tuberculosis patients and provided direct patient care when White nurses refused. Known as the “Black Angels,” their contribution to the race for the cure for tuberculosis is the subject of a forthcoming book being written by Maria Smilios.

Ms. Allen came to Staten Island in 1947, at the age of 16. She began working as a nurse in Sea View Hospital, the largest tuberculosis sanitarium in the world. Ms. Allen has served in many leadership roles in our community. She served as President of the North Shore Staten Island section of the National Council of Negro Women and was a charter member. Allen is also a member of notable organizations such as the New York Urban League, and Sandy Ground Historical Society. In a 2019 interview with NY1, she explains her satisfaction that people are “paying attention to realize that doctors didn't just come and discover these (tuberculosis) drugs all by themselves, the nurses assisted them in the trials.”

Details

Date:
March 30, 2022
Time:
3:00 pm - 6:00 pm