Assembly Resolution No. 2399

BY: M. of A. Dickens

HONORING the Black Angels for their dedicated
service and contributions to the field of healthcare

WHEREAS, In 1929, during the pre-antibiotic era when tuberculosis
killed one in seven people, many nurses at Seaview, New York's largest
municipal hospital, began quitting en masse; desperate to avert a public
health crisis, city officials summoned southern Black nurses, luring
them with promises of good pay, a career, and an escape from the
strictures of Jim Crow; and

WHEREAS, Upon their arrival to the remote borough of Staten Island,
New York, these Black nurses found themselves on an isolated hilltop,
yet again confronting racism and consigned to a woefully understaffed
sanatorium, dubbed "the pest house," where it was said that "no one left
alive"; and

WHEREAS, Even though they were faced with racial discrimination,
deplorable working conditions, and the risk of contracting tuberculosis,
these Black nurses forged ahead and treated afflicted patients during
the Great Depression and World War II; and

WHEREAS, While there, the nurses endured five-hour commutes,
fourteen-hour days, and verbal and physical abuse from some patients who
were angry, depressed, and who often turned violent-some patients even
tried to kill the nurses; and

WHEREAS, They tolerated sexism, redlining, workplace inequities and
racism (what we call today systemic and institutional racism) from city
officials and from their white supervisor who spied on them, refused to
let them wear masks, and berated and humiliated them daily; and

WHEREAS, In addition to their work in the hospital, these nurses
were activists and active members of the NAACP, neighborhood churches,
and community groups; they became founding members of the Lincoln
Hospital Alumni Association, the Urban League Guild, and the Women's
Civic and Political Union; and

WHEREAS, These nurses, later deemed as Black Angels, were also
fierce advocates for the integration of Black nurses into the military
and the American Nurses Association, and in New York City they worked
with the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses to desegregate
the New York City hospital system; when they arrived, only four of the
26 municipal hospitals allowed Black nurses to work on the wards; and

WHEREAS, But mostly their labor and years of expertise in
tuberculosis played a significant role in the first ever human trials of
isoniazid, the first drug to cure tuberculosis, and since its discovery
in 1952, tens of millions of lives have been saved; Dr. Robitzek, who
oversaw the trials said, "had it not been for the Black nurses none of
this would have been possible"; and

WHEREAS, These courageous undertakings have undoubtedly contributed
to the success and progress of not just American society, but the entire

world, and their work with tuberculosis and isoniazid has indeed
enhanced the humanity among us all; and

WHEREAS, For their struggles and unrelenting determination to save
the lives of dying tuberculosis patients, these Black nurses were
lovingly named the "Black Angels"; and

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor the Black Angels for their dedicated service and contributions to
the field of healthcare; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation for
display at Seaview Hospital, Staten Island, New York, and to the
surviving Black Angels and families of those Black Angels that have
passed away.