In the 1890s, white nurses had organized two professional associations, what would become the National League for Nursing Education and the American Nurses Association. These organizations, however, discriminated against Black nurses. In the South, for example, state nursing associations excluded Black nurses from membership. In response, Black nurses organized their own professional nursing organizations, establishing the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN)in 1908. The goals of this new organization were to achieve higher professional standards, to break down discriminatory practices facing black nurses, and to develop leadership among black nurses. Throughout the early- and mid-twentieth century, Black nurses and their leaders in the NACGN engaged in a "relentless" struggle to constantly push for recognition, and later, integration into the white body of American nursing.
1908
New York Public Library
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