National Nurses United

24 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 4 action were inspiring positive change. Black nurses, banned from the ANA, had formed their own organiza- tion, the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN). By 1951, thanks to the NACGN nurses' unrelenting advocacy, the number of nursing schools admitting Black candidates had jumped to 330 from 28, and the ANA had begun accepting Black nurses. This era also saw scientists collectively build on each other's advances toward a TB cure. By the time Allen arrived at Sea View, an experimental medication allowed some patients to recover. But regression was common, along with severe side effects. The world was still waiting for a miracle. In 1952, another medication, isoniazid, began show- ing great promise in animals infected with TB. Only a human trial would tell if it was the long-awaited cure, and scientists and doctors decided Sea View was the perfect site for testing. Under the direction of doctors Edward Robitzek and Irving Selikoff, the Black Angels began working on the isoniazid trial, chronicling everything from patient swelling and bruising, to the most subtle changes in the tone of a patient's voice and their mood. "Dr. Robitzek and Selikoff would not have been able to perfect the drug had it not been for the nurses and their notes," said Allen. "They would have been in a tunnel—blind—because they were only on the floors for a short time, observing the patients for maybe five to 10 minutes." Relying on the nurses' observations, the doctors tweaked dosage and drug combinations, eventually finding a treatment that was 95 percent effective in ensuring recovery. "It was joyous," said Allen, whose child patients were too young for the initial trial, but who were given the medication as treatments were perfected, going on to lead regular lives. And just like that, the nurses who had fought so hard, for so many decades, to have a right- ful place in the nursing workforce, proved that they also deserved a rightful place in medical history. Full speed ahead allen is humble when asked how it feels to know she and her colleagues were instrumental in saving millions of lives. "I wish we could have saved more," she said, emphasizing that because isoniazid is not universally free, TB patients around the world are still dying. According to the World Health Organization, 1.25 million people died from tuberculosis in 2023. Allen has a long career under her belt, and her time as a Black Angel is only one highlight. She earned her LPN while at Sea View, then went on to work at facilities such as Brooklyn Jewish Hospital and Staten Island University Hospital, where she precepted new nurses, including one memorable young nurse from 1986: NYSNA's executive director Pat Kane, RN. "I loved the young nurses because they had new, bright ideas," said Allen, who today calls Kane and NYSNA/National Nurses United pres- ident Nancy Hagans, RN, friends. Hagans returns the praise, calling Allen a "living legend," who "makes the nursing profession so proud." During her career, Allen said she has experienced racism, including from some doctors who "looked past her as if she wasn't there" and never spoke a word to her. But she pressed on, following her desire for a challenge into union work. In the 1960s, after impressing SEIU 1199 founder Leon Davis, she became administrative organizer for 3,500 nursing home and hospital employees in Staten Island and Queens. She also studied labor relations at Cornell University, and she holds two honorary doctorate degrees from CUNY College Of Staten Island and Kentucky State College of Nursing, both in humane letters. "We need a strong union voice to advocate for patients and our profession," said Allen, who believes union strength keeps nurses from becoming "fragmented" and helps them bargain for crucial protec- tions, including safe staffing. Allen says it's important to ensure the medical field is always advancing, not regressing, citing concern with the current rollback on reproductive health care in the country, and with modern employers leaving nurses unprotected during Covid. "I think during tuberculosis, we had more protections than nurses had during Covid. I couldn't believe it," said Allen. But today's nurses know, just as yesterday's nurses did, that when public health and the profession are under attack, nurses standing in unbreakable solidarity can effectively fight back. The Black nurses of the early 20th century and the Covid-era nurses all used collective action to win change, saving millions of lives. "We are all we have," said Allen. "We have to love and care for each other." Kari Jones writes for National Nurses United. Black Angels memorializes nurses who helped find TB cure When Covid struck in 2020, author Maria Smilios was living one block from Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, New York City. Watching morgue trucks and lines of immi- grant patients snake past the hospital, and seeing televised images of nurses wearing garbage bags for PPE, it struck Smilios that the book she had been finishing was just as much a tale of the Black nurses who helped cure tuberculosis as it was about "who lives and dies based on the zip code in which you live." Her Covid epiphany and her commitment to uplifting lost his- tory resulted in Black Angels, a powerful page turner, beautifully written, with fascinating details on early 20th century medicine, and deeply emotional insight into the lives of the real-life Black nurses who changed the course of medicine forever. Nurses today will see their own pandemic experience reflected in the pages. —K.J.

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