And Dr. Carnegie celebrated Mary Ann s achievements when she sponsored her for induction into the American Academy of Nursing. In 1976 the Massachusetts Nurses Association named Mary Ann the recipient of its Honorary Membership Award. As the nation celebrated its 200th birthday, Mary Ann served on MNA s Bicentennial Committee. Landmarks in Nursing emerged from her thinking on the subcommittee and was presented to Massachusetts nurses at Faneuil Hall as they opened their Bicentennial observations. On March 19, taps sounded over Mary Ann s grave in Marblehead, as it does every day on army bases throughout the world.
Taps tells soldiers that day is done and it is time to douse the lights.
Mary Ann s 86 years on this earth are done. Her light, however, will not be doused. Her light continues to shine in the lives she touched and in the books and manuscripts has preserved. In establishing the Nursing Archives at Boston University she saved the profession s memory. Thus the story of the noble profession she felt privileged to serve is available for nurses as they make decisions about its future.