109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 386
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas Mary Eliza Mahoney was born May 7, 1845, in Dor-
chester, Massachusetts, to Charles Mahoney and Mary 
Jane Seward Mahoney; 
Whereas Mary Eliza Mahoney, at the age of 33, was accepted 
as a student nurse at the hospital-based program of nurs-
ing at the New England Hospital for Women and Chil-
dren;
•HCON 386 EH 
Whereas Mary Eliza Mahoney was one of four students, of 
a class of 40, who completed nursing at the New England 
Hospital for Women and Children in 1879; 
Whereas Mary Eliza Mahoney devoted her time and efforts 
unselfishly to the National Association of Colored Grad-
uate Nurses and was installed as the Official Chaplin; 
Whereas Mary Eliza Mahoney’s motto was ‘‘Work more and 
better the coming year than the previous year.’’; 
Whereas Mary Eliza Mahoney delivered the first annual key 
note speech of the National Association of Colored Grad-
uate Nurses and established the Mary Eliza award, which 
today continues as the Mary Eliza Mahoney Award be-
stowed biennially by the American Nurses Association; 
Whereas Mary Eliza Mahoney supported the suffrage move-
ment and was the first African-American professionally 
trained nurse to receive retirement benefits from a fund 
left by a Boston physician to care for 60 nurses, who re-
ceived twenty-five dollars every three months as long as 
they lived; 
Whereas Mary Eliza Mahoney’s gravesite is in Woodlawn 
Cemetery, Everett, Massachusetts, and the headstone on 
her grave states, ‘‘The First Professional Negro Nurse in 
the U.S.A.’’; 
Whereas Mary Eliza Mahoney was inducted into the Amer-
ican Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 1976; 
Whereas Mary Eliza Mahoney advanced the nursing profes-
sion by fostering high standards of nursing practice and 
confronting issues affecting professional nurses, such as 
the shortage of nurses;
•HCON 386 EH 
Whereas today the shortage of nurses is a crisis, estimated 
to be 110,000 nurses, and is expected to increase to 
2,800,000 by 2020 if this trend continues; and 
Whereas nursing is a critical investment to the delivery of 
high-quality, cost-effective patient care, and the Nation 
should invest in and value nursing care: Now, therefore, 
be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) honors Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first Afri-
can-American nurse for an outstanding nursing ca-
reer, dedication to the United States nursing profes-
sion, and exemplary contributions to local and na-
tional professional nursing organizations; 
(2) recognizes Mary Eliza Mahoney as the first 
professionally trained African-American nurse, and 
honors other African-American nurses who practice 
nursing with distinction; 
(3) honors and supports the goals and activities 
of National Nurses Week; 
(4) promotes further understanding and public 
awareness of the history of American nurses, who 
practiced nursing with compassion and devotion and 
transmitted new scientific knowledge using science-
based nursing practice; and
•HCON 386 EH 
(5) advocates for women of color to enter nurs-
ing and supports strategies to counteract the short-
age of nurses. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 19, 
2006. 
Attest:
Clerk.
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 386
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Honoring Mary Eliza Mahoney, America’s first 
professionally trained African-American nurse.