Bill Text: NY K02399 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

New York Assembly Resolution 2399 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Honoring the Black Angels for their dedicated service and contributions to the field of healthcare

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-4)

Status: (Passed) 2024-06-04 - adopted [K02399 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-K02399-Introduced.html


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.