By: Jordan Meadows, Staff Writer
In Barbados, on February 27, 1890, a girl was born who would go on to champion the cause of equality in ways that were as quiet as they were revolutionary. At the age of thirteen, Staupers and her parents, Pauline and Thomas Doyle, made a life-changing move from Barbados to Harlem, New York.
A diligent and driven student, Mabel’s academic pursuits led her to Freedmen’s Hospital School of Nursing in Washington, D.C., where she graduated in 1917 with honors. This achievement was no small feat in an era where African American women faced both racial and gender discrimination.
In 1920, she helped establish the Booker T. Washington Sanitarium, alongside Black physicians Louis T. Wright and James Wilson. This hospital was one of the few in Harlem that treated African American patients, especially those suffering from tuberculosis, a disease that disproportionately affected Black communities at the time. Mabel served as the director of nursing at the sanitarium and became deeply involved in Harlem’s health initiatives, joining the Harlem chapter of the New York Tuberculosis and Health Committee.
While her work in Harlem was focused on direct care and health advocacy, Mabel’s broader ambition was to break down the racial barriers that excluded African American nurses from the mainstream nursing community.
In 1934, Mabel was appointed Executive Secretary of the National Association of Graduate Colored Nurses (NAGCN), a position that was both a personal triumph and a strategic starting point for her larger mission. As the first person to be paid for this role, Mabel took charge.
In December 1935, Staupers attended a gathering of African American women leaders organized by the renowned educator and activist Mary McLeod Bethune, leading to the establishment of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), an organization dedicated to advocating for the rights and welfare of African American women.
Her advocacy was particularly crucial during World War II, a time when racial quotas and segregation still prevailed in the military. Staupers recognized that the war effort’s dire need for nurses should not be limited by race. Despite facing immense resistance from military officials, including Surgeon General Norman T. Kirk, Mabel mounted a fierce campaign for integrating the Army Nurse Corps.
She orchestrated a letter-writing campaign, rallied support from prominent figures like Eleanor Roosevelt, and testified before Congress, arguing that qualified Black nurses were being unjustly excluded from service. Her efforts paid off in 1945—the last year of the war—when the Army and Navy finally opened their doors to all qualified nurses, regardless of race.
But Mabel’s advocacy didn’t stop with the military. Her persistence and tireless lobbying also contributed to the eventual integration of the American Nurses Association (ANA) in 1948. With both the ANA and military institutions now open to Black nurses, Staupers dissolved the NAGCN in 1951, believing that its mission had been accomplished. Her legacy was recognized in 1951 when the NAACP awarded her the prestigious Spingarn Medal for her tireless efforts to desegregate the nursing profession.
In 1961, she published her autobiography, No Time for Prejudice: The Story of the Integration of Negroes in Nursing in the United States, sharing the story of the movement she led and ensuring that future generations would understand the struggles that had paved the way for Black nurses.
Mabel Keaton Staupers died in Washington, D.C. in 1989, leaving behind a monumental legacy that would inspire generations of African American nurses and activists. She fought not only for her success but for the inclusion and recognition of all African American nurses who, before her, had been marginalized and excluded.
