OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Recognizing Virginia Allen and the Black Angels

Floor Speech

Date: March 13, 2024
Location: Washington, DC

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Ms. MALLIOTAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following Proclamation recognizing Virginia Allen and the Black Angels.

Whereas: Virginia Allen arrived to Staten Island, New York at the age of 16 to work as a nurse at Staten Island Sea View Hospital in 1947.

Whereas: Staten Island Sea View Hospital opened in 1913 specifically to treat patients with Tuberculosis and, at its peak, Sea View Hospital saw nearly 2,000 patients and was one of only four municipal hospitals in New York City that did not discriminate against Black nurses.

Whereas: Virginia Allen received her training at Staten Island Seaview Hospital and courageously stepped up on the frontlines to be one of the 300 `Black Angels' to treat tuberculosis patients.

Whereas: the Black Angels were courageous, dedicated, and bold in answering the call to come to Sea View and risk their lives caring for the grievously sick and ``indigent consumptives'' of New York City, who had been banished to this woefully understaffed sanatorium.

Whereas: Virginia Allen served for 10 years at Staten Island's Sea View Hospital, working in the pediatric ward. The Black Angels' years of expertise played a significant role in the first ever human trials of isoniazid, the first drug to cure tuberculosis. Since its discovery in 1952, tens of millions of lives have been saved.

Whereas: The Black Angels were activists and active members of the NAACP, neighborhood churches, and community groups, and became founding members of the Lincoln Hospital Alumni Association, the Urban League Guild, and the Women's Civic and Political Union. They were fierce advocates for the integration of Black nurses into the U.S. military and American Nurses Association, and in New York City they worked toward desegregating the hospital system.

Whereas: Virginia Allen continued to serve her community as President of the North Shore Staten Island section of the National Council of Negro Women.

Whereas: The people of Staten Island are grateful for the years of service by Virginia Allen and all the Black Angels who selflessly served on the front lines at Sea View Hospital to treat tuberculosis patients.

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