Mabel Staupers

February 26, 2009

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Profile America for the 26th day of Black History Month. Mabel Keaton Staupers was born in Barbados in the West Indies in 1890 and immigrated to Washington, D.C., with her parents at the age of 13. Upon graduating from nursing school, she began a life-long struggle to break down color barriers in health care and especially the nursing profession. Her most notable achievement came during World War II, when she successfully led the movement to gain full integration of black nurses into the armed forces. For this effort, Mabel Staupers was inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame in 1996. There are more than 2.5 million registered nurses in the U.S., 10 percent of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 596
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html