On the 20th of February, 2008, the healthcare community and nursing alike lost a true giant and a "phenomenal woman." Dr. Mary Elizabeth Lancaster Carnegie was a woman of grace, poise, and intellect. Her life story is one for the history books. Born in 1916 in Baltimore, Maryland, during one of the most turbulent times for African Americans in this country, Dr. Carnegie went on to distinguish herself as a nursing educator, a nurse leader, and a major civil rights activist by breaking down every racial barrier in nursing. Because of Dr. Carnegie, "nurses of color" who had heretofore not been wholly recognized for their contributions to nursing were able to leave an indelible mark on this profession (Carnegie, 2000).
Never one to shy away from controversy, after receiving her bachelor's degree from West Virginia State College, Dr. Carnegie took her first professional job in nursing at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia (Clark Hines, 1993). Not long after, Dr. Carnegie, who had begun to distinguish herself in the profession, went on to become a clinical instructor at St. Philip's Hospital School of Nursing (Clark Hines, 1993). Dr. Carnegie recognized that there were many difficulties for African American nurses during the early 1940s. In fact, she once noted that it was while she was at St. Philip's Hospital that she began to understand the grave differences between African American and White nurses. Remarking on these differences, Dr. Carnegie noted that African American nurses actually had to straddle two worlds but were only officially embraced by one (Carnegie, 2000; Clark Hines, 1993). It was at St. Philip's Hospital, geographically located in the South, that Dr. Carnegie was first exposed to a different social system in the nursing world. She would later remark that as surprising as it was, Black and White nurses were referred to differently by nurses, doctors, and patients. It was common for a White nurse to be called Miss, Mrs., or the like. On the contrary, African American nurses were called by their first name or just simply nurse (Carnegie, 2000; Clark Hines, 1993).
Undaunted by these experiences in the South, Dr. Carnegie went on to forge the modern-day history of African American nurses and nursing, thereby changing the complexion of healthcare and spawning the development of several nursing programs at historically Black universities and colleges. In 1945, she served as the first dean of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and initiated the baccalaureate nursing program at Hampton University, which is now more than 50 years old. In 1948, she was elected as the president of the Florida Chapter of National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN; Carnegie, 2000; Clark Hines, 1993). Because of her election, the Florida State Nurses Association (FSNA) accorded to her the title of "courtesy member" of the board of directors. This title came "without voice or vote." Dr. Carnegie would later remark, "I didn't care about their rules when I attended their meetings, I spoke up anyway" (Clark Hines, 1993). It is obvious that she was undaunted about the FSNA rules because the following year, she ran for election to the board and won with the highest number of votes of any candidate running for the slate. It was this election that ended the "all-White" State Nurses Associations (SNAs) (Carnegie, 2000; Clark Hines, 1993). With this ceiling shattered, one SNA after another granted official membership to African American nurses throughout the South and the District of Columbia. Once the SNAs were integrated, the NACGN unanimously voted in 1949 to officially disband. Members of the NACGN would later remark that their work was done on the heels of the many successes of Dr. Carnegie with the FSNA (Carnegie, 2000; Clark Hines, 1993).
One of Dr. Carnegie's most memorable roles was that of a mentor. This she did without respect to color, race, or ethnicity. In any one lifetime, integration of a profession would be a contribution in and of itself, but Dr. Carnegie's contributions to nursing were just beginning. In 1953, on the heels of having integrated a whole profession, Dr. Carnegie joined the editorial staff of the American Journal of Nursing, which she would go on to edit for 35 years (Carnegie, 2000). Later in 1972, she would earn a doctorate in public administration from New York University (Carnegie, 2000; Clark Hines, 1993). In 1973, she would shatter yet another barrier, being appointed editor of Nursing Research. Along the way, she showcased the many contributions and talents of African American nurses by adding the first complete historical accounts of Blacks in nursing with her groundbreaking and award-winning textbooks, The Path We Tread: Blacks in Nursing Worldwide (Carnegie, 2000; Clark Hines, 1993). Dr. Carnegie served as president of the American Academy of Nursing. She received eight honorary doctorates, and she also received a multitude of professional awards (Carnegie, 2000; Clark Hines, 1993). In 2000, recognizing the phenomenal nature of this great woman and her longtime contributions to nursing, the American Nurses Association inducted her into its hall of fame. This journey and this honor had taken 51 years (Clark Hines, 1993). Dr. Carnegie was also an active member of the National Black Nurses Association.
A phenomenal woman is one who recognizes that the way up is often challenging, often rugged, and often lonely, but a phenomenal woman is one that keeps climbing even when the terrain changes. The mark of a phenomenal woman is that she is a woman who knows that others must come with her to complete the definition of who she is, where she is going, and where she has been. We shall miss you Dr. Carnegie, the phenomenal woman that you were. Your contributions have been far too great to capture in these modest words. We who are left behind to heed your call to change nursing, to change humankind, and to end suffering can only hope to take up your challenge to do these great things, be great and rise, and be phenomenal too!
Joyce Newman Giger, EdD, APRN, BC, FAAN
Professor and Lulu Wolff Hassenplug Endowed Chair
UCLA School of Nursing
Los Angeles, California
Editor, Journal of the National Black Nurses Association
Ora Strickland, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor, Nells Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia
Editor, Journal of Nursing Measurement
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