When in 1945 the U.S. Armed Forces finally opened their nursing corps to women of all races, the force behind this breakthrough was a fifty-five-year-old woman who had arrived in the United States thirty years earlier as a thirteen-year-old girl from a Caribbean island. Mabel Keaton Staupers proved that systematic organizational work combined with political acumen can break down even the most deeply entrenched racial barriers.
From Barbados to Harlem
In 1903, thirteen-year-old Mabel embarked on a journey that would shape her entire life. Together with her parents, Pauline and Thomas Doyle, she left Barbados and settled in New York’s Harlem, a neighborhood that would soon become the epicenter of African American culture and social activism.
Fourteen years later, as a U.S. citizen, she graduated with honors from the prestigious nursing school at Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.—one of the few medical institutions at the time that accepted Black students.
However, her honors diploma was just the beginning of a path strewn with obstacles. Most hospitals refused to hire African American nurses for permanent positions, relegating them to work as private caregivers. This systemic discrimination did not break the young graduate but instead transformed her into a fierce advocate for equal professional rights.
A Sanatorium That Broke Taboos
In the early 1920s, tuberculosis was decimating the African American community, while most hospitals refused to admit Black patients or employ Black doctors. In 1920, Staupers, along with two Black doctors, Louis T. Wright and James Wilson, established the Booker T. Washington Sanatorium—the first facility in Harlem specializing in treating tuberculosis among African Americans.
For two years, she led the nursing staff at this institution, gaining invaluable administrative experience. She then undertook a fellowship at a tuberculosis institute in Philadelphia before returning to New York to conduct a comprehensive health needs assessment for Harlem residents.
The results of her research led to the creation of the Harlem Committee of the New York Tuberculosis Association, where she served as executive secretary for twelve years.
A War That Exposed Hypocrisy
In 1934, Staupers assumed the role of executive secretary of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses. It was from this position that she would wage the most important battle of her life.
When the United States entered World War II, the military desperately needed medical personnel but imposed an absurd cap of just fifty-six Black nurses across all branches, while the Navy completely excluded Black women.
Staupers exploited this situation with exceptional political savvy. When Surgeon General Norman T. Kirk began considering drafting reluctant white women into nursing service, she publicly exposed the absurdity of this proposal. Why conscript unwilling white women when thousands of qualified Black nurses were waiting to volunteer? This argument proved devastating to the supporters of segregation.
Allies in the White House
Staupers’ success stemmed not only from the strength of her arguments but also from her coalition-building skills. She won the support of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, a well-known civil rights advocate, and organized a nationwide letter-writing campaign to the president and Congress. Public opinion, weary of wartime sacrifice and increasingly aware of racial injustice, sided with Black nurses.
In January 1945, both the Army and the Navy succumbed to social pressure, opening their nursing corps to all races. Three years later, the American Nurses Association finally accepted Black women into its ranks. Staupers then considered that the organization she led had fulfilled its mission, and in 1951 she facilitated its dissolution.
That same year, she received the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor awarded by the NAACP for outstanding achievement by African Americans. She died in 1989 at the age of ninety-nine, leaving behind her autobiography „No Time for Prejudice” and a nursing profession where skin color was no longer a barrier.
Marcus Renfell
Marcus Renfell is a historian driven by curiosity and passion. He refuses to accept the “safe,” polished versions of the past. Instead, he brings forgotten, overlooked, and distorted stories back to life. His work blends scholarly precision with the art of storytelling, turning historical narratives into vivid, page-turning experiences.
His mission is simple: to prove that history can be gripping, alive, and deeply personal.
His debut book: Women of Science. Stories You Were Never Told
In his first publication, Marcus Renfell shines a light on the remarkable women who shaped the world of science — both the pioneers whose names we know and the brilliant minds history forgot. It’s an inspiring journey through untold stories, groundbreaking achievements, and the resilience of women who changed our understanding of the world.
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