SENATE RESOLUTION

                         1999-8680

By Senators Franklin, Kohl‑Welles, Prentice, Kline, Jacobsen, Thibaudeau and Fraser

     WHEREAS, 1999 marks the Fiftieth Anniversary of the founding of the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization, which helps support young African American women and men who seek careers in nursing; and

     WHEREAS, Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first black woman to earn a nursing degree in the United States, graduating from the nursing school of the New England Hospital for Women and Children; and

     WHEREAS, The Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization was begun by the first thirteen African American nurses to work in Seattle; and

     WHEREAS, Over the past fifty years, the organization has helped close to seventy women and men who wanted to become nurses to reach their goal; and

     WHEREAS, The Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization was founded by a group of nurses who endured racism in their efforts to get into nursing programs, while they were students, and even during their time as professionals working at Seattle hospitals; and

     WHEREAS, Those women remained committed to their chosen profession in spite of the rejection they too often encountered from both co-workers and patients alike; and

     WHEREAS, By founding their organization, the nurses exemplified the ideal of helping others seeking a nursing education to climb the ladder of success instead of pulling that ladder up after themselves; and

     WHEREAS, The Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization continues to exemplify that ideal today, raising funds through its annual dinner;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the members of the Washington State Senate do hereby recognize and honor the goals and achievements of the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization, as well as its founders and current members, in this, its Fiftieth Anniversary Year; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Secretary of the Senate immediately transmit a copy of this resolution to the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization.

I, Tony M. Cook, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 1999-8680,

adopted by the Senate April 23, 1999.

TONY M. COOK

Secretary of the Senate