BOOK CLUB | APRIL
April 1, 2025: The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis – by Maria Smilios. Denise Ferguson will lead the discussion for the April meeting It was 1929, and in a New York City sanatorium, a deadly disease was spreading while there was a dire nursing shortage. In the pre-antibiotic days tuberculosis stirred people’s darkest fears: it killed one in seven people. At Sea View, New York’s largest municipal hospital, White nurses began quitting in unison. Desperate to avert a public health crisis, City officials summoned Black southern nurses, luring them with promises of good pay, a career, and an escape from the strictures of Jim Crow. But after arriving, they found themselves on an isolated hilltop in the remote borough of Staten Island, and once again confronting racism. They were consigned to a woefully understaffed sanatorium, dubbed “the pest house,” where it was said that “no one left alive.” The Black Angels is a true story that spans the Great Depression, World War II, and beyond. It is the remarkable true story about fearless young women known by their patients as the “Black Angels.” For twenty years, they risked their lives working under appalling conditions while caring for New York’s poorest residents, who languished in wards, waiting to die, or became guinea pigs for experimental surgeries and often deadly drugs. However, despite their major role in desegregating the New York City hospital system—and their vital work in helping to find the cure for tuberculosis at Sea View—these nurses were completely erased from history. The Black Angels recovers the voices of these extraordinary women and puts them at the center of this riveting story, celebrating their legacy and spirit of survival. The story is also about health equity, who deserves good health care, and who lives or dies. It is about a time when 1 in 7 Americans had tuberculosis (TB). Although there is no vaccine for TB, it is curable, although a deadly disease. This is Maia Smilios first book, and it has won numerous awards, including winner of the Christopher Award and finalist of NPR Science, Gotham Book, among others.
The Black Angels by Maria Smilios. The untold story of nurses from the South who helped cure Tuberculosis in Sea View – New York’s largest municipal hospital, while confronting pervasive racism. Denise Ferguson will lead the discussion for the April meeting. APRIL 1, 2025
MAY 6, 2025
The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez. A sweeping novel highlighting the intersecting lives of the characters involved during the building of the Panama Canal. Diane Nescio will lead the discussion for the May meeting.
Please join us on April 1, 2025, at 4:00 pm in the Women’s Lounge as we discuss The Black Angels.
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