Event: Sickness & Stigma at Sea View: The Black Angels
Date: Wednesday, April 16
Time: noon–1 p.m. CDT
Location: MSC 1010 and via Zoom
Discover the true story of the Black Angels at the 16th annual Richard B. Davis, MD, PhD History of Medicine Lecture on Wednesday, April 16 from noon–1 p.m. in-person (MSC 1010) and online via Zoom (registration required).
Author Maria Smilios learned about the Black Angels while working as a science book editor at Springer Publishing. As a native New Yorker and lover of history, medicine, and women’s narratives, she became determined to tell their story.
“The Black Angels” is the true story of the Black nurses who, in 1929, wagered their lives by leaving the Jim Crow south and went north to work on an isolated hilltop in Staten Island at Sea View Hospital. The “pest house” was an overcrowded municipal tuberculosis sanatorium where the city sent its poorest residents, considered “uncouth and un-American consumptives” to languish and die.
Individuals interested in attending the lecture can do so in person (MSC 1010) or register to attend via Zoom. Boxed lunches will be available to the first 30 in-person attendees.
Book Giveaway
The library will hold a drawing for signed copies of Maria’s book, The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis. Individuals can enter online.
Meet and Greet Opportunities
Connect with award-winning author, keynote speaker, and adjunct lecturer, Maria Smilios during one of two meet & greet sessions. Chat with Maria during these small group sessions and learn more about the historic nurses called the Black Angels. As tuberculosis and other infectious diseases remain a concern, discover how previously untold stories from our past can inform current strategies for combating health disparities. Bring your questions. Snacks will be provided for in-person attendees.
Wednesday, April 16
About Maria Smilios
Maria Smilios is an award-winning author, keynote speaker, and adjunct lecturer at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She was born and raised in New York City. She holds a Master of Arts in American literature and religion from Boston University where she was a Luce and Presidential scholar. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, Narratively, The Forward, Lit Hub, Writers Digest, The Emancipator, Newsweek, and other publications.
The Black Angels won the 2024 Christopher Award in literature, which celebrates works that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.” It was also a finalist for the prestigious Gotham Book Prize, an NASW Science in Society Journalism finalist, an NPR Science Friday Summer Read for 2024, and shortlisted for the English PEN literary award.
New York City and State recently honored Maria for “outstanding service” and “positive contribution” to the people of New York. The book greatly informed and inspired the Staten Island Museum’s exhibit “Taking Care: The Black Angels of Sea View,” which is on display through the end of 2025.
About the Davis Lecture
The Richard B. Davis, MD, PhD, History of Medicine Lectureship brings national experts to the UNMC campus to discuss the history of medicine in support of special collections at the McGoogan Library, including rare books and works on the history of medicine. The lectureship is supported through an endowed fund given by the late Richard B. Davis (1926-2010), MD, PhD, who was a UNMC faculty member from 1969 to 1994 and professor emeritus of internal medicine at UNMC. Dr. Davis and his wife, Jean, provided support for the lectureship out of his longstanding interest in the history of medicine.
View previous Davis Lecture recordings.