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Two women dressed in all white dresses, the woman on the left wearing a hat and accepting an award.
Mabel Staupers (left) is awarded Springarn Medal for helping integrate Black nurses professionally. (Photo: Library of Congress)

The United States Army Nurses Corps hires 56 Black nurses after previously denying them entry.

1941

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Mabel Staupers (left) is awarded Springarn Medal for helping integrate Black nurses professionally. (Photo: Library of Congress)

After the War Department states that no Black nurses will be hired by the United States Army Nurses Corps, Black nurses organize in response, citing the profound role that Black nurses played during the 1918 flu epidemic. In response to this pushback from Black nurses and others, the Army hires 56 Black nurses in 1941.