Nursing

Aviator and Nurse

Larsen (1891-1964) was a nurse, librarian, novelist, key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, and the first black woman to graduate from the New York Public Library's Library School. She is best known for her two novels, "Quicksand" (1928) and "Passing" (1929), which explored complex themes of racial identity, mixed-race heritage, and the struggle for acceptance in both black and white communities. She also made history as the first African American woman to win a Guggenheim Fellowship for creative writing (1930).

Mary was the first licensed African American nurse in the United States and first African American graduate of an American nursing school. She was born in the spring of 1845 in Dorchester, Massachusetts to freed, formerly enslaved people who relocated from North Carolina for a chance at better civil and economic opportunities for their family.

Burke (1900-1955) was a sculptor, educator, art school founder, and fixture in the Harlem Renaissance. Her bas relief image of President Franklin Roosevelt is permanently displayed at the Recorder of Deeds Building in Washington, D.C. and is the disputed inspiration for the American dime.