Have you read the book Black Angels?
Maria Smilios, adjunct lecturer at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, has helped immortalise the work of the Black Angel nurses through her book "The Black Angels: the untold story of the nurses who helped cure tuberculosis," that was published in 2023. The book celebrates works that affirm the highest value of the human spirit. It won the 2024 Christopher Award in Literature; was a finalist for the prestigious Gotham Book Prize; and chosen as an NPR Science Friday Summer Read for 2024. The book was also selected as one of the two finalists for the National Association of Science Writers Journalism Award 2024.
"When I was a child, I wanted to study science. I had a sixth-grade science teacher who had given back my final exam result with a big '42' written on the top. He looked at me and said - "that is okay, you have a 'girl brain' and girl brains do not do science. Girl brains do poetry and get married." I did not study science then. I studied literature. Later while freelance editing for Springer Science, I got back to science in a way," shared Maria. "When recently I learnt I was a finalist for National Association of Science Writers Journalism Award, I just thought if that teacher was alive and could see that girls could do science too." Gender-based harmful stereotypes and social norms need to be countered and dismantled if we are to achieve health and gender justice.
Gabriela Leone, the co-curator of the exhibition titled "Taking Care: The Black Angels of Seaview Hospital" (which is open for public view till 29 December 2024 at Staten Island Museum), said that Maria's book "Black Angels" greatly informed and inspired the exhibition.
Isoniazid study to cure TB
In 1951, Seaview Hospital conducted the clinical study of isoniazid (one of the two most powerful first-line anti-TB drugs even today). Seaview's black Angel nurses and other support staff conducted the study- counselling the patients and seeking consent from every study participant, administering medicines, monitoring and observing patients, and reporting results to the two doctors-in-charge (Dr Edward Robitzek and Dr Irving Selikoff). This was a landmark study as isoniazid was shown to work in curing TB when other therapies did not. It could be used in combination with other drugs for improved treatment outcomes.
Dr Edward and Dr Irving received the prestigious Lasker Award for their work, but the black Angel nurses and support staff who risked their lives to help conduct the study, did not receive the same recognition.
This real story of isoniazid study and how black Angel nurses were made to slip on the blind-spot when it came to awards and recognitions, was one of the drivers for Maria to write the book.
"Black women in science had been erased from this narrative. I am not saying that the men do not deserve the accolades, which they received, but the women who helped conduct these studies, also deserved it. In fact, Dr Edward Robitzek had said: 'had it not been for the black nurses, none of this would have been able to happen'."
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